Smaller champions from all over the globe gather at a chance to hold a title in their sports largest promotion. Sound familiar?
For fans of the WWE it sounds like a description for the hyper-popular Cruiserweight Classic or CWC that just concluded on the WWE Network. That narrative must be popular within combat sports because the same description fits the latest season of UFC’s ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’
TUF 24 features 16 fighters, all champions in other promotions, that have gathered for a chance to challenge UFC flyweight champion Demetrius Johnson at the end of their season. The WWE’s CWC followed a similar path. The winner of the season didn’t have to take on a current champion but was awarded the Cruiserweight title upon victory and was thrust to the top of the division.
The tournament style of the show, the weeks of televised competition and the emotional connections fans forged with the contestants are staples of both products. The ‘smaller fighters don’t get enough attention’ plot flows between both programs and shines a light on the oft-forgotten divisions.
Sure, the WWE’s cruiserweights wowed audiences with turnbuckle maneuvers, over the top rope acrobatics and fast-paced grappling but the UFC’s smallest male weight division uses hard punches, lightning quick takedowns and movement to be just as exciting.
The UFC champion Demetrius Johnson is the best example of speed = excitement but this season’s cast of ‘TUF’ has shown that they are more than up to the task. In fact, Cage Aggression MMA’s flyweight champion Eric Shelton is hoping to become the equivalent of CWC winner TJ Perkins.
Shelton and his fellow TUF 24 castmates, like the members of the CWC, had to be separated from their families and normal training environments for weeks during the competition but Shelton’s biggest hurdle is one that his WWE counterparts didn’t have to endure.
“The most challenging aspect for me was monitoring what you eat and watching your diet knowing that you may have to cut again right away. When you’re cutting weight you’re usually on edge and you have 16 guys in there doing the same thing,” said Shelton. “It was a weird experience, the way you feel your emotions are everywhere.”
During TUF fighters must maintain their 125 lb weight to compete, which means they must be in reach of that weight for 6 straight weeks. In the WWE’s CWC competitors had to weigh-in under the 205lb limit only once and were then free to return to their natural weight.
These minor hurdles aren’t slowing Shelton from his goal. He has his eyes set on the largest prize in the flyweight division and he knows that this tournament is his ticket to the title.
“It’s mind-blowing to have that opportunity. It’s definitely added pressure and the experience itself is full of pressure but they only chose 16 guys from all around the world, the best of the best, it was just nuts. For me it’s what I’ve wanted since I started fighting,” said Shelton.
The title opportunity is obviously the #1 priority for Shelton but he’s not over-looking the long-lasting importance of this season. Once again, both the CWC and TUF 24 are shining light on a lighter weight class of talented fighters and both will help infuse much-needed depth into the rosters of their respective organizations.
“The 125 division has been lacking in the popularity,” he said. “It needed something like this to spice it up. I feel like this show is going to help this division a lot and help the world relate to the 125 lb division. I feel like our division [125 lbs], as far as talent goes, is way past all the heavier weights. I think this is going to be an eye opener for the rest of the world.”
Shelton knows that the men that shared the house with him will be his competition for years to come and he’s embracing every second of the journey.
“I feel like everybody in the house is UFC caliber. Do I know if they’ll all make the roster, no, but I feel like everybody there deserves it. Everyone is capable of doing things in the division.”
Eric Shelton takes his next step toward Demetrius Johnson & the UFC title tonight on FS1.
Flip the Page to Watch the Preview for TUF 24…