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?
5. WBC World Minimumweight Championship: Chayaphon Moonsri (c) (53-0) vs. Simpiwe Konkco (19-5)
When/Where: Friday, Untelevised
Competitiveness: 4
Excitement: 2
Juice: 1
Prestige: 5: It’s a world championship where the titleholder IS FIFTY-THREE AND OH.
Viewing Ease: 1: Absurd. I know Thai boxing doesn’t get the respect it deserves, but come the fuck on, here.
Total: 13
4. OneFC Kickboxing Lightweight World Championship: Regian Eersel (c) (19-4) vs. Nieky Holzken (92-15)
When/Where: Friday, 8:30am, OneFC App
Competitiveness: 4: Eersel won their first bout by unanimous decision, but Nieky showed enough fire late that you wanted to see a sixth round.
Excitement: 3
Juice: 3: Eersel and Holzken faced each other in May for the inaugural OneFC Kickboxing Lightweight strap, which Eersel won fairly cleanly, but between Nieky coming on strong late, and a maybe, kind-of, maybe-not low knee, ONE apparently found enough to run it back immediately. Or maybe they just REALLY want Nieky to have gold. Wouldn’t surprise me after their nonsense with Giorgio Petrosyan in their grand prix.
Prestige: 3
Viewing Ease: 5
Total: 18
3. Vacant WBO World Featherweight Championship: Joet Gonzalez (23-0) vbs. Shakur Stevenson (12-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, ESPN+
Competitiveness: 4
Excitement: 4: Joet puts guys down. Not TKOs, but KOs, and a lot. He won’t with Shakur, but he’ll go for it.
Juice: 3: See below.
Prestige: 4: It’s vacant because Oscar Valdez didn’t want to face his mandatory, which was Shakur, so he moved up a weight class. Coward.
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 19
t1. World Boxing Super Series Finals/WBA Super World Junior Welterweight Championship/IBF World Junior Welterweight Championship: Josh Taylor (c) (15-0) vs. Regis Prograis (c) (24-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 2:00pm, DAZN
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 4
Juice: 4: See below.
Prestige: 5: I mean, c’mon, you know I’m all the freaking way here for tournaments and title unifications, and this has BOTH
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 22
t1. Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix Finals/Bellator Welterweight Championship: Rory MacDonald (c) (21-5-1) vs. Douglas Lima (31-7)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, DAZN
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 4: Look, I have no goddamned idea what’s going to happen, here. RoryMac hasn’t looked good, and his newfound faith, while good for him and his family, has cast a strange pall over his fights. He doesn’t want to hurt people. Ok. Cool. Thing is…Douglas Lima wants to. Maybe moreso than any fighter in the world. Since losing to Rory, Lima has put out Andrey Koreshkov with a choke and made Michael Page a meme with an unbelievable knockout. Douglas Lima wants to hurt people, and he’s going to be pissed after his last loss, and because Rory has turned into Pedro Serrano in Major League 2, I don’t know how this will go, but Lima will seize any opportunity to exploit a weakness in mind, body, or soul.
Juice: 4: It’s the finals of Bellator’s Welterweight Grand Prix concluding with the rematch everyone wanted to see. It’s awesome, awesome shit.
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 22
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