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? Anticipatd 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.
1. 2016 Olympic Judo Finals
When/Where: Saturday/Sunday, 2:30pm, NBCOlympics.com
Competitiveness: 5: The highest level of judokas on the planet.
Excitement: 4
Juice: 2
Prestige: 5: It’s a freaking Olympic gold medal.
Viewing Ease: 5: Even if you can’t catch it live, they’ll be on tape delay on NBC Sports that night, as well as countless replays across the entire NBC/Universal family of networks. You’ll find it.
Total: 21
2. Titan Fighting Championship Lightweight Championship: Gesias Cavalcante (c) (20-8-1) vs. Freddy Assuncao (9-1)
When/Where: Friday, 8:00pm, UFC Fight Pass
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 3: Depends which JZ shows up, fun grappling JZ, or shitty kickboxing JZ.
Juice: 1
Prestige: 2
Viewing Ease: 4: I’m not sure what it says about the UFC that the best part of Fight Pass is the fact that it has tons of other promotions.
Total: 15
3. 2016 North American Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament
When/Where: Saturday/Sunday, 12:00pm, FloGrappling
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 3
Juice: 1
Prestige: 2: Sure, it’s not an IBJJF tournament, or the Mundials, but they’ve been doing it for twelve years, so it’s a solid competition.
Viewing Ease: 3: FloCombat keeps looking like a better and better deal. Hell, just for Fight To Win by itself, but they’re offering more and more.
Total: 14
4. SuperKombat Super Cruiserweight Championship: Jorge Loren (c) (80-17-4) vs. Ionut Iftimoaie (14-6-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 2:00pm, Sport.ro
Competitiveness: 2: This is a retirement fight for Iftimoaie, who is loved in Romania, but not so well-known worldwide. He hasn’t fought in over three and-a-half years. Meanwhile, just three fights ago, Loren TKO’d Andrei Stoica. This should be a rout.
Excitement: 3
Juice: 3: I’m a sucker for retirement fights. A fighter emptying the tank of everything they have for the last time.
Prestige: 3
Viewing Ease: 2
Total: 13
5. WBO NABO Junior Welterweight Championship: Maurice Hooker (c) (20-0-2) vs. Ty Barnett (23-4-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 10:35, HBO/HBO Latino
Competitiveness: 3
Excitement: 2
Juice: 1
Prestige: 1: It’s a secondary title, but it’s the biggest televised title opportunity of the entire weekend.
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 11
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