Joe Benavidez Is Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic

Joe Benavidez UFC 225 Sergio Pettis — SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 03: Joseph Benavidez of the USA celebrates victory during the UFC On FX flyweight bout between Joseph Benavidez and Yasuhiro Urushitani at Allphones Arena on March 3, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The co-main event of UFC on ESPN 3 last night had top-ranked flyweights Joe Benavidez and Jussier Formiga going at it, and though in any other division, it could be assumed they were vying for a title shot, it’s possible they were “just fighting”.

But Benavidez won pretty convincingly, which means a lot more than eking out a close decision, so now we have to pretend that at some point champ Henry Cejudo could have to face Benavidez.

Really, though, Benavidez is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Because that 125-pound ocean liner is sinking folks.

Anyway, the first round between Formiga and Benavidez was pretty close, with the former putting the latter in hot water with his world-class jiu-jitsu, and Benavidez scrambling the bejeezus out of him.

‍♂️ @bisping breaks down the grappling wizardry of @JoeJitsu #UFCMinneapolis pic.twitter.com/lmMxwfZPqb

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 30, 2019

Then came the second round, with Benavidez dodging trouble, nailing Formiga with a kick to the head, and then overwhelming him with a storm of punches.

The Dapper Scrapper!

Emphasis on SCRAPPER tonight! #UFCMinneapolis pic.twitter.com/AadPkCdBpF

— UFC (@ufc) June 30, 2019

So Benavidez won. He might get a chance to face Cejudo again (Benavidez took the split decision then). Will there be a belt on the line? Will there even be a flyweight division then? Who knows.