The UFC has announced its new championship belt ahead of its first UFC Fight Night event of 2019, but the new design has not gone down well with MMA fans and media, who have slammed the new-look strap on social media.
The UFC's new "Legacy Championship Belt" features a complete redesign from the classic all-gold belt made famous around the waists of legendary UFC champions Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier.
The new design will feature unique customization option for each world champion based on their nationality, weight class and number of title defenses. Each belt will be engraved with its own unique serial number as well as the engraved signature of UFC president Dana White.
"This Saturday begins a new era for UFC, and it’s a perfect time to unveil our new UFC Legacy Championship Belt," said White.
"The belt honors UFC’s past, while recognizing the amazing accomplishments of our current champions."
The belt weighs a hefty 10.45 lbs, with a strap made from genuine leather and gold features.
Another new feature is a series of flag icons that adorn the belt to signify the first eight nations to produce a UFC world champion.
- Belarus: Andrei Arlovski
- Brazil: Murilo Bustamante
- Canada: Carlos Newton
- Ireland: Conor McGregor
- Netherlands: Bas Rutten
- Poland: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
- United Kingdom: Michael Bisping
- United States: Mark Coleman
White looked proud as he showed off the new-look belt for the first time, but the belt's radical new design has not received universal approval, however, with fans and media members seemingly queuing up to offer their criticisms of the belt's new design.
Twitter user @MacMallyMMA took two tweets to share his take on the new belt, suggesting it "...looks like something the Avengers would insert into a space time continuum to go back in time and tell whoever designed this belt to try again," while also sharing his take on how the UFC's office chat might have played out when the belt was released.
MMA journalist Luke Thomas wasn't a fan, and said that the new strap is "...not an upgrade from the current belt. At least not on first glance."
And Thomas wasn't alone. Other members of the media weighed in with their take, including journalist Jeremy Botter, who said: "The more I look at this thing, the more I hate it."
MMA fan Zara-Blue Barry dug out a Harry Potter GIF to show her disgust at the new design...
...while tweeter @afcufcfan questioned the decision to move on from the iconic all-gold UFC championship belt we've all been used to over the years.
The UFC didn't let all of the criticisms slide, mind you.
When one fan @BGBBayBay posted to suggest the new belt was "...literally the worst belt, boxing, kickboxing, MMA, pro wrestling, you name it, that I’ve ever seen," the UFC's official Twitter account came back swinging, saying: "Literally, you'll never have to worry about wearing it."
Ouch!
But despite the criticism of the new design, one man seemed keen on getting his hands on one of the UFC's shiny new belts.
Irish superstar Conor McGregor retweeted the UFC's announcement with the simple reply: "Ok I'm back."