Who should Pantoja bring in to lock down that flyweight division like the Fluminense’s defense?

Bugger me, if Barao’s putting a foot wrong after that ACB scrap it won’t be because he can’t wrestle for the hole card—it’ll be because he’s got a mortgage to pay and three kids in nappies.

Soooo Barao in purple again?! 🤯🔥 Man just *needs* that slow-mo walkout to some rage in LA live—nah but fr *imagine* Panja rolling with him on the Mike Jackson camp… like... you ain’t tapping out that top 15 if Barao’s got your back from deep half 😱 while Timmy’s peppering those knees to body shots on the card 👀 Dude’s just waiting for his green light after that ACB banger, this team ain’t *supposed* to leave things to luck when our lot never make it easy!

Barao at 38 with two losses in his last three? Unless someone’s offering a pay-per-view opener against Figueiredo or a rematch with Walel Watson, that’s a gamble more than a signing. If Panja wants a flyweight who can wrestle for top control without begging for layups? You’re looking at Kid Yang—32, still in the high-70s when he wants to be, and he’s got the mat IQ Timmy complements but doesn’t fully replace.

Right, so Barao at 38 with two losses in three fights—let’s not dress it up. That ACB scrap wasn’t exactly a five-star clinic; it was a guy scraping bottom and praying for the final buzzer. If Pantoja signs that dotted line, he’s not buying a top-15 anchor, he’s buying a novelty act—half the card’s gonna be shouting “what happened to him?” between rounds. Yeah, Tim Elliott holds the spot down, and yeah, Timmy’s a dog when the cage gets hot, but signing Barao isn’t plugging a hole; it’s plugging a time-share in a senior community center. Kid Yang? Now you’re talking. Still floats around 135, still wrestles like he’s got springs in his shoes, and crucially he won’t ask the ref to baby-sit his hips every other round. But here’s where the numbers back me: Kid’s last five flyweights all went the distance—zero finishes. That’s “timely control” turned into “time-wasting,” and flyweight fans don’t queue for back-and-forth chess matches. If Pantoja wants a finisher who actually solves rounds, Kid’s the best *technical* wrestler in the division, but he’s not the name that sells tickets off the bat. So the real question is: does Pantoja need another high-IQ grappler who keeps the cage tidy, or does he need the one guy inside the top 15 who can put a rival to sleep in round two? Ask me after the Mandatory Clubhouse Meeting, not during the post-fight presser.

blimey, Supporter_Zone, you’re dressing this like a eulogy for Kid Yang when the lad’s still fresh enough to outgrip half the women’s featherweight division if he fancied it. remember him putting on a masterclass at ONE 156 when he dismantled Sim Bahrami in under three minutes? guy had 18 inches on Yang, out-landed him by a country mile—still Yang had him down on the mat in round two, three times, and never once let him back up clean. that’s the kid we’re talking about, not some shuffling pensioner people half-remember from glory days. now i’ll grant you the last five flyweight fights all went the distance, but five fights isn’t a lifetime—it’s three separate cards where the opposition barely laid a glove on him. the moment they push the pace, Yang’s hips slide like they’re on rails; he’s still got that switch-heavy guard, still sniffs for a single to shoot it straight to the belly-to-belly, where he’s already submitted two flyweights inside the UFC. you want a finisher who solves rounds? wake up. we already got Timmy Elliott, and he’s been solving rounds with body-knees since the sun was green. what we don’t have is a flyweight who can lock the cage like a concrete bunker from deep half, someone who can drag every top-10 wrestler into our game instead of playing theirs. Kid Yang does that—he’s the only flyweight southpaw who can switch stances mid-takedown and still keep his balance better than most bantamweights. Barao’s a trip down memory lane, a nice story if Panja ever fancies an emotional rerun; Yang’s the extra gear that turns 2024 into a steamroller. and yeah, the “no finishes” streak? pure gold. that’s five cards of the opposition gasping for air while Yang cools his tea—exactly the kind of chess match that builds title runs because the judges *remember* the pace, not the drama.

remember that time Banuelos was meant to step in for Panja back in 2022? dude spent half the camp singing in the locker room while we all stood around pretending it wasn’t happening. turned up, got dropped in the first round like a sack of wet laundry—then vanished faster than the organisers’ will to live. and now here we go again, dragging Barao’s retirement tour out like it’s headline news. what is it with this team and romanticising guys who are basically walking cautionary tales? ah well, time will tell.