UFC 317 in Las Vegas on Saturday kicks off a blockbuster summer for Dana White’s promotion.
And the event’s biggest selling point has been the two straps of gold on the line in the co-main event and headline act.
UFC President White has put on two championship fights for UFC 317GettyIn the penultimate fight on the night, dominant flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja takes on Kai Kara-France for his fourth defence of the 125lbs belt.
Meanwhile, former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria takes on Brazilian MMA veteran Charles Oliveira in the main event for the vacant lightweight title.
Neither Topuria nor Oliveira are current champions of their division, meaning both men are contesting for the vacant 155lbs belt.
But why is that the case?
Why is the UFC lightweight belt vacant?
The UFC lightweight title is currently vacant because former champion Islam Makhachev relinquished the belt last month.
Makhachev had made his fourth lightweight title defence in January, submitting Renato Moicano in the main event of UFC 311 after 245 seconds.
But he decided enough was enough at 155lbs after friend and training partner Belal Muhammad was dethroned of the welterweight strap at UFC 315.
Makhachev had been teasing a move up to welterweight for months, but didn’t want to move up if Muhammad was still the champion at 170lbs.
However, Muhammad was outpointed by Australian Jack Della Maddalena in the main event in Canada, prompting Makhachev to drop his lightweight belt and move up a division.
This left the UFC lightweight title vacant.
The UFC legacy championship belt cold be worth almost $1,000,000Getty It replaced the classic UFC belt in January 2019GettyTechnically, Makhachev is still the lightweight titleholder, but as soon as the first bell sounds during UFC 317’s main event, he will officially be known as the ex-champion.
Are UFC belts made of gold?
The short answer is no, although certain features of the belt are crafted with gold-plated metal.
The UFC central piece is made of high-polished gold, while the right plate features a gold UFC world champion logo, and the the leather is embedded with gold octagonal button snaps.
Topuria, Oliveira, Pantoja, and Kara-France will all be fighting for the legacy championship belt at UFC 317, just like all division kings in the last six years.
It was first introduced by the promotion in 2019, due to it being the organisation’s 25th anniversary, and followed the classic UFC title used between 2001 to 2018, which was held by the likes of British former middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
Flyweight great Demetrious Johnson was awarded with his tenth classic belt when he submitted Wilson Reis in 2017.
UFC Legacy Championship Belt
Details
Length: 127 cm Height: 30 cm Main Plate: 29 cm x 24 cm Side Plates: 11 cm x 11 cm Weight: 4.7 kg UFC logo Eight-country icons 41 white cubic zirconia and created ruby stonesView Tweet: t.co/0HZxMXrsTr
The new-ish legacy belt is 50ins (127cm) long and 12ins (30cm) in height.
It weighs 10.45lbs (4.7kg) and its centre plate features the flags of the first eight countries that were home to UFC champions like the flag of the Republic of Ireland following the success of Conor McGregor.
The centre piece also includes 25 white cubic zirconia and created ruby stones that represent 25 years of the UFC.
The left plate is customised for every fighter, with the fight stones bordering the plate replaced with a red stone for each victory in a championship bout.
Each legacy belt comes with a plate on the back with a unique serial number assigned to the champion, as well as UFC CEO and President Dana White‘s signature engraved for authenticity.
How much are UFC titles worth?
Although the exact price of current UFC belts remains unknown, they are estimated to be worth around $900,000 (£662,000) apiece.
Two UFC belts are on the line Saturday for UFC 317GettyView Tweet: twitter.com/hashtag/TheBullet?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Speaking in 2019, British MMA pioneer Bisping revealed ex-light heavyweight star Rashad Evans had told him that the old belts were worth $300,000 each.
“That’s what Dana White told Rashad Evans,” he said.
“Mine’s just been gathering dust back there. There’s another one in the other room…
“If I’d known they were worth $600,000 between them I might get them insured for one and then they get stolen … I’m joking.”
This then prices the new and current belt, according to the UFC’s official website, at a whopping $900,000.
“The new UFC belt is valued at three times more than its predecessor,” an introduction read when the promotion first unveiled the new belt in 2019.
MMA fans can buy a replica UFC legacy belt for a whopping $849.99 (£625), so the valuation at almost $1,000,000 for the real thing doesn’t seem far off.
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