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?
1. UFC Lightweight Championship: Eddie Alvarez (c) (28-4) vs. Conor McGregor (20-3)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 5: If these two just decide to box each other up, this is a FOTY contender.
Juice: 4: Not Aldo or Diaz-level, but McGregor makes sure he gets your buys.
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 23
2. Bellator Welterweight Championship: Andrey Koreshkov (c) (19-1) vs. Douglas Lima (27-6)
When/Where: Friday, 9:00pm, Spike TV
Competitiveness: 5: Despite Koreshkov earning two 50-45s from the judges last time they fought, I think this bout will be tighter and Lima is better than he showed that night.
Excitement: 4
Juice: 3: Rematch here, as Lima attempts to get his belt back from the man that took it from him by a pretty decent margain.
Prestige: 4
Viewing Ease: 5
Total: 21
3. UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship: Joanna Jedrzejczyk (c) (12-0) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 4
Excitement: 4
Juice: 3: On the surface, you’d think not much, but dig a little further, and you’ll find out that they’ve fought once before, in an amateur tournament in Poland in 2012 which Joanna won in the finals over Kowalkiewicz with a rear-naked choke. Joanna Violence via submission? That’s right. Throw in some dashes of JJ’s usual trash talk, and you’ve got some spice here.
Prestige: 5: Jedrzejczyk is really doing fantastic things for this belt. It’s getting Ronda-levels of prestige for whoever knocks her off.
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 20
4. WBA World Bantamweight Championship: Jamie McDonnell (c) (28-2-1) vs. Liborio Solis (25-4-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 4:00pm, HBO
Competitiveness: 4: Solis is a former junior bantamweight champion and gave Shinsuke Yamanaka a scare for the bantamweight world title, but McDonnell is still a level or two better.
Excitement: 4
Juice: 1: Unfortunately, it’s not even main-eventing its own card to a secondary-title heavyweight bout.
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 18
5. UFC Welterweight Championship: Tyron Woodley (c) (16-3) vs. Stephen Thompson (13-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 3: I still have a hard time buying Wonderboy as a world title contender, and no, defeating the corpose of Johny Hendricks didn’t sell me.
Excitement: 3: Woodley is, maybe, the most unpredictable fighter in the world. He’s prone to both delivering and succumbing to blistering knockouts, or he’ll slowly, methodically grind it out. I like MMA wrestling more than most, but it’s not everyone’s bag.
Juice: 2
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 17
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