@@prokrastinatia 5 months apart with the average fighter taking only 3-4 months so what’s his hold up? 2 of those fights were within 3 months? What about the other 12? That’s like saying here’s $100 and it’s all 1’s. Yeah it’s 100 dollars but it’s not a $100 bill.
The number of times each men's champion will have fought by the end of 2023 Pantoja: 2 O'Malley: 1 Volkanovski: 3 Islam: 2 Leon: 2 Strickland: 3 Pereira: 3 Jones: 1 Aspinall: 2 Leon 100% does not deserve a middleweight title shot, but the narrative that he's an inactive champion is silly. 2 fights per year is average for champions.
It's far more impressive to clean out a division over multiple title defenses than collecting belts in different divisions that never get defended. Double champ should be the cherry on top for a fighter's career. Not the main goal.
Agreed especially when these champs are newly crowned themselves and also the person they're calling out is always a favourable style and also a new champ. It's just not overly impressive. Like Leon calling out Strickland because he's seen as probably the weakest champion
I think the champ that wants to be double champ needs to be active. Izzy and Alex fight 4 times a year so they could be double champs and actively fight in both.
Only Alex, Adesanya & Usman in their prime could rightfully claim an attempt at double champ status as they cleaned out their division defending the belt. 3x title defenses minimum. 👊🏻😤
@@spencere821Volkanoveki absolutely deserved it. He had 4 defences and there wasn’t a number 1 contender on a win streak in both divisions at the time. Beniel couldve got a shot but his best win was top 10 Gamrot not a top 5 guy.
The thing that annoys me the most is the fact that claiming a title in another division is now the requirement for dominant champions and if they won't attempt to do so they're getting criticized like Mighty Mause or Khabib (I know these are pretty old examples but you get the point)
Yeah I feel guys shouldn’t gun for double champ status right after winning the belt like Islam. Nothing against him but defend your title and also have the champion from the division up willing to defend their title. You didn’t see Edwards clamoring to Fight Islam he wanted the 185 strap. Never the less we should pay little attention to guys like hill or Du Plessi untill they actually win the strap and convincingly. No reason to go up in weight next fight if you have a 5 round close war with Strickland
@@johnnyalvarez6792Islam said on an ESPN interview he'll defend 3-5 times before moving up. An Olives rematch and Gaethje imo. Besides he has the best argument for moving up out of Hill, Leon and O'Malley.
Exactly, the same mf that was heavily criticizing Khabib for not moving up to 170 are now crying about Makhachev's attempt at 170 gold, one more win he will tie the all time lw td record granting him a shot at the ww title.
@@moonvenerable7897he should probably defend against actual lightweights before moving up, volk twice are good defenses but he should at least clear three dudes from light weight
@@Devilm4n-cw8tvThere’s barely 3 LWs worthy of a title shot. Olivera’s really the only one so far. Gaethje and Poirier need to retire so newer fighters can rise up.
Simple solution: Add a clause that every official champion now has the option to challenge the champion of another division (within reason) but in exchange they must give up their belt. Thus there is an actual risk to attempting the double champ status. If they win they get the new belt but if they lose they lose their own belt so that way there is no flip flopping.
Thank you for this video... especially the Shavkat reference. That guy is so great and deserves all the love. So sick of fighters trying to jump around weight divisions.
I would say that the UFC needs to define a very clear criteria that a champion has to meet before they can go for double champ, such as having at least 3-4 consecutive title defenses, winning at least of those defenses via finish, on top of being an exciting and marketable fighter, so that the champ vs. champ fight will be a highly anticipated high selling event.
and a fight at the new weight class to prove the fighter can compete at said weight class, for example look what happened to Conor his first fight at 170
@@DTS_Icejudo was the last to win a second belt. He just never defended both. Amanda became double champ 6 months before henry but she never gave up either belt. So she was the last active double champ - henry was the last to achieve double champ.
@@lilbottle9709you could make a run from Middleweight to heavyweight if you took the time to put the weight on correctly. Unless you're saying they have to do it simultaneously.
It is possible, but it’s really hard especially if you are a fighter in the bigger division (welterweight to heavyweight) because the weight gap between each division is bigger. For the smaller division, it’s still really hard. Let’s take Makachev for example. He barely can make it to 155 so they’re is no chance he can make 145. He can probably go to 170 and has a good chance of winning the belt. But if he try to go to 185, I think that he will be to small for the division. So if someone is to become a triple champ, I think it will be someone in the bantamweight division that does not cut that much weight (maybe 10-15 pound). So there is a chance that he can cut to flyweight and survive and make 145 without being to small for the division. In a week, a French fighter name Salahdine Parnasse will try to be the first triple champ mma in KSW (FW,LW and WW). He will have a massive weight disadvantage so let’s see how he is going to do! Sorry if my english is hard to understand it’s not my first language…
Actually its UFC's fault, Dana even tweeted Khabib was suppose to fight Alvarez in 2016 then they gave it to Conor instead, if Khabib fought Alvarez early, Conor could never be double champ and Khabib would have minimum 5 or 6 title defenses
@@timurjack8773 & if Khabib didn't get injured constantly, he would have been given a title shot much earlier than ufc 205. Think about this, Khabib destroyed RDA, but was injured after. In the meantime, RDA bounced back and became champ and then lost to Alvarez. If Khabib never got injured constantly, he would have more defenses.
@@hhtptai and others followed him by never defending it either. The only double champ who defended both belts is Amanda Nunes. The rest of them ruins the division.
I feel that the LEAST requirements for champ-champ status should be 4-5 defenses while being active, then going up to fight a title eliminator with the guy second in line in said division. Everybody calling for champ-champ status after 1 or 2 defenses (and in DDP’s case 0🤦🏽♂️) is devaluing what it actually means to be a simultaneous/two division champ.
facts I don’t understand what right they think they have to challenge another divisions champ because they have the belt in theirs, skipping past the whole division, when having to clear out the division is what makes it hard to reach the title in the first place
Leon spent most of his career begging for a title shot and then saying he wants to fight MW because there is no one else left to fight in WW is just peak hypocrisy. Twat wont even give others the same chance, also Dricus and Strickland would bully him son.
most of the middleweight would give him a run for his money to considerably “bully” him to outright pawning him. Leon has to relax a bit and work in and across his division.
I think the ufc needs to set up a few rules for a champ to become double champ. 1. They need to have 3 title defenses before they can try it. 2. They must be active having 3 fights the year before their title shot to prove they wont hold up the divisions. 3. The fighter moving to the new division will automatically be stripped of thier title if they lose the fight. Also they will not get an immediate title shot when they return to their division. This will add some stakes for the fighter attempting double champ and with all these rules you will actually have only the great fighters able to get 2 belts and making these fights mean something.
Losing your real belt after attempting a move up and losing would be bullshit tho. Think of Volk when he originally attempted it, he was on 4 defences and cemented himself as the current best featherweight with a brutally dominant performance against Max Holloway then lost a fair but close decision to Islam. A guy like that losing the FW belt would be pretty dumb, the guy that won the vacant would be seen as a paper champ.
Nah.. you can't create a rule like that. The thing with the UFC is that it isn't only about winning and losing. It's about selling fights too.. so, because UFC fighters are very different compared to eachother there can never be 1 common rule for all of them.
