Stop complaining about Interim title fights

For whatever reason this is one of those things that really, really bother hardcore fans. The way ya'll talk about them, you'd think they were a viral video of something bad happening to cute puppies, Christmas music in October, Star Wars prequels, rebooted films no one wanted, or perhaps worst of all, that moment you hear a new Meghan Trainor song. The very mention of them sends many hardcore fans into a frothing rage full of hyperbolic declarations that the sport is being diluted(These fights would exist anyway), that this is what killed boxing(no it isnt, and boxing isnt dead anyway), and that this destroys and delegitimizes belts(how?). The word FAKE appears in caps in the comments section more times in a story about an interim title more than it would in the comments below some libertyeagle dot freedom facebook article about how Obama invented AIDS in Kenya at a Clinton foundation sex party.

But I don't get it. I really don't. Why yall gotta be fun police?

What is the problem? In a literal sense, these belts are as "real" as any other belt. They physically exist in the same way. They get wrapped around a fighter by the same person in the same way. But most importantly, they are earned in the same way, by competing against a championship caliber opponent trying to cause concussive trauma inside the Octagon. They will forever adorn a fighter's resume of UFC championship accomplishments and will decorate their trophy case no different than another title.

Are they as significant as the undisputed title? Nope. This is why they are not called the undisputed title. That is a given. It is built into the name of the title itself. But listen, they are still awarded by the premier fighting organization ever after defeating another championship caliber contender. This is still a massive accomplishment.

How does it dilute anything really? These fights would be happening anyway. It changes the product in zero ways other than adding significance and intrigue to what was otherwise likely a number 1 contender bout. I mean, do yall really sit there and think during a regular championship fight "God this fight would have been great but Renan Barao and Frank Mir totally diluted everything during their interim reigns". No. You don't. No one does. You think it dilutes stuff, but it doesn't. Not even to you.

And this is nothing like what killed boxing. First off, boxing isn't dead. Secondly, what did dilute boxing was multiple organizations with multiple titles that wouldn't fight each other. Interim titles don't lead to that. These titles ideally do the exact opposite. Every interim champion ever has eventually either fought the champion eventually or been promoted to the undisputed champion if they never returned(The McGregor/Aldo situation is still in play so we don't know how this will pan out)

Champions have to defend their title. If a champion is unwilling or unable to defend his or her title, they have already delegitimized it themselves in another sense. For all the talk of divisions being held up, why reject the best and most obvious answer to that? Interim titles keep the divisions moving and allow contenders to get what they have earned. Conor McGregor is fantastic for the sport, and certainly deserves to be recognized as champion until he loses or is stripped, but his decision to fight in other weight classes was his own. He sacrificed a piece of his legitimacy as champion himself. And Aldo took it when he defeated Edgar. That is Conor's fault.

And speaking of Conor McGregor and the pile of interim title fights he has or might spawn. I am fine with them from a competitive standpoint anyway. I am far less concerned with an interim title delegitimizing the belt than I am with fighters like Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo, Max Holloway, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson not getting title fights they deserve. Aldo deserved an immediate title fight after his reign. Edgar had earned his shot and them some. Conor was busy building the sport with record breaking block busters, and that is fine, but they absolutely earned that title fight. And an Aldo/Edgar fight was worthy of a title anyway. It was a higher quality fight than many undisputed championship affairs in other weight classes.

Same is true of a hypothetical Khabib/Ferg fight. Based on resumes at the time of the bout, it would absolutely be the best, most accomplished most non title fight in UFC history if they were to fight with no belt on the line. A fighter on a 9 UFC fight win streak vs a fighter an an undefeated 24-0 win streak? That fight deserves special reverence anyway. More than just an entry on a wikipedia or sherdog page. That fight is next level sick. That shit is North Pole Cold. If Conor gonna Conor, let them boys fight for a secondary title. That fight still justifies it on its own merits.

Look, I don't always love interim titles in every situation either, especially if the champion can defend, but I am more concerned with fighters winning 10 fights and getting screwed out of title shots than I am with an interim title here or there.

I know many of you may think interim title fights are meaningless. But you know what, so are normal title fights. This is cage fighting in a purposeless universe that will eventually expand to the point everything will be swallowed by the void. Almost no one alive in 100 years will give a shit about you, me, Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, GSP's wall of titles or Carlos Condit's lil interim belt. Interim titles have as much meaning as you choose to give them. So fuck it, have some fun with it. They help the UFC salvage cards. They seem to value them. The fighters who do this for a living want them, and they seem to value them. And that is enough for me.

#StopInterimTitleShaming