Doesn’t really matter. He hasn’t come back to the organization to defend his title and won’t any time soon, so it’s a classic use it or lose it case to me, which is how titles go. I scoff at linear championships.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission stripped Barnett.

The NSAC didn’t strip Barnett of the belt, they announced that he tested positive. It was the UFC that stripped him of the belt shortly thereafter. The NSAC nor any other athletic commission has no legal control over any of the UFC belts.

Sherk tested positive for steroids in California, under the jurisdiction of the California State Athletic Commission.

The NSAC is very well run and official. The CSAC is a circus run by a self-absorbed megalomaniac.

Just goes to show that going under Dana’s desk has its perks..

Barnett was suspended on 7/26/2002 by the NSAC and officially stripped on 07/30/2002 by the UFC. Of course, he had already bolted to New Japan by that time but he was officially stripped due to the NSAC finding.

I’d rather see interesting match-ups than what hardcore fans perceive to be a fight that determines ‘the best in the world’ anyway.
Frank Shamrock vs. Phil Baroni had a great build-up and the fight delivered. It wasn’t for a title, and one of the competitors was caught for steriods – but who cares? It was more entertaining than 90%+ of the UFC fights in 2007.

People who understand the business of MMA know that Dana White and the UFC don’t WANT to know who the best in the world is – they want to appeal to the masses. Therefor, as long as they hold the majority of the contracts, we’ll never get to see a lot of the fights we should get to see.

- They’re the most meaningful titles in MMA, by far. But no matter what, as long as there is more than one company in MMA, and titles are company restricted, there are and will be no “Undisputed Worldwide MMA Title-holders”. It’s not a bash on UFC or attempt to discredit their titles, it’s a simple fact of franchise-limited(Pardon my English if this term is slightly off the mark) sports. I.e. if Fighter X is UFC Champion and generally regarded as the best fighter in the world, there is no reason he should not still be generally regarded as the best fighter in the world if he signs for a different company the next day – however the title stays behind as it is after all a UFC title.

Lynch: I didn’t mean to give the impression that I think there will *be* a worldwide champion, I was just pointing out that there is no such thing today. What the future holds we simply do not know.

Barnett does not really qualify since he was stripped for cheating.

Actually, he wasn’t stripped. He left the UFC because he wanted more money and Zuffa wouldn’t give it to him.

As for the Pride Linear Champions….

LW: Takanori Gomi
MW: Paulo Filho
LHW: Forrest Griffin
HW: Fedor Emelianenko

As for the title being for the linear championship, it looks like Matt Hughes was the one who requested that. Looks like he wanted the fight to be 5 rounds. To me, I don’t get all bent out of shape from Interim Titles. As long as they are created with good intentions and the title will be unified within short order. And Zuffa has a good track history of getting rid of the “Interim” status rather quickly.

Either way, we are getting the #2 & #3 Welterweights in the world fighting each other in a 5 round fight, with the winner to get a shot at Serra (if he is healthy). Not much to complain about that…..