#2 To Save UFC 206
The UFC has only cancelled three events in its 23-year history including a recently called off a fight card in the Philippines. When BJ Penn pulled out of his fight against Ricardo Lamas due to injury, the UFC was forced to scrap the card entirely. There was no worthy bout to take its place. This is of course very bad for the company.
Going two in a row for 2016 would be a massive hit for the UFC after Daniel Cormier declared that he was ineligible to compete at UFC 206 due to injury.
The UFC needed something to save the pay-per-view event on December 10. What was the contingency plan? An interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis, that’s what.
It seems UFC gold still plays a significant role in main event bouts, despite the comical nature of how this bout was put together. A belt on the line in a Holloway-Pettis bout, which is already a great matchup, makes things just a little sweeter.
Yes, the same belt that Aldo won at UFC 205 and gave up for the official featherweight title will be up for grabs once more to raise the stakes of the fight card and its importance in the public eye.
A marquee match-up between Holloway and Pettis sounds like a typical headliner for a “Fight Night” card, but since it is on pay-per-view, adding more weight to the fight would make it relevant on paper.
McGregor appeared to have no plans on defending the featherweight belt. It seemed he only wanted to keep the gold-plated strap for ornamental purposes.
Upgrading the Holloway-Pettis bout, which was bound to happen anyway, into a title match was a genius move by the UFC.