Great video, would love to see a video on meta styles (or whatever you may call it) - wrestling and jiu jitsu of earlier days, leg kicks, high kicks, etc. Would be very fun 👀
Islam and Volk were the only ones with valid champ champ callouts. Alex's move to LHW was because he was too big for MW anyways, nothing wrong with him. Leon, Dricus and Jamahal need to humbled.
I know I might get flack and say Islam is debatable, but Charles fucked up the division more than him. If he had a title defense against Charles and won, that would give time for the division to do Gaethe vs Tsarukyan for #1 contender, then do an Islam return fight, or another interim fight. As for WW, assuming Shavkat wins, then the next fight of Shavkat vs Belal would make the most sense for #1 contender.
@@tehDmezBelal’s already the true number 1 contender. He has the longest streak, besides Edwards, in the division and handily beat a top 5 opponent. Covington is literally just a money fight to delay Belal’s title fight, and Shavkat would only be another delay. Shavkat can go fight Usman or some other top 5 fighter to have a stepping stone to being the number 1 contender.
@@kman9884 Yeah that's fair, I forgot how far back Belal's fight line goes, he definitely deserves that redemption against Leon (or Colby) or at least an interim fight if Leon was to hold up the division.
I concur that a minimum of three title defenses should be necessary before moving up to pursue double champ status. However, I think if they do become double champ they should be forced to relinquish their previous belts to not hold up the division.
Happens in boxing too. I remember Canelo going after Kovalev in the light heavyweight division. Kovalev just beat Anthony Yarde.. but Kov was already showing his age at that point. I remember the fight taking place only after 2 months from his previous bout, give or take. Boxing fans knew that Kov was the weaker opponent of his potential LHW opponents (Bivol who Canelo eventually fought/lost to and Beterbiev). The glory was to get yet another title under his belt but calling out the weaker opponent, lower risk.
In my opinion you can get a chance at a double championship once you dominate your division (like Volkanovski) or when you come back out of retirement just for that (like GSP), with Pereira and anyone like him being the exception who moves up/down permanently; but to be honest I rate having a lot of title defenses in your division much higher than being double champ
Cuz you're not a casual, and that's the right thing to do. But most ufc fans are casuals and spread the toxic statement towards any dominant fighter that "he's afraid to move up/down" If he stays in his division for bit too long
I truly think that It should be written rule In the UFC that In order for a champ to be able to move up a division to gain Double Champ status, they first need to have actually captured 2-3 more dominant title defenses/wins, cleaning out the division, and establishing a legacy there. It just clogs up divisions, and makes them even more Inactive than they already are.
UFC needs to make a rule. If you want double champ status you need to meet at least one of two requirements: 3+ successful title defenses in your own division and/or you need to work yourself up in the new division you want to get a 2nd belt in
Glory has the same weight organization on lhw and mw as the UFC, meaning that when Pereira became simultaneous double champ at Glory, the weights were also 20 pounds apart. Pereira initially moved up to fight with the no1 contender of lhw to be interim champ, having 4 consecutive defenses in mw, then went back to 185 and defended for the fifth time, and AFTER securing a credible double champ status being able to fight back to back in both weights he fought Vakhitov for the unified lhw belt (and had an espectacular fight which he won). If every fighter in the UFC had the same requirements to be double champ it would be fair imo. At least for me there is no justification for a fighter to have a chance to be simultaneous double champ if he's not gonna defend one, he needs to prove he's dominant at the original division, and then that he's actually material for defending both belts, its like how a contender has to prove he's champion material to challenge the champion in the first place.
I think it ultimately comes down to the first 4 double champs cleared their divisions in a way before moving up. Connor cleared 145 before the Alvarez fight. Pena the same thing. DC beat everyone there was to beat at LHW besides Jones who was out when he moved up. Cejudo beat DJ who was the guy albeit in a contested split decision before fighting Moraes for the vacant and beating who many see as the bantamweight goat in Cruz. All 4 double champions did incredible things in their division before moving up to earn that shot. Islam has an impressive record and yes he beat Charles, but we have seen Charles be beat like that before it wasn't new and two defenses against a featherweight moving up isn't enough of a claim for a shot up a weight class. He probably wants it now as he believes its a good stylistic matchup for him. DDP wants to win the belt and immediately get the title shot is incredibly weird he hasn't really had any remarkable wins besides Whittaker. He needs defenses against contenders especially Khamzat before moving up. Jamahal Hill calling for one at all is a laugh as he beat Glover who lost to Jiri in the first place and that belt was more an interim until Jiri got back in my opinion. As much as I don't like him Magomed Ankalaev deserves the shot if he can get past Walker. And if Rakic looks good against Jiri thats another contender on the move. Leon is the only one who has any case for it as he beat who many where calling the welterweight goat at the time Usman. Now that Usman is on a three fight loss streak people are quick to say he was never that good, but before that first loss they where comparing him to Anderson Silva. Still Leon shouldn't move up until he finds the contenders in his division. Especially given how much he had to beg and fight to get his title shot. He should give the same opportunity to the guys ranked below him that he himself wanted. At the end of the day everyone wants to be a double champ as that is the best way to seal your legacy. I don't think its needed and in some cases I don't even think its valid like Jones beating Gane, Stipe then dipping out. But its what the UFC has unfortunately become. Everyone wants to be in the club.
Still can’t rightfully call that undisputed. DP interm belt had more legitimacy than Khabibs belt pre Conor fight, same with Tony. It’s not Khabib fault, Laquinta is just trash & only was ranked because he robbed Masvidal
The simultaneous thing only means something if they actually defend each title at least once. Like Nunes and Cejudo did. Wether you lose the belt before moving up (like Poatan) or don't even attempt to defend it cause you get another title shot immediately, at a weight class above (like Conor), makes no difference.
Volk and Izzy were the exceptions to this as they cleared out their respective weight classes with no threat... These guys who are calling out champs when they have 0-1 wins on the title are the jokes.
The most annoying part about this aside from holding up the divisions is the hypocrisy. If Leon was still contending for a belt, he would have a massive problem with the current champ doing the same.
I think a champ that wants to go up or down to get another title needs to sacrifice his own belt. If he wins champ/champ but he if loses then he is also forced to vacate his belt
Volk is the only one that should be granted the opportunity and he's had plenty now. Saying that all these other champs need to figure out they need to not just be champ but DOMINATE the weight class anything less is a paper champ.
@@jakecollen1776yeah that's true. Even though I hated the way izzy fought until then there is no doubt that he beat most of the top contenders to earn that chance at LHW
Its also worth noting, the state of the divisions for 2x champs pre 2019. Amanda was steamrolling everyone. Flyweight was a dead division at that time. DC was moving up to HW which is his natural class anyways.
i think it depends on the circumstances of each fight, for example, Izzy just had two title defenses when he fought Jan, but he was undefeated and he beat like 6 elite fighters in a row, also, if I´m not mistaken, the light heavyweight division did not had a clear no1 contender, so it was a very good case for Izzy. Maybe the ideal situation was Volkanovski vs Makhachhev 1, I feel like the stars aligned for that fight, Volkanosvki was on a tear and Islam did not have a clear cut no1 contender. Islam vs Leon or Leon vs Strickland/DDP are obviously the worse case scenarios because, even tho they are on crazy win streaks, they don´t have a lot of elite wins, they don´t have multiple defenses against actual contenders, and both of them do have clear no1 contenders in their divisions, even middleweight has Cannonier who is next in line. Also I think there should be some kind of agreement in which, its stated that, both champs that are gonna fight, should come back as soon as possible to fighting contenders, and the challenger has to vacate one of the titles immediately after (if) he wins the fight.
