Flyweights re-energizing 'The Ultimate Fighter' in 24th season

Four fights into the new season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and it's clear the flyweights didn't just come out to put on a show.

They came to steal it.

The latest installment of the long running reality competition series introduced 16 flyweight champions from around the world, all vying for a shot at champion Demetrious Johnson when the season is over.

The UFC pulled out all the stops to find the best 125-pounders from around the world with athletes traveling from Africa, Japan, South America and everywhere in between to put together an incredibly talented and diverse cast for this season.

It was clear just how deep this tournament would be after No. 1 ranked prospect Alexandre Pantoja had to gut out a scrappy performance from No. 16 seed Brandon Moreno in the first fight of the season just to get into the second round. That pace has continued with the next three bouts as well and it doesn't look like it will slow down until the season is over.

Unlike some past seasons where reality trumped competition, the flyweights on the show this year are all gunning for one thing — the 125 pound UFC championship.

"No one here is brought in to be a loose cannon on TV or to just blow up," Joseph Benavidez told FOX Sports about the talent rich flyweights on the show this year. "All these guys are just good fighters and they just happen to have great stories. I couldn't be more happy with the ways the fights have gone.

"The last episode where my team got the upset was awesome. The first fight with No. 1 versus No. 16 was great with Brandon Moreno giving (Alexandre Pantoja) all he could take. Then my guy Eric Shelton just took out the No. 2 seed. You might as well just throw them in a hat and draw numbers cause all of them are capable of winning at the end of the night."

Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo, who coaches on the show opposite Benavidez, says that the performances through the first four fights speak to the depth of the talent on the show this season. Only a single bout — the matchup between Kai Kara-France and Terrence Mitchell — was considered lopsided after France earned a vicious first round knockout, but everything else has been a dog fight.

"I think the show speaks for itself," Cejudo said.  "You see a fight like Alexandre Pantoja versus Brandon Moreno, that first fight just set the bar. Following that seeing Kai knock out Terrence Mitchell and then Yoni Sherbatov and Damacio Page, you really cannot pick a better season than TUF 24. This is the elite of elite. Clash of styles, clash of cultures, it's one of a kind."

Even Johnson has been impressed by what he's seen so far out of the fighters all competing for a shot at his title. He's mostly been paying attention to the actual fights, but with four finishes to start the competition, Johnson knows these flyweights are gunning for gold.

"You have fighters on the show who are world champions so that's been good," Johnson said.

"These guys are fighting to get a contract. They are fighting on these regional shows. I'm a guy that always goes back and looks at everybody's record and when you look Hiromasa (Ogikubo), he's the best flyweight in Japan right now outside of the UFC. Kyoji Horiguchi finished him to take the belt and now Kyoji Horiguchi is in the UFC.  Eric Shelton he fights in a regional show, Yoni (Sherbatov) in Canada, they're all trying to fight to get that contract."

What makes the show even better according to Benavidez is the fact that the stakes are so much higher.

Every season of the show has ended with fighters getting contracts to compete in the UFC, but only on a couple of occasions have titles ever come into play.

Back in season four, Matt Serra won a tournament comprised completely of UFC veterans and then went onto knock out Georges St-Pierre to win the welterweight title in arguably the biggest upset in the history of the promotion. Season 20 introduced an entirely new division with the strawweight women taking center stage with Carla Esparza crowned as the first champion in the division after a long, hard fought tournament.

"To be a part of it is great," Benavidez said. "It was like the 'comeback' season where it had something great there where a guy came in from out of the UFC and beat the reigning champion. This is one of the only seasons where you have lighter weights come in. The one season where they did 145 and 135, there's just so much untapped potential in the lightweight divisions. Out of that season you got TJ (Dillashaw) and John Dodson and those are former champions, top contenders. I think right now there's just more untapped talent in the lighter weights.

"Now we get it with champions and the stakes, it's a nice shake up for the show."

It might be slightly odd for Benavidez and Cejudo to coach the 16 competitors on the series considering they are also trying to earn another shot at Johnson at some point down the road, but both contenders have embraced being part of such a historic season.

In fact, Cejudo hopes one of his fighters goes on to beat Johnson because that means he may have helped — even in a small way —  to dissect and defeat arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA today.

"We're trying to beat the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Demetrious Johnson, and if I can put my two cents in to do so, then kudos to them if they can take something that I showed them, take some inspiration or take some techniques, good for them," Cejudo said.

Of course, Johnson will be keeping a close eye on the action from now until the end of the season because he's going to fight one of these men on December 3 at "The Ultimate Fighter" finale. The show is predicated on finding Johnson a worthy contender and he's heard a few of the fighters have words for him during filming of the show.

As much as Johnson is enjoying the flyweight division getting under the spotlight while the UFC gets to benefit from a much deeper roster at 125 pounds thanks to this show, he's still not afraid to put anybody in their place when it comes to his standing as the best in the world.

"People always say 'did you hear what they said about you?' and I'm like "I don't care what they said about me'. These (expletive) aren't even in the UFC yet," Johnson said. "I didn't get in the UFC by being on a show. I got in the UFC by fighting all around the world and knocking (expletive) out and they saw me and they said 'we've got to have this dude' and they signed me.

"This is a different league and then the UFC is a whole other realm and these guys are trying to reach that. They are trying to put on good performances."

Don't miss a special compilation of the first four fights from "The Ultimate Fighter" this season on Sunday on FOX. Check your local listings for times.