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Inertia in the UFC Light Heavyweight Division

When Forrest Griffin upset Quentin Rampage Jackson at UFC 86, the light heavyweight division was thrown into turmoil. Griffin, the Ultimate Fighter winner considered by some more of a reality show star than a champion, had a rather unremarkable post-TUF UFC career coming into his bout with Mauricio Shogun Rua at UFC 76. His controversial loss to Tito Ortiz was heralded as a greater boon to his career than any of his UFC wins over fighters such as Bill Mahood and Elvis Sinosic. But suddenly, with a win over a Shogun who was hobbled after knee surgeries, Griffin was pushed by the UFC brass as a top 205 pounder, ready to take on the consensus #1 light heavyweight in the world, Rampage Jackson.

After what this author would consider a dubious decision, Griffin was awarded the belt. When he was pounded out by Rashad Evans, it was not a tremendous surprise. Evans’ career, after all, mirrored that of Griffin’s: TUF champion whose post-TUF career was highlighted by a controversial fight with Ortiz (scored a draw after Tito had a point taken from him), a tough decision over Michael Bisping who moved down in weight afterwards and a win over a fallen champion (Chuck Lidell). Evans’ inability to defend the title was also unsurprising: he was overmatched by Lyoto Machida whose UFC career was also catapulted by a fight with Tito Ortiz (a unanimous decision win).

What is interesting about the sequence of events described above is the transitory nature of the title in what is considered the marquee division in the UFC. Whereas the division was once a de facto hierarchy in which Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and Chuck Lidell fought each other multiple times, only relinquishing the belt to each other, the title and title shots have become window dressing for the UFC. The depth of the division, and therefore the well from which Joe Silva and Dana White have to choose contenders, is unquestionably a good thing. But having so many talented fighters in one division leads to the opportunity to cherry pick the most marketable ones, such as Forrest Griffin. The UFC had the opportunity to reestablish the preeminence of the light heavyweight division by making it worth Rampage Jackson’s while to eschew his rivalry with Rashad Evans and take on Machida, but the company made its priorities clear by having Rampage coach on season 10 of TUF: cashing in on more reality TV, regardless of the quality of the competition, was more important than its premiere division’s championship.

At UFC 104, either Lyoto Machida will defend his belt or Shogun will take it and the trend of transitory champions will continue. Either way, the columns by UFC apologists are already written. If Machida wins, he’ll be hailed as the best pound for pound fighter in the world. At the same time- regardless of the apparent contradiction- Shogun will be called overrated and a contender due to only the luck of the draw. If Shogun wins the upset, Machida will be called overrated and the headlines will declare that “Shogun is back!”. Those same writers, of course, will not be questioned about their articles asking if Shogun could win without soccer kicks. But in the end, little will be answered. Regardless of who wins, his next fight will likely not be against Rampage. Perhaps the winner will be the one to defend his belt several times and engage in several battles with top competitors, but there is little that demonstrates to me that the long term viability of the division will be put before short term publicity stunts.

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