Your method on the back end of the video is nice because even though the champ takes longer to fight the contender total of 3 fights(assuming he wins all 3) would begin to show dominance at a weight class. Rematching 2 opponents after that are considered high level/champions would be great. May be harder for contenders to get in the mix
Some rules I'd enforce if I was UFC to fix the issue 1. If you move up to attempt champ champ status & lose the fight, you vacate your belt & have to stay in the heavier weight class for at least 1 more fight so there is something for you to lose. 2. You have to at least defend your belt 2-3 times to be allowed to move up and attempt champ champ status, to avoid holding your division up. 3. You have to stay active in both divisions if you win 2nd belt. At least 1 fight in each division per year or else you get stripped of whichever belt you're holding up.
Edwards eyeing MW is hilarious. It’s just more dodging of Belal. He doesn’t want to get pieced up from the outside and manhandled in the ground game. The reality is that this whole double champ fiasco is the UFC’s own undoing in not having meritorious match making, like the PFL. The rankings literally make no sense and have no basis for fighter placement.
There needs to be rules to becoming a double champ. Obviously, Dana White has favorites, because at the end of the day, the UFC is a business and business needs to make money to stay float. But something like having three titled defenses as a champ, then you have to fight a Gatekeeper or ranked opponent in the weight class that you would like a second belt before getting a shot at double champ status.
I think this could fix the weight cutting problem if everyone is trying to move up a division for a championship fight tbh. They just need to stay and defend in both divisions (defend the belt) to keep their double champ status
Haven't watched the video but here's my opinion : I actually like the hunger to be a double champ, to chase greatness. But, I only like it when it's earned. What i mean by this is the Champ who is about to challenge the upper weight has to earned the title shot by cleaning up his own division. By doing that, he doesn't have any mandatory and worthy of challenging. Otherwise, he'll only hold the division down. Not only does he make it like he run from the challengers, but he also makes his shot on the upper weight seem less exciting.
Double Champ contention should be 2 criteria: #1 Beat at least 3 guys in the Top 5 or 6 guys in the Top 10 #2 Fight in Title Fights more than twice a year, if you only compete in title fights once a year, immediately DQ'd from Double Champ opportunities
It may also be safety reasons. If they get a second belt and if they lose one they still have another that they hold which doesn’t relinquish their champ status but rather their double champ status. Also they may get paid more for pursuing a second belt and obtaining it.
UFC should make rules to where you have to defend the belt at least 3-4 times before attempting to move up and fight the champion. Or just lap your divisions top 5-10.
That's were intérim belts should be useful. They win it and they "defend" it once the champion comes back. If he doesn't come back, the interim should be automatically promoted. For me Conor defended his title. But instead of beating Aldo and defending against Mendes it was the other way around.
That's kinda stupid because Aldo was the champ for 10 years and the rematch was booked right after that fight after Aldo came back from injury. Unironically using your logic, Tony should have become undisputed after Conor ducked the whole division.
This next level Conor bullshit lmao dude never defended any belt never gave Aldo a rematch and fought mendes when mendes had literally 7 days to prepare
@@tylerberg4832 not really, the logic behind is that if you don't unify the titles, it counts as 0 title win, but beating him would count as 2. Otherwise an "interim championship" is just a title eliminator
It's pretty clear why fighter's want it. The smaller champ gets a higher profile fight with potentially better ppv sales, get to challenge for a new belt without risking their current status as champion and have a built-in excuse in case they lose (one they don't even need to use). The larger champ also gets a higher profile fight that's probably easier than a title-defense against the top contenders in their division. It's also obvious why the UFC like it. Bigger names fighting each other will probably do better numbers. It's a shame that everyone else in the relevant divisions, as well as any fan who wants to see the sport kept fresh and competitive, loses out as a result.
The double champ rules needs to be this way, You must defend your title against fighters in your weight class(unranked fighters/champions moving up don’t really count cause they rarely stay in that division) you must defend your belt atleast 3 or more times/clear out a division. If you have not done this and defended your belt less than 3x you most vacate and move up or be active in both devisions what I mean when I say this is you must fight and beat a top 5 contender in the next higher or lower weight class you wish to become a double champion beat the contender take their rank which puts in line as a contender and hopefully number one contender this how moving up or down to become champ champ or a double champion should work
I think that there should be stipulations for being "double champ" 1. Still have to be active in the division you are champ at. 2. You have to challenge in a #1 contenders fight, and your next fight after that will have to be for the division you are currently champ at before you challenge for the next divisions belt 3. Can only challenge after 3-5 title defences
yeah these fools just making imaginary problems lmfao. also i have no idea how islam isnt worthy of getting a welterweight shot when hes beaten a top 10 fighter of all time twice and one of the greatest lightweights ever in oliveria.
@@iceadmiral1fan703 islam still has contenders at lightweight to get through. Charles is the only true lightweight contender he’s beaten and even then Charles is a featherweight. All the other people attempting double champ status cleared out their divisions already. There’s a log jam at both 155 where Charles, Arman, and Justin are in line soon and there’s Belal and Shavkat at 170. Leon and Islam are both very inactive that’s why I don’t like that fight, at least not for a while.
@@scottc2076 not true izzy got a chance at double champ after two defenses and quit downplaying oliveira like hes not a top 3 lightweight oat. and im not saying the fight should happen im saying islam is well worthy of it.
@@iceadmiral1fan703 at least with Izzy there wasn’t really anyone he needed to fight. His next title defense after was Marvin. And that is due to the fact that Rob was clearing out contenders for him. For Islam he hasn’t cleared out the division the same way Izzy did. Islam beat Volk once*. And yea islam beating oliveira is extremely impressive no doubt but the point is there’s contenders knocking on his door and he isn’t done with the division. Say they do Charles vs Arman for the interim belt and Justin vs Holloway for the BMF belt, if Islam fights those two winners then you can say he cleared out the division. Then again there’s BSD coming up. Other double champ attempts didn’t have there be that many contenders.
The ufc would never implement rules to prevent this as it would limit the power they have currently if they don't want a person to move up it won't be allowed if they do they will allow it adding in arbitrary rules will only limit there power so any solutions suggested have little to know chance of being implemented the best I can say is if there's enough public outcry maybe the ufc will be less willing however the ability to build a champ that the ufc likes while reducing a champ that they don't in a low risk way is very valuable so I don't know if even that would work
I’d say go for other weight class only when there’s no competition left in yours, but the way to do it is forego your belt, and start from “ground 0” in new weight class. I really believe it has to be highest risk highest reward. The low risk high reward shit that’s taking place right now really doesn’t define what double champ should mean imo
Double champ fights should only exist when there is either A. A VERY compelling reason for why the two champions need to fight, which would be reflected ultimately in how much money the event would generate or B. The challenging champion having defeated the majority of top contenders in their division (and thus have ultimately defended the belt 5+ times)
Cejudo didnt dominate his division before double champ. After beating dj he called out TJ right after. He still had to fight Joseph Benavidez whom he had lost to just a year before.
