Tom Aspinall fights the number 1 contender Curtis Blaydes this weekend at UFC 304. Even if he wins, he still won't be the undisputed champion despite winning two "interim" title fights in a row. In fact, there is nobody on planet earth that he can currently fight to win the title of UFC Heavyweight Champion because Jon Jones refuses to fight him. This is unprecedented in the UFC and calls into question two major factors that need to be discussed.
The first question is, should there even be an interim champion? The UFC created interim championships back in 2003 to keep divisions moving and give the fighters something to work towards if a champion were to be injured and require a lengthy recovery. While this helps protect athletes legacies by never outright losing their belts while they recover and find an opponent, this hurts the sport as a whole. Injuries suck but they are part of life for everyone. Imagine if a major league, like the NFL, protected teams like the UFC does fighters. If Patrick Mahomes suffers a season ending surgery but the Chiefs are the defending champs, then they automatically remain champions and the rest of the league can play for the Interim Lombardi Trophy. Jon Jones has not fought in over 500 days, yet has retained his belt, halting the entire division for what will likely be around two years.
The next question is, should the champion be forced to fight the interim champion in his first fight back? The answer is easy, yes! This is typically the case except for a few outliers. Aspinall will have already defended his belt against an opponent before Jon steps a foot in the ring. Jones insists that he fight Stipe, and while I have no problem with the fight itself, it should not be allowed to happen before he faces Aspinall. Having two champions fighting in the same division but not each other severely cheapens both of their titles. Any fight outside of Interim vs Undisputed is meaningless and defeats the purpose of having an interim champion. It would be like putting a book mark in the book you're reading and when you return you blindly open the book to whatever page you want.
What's the solution? I believe there are two courses of action the UFC can and should take moving forward to avoid having this headache again. Option 1 is getting rid of interim champions completely. Option 2 is setting a 365 day limit on champions to return to fight and if they do not return, they will be stripped of their belt and it will go to the winner of the Interim Champion vs the #1 Contender. In addition, the champion MUST face the interim champion in their first fight back as their can't be two belts in the same division simultaneously.
What do you think? I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments!
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