UFC Title Belts: Are They Really Necessary? I Am Starting To Wonder

Brock Lesnar

While ever improving, and obviously capable, Brock won a belt that really should hold no weight to the pure MMA fan. There was no discussion of the fight between Randy and who ever, when they offered an interim belt to Big Nog and Tim Sylvia. 

There was no champion then, they hadn't written off Couture, but they felt strongly enough to offer the title up to the next guys in line. 

Should Randy have challenged Nog to unify that title? Realistically that should have been the case, but wait..Nog is busy filming a TV show, not defending his new found belt.  Now Brock is our champ. 

What is this, the new math? 

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 

Big Nog won the interim heavyweight title when the UFC was without a heavyweight champ.  Now he stands second to a man who won the real belt when the real champ returned through legal means. 

Now he must fight and win twice before being considered the true champ. Is he not the man who should have been first in line when Randy returned to the UFC? Alas a TV show is more important to the UFC than their heavywieght champion defending his title, or having his title reduced to a worthless pile of metal and leather in Nog's case.

Anderson Silva               

Current middleweight champion, supposedly will be moving up in weight in the coming year to further test his skills against the best the UFC has to offer. 

The UFC is incapable of producing a challenger for this pound for pound contender. He may very well turn his back on a belt he will never lose. Does his skill as a fighter eclipse the entire division? 

Is there no one who can knock this dude the hell out? Surely there is someone. Is he so good, he has to walk away from his belt? Sadly this may prove more true than we might like. It is not to Silva's detriment but until he loses, isn't he the champ, shouldn't he remain that way?

Geroges St. Pierre

GSP holds the welterweight belt that Thiago Alves dearly wants. Thiago has earned a shot at the belt in decisive fashion, and he has some very undeniable skills that could very well give GSP some trouble.  GSP vs. Alves is an intriguing match up. A match up fight fans deserve to see. 

A match up Alves deserves to be a part of, a belt he has decisively earned a crack at.  It may never happen depending on how the next two months play out for GSP and the welterweight division.  There is a chance (a slim one depending on who you ask) that GSP may not hold the belt by the time Alves gets his shot.

B.J. Penn

The current lightweight champion.  Kenny Florian is the heir to that throne.  He has been since he defeated Roger Huerta some time ago.  B.J. thinks he has bigger fish to fry in another division.  He has actively put defending his current belt on hold with his aspirations for another belt. 

This has effectively put two divisions on hold as mentioned before.  The fight is good for business, good for the fans as it is more than likely going to be fight of the century, but the bottom line is its tying up more than one number one contender, not to mention the belts themselves. 

This is coming from an avid BJ supporter, but his aspirations should not take priority over the simple business of protecting what one owns. Whether that one is BJ or GSP, they need to stick to their own problems right now, not get mixed up in each others agendas. Obviously GSP is not the one pushing this but is tied up in the mess all the same.

Are we starting to get the picture here? We the fight fans, covet these titles, and we all have our favorite fighter whom we would adore seeing with that belt around their waist.  The symbol or superiority is important to us.  It is a false image though. The true meaning of the belt does not hold as much importance as the road to it according to the UFC.

The titles themselves seem to hold little to no weight when Dana White sits down with matchmaker Joe Silva and they plan their attack on our wallets. I have effectively outlined four of six belts currently held in the UFC. 

Those four belts are essentially in limbo due to the poor planning on the part of the UFC.

There are the obvious contenders to those belts, it just seems that they dont take precedence over making the most money. There are more reasons to discredit the UFC than we can shake a stick at. They have been covered for the most part. This one stands out for me personally. 

Many that have shared their thoughts with me, have heard me say more than once that tying up champions on tv shows that span the better part of a year is not conducive to the champ defending and retaining his belt. 

Point being, had Nog never been cast for coaching TUF, Brock Lesnar would not be our champ right now.  The fight we recently watched would have been between Randy and Rodrigo. 

