Remember when UFC titles were defended?
Sure, UFC titles are defended often, but it isn’t what it used to be. Champions used to focus on racking up a high number of title defenses. However, in recent years, that has changed to attain champ-champ status.
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There was a time when titleholders reached the mountaintop of their division and firmly planted their flag. The championship runs from guys like Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson were all about maintaining their place atop the division – while doing so in dominant fashion. Line up the next contender, and they would knock ’em down.
Conor McGregor ushered in a different era. After he captured titles at featherweight and lightweight, suddenly everyone wanted to do the same – even though he never defended either belt.
Soon after, Amanda Nunes and Daniel Cormier followed suit. More recently, Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev have become two-division champions. Winning titles in multiple divisions is an impressive feat, but there’s something special about holding a division’s title and turning away each contender that wants gold. There’s also more to be said about not needing interim titles and holding up divisions.
At UFC 323, two champions represent the old-school championship reigns.
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In the main event, Merab Dvalishvili will attempt his fourth bantamweight title defense, and more impressively, they’ve all come within the calendar year. In the co-feature, Alexandre Pantoja will seek his fifth flyweight title defense. At the moment, neither champion has a desire to chase a second title.
Take a trip down memory lane in this installment of MMA Junkie’s “Remember when…” in the video above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Video: Remember when UFC titles were defended?
