Condit, Barao, And The Issue With Interim Titles

Carlos Condit

What's the point of interim titles?

By James Walker
HeavyMMA.com

Does anyone really consider Carlos Condit the current UFC welterweight champion? Or is Condit simply a glorified No. 1 contender to incumbent champion Georges St. Pierre?

Do you think Renan Barao is walking around with a duplicate belt claiming he's the world's top bantamweight instead of Dominick Cruz?

The UFC does a lot of things right, but the inclusion of interim titles isn't one of those things.

What's the point?

Most view interim title fights as No. 1 contender bouts anyway. Why hand a fighter the belt before ever beating the champ?

Fighters get injured and cards change. Understandable. But the UFC should take a stand on this issue: Either strip the title for lengthy inactivity or have No. 1 contender fights to determine title shots at a later date. Either way is fine. Just don't straddle the fence by handing out multiple belts.

There can only be one champion. Having Condit and St. Pierre both boast belts at press conferences this next week will be as comical as Chael Sonnen parading his fake belt around before fighting middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Does Condit really feel like the true welterweight champion? He shouldn't, unless he beats St. Pierre on Nov. 17. The same goes for Barao against Cruz.

But do not blame the fighters. If the UFC wants to put gold around their waist for being the No. 1 contender, no one should turn it down.

It's not a huge thing, but interim titles are something the UFC should consider changing sooner rather than later.

I will get off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening.

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