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.
5. WBO International Featherweight Championship: Ruben Villa (c) (17-0) vs. Alexei Collado (26-2)
When/Where: Friday, 10:00pm, Showtime
Competitiveness: 4: Between Villa and Michel Rivera, it’s a weekend of dudes barely old-enough to drink taking on the biggest tests of their young careers.
Excitement: 3
Juice: 1
Prestige: 2
Viewing Ease: 2: Look at Showtime! Banging out weekly shows for over a month now! Not going gently into that good night like HBO!
Total: 12
4. Interim IBF Women’s World Featherweight Championship: Brenda Karen Carabajal (c) (16-4-1) vs. Sarah Mahfoud (9-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 1:00pm, Fite TV
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 2
Juice: 3: With Jennifer Han returning from having a child, it’s time to finally unify these bad boys!
Prestige: 4
Viewing Ease: 2: Don’t love the $16.99 price tag, but unlike the Makabu-Cieslak title fight, at least I have the option to buy it.
Total: 16
t2. KASAI Pro World Heavyweight Championship
When/Where: Saturday, 6:45pm, FloGrappling
Competitiveness: 5: It’s an eight-man tournament featuring some of the best grapplers in the world. Cyborg Abreu, Bruno Bastos, Vinny Magalhaes, and Hulk Barbosa amongst others.
Excitement: 5: If grappling is your thing, you’re in shangri-la in this tournament.
Juice: 1
Prestige: 2
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 17
t2. Vacant WBC World Cruiserweight Championship: Ilunga Makabu (26-2) vs. Michal Cieslak (19-0)
When/Where: Friday, Untelevised
Competitiveness: 4
Excitement: 5
Juice: 2
Prestige: 5: This is the belt that Oleksandr Usyk vacated to go up to heavyweight. But Makabu is the WBC Silver champion, so it’s a legit matchup and that makes sense.
Viewing Ease: 1: Odd that we have a major men’s world championship and not a single legit stream for it.
Total: 17
1. ONE Strawweight Championship: Joshua Pacio (c) (16-3) vs. Alex Silva (9-4)
When/Where: Friday, 6:30am, ONE App
Competitiveness: 4
Excitement: 5: Pacio’s last five finishes: Arm-Triangle Choke, Head Kick KO, Hammerlock, Rear-Naked Choke, Spinning Back Fist KO against a man who claims the majority of his wins by armbar or kneebar.
Juice: 3: ONE’s strawweight MMA title (which is a 125lb limit, so it’s flyweight to North American promotions) is one of the most competitive divisions they have, and Pacio is a two-time champion of that title. Silva, meanwhile, held the title for over five months a couple years ago.
Prestige: 3
Viewing Ease: 5
Total: 20
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