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Erik Koch headed to lightweight, Chico Camus to flyweight

After his recent loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 164 Featherweight top ten fighter and Roufusport prospect Erik Koch has decided to take a run at the lightweight division. Similarly, and despite winning his fight against Kyung Ho Kang at bantamweight, Chico Camus is looking to drop down to flyweight

By Zane Simon
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

It doesn't happen often in MMA, a sport where weight is often the easiest advantage for a fighter to control, but Erik Koch is apparently moving up a division to lightweight. This according to Duke Roufus who also dropped some news on one of his bantamweight prospects, Chico Camus, to ESPN's Josh Gross.

The move to 125 makes sense for any bantamweight who can make the cut right now. The flyweight division has been growing steadily over the past two months but still sits at only 22 fighters. For fighters in search of a title it's a division that offers a lot of quick opportunity.

The move to lightweight by Koch, however, is a little more complicated. He certainly has the height for the division, measuring at 5'10" but he won't be huge there. The biggest question is how much of his current, gaunt frame is genetic predisposition and how much is the result of an incredibly strict diet and workout routine. If he's been draining himself intensely to stay down at 145 then a move up in weight may be what he needs. He's seemed under-powered against Dustin Poirier (himself a former lightweight), but there's nothing to say that couldn't be the result of intense weight cutting or dietary restriction. If he can carry more muscle that may translate into more pop in his striking as well, that certainly seemed to be the case in Ross Pearson's failed featherweight run.

Koch also announced another change following his loss to Poirier at UFC 164, apparently he's decided to make the leap and get lasik as well. He announced the move via twitter.

So what do you think? Will a few extra pounds and a new set of eyes recharge the prospects on Koch's career, or has he taken the first step in a doomed road of bouncing between divisions with limited success in both? And what about Camus, does his size and tenacity make him a threat at flyweight? Or did we just lose yet another promising bantamweight prospect?

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