There have been a series of interim titles in the UFC in recent years.
Thankfully for former 155-pound champion Eddie Alvarez, this won’t be something he has to worry about anymore. Alvarez signed with ONE Championship recently and will be making his debut for the promotion at their “New Era” event on March 31st. Speaking to media recently, Alvarez said the sudden influx of interim titles in the UFC is a “serious problem” (via BJPenn.com):
“Look, this is a serious problem,” Alvarez said. “I’m laughin’, but it’s nothing to joke about. We’re all part of the problem, all of us are. When an interim title is given…
“And the media makes a big fuss of it and a fighter makes a big fuss of it and a fan makes a big fuss of it, an interim title has value. That’s the saddest thing that can happen in the sport. Because an interim title is given in replacement for money. ‘We don’t wanna give you money, but we’ll give you an interim title.
“We don’t wanna give you money, but we’ll give you a main event spot. We don’t wanna give you money, but we’ll give you that opponent you want. We’ll give you everything… But what you deserve. And that’s money.”
Two high-profile interim title fights are on the horizon. Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum will compete against one another for the interim UFC middleweight title. Also, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will jump up to 155 pounds. He’ll be fighting Dustin Poirier for an interim lightweight title.
Both fights will go down at the UFC 236 pay-per-view (PPV). The action goes down from the from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on April 13, 2019.
Former #UFC & #Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez had A LOT to say over "sad" interim titles in MMA
Watch full interview: https://t.co/bdi7Yh3eqh pic.twitter.com/uTcj7THGl7
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) February 27, 2019
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