Following World Series Of Fighting 2 last weekend there was talk that one of the big winners on the night, Josh Burkman would go on to fight Jon Fitch for the welterweight title next time out, but it appears that’s not the case.
“Right now, we’re concerned with putting on fun fights for fans,” WSOF exec Al Abdel-Aziz tells MMAfighting.com. “In the process, for guys like Marlon Moraes, Justin Gaethje, Josh Burkman, and many others, we will make sure that when they get title shots they will have earned it. A title fight has to mean something to the promotion.”
It’s an interesting stance to take. On the one hand that indicates that they may be looking at the bigger picture and trying to establish a solid reputation in the sport rather than relying on the often superficial nature of championship belts to try to generate interest in the organization.
On the other hand the reality is that fans are often seduced by the idea of title fights and it does make an impact on the overall ratings, and for a fledgling promotion like WSOF getting as many eyeballs watching their events as possible is extremely important.
It makes me wonder if they are perhaps concerned that they’ll crown a champion and then find themselves in a position like Strikeforce where fighters like Nick Diaz and Dan Henderson vacated their belts in order to jump ship to the UFC.
Whatever the reason, this is the route they’ve chosen to go down and as a result it’s now been confirmed that Jon Fitch will fight Josh Burkman in the main event of WSOF 3 in June, but there won’t be a title on the line.