Completely agree: the main issue is that it's seen as a risk-free legacy booster that replaces instead of adding to a dominant title reign. But the other thing lowering the prestige of double champ is the competition. In the past it felt like champions were challenging themselves going for double champ. Now it feels like they wait for the easily opportunity to pounce. And as much as I love GSP, I think he started that trend (no disrespect to Bisping but I doubt he would've tried against Weidman, Rockhold, Whittaker or Romero). Randy Couture earning double champ was so impressive not just because he was the first but because he beat Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. DC went up and beat Stipe. For all his faults, Conor dethroned Jose Aldo, planned to fight RDA and ended up beating Eddie Alvarez. Nunes beat Cyborg. And while she didn't win, Shevchenko challenged Nunes. Compare that to these recent double champ calls: - Jon Jones vs. a much older Stipe or Ciryl Gane (a kickboxer with poor wrestling) - Islam vs. Leon Edwards (who _at the time_ had just won the belt and looked like a pure striker with average takedown defence) - Leon vs. Strickland (a massive upset champion) or DDP (who'd have just won the belt) - DDP vs. ?? (for a hot potato belt in a shallow division) - Jamahal Hill vs. Tom Aspinall (probably the scariest on this list but still he's only just won the belt)
There is also the case, that Conor and pereira, when they went up a weight class they didn’t fight immediately for the belt. Conor fought Nate in a weight class above his, and Alex fought Jan.
You keep your rank in your main division. When Volk fought Islam he had "C-FTW" after his name instead of a rank at LW. When Khamzat was supposed to fight Costa he had his 170 rank with "WW" specified.
I think it should be a huge reward for a great run… like 3 defenses in a year and you can go up for the 2x status. But make it standardized so it’s not all confused and delayed at the top
You have to be the favorite in every fight in your division to be considered for double champ. If there is ever a '+'next to your betting odds then forget about it.
I’m making a video about this too, my take is that a champion has to atleast defend their belt against ranked opponents in their weight division 2 time’s minimum to fight for champ champ. That way it’s harder to fight for champ champ status and the champion doesn’t hold up the division and it’ll force the champ to remain active.
I honestly don’t know why these videos are coming out atm when this was a HUGE problem in 2018-2019 where we saw DC vs Stipe, Cyborg vs Nunes, Cejudo vs Dillashaw, then Cejudo beat Moraes to become double champ. Right now guys are just expressing interest in one day challenging for a second title
Having a potential double champ fight the #1 contender in the division they’re trying to move to sounds like the best idea but yea it’d hold up their own division too long. Regardless of how double champ attempts work, Someone is gonna lose in some way. I think the best option is them vacating their original belt after winning another. They still get the simultaneous double champ status that way and it doesn’t hold up any division.
There should be a criteria like a champion has to defend his belt 4 times No matter if he's dominant in the division or not He shouldn't get any chance for double belt before that!
I think the issue of no risk, is a bit offset by the fact the challenging champ has to fight at a new weight, while the defending champ is fighting in his own weight
As much as Conor did for the sport, he also damaged it. Everyone wants to be double champ now or they think they can go into boxing and generate Mayweather vs McGregor numbers 💀
While true, it's undeniable that us fans LOVE to see these matchups, especially if the challenger has cleared his own division just like Volk and Izzy did (at least before meeting Alex). Also, within the same division, there are some contenders who do not get any attention because of their style or their personality, such as Belal Muhammad or Beneil Dariush. It's a business and us fans are showing much more interest towards "super fights" rather than ranking-based title fights, therefore I don't really blame the UFC
We need a rule. Make a minimum title defense quota before you can move and challenge. Also if you lose your challenge you get stripped of your actual belt then you would be required to fight at least once before you can get your original belt back.
What happened to the boxing videos? Your boy prograis is fighting haney tomorrow and you havent talked about it at all. Your doing him a disservice considering he gave you your first interview.
Honestly they should put a title fight requirement for any champion looking to challenge a different title. You should have at least 4 or 5 title wins before you’re allowed to hold up your division’s belt
![[Vowel]물고기는 물에서 살아야 해🐟🤣Fish have to live in the water #funny](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3G9MH063Cx4/mqdefault.jpg)
Imagine Leon holding up two divisions not just one.
Leon is heading into 3rd fight in 15 months. Do the math yourself
@@prokrastinatia 5 months apart with the average fighter taking only 3-4 months so what’s his hold up? 2 of those fights were within 3 months? What about the other 12? That’s like saying here’s $100 and it’s all 1’s. Yeah it’s 100 dollars but it’s not a $100 bill.
The number of times each men's champion will have fought by the end of 2023
Pantoja: 2
O'Malley: 1
Volkanovski: 3
Islam: 2
Leon: 2
Strickland: 3
Pereira: 3
Jones: 1
Aspinall: 2
Leon 100% does not deserve a middleweight title shot, but the narrative that he's an inactive champion is silly. 2 fights per year is average for champions.
But he's not holding up 170?
Let’s be real this isn’t really Leon’s fault it was colby’s.
It's far more impressive to clean out a division over multiple title defenses than collecting belts in different divisions that never get defended. Double champ should be the cherry on top for a fighter's career. Not the main goal.
100% agree, came here to say the same. Look at the title reigns of Anderson Silva, GSP, DJ. That’s a real legacy.
Agreed especially when these champs are newly crowned themselves and also the person they're calling out is always a favourable style and also a new champ. It's just not overly impressive. Like Leon calling out Strickland because he's seen as probably the weakest champion
Facts by daddy lionel
@@Dukestboy96here is the guy bro, lemme tell you something Sean is pulled a gun now😂
Nah its really all perspective
I think the champ that wants to be double champ needs to be active. Izzy and Alex fight 4 times a year so they could be double champs and actively fight in both.
Only Alex, Adesanya & Usman in their prime could rightfully claim an attempt at double champ status as they cleaned out their division defending the belt.
3x title defenses minimum. 👊🏻😤
@@U-mann what’s your take on Volk’s first 155 shot?
3 times a year but yh we hear you
@@spencere821Volkanoveki absolutely deserved it. He had 4 defences and there wasn’t a number 1 contender on a win streak in both divisions at the time. Beniel couldve got a shot but his best win was top 10 Gamrot not a top 5 guy.
@@kingt0295thats why he got the dobronx fight as a title elim
You should have to clean out your division before you even attempt another belt, otherwise you're just holding up your division
I bet you made an excuse for Conor though
I agree
@@IshbikesConor is an insanely massive draw. None of these guys here you could say the same about
@@STEELGMBLyou proved his point lol
@@dieu5041 no, I didn't
The thing that annoys me the most is the fact that claiming a title in another division is now the requirement for dominant champions and if they won't attempt to do so they're getting criticized like Mighty Mause or Khabib (I know these are pretty old examples but you get the point)
Yeah I feel guys shouldn’t gun for double champ status right after winning the belt like Islam. Nothing against him but defend your title and also have the champion from the division up willing to defend their title. You didn’t see Edwards clamoring to Fight Islam he wanted the 185 strap. Never the less we should pay little attention to guys like hill or Du Plessi untill they actually win the strap and convincingly. No reason to go up in weight next fight if you have a 5 round close war with Strickland
@@johnnyalvarez6792Islam said on an ESPN interview he'll defend 3-5 times before moving up. An Olives rematch and Gaethje imo. Besides he has the best argument for moving up out of Hill, Leon and O'Malley.
