I’ve been seeing a increasing number of posts and threads regarding the dismissal of championship belts in the UFC. Multiple posters have said that the UFC would be better off just making good match ups consistently. To address this I would say you have no sense of business, the UFC needs something tangible to elect someone as the best fighter in each weight class and to have the proclaimed best fighter defend his championship belt against the other best fighters in the division, one after another to validate his or her claim to being “the best”, or the champ. Casual fans need to know who that person is, that’s what sells big fights and makes the organization money.
I’ve also seen more than a few people claim a bracketed style tournament anually or bianually would be a better way of determining who the champion of each weight class is. We have enough injuries as it is to mess up big fights, now we want an multiple fights being held up because one of the victors of the previous round is unable to present him or herself at the next scheduled date of the tournament due to an injury? It will only get worse
It truly baffles me that a forum filled with some of the most passionate and knowledgeable fans in the world would seem to be under the impression that these practices could work nearly as good or even better than the current set up the UFC has going now. The belt system is great, it’s how combat sports work, this isn’t football or baseball or tennis, it has to be managed differently and it is. The only thing that could possibly be done is to require champions to defend against the actual number 1 contenders in order to validate the authenticity of the belt and what it symbolizes.