The Business Sense of the Ultimate Fighting (Interim) Championship

Attention, UFC fans: the organization knows that you have been frustrated over the past few years with the way they have been handling their business. From a financial standpoint, and from a sporting standpoint, the UFC has made a lot of strides but have also taken a few steps back.

The UFC regrets any and all perceived mistakes or missteps the company has made in their quest in becoming the biggest sporting organization in the world (AKA “Global F*cking Domination”) and hopes to make everything right by giving you, the fans — the ones who have made the UFC what it is today and continue to support it through good times and bad — the one thing you’ve been asking for more than anything else:

More interim title fights!

What? I thought you guys liked those…

The subject of interim title fights always makes for an interesting discussion, as there are very few hardcore fans who like them, and the reason why is simple: we like seeing champions defend their belts. We want to see the best fight the best to determine who is…the bestest (?) and an interim championship being created comes with the implication that we aren’t getting that. We’re just getting two guys fighting for a belt that doesn’t prove they are the best in the weight class, and what’s the point in watching that?

In the past, there have been two main reasons the UFC has created interim championships. The first reason was due to injuries without a set timetable for the champion’s return, even though UFC was sure the champion did plan to return. This, in and of itself, is a controversial issue, since there’s no defined time for how long a champion should be out and still be allowed to be champion before they should be stripped of their title, hence the reason for creating of an interim championship. That way, the division can move forward with someone reigning at the top (who no one respects because they aren’t the “real” champion), and the UFC can continue to pussyfoot around the idea of taking the belt off a loyal, yet injured, fighter (It’s all right Dominick Cruz — at least you won it back, right?).

The other reason for an interim title, which doesn’t happen very often, is due to contract disputes. The biggest example of this was when Randy Couture, after winning and defending the UFC Heavyweight Championship, was absent from the organization through most of 2007 and 2008 because of various issues, the biggest of which was wanting to fight Fedor (C’mon, Rizin, book it already…). UFC didn’t want to strip Couture of the belt, even though they had every right to, because they thought he’d fight again, since he was still under contract. He did eventually fight again but UFC still created an interim belt while he was away, which gave us the unique scenario of seeing the heavyweight belt defended one month — Couture vs. Brock Lesnar — and the interim belt being defended the next — Frank Mir vs. Big Nog. That was awkward, to say the least.

Now, one can make the argument that neither of those are reasons to keep a belt on a champion, and it’s hard to disagree. If a champion can’t defend their belt for longer than what most of us can consider a reasonable amount of time, say a year, which is already a long time to hold a division up, then they should be stripped of their title so it can be awarded to someone who can stay healthy and active because they don’t destroy themselves in training on a regular basis.

The flip side to that, though, is that sticking to a rule like that isn’t always the most practical. Injuries happen. Very few fighters make it from one fight to the next relatively unscathed and, when a fighter is hurt, does it make more sense for them to take the fight and risk losing or giving a poor performance because they can’t fight at their best, or should they be allowed the time off they need to heal so they can come back at their best?

Plus, if UFC made a habit of stripping champions if they couldn’t defend their title on a regular basis, we’d probably end up seeing a lot of vacated belts and open title fights, and it wouldn’t look that good to a casual observer to see “VACANT” as the name of half the UFC champions. That’s some RFA level business right there. The UFC is better than that.

The casual fan is the biggest reason why the UFC will book interim title fights, much like the two that were just booked for UFC 197 and UFC 200, as they are the group of fans the organization really care about, unlike us loyal lunatics, since there’s no guarantee they’ll be back for the next event.

To us, an interim title fight is just a Plan B matchup that serves as nothing but a glorified Number One Contender’s bout. To the casual fans, it’s a title fight, and putting two men or women in a match and putting the word “Championship” on it, even if it’s for an interim belt, is still going to create more interest than if those two were fighting for nothing more than a bag of generic Reebok clothing.

Take the announced co-main event for UFC 200, for instance, where former UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo will rematch former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar for the Interim UFC Featherweight Championship. Despite the fact that both men have reigned supreme in the UFC, neither has become a strong drawing card by themselves. So, a standard fight between the two with nothing on the line would make for a big fight, but would that many people who don’t follow the sport be interested enough to pay money to see it? I would hope so, but I know the answer is not likely.

Putting the two in an interim title fight, though? Yeah, it doesn’t have the appeal of a full, undisputed title fight, but it still adds some level of appeal the fight wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s certainly unnecessary to add stakes to a fight that doesn’t need them (or should have them in the form of a full title fight) but it does give you a reason to watch if you were looking for one.

Of course, this ignores the fact that the reason this fight is happening at all is because Aldo and Edgar have refused to take a fight that isn’t for a championship and the UFC doesn’t want to take the title off of Conor McGregor, even though he’s healthy enough to defend the belt but doesn’t want to because he has to beat Nate Diaz and fight for a couple other championships before he even decides if he wants to fight at featherweight again, but at least the division won’t be entirely held up.

There’s less reason for the new main event of UFC 197 to exist, but there’s still a logical business sense behind it. It was just announced on Friday that Daniel Cormier is out of his upcoming title defense, against alleged drag racer Jon Jones, due to injury. It doesn’t sound like an injury that will keep him out for long but he’s definitely missing the show on April 23. Jones stated he wanted to stay on the show and fight at either light heavyweight or heavyweight and the UFC had to figure out what was the best way to handle the situation.

Apparently the best way to handle it was a fight with Ovince St. Preux for the Interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

That’s right, an interim title fight even though DC is probably going to be ready to fight again by late summer.

But, when DC is ready to fight, UFC will have a “Champion vs. Champion” fight to promote. Those are always fun fights to make and promote. It just sounds like a big deal, even if one of the two belts is nothing more than a decorative placeholder, but that’s why they put the word “Interim” on the fight poster in the smallest font they can find.

Should Jones be fighting for an interim belt? I don’t think so, although, in a way, I like the way things have turned out, as I think it benefits the DC vs. JJ rematch to have Jones take a fight first, just as a reminder of how dangerous he is, before he fights to become champion again. He doesn’t need a belt on his shoulder to prove he’s worthy of the fight, especially since he never lost the belt to begin with, but adding another belt to his mantle will give one more reason to watch the rematch. It’s adding stakes to a fight that doesn’t need it but more stakes are hardly a bad thing.

Well, unless you’re a vampire, maybe…

Plus, UFC needs to keep Jones in the main event. I mean, who else can they rely on to headline the Payperview? Demetrious Johnson? Yeah, right.

So, whether interim championships are good for the sport or bad, and it can be argued both ways, the fact of the matter is UFC still sees a use for them and will continue to utilize them, in the hope they keep divisions active while champions are away and can create an extra level of intrigue (and an extra few zeroes to the buyrate) when those champions are ready to return to defend their thrones from their usurpers.

It’s a win-win for everyone. Well, in theory. And not so much for OSP.

Sorry, bud. Thanks for stepping up, though. Really appreciate it…

Evan Zivin has been writing for 411 MMA since May of 2013. Evan loves the sport, and likes to takes a lighthearted look at the world of MMA in his writing…usually.