Exactly, the same mf that was heavily criticizing Khabib for not moving up to 170 are now crying about Makhachev's attempt at 170 gold, one more win he will tie the all time lw td record granting him a shot at the ww title.
@@moonvenerable7897he should probably defend against actual lightweights before moving up, volk twice are good defenses but he should at least clear three dudes from light weight
@@Devilm4n-cw8tvThere’s barely 3 LWs worthy of a title shot. Olivera’s really the only one so far. Gaethje and Poirier need to retire so newer fighters can rise up.
Simple solution: Add a clause that every official champion now has the option to challenge the champion of another division (within reason) but in exchange they must give up their belt. Thus there is an actual risk to attempting the double champ status. If they win they get the new belt but if they lose they lose their own belt so that way there is no flip flopping.
I like your idea but it would be hard to implement but it's smart it's like the weight classes are facing off to see who's the best
Simple solution: Its a business
i feel like there should instead be a defenses quota you have to fill before being able to go for a second belt. 4 title defenses minimum
I think there should be a minimum of 3 title defenses before moving up
Thank you for this video... especially the Shavkat reference. That guy is so great and deserves all the love. So sick of fighters trying to jump around weight divisions.
I would say that the UFC needs to define a very clear criteria that a champion has to meet before they can go for double champ, such as having at least 3-4 consecutive title defenses, winning at least of those defenses via finish, on top of being an exciting and marketable fighter, so that the champ vs. champ fight will be a highly anticipated high selling event.
and a fight at the new weight class to prove the fighter can compete at said weight class, for example look what happened to Conor his first fight at 170
the disrespect to not mention Amanda defending both her belts at the same time
Fr put some respect on her 💀
Bruh she fights girls lmao nobody cares
Bro really said Cejudo was the last double champ
This is the standard double champs should be held too
@@DTS_Icejudo was the last to win a second belt. He just never defended both. Amanda became double champ 6 months before henry but she never gave up either belt. So she was the last active double champ - henry was the last to achieve double champ.
Casual's question: Is triple champion possible or is it too hard?
definetely possible but at lower weight classes where the difference is only 10 pounds per
Pereira
@@lilbottle9709you could make a run from Middleweight to heavyweight if you took the time to put the weight on correctly.
Unless you're saying they have to do it simultaneously.
It is possible, but it’s really hard especially if you are a fighter in the bigger division (welterweight to heavyweight) because the weight gap between each division is bigger.
For the smaller division, it’s still really hard. Let’s take Makachev for example. He barely can make it to 155 so they’re is no chance he can make 145. He can probably go to 170 and has a good chance of winning the belt. But if he try to go to 185, I think that he will be to small for the division.
So if someone is to become a triple champ, I think it will be someone in the bantamweight division that does not cut that much weight (maybe 10-15 pound). So there is a chance that he can cut to flyweight and survive and make 145 without being to small for the division.
In a week, a French fighter name Salahdine Parnasse will try to be the first triple champ mma in KSW (FW,LW and WW). He will have a massive weight disadvantage so let’s see how he is going to do!
Sorry if my english is hard to understand it’s not my first language…
That's what the Khamzat experiment was supposed to be about
"making the risk extremely low" Processeds to get knocked out
He's talking about the first fight not the second. Also still it was a low risk. He got knocked out but he's still champ
Conor Mcgregor did this. Once he became champ in 2 divisions simultaneously, everyone wants to do it now. It is basically the new standard.
He did it, and didn't do shit with the belts afterward.
Actually its UFC's fault, Dana even tweeted Khabib was suppose to fight Alvarez in 2016 then they gave it to Conor instead, if Khabib fought Alvarez early, Conor could never be double champ and Khabib would have minimum 5 or 6 title defenses
@@timurjack8773 & if Khabib didn't get injured constantly, he would have been given a title shot much earlier than ufc 205. Think about this, Khabib destroyed RDA, but was injured after. In the meantime, RDA bounced back and became champ and then lost to Alvarez. If Khabib never got injured constantly, he would have more defenses.
@@hhtptaiYou fine asl
@@hhtptai and others followed him by never defending it either. The only double champ who defended both belts is Amanda Nunes. The rest of them ruins the division.
I feel that the LEAST requirements for champ-champ status should be 4-5 defenses while being active, then going up to fight a title eliminator with the guy second in line in said division. Everybody calling for champ-champ status after 1 or 2 defenses (and in DDP’s case 0🤦🏽♂️) is devaluing what it actually means to be a simultaneous/two division champ.
facts I don’t understand what right they think they have to challenge another divisions champ because they have the belt in theirs, skipping past the whole division, when having to clear out the division is what makes it hard to reach the title in the first place
Leon spent most of his career begging for a title shot and then saying he wants to fight MW because there is no one else left to fight in WW is just peak hypocrisy. Twat wont even give others the same chance, also Dricus and Strickland would bully him son.
most of the middleweight would give him a run for his money to considerably “bully” him to outright pawning him.
Leon has to relax a bit and work in and across his division.
I think the ufc needs to set up a few rules for a champ to become double champ.
1. They need to have 3 title defenses before they can try it.
2. They must be active having 3 fights the year before their title shot to prove they wont hold up the divisions.
3. The fighter moving to the new division will automatically be stripped of thier title if they lose the fight. Also they will not get an immediate title shot when they return to their division.
This will add some stakes for the fighter attempting double champ and with all these rules you will actually have only the great fighters able to get 2 belts and making these fights mean something.
Losing your real belt after attempting a move up and losing would be bullshit tho. Think of Volk when he originally attempted it, he was on 4 defences and cemented himself as the current best featherweight with a brutally dominant performance against Max Holloway then lost a fair but close decision to Islam. A guy like that losing the FW belt would be pretty dumb, the guy that won the vacant would be seen as a paper champ.
Sped found
Nah.. you can't create a rule like that. The thing with the UFC is that it isn't only about winning and losing. It's about selling fights too.. so, because UFC fighters are very different compared to eachother there can never be 1 common rule for all of them.
Great video, would love to see a video on meta styles (or whatever you may call it) - wrestling and jiu jitsu of earlier days, leg kicks, high kicks, etc.
Would be very fun 👀
3 title defenses minimum before you can move up
Nah let’s make it 5. See who really has that dawg in them
Islam and Volk were the only ones with valid champ champ callouts. Alex's move to LHW was because he was too big for MW anyways, nothing wrong with him. Leon, Dricus and Jamahal need to humbled.
I know I might get flack and say Islam is debatable, but Charles fucked up the division more than him. If he had a title defense against Charles and won, that would give time for the division to do Gaethe vs Tsarukyan for #1 contender, then do an Islam return fight, or another interim fight. As for WW, assuming Shavkat wins, then the next fight of Shavkat vs Belal would make the most sense for #1 contender.
