Opinion: Why the UFC Should Fast-Track More Fighters into Title Shots

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

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A title belt in the Ultimate Fighting Championship is one of the most grueling prizes a professional athlete can pursue. It takes years of discipline and training even to be signed by the organization, and once your foot is in the door, the hard work truly begins. From being an unranked prospect to a Top 15 contender, you’ll likely have to clear out most of the division before you even get a title shot … If you ever get one (ask Beneil Dariush about that).

But let’s say you pull it off. The crowd is cheering your name; Bruce Buffer has just belted “And the new,” here comes Dana White with that gorgeous piece of gold-encrusted leather. Everything you’ve worked for throughout your entire career has led up to this moment. But like many titleholders in the UFC, you now have a nagging question at the front of your cortex: Now what?

Too many champions in the UFC have faced a similar problem. On the route to the title, they’ve had to defeat so many contenders by the time they’re champion, there’s nobody left to fight. The champion has essentially earned the right to be inactive when it should be the other way around. The champion should be the most active fighter in the division.

The UFC has done its due diligence to rectify this problem in recent years. This Saturday, Japanese superstar and former Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion Kai Asakura will make his promotional debut against reigning flyweight kingpin Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 310 in Las Vegas. If he wins, the flyweight division gets a new champion with many interesting contenders on his tail, bringing me to my thesis. The UFC should continue fast-tracking more fighters into title fights and force the champion to defend the belt against rising contenders.

While Asakura’s opportunity is good for the division, I’m not saying newly signed fighters should contend for the belt in their first or second fights in the Octagon. The UFC has done this before, and it didn’t play out well. Frank Trigg and Joe Soto could’ve used some more seasoning before their title shots, and you don’t want a roster full of disgruntled vets being passed up by the new guy, but let’s look at some of the top champions in the organization right now.

Alex Pereira is arguably UFC's most valuable belt holder right now. He made his debut in November of 2021, and 371 days later, he was a champion. Imagined had he gone the traditional route? He might’ve been 30-27 by a skilled wrestler, and we would’ve never gotten the Israel Adesanya classics. Some fans were angry when he got a shot at the light heavyweight title in his second fight in the division but look at him now. Four straight finishes and fans worldwide chanting “Chama” in the streets. The world moves fast, and the UFC needs to move faster.

To bounce off Pereira, this strategy can work well even in defeat. When do you see a No. 8 contender ever fight for the title? But that happened when Khalil Rountree challenged Pereira for the belt in October. Fans rolled their eyes, but Rountree delivered a performance that elevated the status of both men. Now he has intriguing potential matchups in place, and Pereira’s status has grown even higher because fans have seen him challenged. Rountree might even earn himself a rematch at some point.

At the end of the day, fans want to see fights with stakes, but there are no higher stakes than when the belt is on the line. The lightweight division is arguably the most talented in the entire organization. Still, it's dead because it has a champion who’s deadset on watching the division tear itself apart for the right to face him when you pit the No. 1 contender against the No. 3 contender on a UFC Fight Night card that’s terrible matchmaking. We had to watch Max Holloway extinguish promising contenders for years before they could reach Alexander Volkanovski.

The heavyweight division is a joke right now, clinging for life on the possibility of one fight because Jon Jones believes Tom Aspinall hasn’t done enough to contend for a title. Imagine if the heavyweight champion of the world defended his belt against fighters with a pulse instead of turning the responsibility of champion into a meager option.

We have so many champions trying to move up and win another belt because they think they don’t have to defend the belt unless it’s against a No. 1 contender who’s done the heavy lifting for them. Not every title fight needs to be years in the making. Make the champion active again, and the stars will present themselves given the opportunity.