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 matches 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? 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.
1. WBC/WBO World Junior Welterweight Championships: Terence Crawford (c) (28-0) vs. Viktor Postol (c) (28-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 9:00, Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 4: I’d give it a 3.5 if I could. Yes, this is a title unification, and one of the best fights Crawford could have, but he’s still in another league.
Excitement: 5
Juice: 3
Prestige: 5: Love me some title unifications. One true champ!
Viewing Ease: 3: Man, I love Bud as a fighter and he seems like a good dude, but I’m not sold on him as a PPV headliner. Regardless, I hope it does well and Bud becomes a superstar, but MAN, would this look great on HBO.
Total: 20
2. Glory Featherweight Championship: Serhiy Adamchuk (c) (33-5) vs. Gabriel Varga (12-3)
When/Where: Friday, 10:00, ESPN2/ESPN3
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 3: Two technical fighters that don’t have a ton of pop between them
Juice: 3
Prestige: 4: The featherweight title doesn’t quite have the luster as the lightweight or heavyweight titles mostly because the division isn’t there yet.
Viewing Ease: 5: Got TV option, and have a live option for the cord-cutters. Win/win!
Total: 20
3. Vacant WBO World Featherweight Championship: Matias Carlos Adrian Rueda (26-0) vs. Oscar Valdez (19-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 9:00, Pay-Per-View
Competitiveness: 3: Make no mistake, despite the records, this is Oscar Valdez’s coming out party.
Excitement: 5: Hold onto your butts, this is going to be fast and furious.
Juice: 1
Prestige: 3
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 15
4. Vacant Legacy Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight Championship: Robert Drysdale (6-0) vs. Ryan Spann (9-2)
When/Where: Friday, 10:00, AXS
Competitiveness: 2: Drysdale is a BJJ legend, and is undefeated in MMA. Unless Spann has Mark Hunt knockout power, we know how this is going to go.
Excitement: 4: You’re promised at the very least, a death-grip scramble, in which a Jiu Jitsu icon tries to lock in something while Spann does everything short of hitting him with a tackhammer to avoid it.
Juice: 1
Prestige: 2
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 13
5. WBC World Female Flyweight Championship: Jessica Chavez (c) (26-4-3) vs. Esmeralda Moreno (33-8-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 7:00, Untelevised
Competitiveness: 3: This is a rematch of a 2011 fight where Moreno defeated Chavez. Since then, Chavez has gone 16-1-1. She’s the best female flyweight boxer in the world, and while Moreno is still a damned good boxer, Chavez is on another level.
Excitement: 2: Not a lot of pop between these two whatsoever. Chavez is going to outpoint her and good.
Juice: 3
Prestige: 2
Viewing Ease: 1
Total: 11
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