On Saturday, February 24th in Inglewood, California, fans will be treated to an HBO Boxing tripleheader comprised exclusively of 112 and 115-pound competitors. The second installment of “SuperFly” is headlined by a highly anticipated matchup between WBC super-flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (44-4-1, 40 KOs) and Mexican challenger Juan Francisco Estrada (36-2, 25 KOs).

Rungvisai headlined the first SuperFly card last September, viciously knocking out Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in round 4 of their rematch. Prior to last year, the Thai fighter had never fought in the US (and indeed US television), and sure enough the Chocolatito rematch was one of HBO’s highest-rated telecasts of the year.

Estrada fought on the undercard that night, winning a thrilling split decision over Carlos Cuadras. Japanese sensation and WBO champion Naoya Inoue made his US debut, getting a corner stoppage TKO against Antonio Nieves.

Rather humorously, the formation of the SuperFly series was announced just a few days after UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson alleged that matchmaker Sean Shelby told him that “smaller fighters don’t sell.” Truth be told, unlike in countries such as Mexico and Japan, flyweight and super-flyweight boxers don’t sell at a high-level in the United States. “Yeah they’re fast and technical, but the fans don’t care! “ When Gonzalez fought Jason Sosa in 2015, it marked the first time since the 1990s that HBO had broadcast a flyweight championship fight. Salaries even for the best fighters are nowhere near what the top names in bigger divisions command. Sound familiar, MMA fans?

What makes “SuperFly” so refreshing is that so far, it really does feature stacked cards with competitive matchmaking. Rungvisai vs. Estrada is a 50-50 fight. Filipino flyweight champion Donnie Nietes vs. Argentina’s Juan Carlos Reveco is a matchup of two clear top-five flyweights against each other. Even the least compelling bout between Carlos Cuadras and McWilliams Arroyo figures to be highly entertaining, and marks another chapter in the famed Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry. The winner could get a title shot against the Rungvisai-Estrada winner. Brian Viloria vs. Artem Dalakian is also for a major flyweight title, and that’s on the online prelims.

To steal a line from the great Caposa, SuperFly is boxing’s version of what the WEC eventually became. Credit belongs to Tom Loeffler, who promotes both Chocolatito and Gennady Golovkin, for giving the spotlight to the small guys. In fact, high demand has led to the upper bowl of The Forum to be opened up.

“We have to give credit to HBO for shining the spotlight on ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez,” Loeffler said to Boxing Scene. “‘Chocolatito opened the doors and these guys really appreciate the spotlight and every time they have the opportunity to be on HBO and I think they understand the extra pressure for them to perform.

”These smaller weight divisions put on a much more exciting fight than some of the bigger divisions.”

Just because the flyweights and super-flyweights of the world may not ever become pay-per-view stars doesn’t mean they can’t be marketed in a way that generates some level of interest in their fights. Rungvisai has gone from relative obscurity — this despite previously being a major world champion who would almost exclusively compete in Thailand — to consecutive HBO headlining acts in the US. WBC flyweight titleholder Daigo Higa (15-0, 15 KOs) will be in attendance this weekend, a potential sign that we’ll soon have another Japanese star competing on American television.

I can’t help but wonder why the UFC doesn’t attempt something similar. The closest we’ve seen is UFC 146, an all-heavyweight main card, but there’s been nothing of the sort since then. Anything theme-related winds up on The Ultimate Fighter, a show that’s long run its course. For all of the complaints about the current product, the UFC is far more equipped to have the best fighting the best at a much higher frequency than boxing. They have almost all of the top talent in the world, whereas boxing may have a surplus of talent, but with it are not just promoter conflicts, but also television contract conflicts (e.g. Canelo Alvarez is exclusive to HBO, so don’t expect him on Showtime), corrupt and often incompetent sanctioning bodies, and a laundry list of other issues that have plagued the sport for umpteen years.

Why not do an all-bantamweight main card? Or a flyweight and bantamweight combo? It doesn’t have to be on pay-per-view, which now constitutes well under half of their annual event schedule. You can invest in storylines for weight classes that extend beyond (or maybe even includes) the champion and a couple of contenders. The UFC has the marketing might to promote a themed show, and at least in a division like bantamweight, the depth to fill out a four-to-six fight main card with reserves available in case of injury.

Just imagine one day, a UFC event with these fights on the main broadcast:

T.J. Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt 2

Dominick Cruz vs. Raphael Assuncao

Marlon Moraes vs. Jimmie Rivera

John Lineker vs. Thomas Almeida

Wouldn’t you watch that? I would.

With a seemingly endless, meandering river of cards lacking much of a sense of purpose outside of, “these are fights, you go watch them,” a SuperFly equivalent is by no means a cure-all, but it’s something different and creative that the UFC can easily duplicate.

SuperFly has been a tremendous addition to the boxing world, and for the likes of Rungvisai and Estrada, it’s providing them with career-high purses and the ability to substantially raise their popularity in their respective countries. Hopefully the UFC — and “Zuffa Boxing” I suppose — are noticing what Mr. Loeffler has done for the supposedly tough-to-promote small guys.

Oh yes, and I suggest you tune into Saturday night’s event, with the HBO broadcast beginning at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT.