Why the UFC Lightweight Division ALMOST Didn't Exist
"How UFC Lightweight Almost Vanished
Nowadays, the lightweight division is regarded as the deepest and most skilled division, but it almost got scrapped.
You see, lightweight was unpopular in the early days because nobody wanted to see smaller guys fight.
So when the first lightweight champion, Jens Pulver vacated his title in 2002, the UFC needed a new champion to draw interest
So they created a tournament, ending with Caol Uno vs BJ Penn, and the worst thing happened. They fought to a draw.
And with no money to back a struggling division, the UFC didn’t have a lightweight title fight for 3 years, until Sean Sherk captured the title, but was immediately stripped for PED use.
It wasn’t until a popular BJ Penn beat Joe Stevenson for the lightweight title that lightweight had a popular champion and the division got off the ground.
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