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.
t1. Vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Alexander Gustafsson (18-4) vs. Jon Jones (22-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 5: I had the first fight a draw, but regardless of what I scored it, this was the toughest fight of Jones’s career, and many scored it for Gus.
Excitement: 5
Juice: 5
Prestige: 4: Should be a 5, was the original marquee division in the UFC, but Jones’s fuckery and constant dropping his title, along with the shallowest division in the UFC, makes this a division that needs some serious rehabbing.
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 22
t1. UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship: Cris Cyborg (c) (20-1) vs. Amanda Nunes (16-4)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:00pm, Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 5
Juice: 4: Champion vs. Champion! The legit best female featherweight and bantamweight in the world slugging it out. Fantastic.
Prestige: 5: BOY, did the Women’s Featherweight title get off on a rocky start, eh? But now it’s on the woman it needs to be on, the best female featherweight ever, and the best female fighter ever, arguably, and she’s in her most competitive title fight ever.
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 22
3. WBO World Junior Lightweight Championship: Masayuki Ito (c) (24-1-1) vs. Evgeny Chuprakov (20-0)
When/Where: Sunday, 5:00am, ESPN+
Competitiveness: 4: Ito is a better fighter with a better slate, but Chuprakov isn’t a can, he’s a legit contender. Still, I think this is a showcase for Ito.
Excitement: 2
Juice: 1
Prestige: 5: Vasyl held this strap for a year, and once he vacated it, Ito claimed it, and this is his first defense.
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 15
t4. WBC World Junior Flyweight Championship: Ken Shiro (c) (14-0) vs. Saul Juarez (24-8-2)
When/Where: Sunday, 5:00am, ESPN+
Competitiveness: 2: Juarez is 1-4-1 in his last six. He’s a fine boxer, but this is a showcase for Shiro.
Excitement: 3
Juice: 1
Prestige: 5: This is Shiro’s division. Ever since he beat Ganigan Lopez, and again in the rematch, he’s shown that he is the man of the house at 108.
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 14
t4. Interim WBC World Bantamweight Championship: Takuma Inoue (12-0) vs. Tasana Salapat (48-0)
When/Where: Sunday, 5:00am, ESPN+
Competitiveness: 3: Salapat is one of those Thai fighters that can be 273-1 without facing a real fighter, so disregard his record. This is the toughest fight of his career.
Excitement: 2
Juice: 2: Luis Neery was stripped of his title after missing weight, so it appears the WBC is putting up Inoue-Salapat and Oubaali-Warren to crown their new champion.
Prestige: 4
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 14
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