2010-07-29 15:17:33 +0000
A discussion on Inside MMA talked of whether or not interim titles are a good idea with Bas Rutten and Jamie Varner voicing their opinions against the development against interim championships.
"Interim fight? Awesome. Totally understandable. Preparing yourself for a five-round fight, got it. Interim belt? You know, imagine youre the interim champion and then you fight for the real belt and then you dont win it. You know? What are you going to say to people? Yeah, I used to be the interim champion belt holder. I mean, cmon. Now, I really dont see that. Maybe only youre allowed to say that if you then later on go on and win the world title." -- Bas
No, I think interim belts are just fake belts. I like, you know, what Bas said. Yeah, you know having going through that five-round war is definitely good because youre not used to it. I mean, my very first time going five rounds was Cerrone was, its tough, I mean its definitely a life-changing experience to go five rounds and be caught up in a battle like that. But I think its kind of disrespectful to the champion, you know? I worked really hard for that fight with Rob McCullough and you know, I mean that fight was everything. So to have it disrespected, to have these two guys, yeah they were top contenders, but I got injured in the line of work. It would have been one thing had I gotten injured like outside riding my motorcycle or something like that, but no I got injured with my fight with Cerrone, you know, doing my job, and you know I was sidelined for about a year. So the fact that, you know, I felt like it was just a little bit disrespectful, but you know what? Ben did come back, he beat me, so now he is the Lightweight champion. So, I mean, you can see it from both ends. But I just think its kind of disrespectful to the champion at the time. -- Jamie
I agree with them, and in one of those rare cases, I think pro wrestling has a better idea than the fighting promotions do these days. I believe if a fighter is unable to defend his title in X number of months or at least begin training for a signed on fight (however long the promotion believes is a justifiable amount of time to go without a fighting champion.)
If he is unable to defend or sign on to defend the title before that time has been reached, then the promotion strips him of the title and signs a fight or a set of fights to determine a new champion.
The fans don't buy into interim champions, and every time you have a guy like Lesnar or another champion declare the interim title a joke it devalues the idea of interim titles even further in the eyes of the fans.
The fans might be more willing to buy a champion (who in theory would be an interim champion since the original champion would need to get first shot at him upon returning) if they are told "well the champion probably won't be able to defend the belt for the next 9 months or so and we need a champion." They might not like it, but fans would appreciate that more, IMO, than they would "OK he's injured, let's sign an interim title fight for the next show..."
"Interim fight? Awesome. Totally understandable. Preparing yourself for a five-round fight, got it. Interim belt? You know, imagine youre the interim champion and then you fight for the real belt and then you dont win it. You know? What are you going to say to people? Yeah, I used to be the interim champion belt holder. I mean, cmon. Now, I really dont see that. Maybe only youre allowed to say that if you then later on go on and win the world title." -- Bas
No, I think interim belts are just fake belts. I like, you know, what Bas said. Yeah, you know having going through that five-round war is definitely good because youre not used to it. I mean, my very first time going five rounds was Cerrone was, its tough, I mean its definitely a life-changing experience to go five rounds and be caught up in a battle like that. But I think its kind of disrespectful to the champion, you know? I worked really hard for that fight with Rob McCullough and you know, I mean that fight was everything. So to have it disrespected, to have these two guys, yeah they were top contenders, but I got injured in the line of work. It would have been one thing had I gotten injured like outside riding my motorcycle or something like that, but no I got injured with my fight with Cerrone, you know, doing my job, and you know I was sidelined for about a year. So the fact that, you know, I felt like it was just a little bit disrespectful, but you know what? Ben did come back, he beat me, so now he is the Lightweight champion. So, I mean, you can see it from both ends. But I just think its kind of disrespectful to the champion at the time. -- Jamie
I agree with them, and in one of those rare cases, I think pro wrestling has a better idea than the fighting promotions do these days. I believe if a fighter is unable to defend his title in X number of months or at least begin training for a signed on fight (however long the promotion believes is a justifiable amount of time to go without a fighting champion.)
If he is unable to defend or sign on to defend the title before that time has been reached, then the promotion strips him of the title and signs a fight or a set of fights to determine a new champion.
The fans don't buy into interim champions, and every time you have a guy like Lesnar or another champion declare the interim title a joke it devalues the idea of interim titles even further in the eyes of the fans.
The fans might be more willing to buy a champion (who in theory would be an interim champion since the original champion would need to get first shot at him upon returning) if they are told "well the champion probably won't be able to defend the belt for the next 9 months or so and we need a champion." They might not like it, but fans would appreciate that more, IMO, than they would "OK he's injured, let's sign an interim title fight for the next show..."
