Opinion: Good Riddance

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The announcement that Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira will be facing one another for the soon-to-be-vacant lightweight title signaled an end to the champ-champ era in the UFC. There were reasons to believe the Ultimate Fighting Championship had decided to move on earlier, as Topuria was required to vacate the featherweight crown before being given the green light to move up to 155 pounds to fight for a new belt. With two champions vacating their thrones to move up—one of them considered by many to be the current top pound-for-pound fighter in the world—it feels safe to say the page has officially been turned on fighters being given the opportunity to hold two belts simultaneously.

I’ve never made any secret of my feelings on fighters holding two belts. I’ve always hated it. Not that I don’t understand the desires of those being given the opportunity to hold two belts. It’s quite an accomplishment, something many all-time greats haven’t achieved. Randy Couture? Georges St. Pierre? Jon Jones? They may have held belts in two different divisions, but none of them held two belts at once. Conor McGregor did, as did Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier. However, if we’re talking about pure accomplishment, which trio has done more? McGregor, Cejudo and Cormier are a fine trio from a historical context, but Couture, St. Pierre and Jones are undoubtedly superior.

Besides, given that McGregor, Cejudo and Cormier never bothered to return to the lighter weight class after picking up the second belt, were they really defending champions in two divisions? I posit that answer is a hard no. In fact, the only double champ who managed to simultaneously defend two belts was Amanda Nunes, who benefitted from reigning over the two shallowest divisions in the sport. Not to take anything away from Nunes—good luck finding anyone who believes she isn’t the greatest female fighter of all-time—but there isn’t anyone ready to proclaim the likes of Felicia Spencer and Megan Anderson to be a murderer’s row. Had Nunes focused solely on bantamweight, who or what would have added to her resume? Maybe a rematch with Holly Holm? Or Raquel Pennington? Perhaps a contest with Ketlen Vieira? Realistically, those were the only divisions in which anyone could have managed to be a double champ and get away with it.

For all the good McGregor did for the sport—he did bring a lot of new eyeballs—he also has hurt it by establishing the precedence of being a double champion. He fought Nate Diaz twice before taking the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez. After McGregor won the lightweight title, he showed zero interest in defending the featherweight crown. In the process, the division was put on hold for a full year. After that, he put the lightweight division on hold for a year and a half.

I understand in both cases the UFC created interim championships. Jose Aldo was promoted to the official featherweight champion after the UFC stripped McGregor, but I would have much preferred to see them rematch each other. Aldo was disrespected by the UFC by not being given an opportunity to regain the belt from the man who took it from him following a dominant six-year reign as champion. Furthermore, McGregor neglecting the lightweight division likely ensured Tony Ferguson would never fight for the actual lightweight championship and forced him instead to settle for a pair of interim title fights. Ferguson did win one of those contests—it occurred during McGregor’s inactive reign—but there’s a stigma to only being an interim champion. Ask Carlos Condit or Ciryl Gane.

The pursuit of double champions nearly killed off the men’s flyweight division, too. T.J. Dillashaw attempted to win the flyweight title as the reigning bantamweight champion at a time when the UFC was looking to contract the 125-pound weight class. Does anyone believe he would have hung around to defend that title had he won it? Not that he would have had the opportunity—he was soon stripped of the bantamweight title due to a positive test for blood doping—but would that have been any better? Wouldn’t the division being without a champion have been more of an excuse to dispose of it?

Despite turning away Dillashaw, Cejudo didn’t necessarily help matters. He had no desire to defend the flyweight title after he defeated Dillashaw. His logic was that he beat the bantamweight champion at 125 pounds, so shouldn’t that give him the right to challenge for the bantamweight title? Fair logic, and it did translate into his holding both titles simultaneously—and ignoring the flyweight division. Perhaps the UFC wouldn’t have accelerated its plans to kill the division if it had an active champion. Granted, the division did ultimately survive, but not before the promotion cut almost everyone in it, including future flyweight champion Brandon Moreno.

What did the champ-champ era provide aside from some nice photographs of four notable fighters holding two belts at once? Only the holding up of the lighter weight class in which the champion held the title. While that wasn’t necessarily the case with Nunes, all she really managed to do was keep the women’s featherweight division on life support. After she won the title, the only fight that made sense was a rematch with Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Justino. Unfortunately, the relationship with “Cyborg” and the UFC was so bad at the time that she just wanted to finish out her contract and go somewhere else, meaning there would be no rematch. In the process, there was no longer any interest in the division. Thus, while some could say Nunes’ dual reign kept the women’s featherweight division alive, I’m not sure that was a positive. There’s a reason the weight class is now defunct.

In the end, it only makes sense that the UFC returned to its senses and closed the avenue for fighters to become simultaneous champions. Given that combat sports represent the ultimate high-risk endeavor, it only makes sense that a champion has to take a major risk in giving up a title to fight for a different one. It’s only fair to those making their way up. If only the UFC could figure out a way for Jones to show some sort of appreciation for the fans.