UFC 321 will go down as one of many extra maligned pay-per-views of 2025, and there was already unfavorable buzz even earlier than its disastrous primary occasion consequence performed out.
Earlier than the Oct. 25 present, analyst Din Thomas took a shot on the card’s co-main occasion, a matchup between Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern for a vacant strawweight title. With earlier champion Zhang Weili having vacated that belt in favor of a superfight with flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko, it was comprehensible that Jandiroba and Dern’s championship conflict wasn’t precisely seen with reverence, however Thomas calling it “insignificant” undoubtedly appeared harsh.
That mentioned, you’ll be able to’t power individuals to care about one thing, and even after Dern gained a hard-fought choice over Jandiroba to formally turn into UFC champion, the significance of the win and what this implies for Dern’s general standing stays up for debate.
We right here at MMA Combating don’t contemplate Dern vs. Jandiroba to be anyplace close to probably the most meaningless title fights the UFC has placed on, so with that in thoughts, our crew of Alexander Ok. Lee, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew received collectively to walk down reminiscence lane and pick our favourite UFC championship fights during which little appeared to really be at stake.
One of the best of the least, if you’ll.
Nicco Montano vs. Roxanne Modafferi at The Final Fighter 26 Finale
Lee: Look, I like The Final Fighter. And I like Roxanne Modafferi and all the pieces she stands for.
However when “The Glad Warrior” obtained an surprising alternative to turn into the UFC’s first girls’s flyweight champion, the circumstances have been doubtful, to say the least. Let’s recap:
- The title bout was set because the finale of TUF 26
- Modafferi was in her second TUF stint. She was eradicated from the TUF 18 bantamweight event by way of a nasty Jessica Rakoczy slam, after which misplaced a call within the TUF 26 semifinals to Sijara Eubanks
- Eubanks was pulled from the event ultimate on account of kidney failure, so Modafferi received the decision to face the comparatively unknown Nicco Montano
- Oh, and whereas all this was occurring, Valentina Shevchenko existed, however was combating at 135 kilos
Having a world champion or perhaps a No. 1 contender decided by a actuality present is all the time going to be a tricky promote and you then add in that they have been launching a brand new division, and this title battle was lifeless on arrival even earlier than Eubanks’ withdrawal. Montano gained, regardless of having only a handful of professional and newbie bouts on her résumé, which may have made for a pleasant story… besides this led to a regrettable saga during which she ultimately didn’t make it to a battle towards Shevchenko, the UFC stripped her of the title with out a single protection, and all of us simply type of agreed to fake that every one by no means occurred.
However hey, have a look at any official checklist of UFC champions, and Montano is there.
Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208
Heck: That is the right reply for a number of causes, and it’s a memorable one for me because it was the primary UFC pay-per-view card I ever coated as a credentialed media member. And it simply so occurred to be one of many worst PPV playing cards of the previous decade (thank God for Dustin Poirier vs. Jim Miller or it will’ve been even worse).
For many who bear in mind, the unique UFC 208 was slated for January 2017 in Anaheim, but it surely was cancelled as a result of there wasn’t a stable primary occasion to throw in there. So UFC 209 in Brooklyn turned UFC 208, and the “within the works” primary occasion was Jose Aldo vs. Max Holloway in a featherweight championship unification bout, however Holloway had some nagging accidents that thwarted a fast turnaround. To keep away from probably cancelling one other PPV card, the UFC launched the ladies’s featherweight title, with former bantamweight champ Holly Holm dealing with Germaine de Randamie. All of us knew why this division was created, as a result of Cris Cyborg was possible coming in, but she didn’t compete for the belt; she simply sat cageside.
After which the rattling bell rang, and it was Slog Metropolis, with the one notable issues that occurred being de Randamie dishonest her ass off, hitting Holm after the bell — not as soon as, however twice (and no factors have been taken. Stunning, proper?). De Randamie went on to win a considerably controversial choice. It was an insignificant battle within the lead-up due to the Cyborg issue, and it turned much more insignificant later when de Randamie straight up refused to battle Cyborg and was then stripped of the title.
It was in all probability the second-worst title reign in UFC historical past behind Montano, however a minimum of Montano’s title win had a journey to get there, not like this one, which was two darts touchdown on two completely different names to verify 2017 didn’t begin as an entire catastrophe.