@@tehDmezBelal’s already the true number 1 contender. He has the longest streak, besides Edwards, in the division and handily beat a top 5 opponent. Covington is literally just a money fight to delay Belal’s title fight, and Shavkat would only be another delay. Shavkat can go fight Usman or some other top 5 fighter to have a stepping stone to being the number 1 contender.
@@kman9884 Yeah that's fair, I forgot how far back Belal's fight line goes, he definitely deserves that redemption against Leon (or Colby) or at least an interim fight if Leon was to hold up the division.
Islam needs to beat a couple LWs first he has two defences and both are Volk who isn’t really a LW in the slightest.
Yeah you’re definitely bias .
I concur that a minimum of three title defenses should be necessary before moving up to pursue double champ status. However, I think if they do become double champ they should be forced to relinquish their previous belts to not hold up the division.
Agree. Also a minimum of 2 fights per year
keep up the amazing content deadass look forward to ur videos every week
Happens in boxing too. I remember Canelo going after Kovalev in the light heavyweight division. Kovalev just beat Anthony Yarde.. but Kov was already showing his age at that point. I remember the fight taking place only after 2 months from his previous bout, give or take. Boxing fans knew that Kov was the weaker opponent of his potential LHW opponents (Bivol who Canelo eventually fought/lost to and Beterbiev). The glory was to get yet another title under his belt but calling out the weaker opponent, lower risk.
*Bivol
Great video as always it’ll be interesting to see this all play out
That thumbnail is literally the storyline of every romance drama ever
In my opinion you can get a chance at a double championship once you dominate your division (like Volkanovski) or when you come back out of retirement just for that (like GSP), with Pereira and anyone like him being the exception who moves up/down permanently; but to be honest I rate having a lot of title defenses in your division much higher than being double champ
Cuz you're not a casual, and that's the right thing to do. But most ufc fans are casuals and spread the toxic statement towards any dominant fighter that "he's afraid to move up/down" If he stays in his division for bit too long
Always a banger when tj uploads 😂
I truly think that It should be written rule In the UFC that In order for a champ to be able to move up a division to gain Double Champ status, they first need to have actually captured 2-3 more dominant title defenses/wins, cleaning out the division, and establishing a legacy there.
It just clogs up divisions, and makes them even more Inactive than they already are.
UFC needs to make a rule. If you want double champ status you need to meet at least one of two requirements: 3+ successful title defenses in your own division and/or you need to work yourself up in the new division you want to get a 2nd belt in
No that would be so boring kill the sport
Glory has the same weight organization on lhw and mw as the UFC, meaning that when Pereira became simultaneous double champ at Glory, the weights were also 20 pounds apart. Pereira initially moved up to fight with the no1 contender of lhw to be interim champ, having 4 consecutive defenses in mw, then went back to 185 and defended for the fifth time, and AFTER securing a credible double champ status being able to fight back to back in both weights he fought Vakhitov for the unified lhw belt (and had an espectacular fight which he won). If every fighter in the UFC had the same requirements to be double champ it would be fair imo. At least for me there is no justification for a fighter to have a chance to be simultaneous double champ if he's not gonna defend one, he needs to prove he's dominant at the original division, and then that he's actually material for defending both belts, its like how a contender has to prove he's champion material to challenge the champion in the first place.
I think it ultimately comes down to the first 4 double champs cleared their divisions in a way before moving up. Connor cleared 145 before the Alvarez fight. Pena the same thing. DC beat everyone there was to beat at LHW besides Jones who was out when he moved up. Cejudo beat DJ who was the guy albeit in a contested split decision before fighting Moraes for the vacant and beating who many see as the bantamweight goat in Cruz. All 4 double champions did incredible things in their division before moving up to earn that shot. Islam has an impressive record and yes he beat Charles, but we have seen Charles be beat like that before it wasn't new and two defenses against a featherweight moving up isn't enough of a claim for a shot up a weight class. He probably wants it now as he believes its a good stylistic matchup for him. DDP wants to win the belt and immediately get the title shot is incredibly weird he hasn't really had any remarkable wins besides Whittaker. He needs defenses against contenders especially Khamzat before moving up. Jamahal Hill calling for one at all is a laugh as he beat Glover who lost to Jiri in the first place and that belt was more an interim until Jiri got back in my opinion. As much as I don't like him Magomed Ankalaev deserves the shot if he can get past Walker. And if Rakic looks good against Jiri thats another contender on the move. Leon is the only one who has any case for it as he beat who many where calling the welterweight goat at the time Usman. Now that Usman is on a three fight loss streak people are quick to say he was never that good, but before that first loss they where comparing him to Anderson Silva. Still Leon shouldn't move up until he finds the contenders in his division. Especially given how much he had to beg and fight to get his title shot. He should give the same opportunity to the guys ranked below him that he himself wanted. At the end of the day everyone wants to be a double champ as that is the best way to seal your legacy. I don't think its needed and in some cases I don't even think its valid like Jones beating Gane, Stipe then dipping out. But its what the UFC has unfortunately become. Everyone wants to be in the club.
Conor didn't clear the 145 division.
@@megamanxhunterexactly
@@megamanxhuntercasual
@@joshuaw2493 Come up with something better.
izzy cleared 185 twice
Khabib did not fight for the interim belt, Conor was stripped right before the Iaquinta fight
Fuck, you’re right I’m an idiot.
Still can’t rightfully call that undisputed. DP interm belt had more legitimacy than Khabibs belt pre Conor fight, same with Tony. It’s not Khabib fault, Laquinta is just trash & only was ranked because he robbed Masvidal
Aspinal would vapourise Jamal Hill in seconds! That is a really stupid idea for Hill
Forreal, no way he can put on enough good weight to make that competitive in a reasonable amount of time.
The simultaneous thing only means something if they actually defend each title at least once. Like Nunes and Cejudo did. Wether you lose the belt before moving up (like Poatan) or don't even attempt to defend it cause you get another title shot immediately, at a weight class above (like Conor), makes no difference.
Agreed
Volk and Izzy were the exceptions to this as they cleared out their respective weight classes with no threat... These guys who are calling out champs when they have 0-1 wins on the title are the jokes.
Connor never successfully defended a belt. He had no business going for double champ status.
The most annoying part about this aside from holding up the divisions is the hypocrisy. If Leon was still contending for a belt, he would have a massive problem with the current champ doing the same.
I think a champ that wants to go up or down to get another title needs to sacrifice his own belt. If he wins champ/champ but he if loses then he is also forced to vacate his belt
Volk is the only one that should be granted the opportunity and he's had plenty now. Saying that all these other champs need to figure out they need to not just be champ but DOMINATE the weight class anything less is a paper champ.
I think Izzy deserved his shot at 205 when he got it. He cleared out the division.
