What exactly is a "paper champion" and some notable examples?

[Chet Ubetcha]

To Vitor's credit though, he was not the least bit jovial when he "won" against Randy

True, but he sure did willingly get his mileage out of the "Former UFC LHW Champion" honorific for the rest of his career.

Fair enough sir.
I think the Hendo thing was his kast chance at revenge for one of the worst KOs in history.
Fighting GSP was his last chance to make money, but your definitely in to something.

I don't care how anyone sees Bisping's win over Rockhold -- Luke got KTFO. Bisping was the legit champion and no amount of butthurt is going to change that. As you state here, I think Bisping's championship reign was kind of a Thank You at the end of his career for being a company man all those years. Both fights were highly marketable, and Bisping would have been stupid to turn down the money for the GSP fight. So, was Michael Bisping the best division champion? For sure, no. But, he was the champion and I don't know why so many others have a problem accepting that. You don't have to like it, but is what is...

 

[OldBoy91]

A paper champion is simply, somebody who became the "champion" by not beating the champion for the belt.

People here think it means a weak champion, but that isn't it at all.

Khabib was technically a paper champion and he might have been the strongest champ of all. He beat a guy who wasn't even a contender to get the belt. 11th ranked Al Iaquinta.

 

[toasty]

The first one that I ever heard of was Rocky Balboa when Clubber Lang called him that in Rocky 3. My friends stole that line and used it whenever we lost to each other at anything.....You ain't the king of quarters, you're just a paper champion.....etc...ps- do you kids even know what quarters is?

 

[michi972]

DC and Jan.

Well, technically Reyes was an uncrowned champion. Hill is the beat example. I think he beats Jiri, but...

 

[CPH]

Ignoring DC's extreme testosterone levels that tested even more skewed than Jones's did? Or his not even qualifying for LHW due to using the towel? He shouldn't have been allowed to hold the belt after UFC210 with his ridiculous weigh-in using the towel. UFC literally allowed Jones to move a card and find a corrupt athletic commission to host his fight over pulsing. They found another corrupt athletic commission for DC to look the other way for the "towel trick" when he clearly missed championship weight. Khabib got the same treatment at Fight Island with Gaethje with that absurdly fast tipping of the scales.

DC is a classic example of a paper champ. Ruthlessly protected by the UFC. Given immediate shots at double champ. Referees and officials ignoring weigh-in cheating and deliberate eye pokes. Then Jones smashes him again and Stipe runs him over twice and that becomes his legacy. DC should have been disqualified from being LHW champ over a weight miss. And been given a DQ or NC for poking Stipe in the eyes repeatedly on purpose.

Maybe the UFC felt that they owed DC, as he had been kept in the runner-up spot by a confirmed juicer and serial eye gouger?

 

[Fedora Millionankles]

This is probably a noob question but I have seen the term thrown around on Sherdog a lot

From what I read online, "A Paper Champion is a boxing champion who is considered to be a false champion, or champion only on paper. Reasons for being called a Paper Champion are not fighting challenging opponents, fighting very little, or not gaining the belt by knocking out a champion."

I have seen people call Jon Jones a paper champion and even someone called Sean Strickland a paper champion which i don't believe makes any sense since he dominated the champ.

So is it someone who did not beat the actual champion? Or someone who doesn't defend against top opposition?

Who are some examples of paper champs?

Well, by that criteria, Khabib is a paper champion since he never beat a champion to become champion.

 

[DecisionSplit]

Maybe the UFC felt that they owed DC, as he had been kept in the runner-up spot by a confirmed juicer and serial eye gouger?

UFC is way more sinister than that. They likely pushed DC into the picture because when Jones returned they could get the rematch which would be a grudge match. If Jones returns and smokes DC then things go back to "normal" and they can promote Jon like the rightful champion. If DC wins they can push for a trilogy and some narrative that Jones's time is possibly over. UFC loves to manufacture drama like that to build their fighters.

They never make any moves that benefit the fighters more than them.

Just like when the UFC pushed for Henderson rematching Bisping for the title it was to give GSP a better option to return to get the MW title. They put Bisping on ice for an entire year when he was usually fighting 2-3 times a year. Rather than have Bisping face Romero or Whittaker or some other killer they told him to wait an entire year for GSP to be ready and likely would have done the same if Henderson had won. The second that Bisping lost the title to GSP he immediately fought against that same month as the UFC had no more interest in keeping him inactive so he went back to fighting at his own pace.

 

[arcadeperfect]

It's someone who isn't unanimously considered the #1 fighter. Obviously you'll never get 100% of the people believing that the champion is #1, but in most cases in the UFC the champion is generally regarded as the rightful #1 fighter of their division. So how does this happen? How does a fighter win the title, but not get the recognition of being #1? Here are some potential reasons:

1) Winning a vacant title
2) Winning via "fluke"
3) Getting an undeserved title shot and winning via "fluke"

It only makes it worse if the fighter then decides to fight the bare minimum, like once a year, in order to keep their "title reign" as long as possible, or avoid actual contenders or dangerous matchups.

