Anderson Silva and Yoel Romero should, if the UFC still cares about the value of their championships, fight for an interim championship soon. That is the bout Romero and Silva are both calling for. Unfortunately, the likelihood of UFC putting an interim belt on someone in the division before the big GSP vs. Bisping super-fight, is unlikely.

Is the UFC about sport or business?

Since WME-IMG purchased the UFC last summer, some changes have been occurring. Now more than ever, UFC's match-making is done based on financial interests as opposed to sporting ones.

That is exactly why Georges St. Pierre has jumped the line in the middleweight division to take on Michael Bisping later in 2017. If GSP were to return and receive an immediate title shot for the belt he technically never lost, that would be one thing, but by going up to middleweight he is jumping the line in front of several fighters who have arguably done enough to receive title opportunities themselves.

Anderson Silva: Title shot or retirement?

Anderson Silva recently stated on "The MMA Hour" that if the UFC can't put together a bout between he and Yoel Romero for an interim championship, he will retire. He's got a point, here's why:

  • Anderson Silva's 10 straight title defenses is a company record.
  • Since losing the title Silva beat Nick Diaz (results were later overturned due to drug test failure), then lost to Daniel Cormier in a LHW fight he literally had no camp for at UFC 200. Afterward, he technically lost to Michael Bisping, even though many felt he won the fight. He could get a rematch with Bisping based solely on that fact.

Yoel Romero earned a title shot at UFC 205 by defeating Chris Weidman with an epic flying knee.

Dana White alluded to the idea that Romero would be financially compensated for GSP jumping ahead of him in line.

Michael Bisping's controversial championship reign

Michael Bisping has not defended the middleweight championship against an opponent ranked higher than 14th since winning the championship close to 1 year ago. His title defense against Dan Henderson at UFC 204 was also controversial, as the 45-year old Henderson was barely even ranked in the division anymore.

In that time, Yoel Romero defeated former champ Chris Weidman, and Anderson Silva defeated Derick Brunson, and had a fight cancelled with Kelvin Gastelum. Now he's going to defend the belt against an opponent who's never fought in the division, and hasn't fought at all in 3 years.

For the middleweight championship to have any credibility at all it has to be defended against the top contender.

Yoel Romero has earned the right to be called the top contender in the division, and Anderson Silva spent much of his career proving he was the greatest champion ever at 185lbs.

Yoel Romero vs. Anderson Silva with an interim championship on the line just makes sense. Let's hope it happens.