The UFC unveiled a new Legacy Championship Belt on Friday and there have been some mixed opinions straight out of the gate.
The new belt replaces the UFC Classic Championship Belt, which had been used since 2001, when Zuffa, Inc. originally purchased the company.
The UFC Legacy Championship Belt will be uniquely customised for each respective champion by the athlete’s country, weight class, and number of title defenses.
To ensure no fakes start to do the rounds, each belt will be assigned its own serial number and will feature UFC President Dana White’s engraved signature.
Conor McGregor was one of the first UFC fighters to react to the news and he simply stated: "Ok I'm back."
The Irishman has to wait until the end of the month to find out what punishment the Nevada State Athletic Commission hands him for his role in the post-fight antics with Khabib Nurmagomedov from UFC 229.
But it looks almost certain now that McGregor will return to the octagon in 2019.
Back to the belt, MMACrazyTV posted a video of all the reactions in the MMA world to the new belt and Luke Rockhold was not impressed at all.
The first time the UFC Legacy Championship Belt will be awarded will be to the winner of the main event superfight between UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw in New York tonight.
Dana White said: “This Saturday begins a new era for UFC, and it’s a perfect time to unveil our new UFC Legacy Championship Belt,” UFC President Dana White said. “The belt honors UFC’s past, while recognizing the amazing accomplishments of our current champions.”
The eight flags highlighted on the belt are designed to honour the first eight countries to have a champion in the UFC, which are:
• Belarus (Andrei Arlovski)
• Brazil (Murilo Bustamante)
• Canada (Carlos Newton)
• Ireland (Conor McGregor)
• Netherlands (Bas Rutten)
• Poland (Joanna Jedrzejczyk)
• United Kingdom (Michael Bisping)
• United States (Mark Coleman)
According to the UFC press release, the women’s championship belt will be identical in every detail, except for size and weight.
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