 

[arcadeperfect]

Robert is a great example to me of how the line gets a little blurred when it comes to phrases like “paper champ”. In theory he meets the criteria in that he didn’t beat or even fight the lineal champ to be crowned but by the time he was elevated to full champion it was generally accepted that he had faced the most challenging competition available by defeating Jacare and Romero.

Exactly. He might've won a vacant title, which is generally a criteria of a paper champion, but considering he fought Romero of all people not once but twice makes him a true champion.

 

[Taric]

Well, by that criteria, Khabib is a paper champion since he never beat a champion to become champion.

Khabib defeated previous champion Conor his next bout.
Khabib was a paper champion... until he wasn't.

 

[arcadeperfect]

Why was Eddie Alvarez a paper champion?

RDA beat Pettis, and Alvarez beat RDA. The LW crown wasn't disputed at the time.

Eddie didn't really have a great run to the title. In fact none of his wins were very convincing. He lost his debut to Cerrone, and then proceeded to win split decisions against Melendez and Pettis. He won fair and square against RDA, but then proceeded to get exterminated by Conor. When you factor all that, his only convincing win during this period was RDA.

 

[arcadeperfect]

Well, by that criteria, Khabib is a paper champion since he never beat a champion to become champion.

Nah, he beat Conor who would still be considered the lineal champion at the time since Conor's last MMA bout was a title win against Eddie. Beating Al is definitely the marking of a paper champion, but Khabib's win over Conor erases the notion of a paper champion.

 

[Fedorgasm]

The ones that stand out to me are Tito Ortiz, back when he was refusing to fight Chuck and taking long layoffs, while bragging about being the longest reigning champion.

Vitor was a paper champ when he only won the belt due to a freak accident involving the seam of his glove cutting Randy's eye. Nobody in the world thought Vitor was the best LHW.

Jon Jones is a paper champ to me, but only at heavyweight. Because he never beat the real champ Ngannou to earn that belt.

 

[Fedorgasm]

Yeah some people say Jones is paper champ and Francis is lineal and true champ
Lets say that is true. But for how long will Francis be the true champ? What if he never fights in the UFC again? Are all future UFC HW's paper champs

I think right now it's true for a few reasons

1. Ngannou just recently vacated the belt, didn't lose it, and is still in his fighting prime.
2. Jon had the chance to fight him but chose to stay out of the division until Ngannou left.

That's a paper champ. One who actively avoids fighting the best and instead tries to pick opponents that they have big advantages over.

 

[johny ringo]

Yeah some people say Jones is paper champ and Francis is lineal and true champ
Lets say that is true. But for how long will Francis be the true champ? What if he never fights in the UFC again? Are all future UFC HW's paper champs

As much as I like Jones. He is a HW paper champ. He did not win the strap by beating Frank. He one the vacant belt. As far as how long? It’s typically after a couple of title defenses.

 

[ChimRichalds]

Yeah some people say Jones is paper champ and Francis is lineal and true champ
Lets say that is true. But for how long will Francis be the true champ? What if he never fights in the UFC again? Are all future UFC HW's paper champs

The term is heavily overused around here, and rarely in the correct context. Jon Jones is not a paper champ, people just say that because they don't like him. I'd say a interim champ being promoted to champ would count, or maybe even Sterling after the first Yan fight.

 

[HavokHarmon]

Exactly. He might've won a vacant title, which is generally a criteria of a paper champion, but considering he fought Romero of all people not once but twice makes him a true champion.

Yeah that was a weird time period, it seemed like Jacare was waiting in the wings for a title shot FOREVER. Robert beating him was what really made people take notice, then after he beat Romero too that really cemented it in most peoples eyes.

 

[MMAcolyte]

Bisping.

Surprised this has any likes. He knocked the champion out, lol.

 

[orca]

dc was a paper champ dude cant beat the best
you cant call jones a paper champ
everybody knows jones would strangle nganou
thats how i define a paper champ against a real one

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

This is probably a noob question but I have seen the term thrown around on Sherdog a lot

From what I read online, "A Paper Champion is a boxing champion who is considered to be a false champion, or champion only on paper. Reasons for being called a Paper Champion are not fighting challenging opponents, fighting very little, or not gaining the belt by knocking out a champion."

I have seen people call Jon Jones a paper champion and even someone called Sean Strickland a paper champion which i don't believe makes any sense since he dominated the champ.

So is it someone who did not beat the actual champion? Or someone who doesn't defend against top opposition?

Who are some examples of paper champs?

Not sure about MMA but Tim Tszyu is currently the paper WBO super welter boxing champ. He got the title when Charlo fought Canelo, if he beats Mendoza on the weekend it would have some validity IMO.