It feels like the build up has been years in the making, but come December 12th at UFC 194, we will finally get the long-awaited match-up between the Interim Featherweight Champion, Conor McGregor, and longtime Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo. The UFC seems intent on selling this match-up as a unification of McGregor’s interim title with Aldo’s undisputed title, but anyone who’s paying attention can see this unification match-up for what it really is; great marketing.
Dana White once said that interim titles are used for when the UFC doesn’t have a timetable, usually because of injury, on a champion’s return. A good example of a time when the UFC appropriately did this would be after the numerous injuries to Dominick Cruz. Cruz had suffered consecutive ACL tears and was no longer able to defend his title, so the UFC made the only logical move and held an interim title fight between the top two contenders, Uriah Faber and Renan Barao. Barao won, and defended the interim belt twice before dropping the interim qualifier and being promoted to the full undisputed Bantamweight Champion. The circumstances surrounding Cruz and Barao warranted an interim belt due to the uncertain future of the division.
But the UFC’s latest interim championship situation with McGregor does not draw any parallels to that of Cruz and Barao. McGregor was scheduled to challenge Aldo for the title in July this year, before Aldo pulled out of the fight, citing a rib injury. In response to Aldo pulling out of the fight, Dana White kept McGregor in the main event of UFC 189, and matched him up against top contender, Chad Mendes, and announced that the fight would be for the new Interim Featherweight Championship. McGregor of course won and has since carried the title of Interim Featherweight Champion.
Now, I have no doubt that the move by the UFC to announce an interim title fight between McGregor and Mendes at UFC 189 did help sell PPV buys, and will help sell the upcoming fight between McGregor and Aldo, but it wasn’t a move that made any sense. To begin with, White publicly stated that he doubted the legitimacy of Aldo’s rib injury, saying that he believed Aldo did not have a rib injury, but instead had difficulty making weight. If the UFC believed that Aldo really was well enough to fight, then they couldn’t have believed that his injury would put him out long enough to warrant an interim champion.
So if the UFC didn’t believe Aldo would be out long, why create an interim champ? The only logical answer is to help sell PPV’s, meaning that the interim belt is truly pointless. Yes, McGregor has a championship belt, but he’s certainly not a champion yet.
McGregor and the faux interim featherweight title
Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan said of the situation, “Let’s be honest. McGregor has an illegitimate belt. It’s a made up belt…. But, because of the marketing, because of the hype behind it, because of the huge event, the enormity, the economics of the event, they decide to make [McGregor vs. Mendes] an interim fight.”
Perhaps interim belts do increase PPV buys, but their consistent and unnecessary use could ultimately hurt the legitimacy of the UFC. McGregor may be a great fighter, and he may well be the next Featherweight Champion, but right now, his belt is as real as a WWE belt.
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