Media rumor: UFC targetting Covington vs. RDA for interim WW title at UFC 224

[MovinOn]

View: https://twitter.com/CTaylor_96/status/976828752444342274



UFC 224 might just get a second title fight after all.

An interim title fight is currently in the works for the upcoming card in Brazil that would see Rafael dos Anjos take on Colby Covington on May 12 in Rio de Janeiro.

Sources close to the contest confirmed that verbal agreements are in place for the matchup although no contracts have been issued yet. The UFC has not made any announcements and until bout agreements have been signed, nothing is 100-percent official. The news of the interim title fight was initially reported by BJPenn.com.

It’s a wild turn of events after dos Anjos has been rumored for months to take on welterweight champion Tyron Woodley but now it appears he’ll be competing at home in Brazil instead with an interim title on the line.

Woodley has stated that he won’t be ready to return to action until at least July following shoulder surgery and it seems the UFC needed another major fight for the upcoming card in Brazil.

Rafael dos Anjos vs. Colby Covington for Interim Title In the Works for UFC 224


FAKE BELT!

 

[Rambo John J]

reality check time

 

[Robbie Hart]

Colby gets his beating in this fight

 

[Truck Party]

I think RDA takes it, but I'm hoping a Covington win just to see the forum go nuts

 

[La Paix]

In Rio?

 

[SensoriaUtopia]

Outstanding fight, but more lame fluff from WME, just have the fight on the card, fuck the interim title bs, have it be a fight for top contendership, they need to stop calling freaking no.1 contender fights interim title fights, call it a no.1 contender fight.

 

[Filthy]

Outstanding fight, but more lame fluff from WME, just have the fight on the card, fuck the interim title bs, have it be a fight for top contendership, they need to stop calling freaking no.1 contender fights interim title fights, call it a no.1 contender fight.

Only if they pay the fighters the same for '#1 contender' fights as they do for 'championship' fights

 

[SensoriaUtopia]

Only if they pay the fighters the same for '#1 contender' fights as they do for 'championship' fights

They should. Once guys get to that level that they are in no.1 contender fights, it's kind of shitty that it has to be the semantics of interim title fight to get the 250K show or whatever they get.

There is also no hard and fast rule that you are not able to make a non title co main a 5 rounder also. All those things can put be put in if WME wants.

 

[Mad Dog]

Outstanding fight, but more lame fluff from WME, just have the fight on the card, fuck the interim title bs, have it be a fight for top contendership, they need to stop calling freaking no.1 contender fights interim title fights, call it a no.1 contender fight.

The UFC wants to use "title fights" to promote cards and sell PPVs. I think I prefer having interim belts over the idea of adding a bunch of weight classes so they would have more titles to promote that way.

This seems like a better option to me. But what do I know.

 

[benjo0101]

Remind me why they need an interim title here again?

 

[La Paix]

Remind me why they need an interim title here again?

I hate them as much as the next guy but I see them as the fighters not being able to trust ZUFFA. How many times has Dana made a comment about somebody guaranteed a title shot then fucking them over? It seems interim titles are basically promise rings from the promotion. If they had a legit ranking system and clear path for all fighters to get a title shot I doubt we'd see many interims.

 

[Rambo John J]

I hate them as much as the next guy but I see them as the fighters not being able to trust ZUFFA. How many times has Dana made a comment about somebody guaranteed a title shot then fucking them over? It seems interim titles are basically promise rings from the promotion. If they had a legit ranking system and clear path for all fighters to get a title shot I doubt we'd see many interims.

lol promise rings

so true...so sad

good posts in this thread

 

[Mix6APlix]

Interim title...gfym.

 

[tang]

How long before each division has the “Champ” and an “Interim Champ”
All we need is the

, then all the champ slots will be filled

Some ppl might protest
#notmychamp

 

[The Big Guy]

Theres no way colby makes it out of those slums alive. The police are more incompetent than the drug testers

Fake belt

 

[Joemacka]

Colby takes him down with ease and puts a beating on him.

 

[Chromium]

The UFC wants to use "title fights" to promote cards and sell PPVs. I think I prefer having interim belts over the idea of adding a bunch of weight classes so they would have more titles to promote that way.

This seems like a better option to me. But what do I know.

Why do we really need either of those things? With the possible exception of W105, I’d like to see at least a five-year moratorium on new weight divisions, and I don’t want anymore Interim belts if the champion can still defend his or her belt within 12-15 months of their last fight.

The UFC has too many PPVs as it is.

 

[aghof]

at this point I think they're only using "interim" because WWE owns the rights to "Intercontinental

 

[Mad Dog]

Why do we really need either of those things? With the possible exception of W105, I’d like to see at least a five-year moratorium on new weight divisions, and I don’t want anymore Interim belts if the champion can still defend his or her belt within 12-15 months of their last fight.

The UFC has too many PPVs as it is.

If you can explain how that makes money you win.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Lame.

I'd rather see the winner of Till vs Thompson get the next title shot.

Tyrone vs Colby would be a snooze fest.

 

[La Paix]

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/BgobrT1FyJz/

 

[digthisbigcrux]

Theres no way colby makes it out of those slums alive. The police are more incompetent than the drug testers

Fake belt

got a purchase link for that belt slicey doo hickey?

 

[Jdog93]

got a purchase link for that belt slicey doo hickey?

I looked up "man's floppy sword"

Didn't get the results i hoped for.

 

[The Big Guy]

got a purchase link for that belt slicey doo hickey?

Products | Razor Razor

Google is very easy bro. That was the first thing when you search belt sword

 

[Chromium]

If you can explain how that makes money you win.

Interim belts are the lesser evil right now, but taking a slight hit on PPVs centered around something other than a title fight makes the actual legitimate title fights seem like a bigger deal in the long run. Otherwise you risk going down the same path as boxing which has literally 17 weight divisions, despite 4 different sanctioning bodies having "world" titles that people take seriously, and on top of that you also have thing like Interim Champs and Super Champions.

I really do think it's better for the long term future of the sport if they don't water everything down. If UFC 224 was a Fox card, with Nunes vs. Pennington on top, RDA vs Covington in a #1 Contender fight, and Lyoto vs. Belfort on it too, it'd still be a very nice card that would get a pretty damn good rating and maybe just maybe attract more casual fans, without making title fights seem like utter props. They'd probably be able to get around $3-4 million in rights fees for the one-off from Fox, while giving extra exposure to a show that's not going to perform well on PPV. And in the current scenario, if they get 150k buys on PPV with the Interim Title fight on top, that's a little under $5 million in revenue after the split with PPV providers.

I'll take scenario #1 since I think it'd be better for the UFC in the long run, a concept WME seems to utterly fail to grasp.