The Featherweight landscape in the UFC

Whats next for the UFC featherweight division

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

If it wasn't already exciting enough the featherweight division just got a whole lot more interesting, complicated even. Most fans knew Frankie Edgar was a top level Featherweight despite him not ever having won at the weight in the UFC and being on a 3 fight losing skid.

He had forced the FW champion to give him all he had and Jose Aldo had the "the answer" to Edgar edging out a super close decision. Edgar finally got back into the win column that he so richly deserved on Saturday night. He beat a game Charles Oliveira in a competitive but clear decision. Oliveira proved he could live with Edgar but couldn't quite get the better of him wherever the fight went. Oliveira is young and can sharpen his skill set and come back again.

Also on Saturday night a fight originally stated for UFC London occurred. Cub Swanson finally got his hands on Dennis Siver. Congratulations have to go to Joe Silva on this one. He stuck to his guns after the original matchup fell apart and he was rewarded for his matchmaking. Again both men delivered with one man standing tall at the end.

Cub Swanson is on quite a tear now. When Anthony Pettis had to pull out of his fight with Jose Aldo many fans felt Swanson deserved the call up. He took his streak to 5 wins in a row and stopping 4 of them on that run. He has stopped George Roop, Ross Pearson, Charles Oliveira and now Dennis Siver. He also earned a decision win over Dustin Poirier in that time. All top competition and Swanson has looked better each and every time he enters the Octagon.

The question that remains locked over his head though is what happened before his hot streak. Ricardo Lamas stopped Swanson 2 years ago at the very 1st Fox event. He's been on a roll of his own ever since and it would be hard to argue that Swanson deserves a title shot over Lamas. Looking slightly further back he holds a decision loss to Chad Mendes, and more importantly a brutal KO loss at the hands of Jose Aldo.

Jose Aldo won by flying double knee KO in just 8 seconds against Swanson. At the top of the featherweight division it is so stacked that it would be hard to sell a rematch between the two. Swanson has two saving factors. The first is he cant seem to stop winning. The second is Aldo has been so dominant he has almost beat all of the top contenders already.

We have Ricardo Lamas, Cub Swanson, Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes and even Anthony Pettis all as viable contenders at the top of the division. A lot of what happens next rests on Pettis' shoulders. Dana White seems to be quite fond of him and let's be honest who doesn't want to see Aldo-Pettis? Pettis will have a lot of sway on the future of the Featherweight division. There will be many twists and turns to come yet so strap yourself in for what has fast become the most exciting unmissable division in the UFC.