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. Lion Fight World Cruiserweight Championship: Chip Moraza-Pollard (c) (10-0) vs. Kongjak Po Baoin (160-72-8)
When/Where: Saturday, 8:00pm, CBS Sports
Competitiveness: 4
Excitement: 4: Moraza-Pollard is inexperienced but a ton of fun.
Juice: 1
Prestige: 3
Viewing Ease: 3: I miss the Lion Fight on AXS Fights days, but a legit sports outlet like CBS broadcasting combat sports is a good thing in the long run.
Total: 15
4. Enfusion 75kg World Championship: Endy Semeleer (c) (18-2) vs. Marouan Toutouh (49-5)
When/Where: Saturday, 2:45pm, EnfusionLive.com
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 2
Juice: 3: Surprisingly, there’s some. In 2017, Semeleer won Enfusion’s 72.5kg tournament, and came into 2018’s ready to defend his crown. His matchup in the quarterfinals? You guessed it, Marouan Toutouh. Semeleer won, but was unable to continue due to injury. So Toutouh lucks out and gets to move on, and what does he do? Knocks out his next opponent, Cedric Do, while Semeleer is sidelined. He makes it to the finals against the legendary Superbon Banchamek and takes him the distance before losing via unanimous decision. Now, six months later, Emeleer faces the man again whose place he took in the finals while he was unable to attempt to be back-to-back tournament champion.
Prestige: 3
Viewing Ease: 3: Twelve bucks isn’t bad for an Enfusion card, but this one is pretty desolate.
Total: 16
t2. WBO World Featherweight Championship: Oscar Valdez (c) (25-0) vs. Jason Sanchez (14-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, ESPN
Competitiveness: 2: Very confused by this matchup. Sanchez is unbeaten, 24 years old, only fourteen fights in, and he’s being fed to the buzzsaw. He’s nowhere near ready for this.
Excitement: 5: Valdez is always worth the price of admission and more. Sanchez seems like a willing participant.
Juice: 1
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 17
t2. Vacant UFC Bantamweight Championship: Henry Cejudo (14-2) vs. Marlon Moraes (22-5-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, ESPN+ Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 5: Really happy for Moraes. He’s always been a hell of a fighter, and after a stumble at the starting line of his UFC career, is getting a chance to show what he’s all about it.
Excitement: 4
Juice: 1
Prestige: 4: Your champion being stripped for PEDs and given a two-year suspension tends to take a little shine off of the belt.
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 17
1. UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship: Valentina Shevchenko (c) (16-3) vs. Jessica Eye (14-6)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, ESPN+ Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 4
Excitement: 2: No. Watching Eye fight is horrible. She’ll ugly up any fight and lead it to a controversial split-decision. Yuck.
Juice: 4: A division seemingly created for Joanna Jedrzejczyk only for her to fail in that attempt needs some building up, and more importantly, needs some better challengers.
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 18
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