Is this starting to make sense? My point that these belts are irrelevant to the UFC is becoming more and more apparent as time goes on.  It reminds me of a magician, trying to keep your focus on this hand all the while the other hand is playing tricks on your mind. Pay attention to the UFC gold, not the obvious structuring of the entire sport for the sole purpose of profit.  Profit is important to any business, but so is quality control.

Remember The Wizard of Oz? Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, just stand in awe of the wizard. Please, I'm no scarecrow Dana, it may not be much but I do have a brain.

You and I may covet the championships, and who holds the belts in various weight classes.  I assure the UFC could not care less as long as they have someone to put meat in the seats like Brock, or Chuck. 

The only division today that has a clearcut champion, who won't be moved around or put on hold for any given time is the light heavyweight division.  Believe me when I say that division has enough "names" in it that the UFC will just keep the line moving.  

Other than that, it's all politics and ratings. The belts are a secondary priority to high profile match ups that will draw PPV buys. They definitely aren't making match ups based on rankings or worthiness based on progress of certain fighters. 

If things were going as they should, Silva would stay until he loses or retires trying to taste defeat.  That in itself presents some historical opportunities that Silva could achieve regarding consecutive title defenses, or maybe even an undefeated record as a champ in the UFC. 

Let him stand alone, don't add him to an already stacked division to become just another LHW superstar.  Would you rather see the best the MW the UFC has to offer, or the next best thing, because the best was just too good to make money off of.

There is no way to fix the heavyweight debacle.  Should have been Nog and Mir, that was good enough for us and the UFC before they dragged Couture back kicking and screaming.  He loses his belt to Lesnar, now Nog (the true UFC heavyweight champ) has to risk a meaningless belt fighting Mir, and may never see the opportunity to win the title he already holds.  What an absolute mess.

GSP should fight Alves.  Then assuming he wins, he should fight anyone behind Alves that has earned a chance at that belt.  If one of those men happens to be a title less BJ Penn who has moved up because he lost his LW belt then so be it. 

BJ Penn is being called out by Kenny Florian and he doesn't seem the type to pass on a challenge.  His quest for greatness and historical recognition based on the possible success he is chasing is admirable, but not very realistic when considering the talent being put on hold so he can do it. 

That is disrespectful on the part of the UFC, not BJ in my opinion. Lots of fighters want lots of different things, it doesn't mean Dana should just hand it to them.  Same thing as Silva, defend your title until one of two things happens, you lose it, or you retire. Either that or walk a way from it which is less than admirable from where I am standing. The rest is just decoration and less than important. 

The job of a champion is to be a champion.  Not pursue greatness through secondary goals.  Your belt around your waist should be the only thing on your mind, no matter what division you fight in. 

At the end of the day, the landscape has changed drastically in the UFC. We are seeing more and more WWE type tactics and moves based on ratings as opposed to the purity of the sport.  It may be less than tantalizing to see the true number one contender fight the champ, when compared to making two highly regarded champs fight, but it is the right thing to do, if keeping the quality of the competition is paramount. 

It is the right thing to do in the spirit of simple challenger rankings.   

Sadly, purity, quality, and simple competition is not the goal of the UFC.  Money is, and it should be to an extent.  They want everyone to watch and that makes sense. 

The purists can see through the trees though. We know what is being pulled on us.  In the end we know the magician is just doing tricks to entertain us. We don't really believe in magic do we?  Entertaining or not, we know its not real.

We have been watching the sport long enough to notice the man behind the curtain.  We recognize the smoke and mirrors.  Its time to call his bluff. 

Its time we demand he put some importance back into the gold found around the waists of our champions.  Its time to give the credit where its due, and make damn sure that title is worth fighting for in the first place. 

Both the fighters and the fans deserve that much. Otherwise, we might as well be watching wrestling, and let them tell us who the champ is instead of watching who they spoon feed us fight over false examples of true dominance.