Matt Brown has been punched in the face for a living since before half the current welterweight top 15 could legally drive, so when he calls something nonsense I tend to listen. This week he called the UFC’s new interim welterweight title nonsense, with an expletive attached. He’s correct, and the promotion’s own timeline proves it.
Here’s the setup. UFC 336 goes down January 30 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the UFC’s first trip back to that building since UFC 297 in 2024, the night Dricus du Plessis took the middleweight belt off Sean Strickland. Joshua Van headlines against Manel Kape, trying to defend his flyweight title for a third time in a genuine grudge match. Underneath that, Carlos Prates and Michael Morales fight for a shiny piece of interim welterweight hardware that, according to Brown, nobody needed to make.
The champion fought in August
Islam Makhachev beat Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in August. That was the first defense of his welterweight reign, which started when he dominated Jack Della Maddalena over five rounds at UFC 322. Before that he defended the lightweight belt four times. He’s 35, he’s won 17 straight, and he already sits in the all-time great conversation.
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Interim belts exist for a champion who is hurt, suspended or sitting out a year. A guy who defended his title in late summer doesn’t fit any of those boxes.
Brown laid it out on Fighter vs. Writer. “Interim title? [Makhachev] just fought like less than two months ago,” he said. “We don’t need to do this. The interim title’s not gonna mean anything.”
His calendar is slightly generous (August to late October is closer to two and a half months), but the point survives the rounding error easily. If a champion who fought this year needs an interim stand-in, then every champion in the building needs one.
Dana White’s frustration is real, and the belt is the wrong fix
The reason this belt exists sits in plain sight. Makhachev was supposed to be part of UFC 336 and pulled out, and Bloody Elbow reported that Dana White went public about the champ’s inactivity after a withdrawal that hasn’t been explained. Carlos Prates has also blasted Makhachev for delaying a planned title fight, per a Sports Illustrated headline.
I get the annoyance. I hate when a champion slows the division to a crawl. If Makhachev is dragging his feet, White has every right to say so on a microphone, and I’ll happily cheer the callout.
What the UFC did instead is hand out a belt as a pressure tactic. That’s my read, and I think it’s the only one that makes sense, because there’s no medical or scheduling emergency here that the sources point to. When a promotion uses a title as a bargaining chip, the title shrinks a little every time.
And look at the fight they put it on. Morales is 19-0 with seven UFC wins, including a win over Sean Brady at UFC 322. Prates has three straight knockouts and his last two victims were former welterweight champions Della Maddalena and Leon Edwards. That’s a terrific No. 1 contender fight on its own merits. The winner was getting Makhachev next regardless. The strap adds zero information.
Brown’s best point got buried
The line from Brown that matters most is the quiet one. “But, you’re knocking off a contender,” he said, adding, “I’d rather see Islam fight both of them.”
That’s the real cost. Morales and Prates were two separate title challenges, two separate pay-per-view headliners for a champion chasing a GOAT case. Now one of them leaves Toronto with a loss, and the other leaves with a belt that still requires beating Makhachev before anyone takes it seriously. The UFC took two big fights and turned them into one, with a prop belt as the bonus.
Brown even gave Makhachev some grace, saying he thinks the champ has “kind of earned his keep there.” Fair. Four lightweight defenses, two welterweight title wins, 17 in a row. If he wants a little rest after Garry, he’s earned the right to ask. He has not earned the right to vanish, and the UFC can make that case without inventing a second champion.
Brown summed up his position better than I could. “But, the last thing I like out of this is a f***ing interim title.”
I’ll be watching Prates and Morales on January 30 because it’s an outstanding fight, and whoever wins, the first question at the post-fight presser will be about Makhachev. That tells you exactly what the interim belt is worth.
