Ben Saunders' Release a Harbinger Of Change In UFC 170-lb. Division

The recent news of Ben Saunders' release from the UFC has generated a mild surprise from most hardcore fans. Saunders, while not a contender, is an entertaining TUF alum who recently helped Zuffa out of a bind when he stepped up to fight Jon Fitch. Normally a fighter helping Joe Silva and Dana White in that fashion earns himself a Survivor-like immunity from being cut for a period of time, but it was not so for Saunders.

It is likely that Saunders will be swooped up by Strikeforce, who is clamoring for anyone to fill their rather barren 170-lb. division, and that he could be in a high-profile fight by the end of the year for Scott Coker and company.

Why would the UFC do this?

My first thought is that it is just how Zuffa does things—bad losses equal quick cuts—but looking a little deeper, I came to a different conclusion.

The UFC 170-lb. division is on the brink of a huge turnover. The tip top of the division is certainly solid. GSP, Kos, Fitch, Alves, Hardy, and Thiago aren't going anywhere anytime soon, but many of the other UFC veterans in the weight class could very well be getting walk papers soon.

Fighters like Mike Swick, Matt Brown, Matt Serra, Jesse Lennox, Mike Pyle, Chris Lytle, and others may be fighting for their jobs much sooner than they expected because of a huge swell of outstanding younger fighters.

The UFC has many ways to assess and test prospects, from prelims to Ultimate Fight Nights. Prospects are given the chance to step up or wilt and the UFC is able to pick for themselves the prospects they consider the most promising.

This system is yielding a large crop recently, and while Jon Jones and Phil Davis have stolen the headlines for the Light Heavyweights, Welterweight has quietly gathered what could be the best recruiting class, if you will, of any division.

Johny Hendricks (8-0)
Charlie Brenneman (12-1)
Jake Ellenberger (23-5)
Rory MacDonald (10-1)
Nick Osipczak (5-2)
Matt Riddle (5-1)
Rick Story (10-3)
Anthony Johnson (8-3)
John Hathaway (14-0)

All these fighters are at different stages of being brought into the limelight of the division, but one thing is certain: as this new generation of UFC welterweights ripens, card space will have to be given over to them.

And not un-air card space—that time has passed. Main Card slots are either a must or looming on the horizon for all these fighters, and space must be cleared to make room.

Now, some of these fighters may fizzle and falter, but in most of their cases, the UFC is going to make sure that the majority of their fans can witnesses their falls on PPV. Some of these fighters have the potential to headline in the future and their name recognition needs to start being built up.

So, expect the middle-of-the-road UFC welterweights to start clearing out, either by switching weight classes, a la Dustin Hazlett, or being shown the door, like Ben Saunders.