Growing Pains: True Title Challengers

Dana White crowning Junior dos Santos Heavyweight Champ (Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE, US PRESSWIRE)

This is a new segment we are starting here at CR called Growing Pains. Our beloved sport is relatively new and is still growing and forming into a solid structure that can and will last for the long term. The sport inside the cage has developed extremely quickly but it is all of the issues surrounding the sport and outside the cage that still need to develop the most. In this segment we will be writing about those issues and would love your (our devoted readers) feedback in return.

This time around we are discussing Title Challengers. After the FOX 4 Shogun Rua vs. Brandon Vera main event was announced people were a tad confused because Shogun is much higher in the ratings. But when Dana White said that the winner receives a title shot there was a lot of confusion and mixed emotions. I think that down the line this issue will be much more important than we now see it.

I recently watched a replay of a FOX Business episode that had Bjorn Rebney on. Rebney is the CEO of Bellator and he truly believes in the tournament format to determine true title challengers. I tend to agree with him that it is the best way. I think almost everyone does. In every other sport, even college football now, has the tournament format and everyone is satisfied in the end that the true champion was crowned (except if it’s not your team and then you blame the refs…I do it too). I am a Yankees fan. I am from New York and have loved them my whole life. If you aren’t a Yankees fan then you hate them but even in the end after the Yankees win the World Series most people accept it. They give the “they have too much money” excuse but they recognize they are the best team.

Dana White is a man that runs on emotions. He makes decisions based on how he feels and his emotions sometimes trump thought-out and well planned decisions. Do we want a sport where the most significant championship fights are determined by who the boss likes most? Do we want a popularity contest? I hope not! Now, many believe that tournaments shorten fighters’ careers which I believe does hold some validity but if done correctly then I think we can keep the athletes safe. Look at how the flyweight tournament went down. Every fight was spaced out far enough and no one fought twice in one night.

Now I am not saying the UFC needs to constantly have tournaments but I think this week’s title contender match proves the UFC needs some improvements. Maybe even an official rankings system could work. They show rankings on UFC Tonight but if they detailed how they came to those results and then decided to promote those more it will have people believing in them.

I think the best solution is to formally announce the top four fighters in each weight class and then have them fight each other in a mini-tournament, just like the flyweight tournament, to get a true title contender. Maybe mix in those rankings I mentioned previously to give more credibility in ranking the top four in each weight class. Another positive is each one of those fights could be an important main event on cards. Giving more credibility and importance on a regular basis; in other words every main event would have title implications.

But in the end what matters most is that the customers, the fans, are satisfied and that our sport does what is best for its own longevity. The UFC needs to start thinking long-term about this matter. How many more Shogun-Vera situations will it take before people stop caring about UFC title fights? I hope we don’t find out.