Ryan LaFlare just the latest prospect chewed up and spit out by UFC's toughest top 10
With more than 500 fighters on the roster, the UFC constantly is cultivating and developing new talent from around the world as it looks for the next crop of athletes who will take the sport forward for the next decade.
Three times in the past eight years, the UFC has benefitted from other promotions folding fighters into the organization with the best of the best from PRIDE Fighting Championships, Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting joining the ranks, but growth from within and the discovery of new talent is still a goal for matchmakers and executives.
While other divisions have flourished in that regard over the years, the UFC welterweight division continues to be the toughest weight class in the entire sport with a top 10 that reads like a list of grizzled 20-fight veterans who refuse to give up their spot to any young buck trying to make a name for himself.
Take for instance previously undefeated prospect Ryan LaFlare, who had a chance to crack the top 10 in the welterweight division on Saturday night when he took on No. 7-ranked fighter Demian Maia.
Up until his most recent fight, LaFlare was an offensive machine who dominated every bout and rarely lost an exchange much less a round to any of his previous opponents. He found out the hard way what it's like to face a top 10 welterweight when he got planted on the mat over and over and over again courtesy of Maia's takedowns and stifling ground control.
LaFlare was just the latest prospect touted as the next great threat to the top 10 fighters at 170 pounds, but Maia dispatched him with relative ease before tossing him back on the pile of up-and-coming athletes who hope to one day find a home among the best of the best in the welterweight division.
Prior to LaFlare's loss, the spotlight was on former "Ultimate Fighter" winner Kelvin Gastelum, who was also undefeated and won his first five fights after competing on the reality show before cracking the top 10 with a win over Jake Ellenberger. One fight later, Gastelum was rudely escorted back out again when he lost to Tyron Woodley, which happened after he missed weight for the second time in three fights, and now he's expected to go to middleweight for his next bout.
Stoic Icelander Gunnar Nelson was also expected to be a player at 170 pounds when he debuted in the UFC. Undefeated, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt had a look on his face that just read conqueror, and things were going well for him until he ran into perennial gatekeeper Rick Story, who handed him his first career loss before slipping him a note that said "nice try" and sent him packing to the back half of the top 15.
Erick Silva, who defeated Josh Koscheck on Saturday night, was another in a long line of welterweights with high expectations heaped on their shoulders after an impressive debut. The only problem is it took Silva 10 fights in the UFC before he could even win two in a row.
The last tried and true "prospect" to make good in the division is current welterweight contender Rory MacDonald, who cut his teeth in the UFC before storming to the top of the rankings in recent years. "Ultimate Fighter" Season 7 competitor Matt Brown might be the only other homegrown fighter who could argue about his rise up the ranks, but it took a seven-fight win streak and approximately 16 total UFC fights to finally crack the top 10.
And don't look to "The Ultimate Fighter" for top-flight welterweights either, because the last two seasons to feature the division have ended with two fighters out of the UFC entirely (Colton Smith and Mike Ricci) and two more who are now lightweights (Tony Ferguson and Ramsey Nijem).
Now the point of all this isn't meant to slam the UFC for not developing better welterweights — it's actually a massive compliment to the fighters at the top of the division who refuse to give up a spot to any 3-0 competitor looking to make a name off an established veteran.
The UFC welterweight division was ruled for several years by Georges St-Pierre, and he proved through his nine title defenses that he was definitely the king of the castle at 170 pounds. His exit freed up the title belt, but the championship already has bounced between two fighters, and the scramble for the No. 1 contender's spot is like watching four lions all scramble to tackle and maul the same gazelle.
For any prospect to finally take a spot from one of these established veterans, it's going to take more than an undefeated record and a public relations push from the UFC.
From LaFlare to Nelson to Silva to Gastelum, there's a ton of talent at 170 pounds, but to finally swim in the deep end, the next big welterweight prospect better have a spear gun, a cage and a bigger boat because the Great White sharks in the UFC's toughest division are out for blood and they don't appear to be going anywhere any time soon.
