5 ways to earn a title shot

Some title fights just seem to make sense. If we were the matchmaker of an MMA organization we would have made the exact same matchup. Other title fights have us simply scratching our heads and wondering if the big wigs of an organization simply drew a name out of a hat and gave that person a title shot. Looking back on past title fights of the last 5 years or so we can see 5 ways that are more likely to gain you a title shot than simply training hard and winning fights (‘cause really, who wants to do that?)

1. Knock somebody out in dramatic fashion:

A quick way to get noticed by the MMA brass and fans alike is by knocking someone out… convincingly. TKOs are great, but regardless how warranted the stoppage was there is always going to be “that guy” that feels that the fight was stopped too soon or [insert fighter here] didn’t get a chance to recover. When somebody is knocked out to the point where they aren’t moving, there is not debate; the fight is over. If it looks cool enough, you may just have yourself a title fight.
SEE ALSO: Gabriel Gonzaga, Rashad Evans, Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida, Chuck Liddell

2. Have a win over someone before they became a champion:

If you have beaten a fighter that has a championship belt you’re probably thinking – “Hey, I already beat that guy. I could be the champion.” In some cases this is true. (SEE: Quinton Jackson) In other cases, not so much (SEE ALSO: Jeremy Horn.)

3. Be at the right place at the right time:

This should be an incentive to all competitive martial artists to train hard, regardless of whether or not you have a fight coming up or not. A fact of the fight game is that fighters get injured. Whether or not they have a title fight doesn’t make a fighter immune to injury. Demian maia stepping in for Vitor Belfort is the most recent example of this scenario.
(SEE ALSO: George St. Pierre – UFC 79, BJ Penn – UFC 63, Randy Couture – Multiple occasions.)

4. Be on The Ultimate Fighter:

This rule would strictly apply to the fighters on the roster of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Whether they were warranted or not the fact of the matter is 9 fighters from the last 10 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter have been given title shots. It remains to be seen whether or not the newest member of this list, Josh Koscheck deserved a shot at the welterweight championship.
(SEE ALSO: Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian, Nate Quarry, Rashad Evans, Joe Stevenson, Matt Serra, Patrick Cote)

If these first four ways don’t get you a shot at putting some gold around your waist proceed to step 5:

5. Train hard and win fights:

This may not be the easiest one on the list, but this one is probably the one that is the most reliable and will grant you the most attention.
(SEE ALSO: Shane Carwin, Anderson Silva, George St. Pierre)