@@jakecollen1776yeah that's true. Even though I hated the way izzy fought until then there is no doubt that he beat most of the top contenders to earn that chance at LHW
I think UFC should implement a 3 title defense rule before you can go for double champ
Can you do a video on SNAC been hearing a lot about snac and rehydration and it would be cool to get a video about it from you
Everybody is trying to break records
Its also worth noting, the state of the divisions for 2x champs pre 2019. Amanda was steamrolling everyone. Flyweight was a dead division at that time. DC was moving up to HW which is his natural class anyways.
i think it depends on the circumstances of each fight, for example, Izzy just had two title defenses when he fought Jan, but he was undefeated and he beat like 6 elite fighters in a row, also, if I´m not mistaken, the light heavyweight division did not had a clear no1 contender, so it was a very good case for Izzy. Maybe the ideal situation was Volkanovski vs Makhachhev 1, I feel like the stars aligned for that fight, Volkanosvki was on a tear and Islam did not have a clear cut no1 contender.
Islam vs Leon or Leon vs Strickland/DDP are obviously the worse case scenarios because, even tho they are on crazy win streaks, they don´t have a lot of elite wins, they don´t have multiple defenses against actual contenders, and both of them do have clear no1 contenders in their divisions, even middleweight has Cannonier who is next in line.
Also I think there should be some kind of agreement in which, its stated that, both champs that are gonna fight, should come back as soon as possible to fighting contenders, and the challenger has to vacate one of the titles immediately after (if) he wins the fight.
It just seems like everyone wants to be THAT GUY but forget they can still be legendary by dominating one division
Your method on the back end of the video is nice because even though the champ takes longer to fight the contender total of 3 fights(assuming he wins all 3) would begin to show dominance at a weight class. Rematching 2 opponents after that are considered high level/champions would be great. May be harder for contenders to get in the mix
Some rules I'd enforce if I was UFC to fix the issue
1. If you move up to attempt champ champ status & lose the fight, you vacate your belt & have to stay in the heavier weight class for at least 1 more fight so there is something for you to lose.
2. You have to at least defend your belt 2-3 times to be allowed to move up and attempt champ champ status, to avoid holding your division up.
3. You have to stay active in both divisions if you win 2nd belt. At least 1 fight in each division per year or else you get stripped of whichever belt you're holding up.
for the 2nd rule i think they should defend 2-3 times against unique opponents, not the same guy
Edwards eyeing MW is hilarious. It’s just more dodging of Belal. He doesn’t want to get pieced up from the outside and manhandled in the ground game.
The reality is that this whole double champ fiasco is the UFC’s own undoing in not having meritorious match making, like the PFL. The rankings literally make no sense and have no basis for fighter placement.
That’s so funny, I was literally thinking about this yesterday, like you need to clear out the division before saying you want to move up
There needs to be rules to becoming a double champ. Obviously, Dana White has favorites, because at the end of the day, the UFC is a business and business needs to make money to stay float. But something like having three titled defenses as a champ, then you have to fight a Gatekeeper or ranked opponent in the weight class that you would like a second belt before getting a shot at double champ status.
I think this could fix the weight cutting problem if everyone is trying to move up a division for a championship fight tbh. They just need to stay and defend in both divisions (defend the belt) to keep their double champ status
3-4 title defenses should be the requirement
Haven't watched the video but here's my opinion :
I actually like the hunger to be a double champ, to chase greatness. But, I only like it when it's earned. What i mean by this is the Champ who is about to challenge the upper weight has to earned the title shot by cleaning up his own division. By doing that, he doesn't have any mandatory and worthy of challenging. Otherwise, he'll only hold the division down. Not only does he make it like he run from the challengers, but he also makes his shot on the upper weight seem less exciting.
Fantastic video boss.
It seems like once someone reaches the pinnacle of their division they don't want to weight cut as much
Double Champ contention should be 2 criteria:
#1 Beat at least 3 guys in the Top 5 or 6 guys in the Top 10
#2 Fight in Title Fights more than twice a year, if you only compete in title fights once a year, immediately DQ'd from Double Champ opportunities
Alex had to move out of necessity, but these guys are kinda acting like clowns
Agree his weight cut was a bit too much
It may also be safety reasons. If they get a second belt and if they lose one they still have another that they hold which doesn’t relinquish their champ status but rather their double champ status. Also they may get paid more for pursuing a second belt and obtaining it.
UFC should make rules to where you have to defend the belt at least 3-4 times before attempting to move up and fight the champion. Or just lap your divisions top 5-10.
That's were intérim belts should be useful. They win it and they "defend" it once the champion comes back. If he doesn't come back, the interim should be automatically promoted.
For me Conor defended his title. But instead of beating Aldo and defending against Mendes it was the other way around.
That's kinda stupid because Aldo was the champ for 10 years and the rematch was booked right after that fight after Aldo came back from injury. Unironically using your logic, Tony should have become undisputed after Conor ducked the whole division.
This next level Conor bullshit lmao dude never defended any belt never gave Aldo a rematch and fought mendes when mendes had literally 7 days to prepare
@@nicholascoob1350 unironacally I stand with my logic and should have been indeed champion and defended his belt against Khabib
@@nicholascoob1350 it's a tradition, not a rule, anyway an Aldo rematch would have been a 2nd title defense
@@tylerberg4832 not really, the logic behind is that if you don't unify the titles, it counts as 0 title win, but beating him would count as 2. Otherwise an "interim championship" is just a title eliminator
It's pretty clear why fighter's want it. The smaller champ gets a higher profile fight with potentially better ppv sales, get to challenge for a new belt without risking their current status as champion and have a built-in excuse in case they lose (one they don't even need to use). The larger champ also gets a higher profile fight that's probably easier than a title-defense against the top contenders in their division.
It's also obvious why the UFC like it. Bigger names fighting each other will probably do better numbers.
It's a shame that everyone else in the relevant divisions, as well as any fan who wants to see the sport kept fresh and competitive, loses out as a result.
Youre wrong. The Khabib-Iaquinta fight was not an interim title bout. It was for the real title.
The double champ rules needs to be this way, You must defend your title against fighters in your weight class(unranked fighters/champions moving up don’t really count cause they rarely stay in that division) you must defend your belt atleast 3 or more times/clear out a division. If you have not done this and defended your belt less than 3x you most vacate and move up or be active in both devisions what I mean when I say this is you must fight and beat a top 5 contender in the next higher or lower weight class you wish to become a double champion beat the contender take their rank which puts in line as a contender and hopefully number one contender this how moving up or down to become champ champ or a double champion should work
I think that there should be stipulations for being "double champ"
1. Still have to be active in the division you are champ at.
2. You have to challenge in a #1 contenders fight, and your next fight after that will have to be for the division you are currently champ at before you challenge for the next divisions belt
3. Can only challenge after 3-5 title defences
DOUBLE CHAMP!!! YEAHHH
Drickus has been double champ in South Africa already, so I don't mind him doing it again. And he will.
TJ Id love to watch your vids, however my retinas are cooked, could you take into consideration a black background? or grey?
We don’t have a double champ problem. Nobody truly got an undeserved shot at double champ status
yeah these fools just making imaginary problems lmfao. also i have no idea how islam isnt worthy of getting a welterweight shot when hes beaten a top 10 fighter of all time twice and one of the greatest lightweights ever in oliveria.