Andrei Arlovski vs. Justin Eiliers at UFC 53
Martin: If you happen to suppose the UFC heavyweight division is unhealthy proper now, return and have a look at the roster in 2005 when Andrei Arlovski was the interim champion whereas Frank Mir was sidelined with a damaged leg suffered a bike accident.
After dispatching Tim Sylvia in simply 47 seconds to win the interim belt, Arlovski was booked for his first protection towards Justin Eilers at UFC 53. The battle didn’t make sense on plenty of ranges, however none worse than this — Eiliers was not even 4 months faraway from getting knocked out badly by Paul Buentello.
So why did he get a title shot? As a result of there was actually nobody else.
Eilers entered the octagon as a heavy underdog, and it confirmed.
Arlovski completely picked him aside and dished out an entire lot of injury, with Eilers mainly surviving on guts and toughness. He took a lot punishment that Eilers ended up struggling two damaged palms, a torn ACL in his knee, a damaged nostril, and a sprained ankle — and that every one occurred earlier than Arlovski put him away with a TKO simply over 4 minutes into the opening spherical.
It was a completely brutal efficiency in a battle that ought to have by no means occurred. Afterwards, Arlovski wasted no time reserving his subsequent title protection after he was formally promoted to undisputed champion when he wanted simply 15 seconds to knock out Buentello after he lastly received his probability to battle for the title 4 months later.
That was a remarkably powerful time for the heavyweight division, however Arlovski feasted on lesser competitors with back-to-back knockouts earlier than he misplaced his subsequent two fights to Sylvia, as a result of clearly choices have been nonetheless extremely restricted.
Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson 2 at UFC 204
Meshew: It seems my colleagues have all gone for some low-hanging fruit right here, choosing a pair of regrettable girls’s title fights that have been extra opportunistic than earned, and a heavyweight title battle from the darkish ages of the UFC. All of them are objectively worse than Dern-Jandiroba, however I believe I’d must argue on the “finest” a part of them. I’ve watched all of these fights. Nobody had fun with any of them, save perhaps the Arlovski one.
What I’m out there for is a battle that was clearly worse than Dern-Jandiroba from a benefit standpoint, however nonetheless kinda slapped. That’s a slender window to hit, however I’ve executed it, and it’s going to make plenty of you livid: Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson II at UFC 204.
The purpose of title fights is to find out who’s the very best on the planet in a selected weight class. You possibly can quibble with Dern and Jandiroba being known as the very best at strawweight, however Zhang Weili left the division, and so they’re undoubtedly Prime 5 girls, so it’s a fairly legitimate belt. Bisping vs. Hendo II ……….. much less so.
Let’s be clear, Bisping was the true and sincere middleweight champion. He beat Luke Rockhold to say the belt truthful and sq.. It doesn’t matter that he shouldn’t have crushed Anderson Silva to get the title shot, and it doesn’t matter that there have been in all probability eight different dudes who would have crushed him if that they had fought. He gained it pretty; he’s an actual champion.
HOWEVER, as soon as he defended the belt towards Dan Henderson, the title turned a sham. I like Hendo (and on the time, I used to be even adamantly for doing so as a result of it was enjoyable), however that is without doubt one of the most fraudulent title fights within the historical past of the UFC. Hendo was 2-2 since returning to 185 and was brutally KOed within the first spherical a yr earlier than. He knocked out the light Hector Lombard to “earn” his title shot, and it was transparently given to him as a result of Bisping was a man the UFC appreciated, that they had historical past, and it was a battle Bisping may win in England. AND THEN HE ALMOST DIDN’T!
Add within the aftermath of it, and this battle turns into much more fraudulent in hindsight. Bisping getting revenge towards Henderson can be cool if he then goes and dumps the belt to Yoel Romero, or Jacare Souza, or Robert Whittaker, or any of the opposite deserving middleweight contenders. However as an alternative, the UFC took one other money seize with Georges St-Pierre, that held the division up eternally and was a colossal waste. (I very practically selected that title protection as my selection, however on the entire, a minimum of it had GSP concerned, despite the fact that he was coming off his worst efficiency, a four-year layoff, and shifting as much as a brand new weight class.) That basically makes this title protection indefensible.
But when you will defend it, the promoting level is that the battle was enjoyable as (Mike) Heck! Regardless of being a shell of himself, Henderson practically received Bisping out of there early, and the “champ” needed to battle by a ton to edge out a call I nonetheless type of suppose he ought to have misplaced. It was plenty of violence and excessive drama regardless of being for a title that misplaced its which means by advantage of being on the road on this battle. It’s undoubtedly the very best of the least.
