Title Turmoil in the UFC's Welterweight Division

The UFC now has an unlikely welterweight champion. Divisional powerhouse Georges St. Pierre won the welterweight belt in a lopsided TKO victory over longtime champion Matt Hughes at UFC 65, and most predicted a long title reign for the Canadian. Matt Serra, however, had other plans. Serra, who earned a title shot by winning season four of the UFC’s popular Ultimate Fighter reality show, shocked the world at UFC 69 with a first-round TKO over the heavily-favored St. Pierre and, in doing so, turned the division on its head. St. Pierre’s all-but-certain victory over Serra would have set the stage for Hughes-St. Pierre 3, one of the more anticipated fights of 2007. Instead what we’re left with is a relatively uninspiring match between Serra and Hughes, where Hughes will most likely turn out another a boring decision victory (did anyone enjoy that Lytle fight?). What’s worse, UFC president Dana White announced recently that the two will coach competing teams in the next installment of the Ultimate Fighter, which will postpone their bout until the end of the year. White no doubt recognizes the bad blood that exists between the two and seeks to capitalize on it, but the problem is that by doing so, he essentially stagnates the entire division.

I’m not one known for taking for taking a lot of strong positions, but I feel obliged to say that the UFC brass is making a big mistake here. The division is replete with championchip-caliber fighters, but now guys like Karo Parisiyan and Josh Koschek must wait in the wings while Hughes and Serra try to one-up each other on national television. Not only do I think that this is a terrible business decision, but it’s also horribly unfair to those in title contention. Josh Koschek, for example, is 7-1 in the UFC and has won five consecutive fights. Moreover, his one loss came due to a fluke knee landed late in the third round by Drew Fickett. Koschek was dominating that fight. But even with his five consecutive wins and recent decision victory over rising star Diego Sanchez, he finds himself in a precarious position. Next for Koschek is a fight with the deposed champion St. Pierre, but even a victory there will most likely not gain him a shot at the belt. Since the Hughes-Serra fight is so far off, he will likely fight again before his time comes.

Karo Parisiyan is another example. He’s 6-2 in the UFC and his only recent loss came to Diego Sanchez. He was awarded a title shot at UFC 56 but had to pull out due to injury. He hasn’t seen a shot since, and he probably won’t for some time.

Why Dana White would choose to halt the UFC’s most dynamic division just to spice up the next season of the ultimate fighter is beyond anything I understand. And it’s certainly not fair to the rest of the division. I recognize that future of the UFC rests in its ability to make the sport entertaining, but it must not do so at the expense of its athletes.

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