When bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz was forced out of his scheduled title defense against Urijah Faber at UFC 148, the UFC was put in a very tough position.
Injuries happen from time-to-time in the sport of mixed martial arts, and recently, Cruz’s fellow champion Jon Jones had his own title defense against Rashad Evans delayed due to a minor injury.
Cruz’s injury was much more severe, however. In fact, for a high-level athlete, the injury was one of the worst possible—a torn ACL.
To their credit, the UFC sprung into action. After all, this isn’t their first setback of a major title fight.
Without much hesitation, UFC President Dana White announced that while Cruz was out of the main event, Faber would still be competing at the event against an opponent yet to be named. Not only that, but that fight would now be for the interim bantamweight championship.
While most are happy that “The California Kid” will still be fighting at UFC 148, there’s a growing group that is asking the question, “Why?”
Not about Faber still fighting—we get that—we’re questioning whether there’s a real need for an interim championship. Personally, I don’t believe there’s any real need for it. Allow me to explain why.