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. Vacant WBC Diamond Welterweight Championship: Mikey Garcia (39-1) vs. Jessie Vargas (29-2-2) [Matchroom on DAZN]
When/Where: Saturday, 8:00pm, DAZN
Competitiveness: 4
Excitement: 3
Juice: 2: There’s not much bad blood or not much on the line, here, title-wise, or rankings-wise. What is on the line is after that complete egg Garcia laid about Errol Spence, is whether or not he can hang at welterweight, or even bigger, whether his game is still there. If he can’t hang against someone like Vargas, who is extremely game, but nowhere near the natural talent of Garcia, he has to re-evaluate more than one thing about himself.
Prestige: 1: This was a garbage trinket given to Manny Pacquiao in 2009. It means literally nothing, it’s never been defended, and it’s a weird WBA-esque move to give out “thank you!” titles.
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 14
4. WBC World Flyweight Championship: Julio Cesar Martinez (c) (15-1) vs. Jay Harris (17-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 8:00pm, DAZN
Competitiveness: 3: Harris is a secondary IBF champ, but he still feels a little like cannon fodder for Martinez, and not quite world-title level. He’s also never fought outside the UK.
Excitement: 4
Juice: 1
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4: DAZN wins the weekend, and it’s not particularly close.
Total: 17
3. Glory Featherweight Championship: Petchpanomrung Kiatmuu9 (c) (163-36-3) vs. Serhiy Adamchuk (40-11)
When/Where: Saturday, 3:00pm, UFC Fight Pass
Competitiveness: 4: A little high, seeing as how Adamchuk has lost twice to Petch, but these are still two of the best featherweights in the world.
Excitement: 2
Juice: 4: Adamchuk lost his title to Kiatmuu last February, and previously lost to him in the featherweight contender finals at Glory 39 in March of 2017. Will Petch put a definitive end to the rivalry here? Or will Adamchuk win his title back at set up a Round 4?
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 19
2. Vacant UFC Flyweight Championship: Deiveson Figueiredo (17-1) vs. Joseph Benavidez (28-5)
When/Where: Saturday, 8:00pm, ESPN+
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 4
Juice: 3: You could make an argument that Joe B is the best fighter in the UFC to never win a world title. Except for a wonky split-decision loss to Sergio Pettis, Benavidez hasn’t lost to a fighter not named Demetrious Johnson SINCE TWO-THOUSAND TEN! Almost TEN GODDAMNED YEARS. He’s never going to have a better shot at gold than right now.
Prestige: 4: It’ll always be Demetrious Johnson’s belt to me. He was robbed of it, than unceremoniously dumped for Ben Aksren, who is now retired.
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 20
1. WBA World Junior Bantamweight Championship: Khalid Yafai (c) (26-0) vs. Roman Gonzalez (48-2)
When/Where: Saturday, 8:00pm, DAZN
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 5: Junior Bantamweight, a.k.a. “SuperFly”, maybe the most exciting division in boxing.
Juice: 3: Chocolatito was in the argument for the P4P king before Srisaket Sor Rungvisai stunned him in back-to-back fights, the latter being a knockout, both in 2017. Since then, Gonzalez has been climbing back, and this is his first title challenge since then.
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 22
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