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With all this talk about champions ducking challengers, I went back to see how many title fights the UFC has had per year since 2010. I was surprised to find out, that the number has more than doubled between 2010 and 2016. Here's a rundown per year:
2010: 10 (title fights)
2011: 13
2012: 13
2013: 17
2014: 16
2015: 20
2016: 22
2017: 6 (so far)
So why does it still feel like things are stagnant, even though we are actually getting double the amount of title fights per year compared to 2010?
Number of title fights has gone up because of new divisions.
This is a big thing to consider. Champions are not being more active than before, but the numbers are still higher, because we have a ton of new weight divisions that weren't around in 2010.
Key weightclasses are stagnant.
Ever since I started watching MMA, the lightweight division has been referred to as the most stacked division in the UFC. It has always been a shark tank of really high competition. The last time I was this frustrated with the division, was back when Pettis had a long lay-off before making his first defense against Melendez. LW is in a similar rut now, as we're probably not going to see a title defense this whole year, since Conor is tied up in the potential Mayweather fight. That's potentially a whole 12 months of nothing happening, with real contenders waiting it out. With all the talk of money fights, it feels like welterweight and middleweight might devolve into a similar state.
"Big champions" have not earned their status
Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, GSP, Jose Aldo, Renan Barao and Ronda Rousey are all champions who defended their title multiple times. That type of dominance is what creates stars, and that in turn creates an interesting division where the goal for everyone is clear: beating the champ. The matchmaking becomes easy, as you just create contender fights and match the winner against the champ.
As of right now, the only champions who are making this happen are Joanna and DJ, although Stipe is well on his way. Isn't it weird, that the HW division is quickly becoming one of the more interesting weightclasses all of a sudden? I think it's because Stipe is becoming a dominant champion, and we're seeing the rise of interesting contenders like Lewis and N'gannou. DC has defended multiple times as well, but his championship will always have an asterisk unless he beats Jones. Same goes for Aldo, who will probably never get the rematch with Conor.
At the same time LW, WW and MW are all stagnant, with relatively untested champions, and the divisions aren't moving. Contenders are waiting and nothing seems to be happening.
I can understand it when a superstar like Conor gets some leeway, but De Randamie is a prime example of a newly minted champion, who is refusing to fight the obvious contender that she should fight. I think it should be grounds for the UFC to just take her belt away.
TL,DR: Letting out some frustration. The UFC is missing dominant champions, and the even though the number of title fights per year has gone up, the key divisions that have always been the most interesting are getting stagnant.
2010: 10 (title fights)
2011: 13
2012: 13
2013: 17
2014: 16
2015: 20
2016: 22
2017: 6 (so far)
So why does it still feel like things are stagnant, even though we are actually getting double the amount of title fights per year compared to 2010?
Number of title fights has gone up because of new divisions.
This is a big thing to consider. Champions are not being more active than before, but the numbers are still higher, because we have a ton of new weight divisions that weren't around in 2010.
Key weightclasses are stagnant.
Ever since I started watching MMA, the lightweight division has been referred to as the most stacked division in the UFC. It has always been a shark tank of really high competition. The last time I was this frustrated with the division, was back when Pettis had a long lay-off before making his first defense against Melendez. LW is in a similar rut now, as we're probably not going to see a title defense this whole year, since Conor is tied up in the potential Mayweather fight. That's potentially a whole 12 months of nothing happening, with real contenders waiting it out. With all the talk of money fights, it feels like welterweight and middleweight might devolve into a similar state.
"Big champions" have not earned their status
Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, GSP, Jose Aldo, Renan Barao and Ronda Rousey are all champions who defended their title multiple times. That type of dominance is what creates stars, and that in turn creates an interesting division where the goal for everyone is clear: beating the champ. The matchmaking becomes easy, as you just create contender fights and match the winner against the champ.
As of right now, the only champions who are making this happen are Joanna and DJ, although Stipe is well on his way. Isn't it weird, that the HW division is quickly becoming one of the more interesting weightclasses all of a sudden? I think it's because Stipe is becoming a dominant champion, and we're seeing the rise of interesting contenders like Lewis and N'gannou. DC has defended multiple times as well, but his championship will always have an asterisk unless he beats Jones. Same goes for Aldo, who will probably never get the rematch with Conor.
At the same time LW, WW and MW are all stagnant, with relatively untested champions, and the divisions aren't moving. Contenders are waiting and nothing seems to be happening.
I can understand it when a superstar like Conor gets some leeway, but De Randamie is a prime example of a newly minted champion, who is refusing to fight the obvious contender that she should fight. I think it should be grounds for the UFC to just take her belt away.
TL,DR: Letting out some frustration. The UFC is missing dominant champions, and the even though the number of title fights per year has gone up, the key divisions that have always been the most interesting are getting stagnant.