@@iceadmiral1fan703 islam still has contenders at lightweight to get through. Charles is the only true lightweight contender he’s beaten and even then Charles is a featherweight. All the other people attempting double champ status cleared out their divisions already. There’s a log jam at both 155 where Charles, Arman, and Justin are in line soon and there’s Belal and Shavkat at 170. Leon and Islam are both very inactive that’s why I don’t like that fight, at least not for a while.
@@scottc2076 not true izzy got a chance at double champ after two defenses and quit downplaying oliveira like hes not a top 3 lightweight oat. and im not saying the fight should happen im saying islam is well worthy of it.
@@iceadmiral1fan703 at least with Izzy there wasn’t really anyone he needed to fight. His next title defense after was Marvin. And that is due to the fact that Rob was clearing out contenders for him. For Islam he hasn’t cleared out the division the same way Izzy did. Islam beat Volk once*. And yea islam beating oliveira is extremely impressive no doubt but the point is there’s contenders knocking on his door and he isn’t done with the division. Say they do Charles vs Arman for the interim belt and Justin vs Holloway for the BMF belt, if Islam fights those two winners then you can say he cleared out the division. Then again there’s BSD coming up. Other double champ attempts didn’t have there be that many contenders.
The ufc would never implement rules to prevent this as it would limit the power they have currently if they don't want a person to move up it won't be allowed if they do they will allow it adding in arbitrary rules will only limit there power so any solutions suggested have little to know chance of being implemented the best I can say is if there's enough public outcry maybe the ufc will be less willing however the ability to build a champ that the ufc likes while reducing a champ that they don't in a low risk way is very valuable so I don't know if even that would work
I’d say go for other weight class only when there’s no competition left in yours, but the way to do it is forego your belt, and start from “ground 0” in new weight class. I really believe it has to be highest risk highest reward. The low risk high reward shit that’s taking place right now really doesn’t define what double champ should mean imo
Double champ fights should only exist when there is either A. A VERY compelling reason for why the two champions need to fight, which would be reflected ultimately in how much money the event would generate or
B. The challenging champion having defeated the majority of top contenders in their division (and thus have ultimately defended the belt 5+ times)
Thank you for finally addressing this problem 🕶️🗿
Cejudo didnt dominate his division before double champ. After beating dj he called out TJ right after. He still had to fight Joseph Benavidez whom he had lost to just a year before.
Completely agree: the main issue is that it's seen as a risk-free legacy booster that replaces instead of adding to a dominant title reign. But the other thing lowering the prestige of double champ is the competition. In the past it felt like champions were challenging themselves going for double champ. Now it feels like they wait for the easily opportunity to pounce. And as much as I love GSP, I think he started that trend (no disrespect to Bisping but I doubt he would've tried against Weidman, Rockhold, Whittaker or Romero).
Randy Couture earning double champ was so impressive not just because he was the first but because he beat Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. DC went up and beat Stipe. For all his faults, Conor dethroned Jose Aldo, planned to fight RDA and ended up beating Eddie Alvarez. Nunes beat Cyborg. And while she didn't win, Shevchenko challenged Nunes.
Compare that to these recent double champ calls:
- Jon Jones vs. a much older Stipe or Ciryl Gane (a kickboxer with poor wrestling)
- Islam vs. Leon Edwards (who _at the time_ had just won the belt and looked like a pure striker with average takedown defence)
- Leon vs. Strickland (a massive upset champion) or DDP (who'd have just won the belt)
- DDP vs. ?? (for a hot potato belt in a shallow division)
- Jamahal Hill vs. Tom Aspinall (probably the scariest on this list but still he's only just won the belt)
There is also the case, that Conor and pereira, when they went up a weight class they didn’t fight immediately for the belt. Conor fought Nate in a weight class above his, and Alex fought Jan.
I am a casual and i have a question what happens if your ranked and you move up a weight class where would you be ranked
You keep your rank in your main division. When Volk fought Islam he had "C-FTW" after his name instead of a rank at LW. When Khamzat was supposed to fight Costa he had his 170 rank with "WW" specified.
I think it should be a huge reward for a great run… like 3 defenses in a year and you can go up for the 2x status. But make it standardized so it’s not all confused and delayed at the top
I think once people saw Alex win and become double champ everyone else hopped on the train
You have to be the favorite in every fight in your division to be considered for double champ. If there is ever a '+'next to your betting odds then forget about it.
I’m making a video about this too, my take is that a champion has to atleast defend their belt against ranked opponents in their weight division 2 time’s minimum to fight for champ champ. That way it’s harder to fight for champ champ status and the champion doesn’t hold up the division and it’ll force the champ to remain active.
They should only be able to move up if they've cleared out their division
I honestly don’t know why these videos are coming out atm when this was a HUGE problem in 2018-2019 where we saw DC vs Stipe, Cyborg vs Nunes, Cejudo vs Dillashaw, then Cejudo beat Moraes to become double champ. Right now guys are just expressing interest in one day challenging for a second title
Jamahal needs to take care of things with the judge before he even thinks of champ champ status
Having a potential double champ fight the #1 contender in the division they’re trying to move to sounds like the best idea but yea it’d hold up their own division too long.
Regardless of how double champ attempts work, Someone is gonna lose in some way. I think the best option is them vacating their original belt after winning another. They still get the simultaneous double champ status that way and it doesn’t hold up any division.
0:45 is insane dog he hasnt lost since 2015 man he deserves the right to say he wants to fight leon
There should be a criteria
like a champion has to defend his belt 4 times
No matter if he's dominant in the division or not
He shouldn't get any chance for double belt before that!
3 title defenses actually makes the most sense imo
I think the issue of no risk, is a bit offset by the fact the challenging champ has to fight at a new weight, while the defending champ is fighting in his own weight
As much as Conor did for the sport, he also damaged it. Everyone wants to be double champ now or they think they can go into boxing and generate Mayweather vs McGregor numbers 💀
While true, it's undeniable that us fans LOVE to see these matchups, especially if the challenger has cleared his own division just like Volk and Izzy did (at least before meeting Alex). Also, within the same division, there are some contenders who do not get any attention because of their style or their personality, such as Belal Muhammad or Beneil Dariush. It's a business and us fans are showing much more interest towards "super fights" rather than ranking-based title fights, therefore I don't really blame the UFC
Belal will never get a title shot
They should do a catch weight fight where it’s even but winner takes both belts either way
We need a rule. Make a minimum title defense quota before you can move and challenge. Also if you lose your challenge you get stripped of your actual belt then you would be required to fight at least once before you can get your original belt back.
Great video
That’s why I respect Izzy and Usman so much!! Stayed and defended so long!!
I think you should be allowed to have a double champion fight if you agree to move permanently to the new division
I think the champion moving up should vacate his title
As soon as Izzy started talking about it I was like well this isn’t really original anymore lol
What happened to the boxing videos? Your boy prograis is fighting haney tomorrow and you havent talked about it at all. Your doing him a disservice considering he gave you your first interview.
Well, he considered boxing dead following the Ngannou vs Fury bout, which probably means he would never make boxing videos again.
@@davepleaseknowbetter2840 what a terrible take then, this has been one of the best years in boxing so many good match ups have happened
I know, right?@@venicec3310
Honestly they should put a title fight requirement for any champion looking to challenge a different title. You should have at least 4 or 5 title wins before you’re allowed to hold up your division’s belt