The championship fight. The pinnacle of achievement across combat sports for centuries. A premiere attraction that draws millions every year. But not all title bouts are created equally.
So which title bouts every week are the ones to watch? We’ll look over every title fight from across the combat sports landscape and give you the five best based on five criteria:
- Competitiveness: Is this an even matchup? Or just a warm body to throw at a champion? It’s a title fight, so we want the best possible at that division in that promotion.
- Excitement: How exciting will this fight be? A clash of two elite talents throwing everything they have at each other in an attempt to win the gold? Or a half-dead plod-fest devoid of action or risk?
- Juice: A sort of catch-all term for all the factors behind the matchup. Is there a story leading up to the match? A true rivalry? Anticipated rematch? Do the fighters dislike each other? Were the circumstances leading to the fight extraordinary, or was it just a promoter putting two names against each other? Is there a lot of excitement or hype going into it?
- Prestige: Applies to the belt itself, but also to the fighter wearing it. Is this a long-tenured champion defending? Is this an interim title or one that was vacated? Has the champion increased the prestige of the title or is this a fight that will increase the prestige of it?
- Viewing Ease: We all don’t mind suffering for our art (or hobbies), but sometimes paying twenty dollars for a choppy stream, or searching your cable plan for a channel you’re pretty sure was just invented three days ago in the 6000s isn’t the best of times. How easy, affordable, and stress-free is this bout to watch?
So here are your five best gold options for the weekend.
t4. Vacant WBO World/WBC Diamond Junior Middleweight Championships: Claressa Shields (9-0) vs. Ivana Habazin (20-3)
When/Where: Saturday, 9:00pm, Showtime
Competitiveness: 2: After a solid routing of Christina Hammer, which was the dream fight at middleweight, Shields is coming down in weight to junior middleweight to find better fights. The clear matchup that could concievably work is against Cecilia Braekhus.
Excitement: 2
Juice: 2: I appreciate that Showtime is fully committing to making Flint Shields’s home base. Bud Crawford in Omaha, Andre Ward in Oakland. Early in your career, it’s paramount to get a home base, especially for a niche audience as women’s boxing, before branching out to a national audience.
Prestige: 4
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 13
t4. WBO International Junior Bantamweight Championship: James Smith (13-2) vs. Jarico O’Quinn (12-0-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 9:00pm, Showtime
Competitiveness: 3
Excitement: 3
Juice: 2: It’s a nice little setup here for another local to win a title, as O’Quinn is born and raised in Detroit.
Prestige: 2: It’s a secondary title, but it’s the highest secondary title for the WBO. The current WBO champ at SuperFly? Kazuto Ioka.
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 13
3. Fight To Win 155lb Black Belt No-Gi Championship: Matheus Gabriel vs. Augusto Tanquinho Mendes
When/Where: Friday, 6:30pm, FloGrappling
Competitiveness: 5: Two of the best grapplers at lightweight tangle.
Excitement: 3
Juice: 1
Prestige: 3: A lot of the best grapplers in the world are on the come-down from the ADCCs and taking the week off, so it might take another week or two for the grappling scene to return.
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 15
t1. UFC Middleweight Championship: Robert Whittaker (c) (20-4) vs. Israel Adesanya (ic) (17-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 5: Two of the toughest, most exciting, and most dynamic fighters in the world locking horns in front of a rabid audience.
Excitement: 5
Juice: 2
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 2: High price tag for a 1.5 fight card.
Total: 19
t1. Vacant IBO/IBF World Middleweight Championships: Gennady Golovkin (39-1-1) vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 9:00pm, DAZN
Competitiveness: 3
Excitement: 4
Juice: 4: Interesting. GGG was stripped of this very IBF World Middleweight Championship in June of last year when he wouldn’t fight Derevyanchenko. Now, after the Canelo loss, Golovkin’s momentum is such that he really can’t say no anymore.
Prestige: 4: The IBO is whatever, but the IBF is a world championship, but one that was stripped of Golovkin when he wouldn’t fight *checks notes* oh, Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 19
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