A few changes have taking place as the UFC moves on to another era as a result of their new ESPN deal, and the UFC has unveiled the newest one via social media and the official UFC website Friday morning. New belt, who dis? Dubbed the Legacy Championship Belt, the new design will the new normal for all championship fights moving forward. The new design includes a plate to the left of the central UFC logo, customized for the champion’s name and weight class, as well as a smaller plate with the flag of their country of origin. The left plate will be surrounded by stones which will be replaced with a red stone for each championship victory. A plate will be on the inside with a serial number, as well as Dana White’s signature. None of the defenses or victories prior to 2019 will be engraved or noted on the new belts. As an additional side note, the women’s belts will be slightly smaller, because reasons. Here’s an explainer diagram of the ornaments and engravings: 25 stones will represent the 25 years of the UFC, and a series of flag icons will represent the first countries home to UFC champions. That list is as follows: USA – Mark Coleman Canada – Carlos Newton Brazil – Murilo Bustamante Netherlands – Bas Rutten Poland – Joanna Jedrzejczyk Belarus – Andrei Arlovski UK – Michael Bisping Ireland – Conor McGregor Now, this being a sport primarily driven by the internet means that the online fans had some curious reactions to this. It’s this but not as sleek pic.twitter.com/hvMJqwyUIa — Billi ‍♂️⚽️ (@billicon87) January 18, 2019 At least the UFC’s social media team is keeping people in check: So what do you think, fans? Do you like the new design and concept, or is it a no for you?<doc-sep>The UFC has unveiled a new design for its championship belts — the legacy belt — and a change as far as how many belts a champion will have. Back in the days prior to UFC 232, the UFC announced… well, something. A tiny snippet on Twitter promised a big reveal at the end of the month. Then, UFC 232 rolled around and, well, nothing. However, as expected, the promotion finally revealed their big surprise Friday. The secret (which most had already figured out)? A new design for their championship belts, called the “Legacy Belt.” The UFC announced the news on social media and in a press release Friday. Perhaps the bigger news, however, is that champions will no longer get new belts after each title defense. Instead, one of the jewels on the belt will be replaced with a red stone. “Eight stones border the plate. For each victory in a championship bout, one of the stones will be replaced with a red stone. The date and location of the win will be engraved adjacent to the stone,” the promotion explained. The only way a fighter will have a second belt is if “he/she holds titles in multiple weight classes.” A new era is here. Introducing the @UFC Legacy Championship Belt. Read about the design and more here ⤵️:https://t.co/zR4EUxAhpP — UFC News (@UFCNews) January 18, 2019 In other words, no more Mighty Mouse style belt collection. Remember that time one of the greatest champions of all time pretty much had to beg for his belts? Well, now it won’t matter. Another feature of the new belt design — eight nations are represented, highlighting the first eight nations to produce UFC champions. Those would be the United States, Canada, Brazil, Netherlands, Belarus, Poland, England, and Ireland, in no particular order. Check out the new editions to the UFC Legacy Belt 👀 pic.twitter.com/2pSDoMpaiv — UFC (@ufc) January 18, 2019 A replica version of the belt is already available for purchase.<doc-sep>The UFC has unveiled an all-new title belt design. The Las Vegas-based promotion showed off the belt on Friday and it has received some mixed reviews from fans online. There’s a lot of meaning behind it and the UFC has disclosed those in an article that was posted on their official website. We have photos of the title belt that was sent out by the promotion as well as the UFC President holding it. Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor even chimed in. Check out the new editions to the UFC Legacy Belt ???? pic.twitter.com/2pSDoMpaiv — UFC (@ufc) January 18, 2019 A new era is here. Introducing the @UFC Legacy Championship Belt. Read about the design and more here ⤵️:https://t.co/zR4EUxAhpP — UFC News (@UFCNews) January 18, 2019 “The first UFC Legacy Championship Belt will be awarded at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs Dillashaw in Brooklyn. It will subsequently recognize title defenses and new championship wins in 2019 and beyond.” Features The UFC Legacy Championship Belt is uniquely customized for each individual champion by the athlete’s country, weight class and number of title defenses.” Starting this year, fighters, who win UFC championship bouts will be awarded a UFC Legacy Championship Belt. Also, the women’s championship belt is designed to be slightly smaller. It is identical to the men’s belt in every other detail. Another cool feature is the fact that with “each defense of the belt in the specified weight class earns an additional ruby to be added to the athlete’s belt. Defenses and wins prior to January 19th, 2019, will not be added to the new belt.”<doc-sep>
The UFC will make their debut on ESPN tomorrow night with UFC Fight Night Brooklyn, which features UFC Flyweight Champion Henry Cejudo defending the gold against UFC Bantamweight Division TJ Dillashaw in the main event. Along with the debut on a new network, a brand new title belt has been unveiled by the promotion that will start getting used on tomorrow nights card. Related Article Stipe Miocic On Potential Francis Ngannou Trilogy: "I Want The Rematch Maybe Early Next Year" The UFC Legacy Belt is in Brooklyn -- Come on out to the Pearl Street Triangle! #UFCBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/l1k1qcVy8Z — UFC (@ufc) January 18, 2019 All the changes kick on with the belts center plate, which features 8 flags representing the first eight countries that were homes to UFC champions (USA – Mark Coleman, Canada – Carlos Newton, Brazil – Murilo Bustamante, Netherlands – Bas Rutten, Poland – Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Belarus – Andrei Arlovski, UK – Michael Bisping & Ireland – Conor McGregor). There is also going to be 25 stones in the belt, representing the 25 years the UFC has been in existence. The UFC logo will remain on the belt, albeit some changes, with it residing in an Octagon with lines and squares engraved in it as well to represent the 25th anniversary of the UFC and the eight sides of the Octagon. A new era is here. Introducing the @UFC Legacy Championship Belt. Read about the design and more here :https://t.co/zR4EUxAhpP — UFC News (@UFCNews) January 18, 2019 Another change comes in the form of the left nameplate, which will now feature the champion’s name, country flag and weight class. There are all going to be eight gold stones on the left side of the belt, but they will get replaced by eight red ones that will mark all the successful title defenses of the champion. The champion will get multiple belts if they hold championships in different weight classes. Little will happen on the right side of the belt, as the eight gold stones will get turned into eight red stones (like the left side) and a gold UFC logo will get put on that side. Check out the new editions to the UFC Legacy Belt -- pic.twitter.com/2pSDoMpaiv — UFC (@ufc) January 18, 2019 Other notable changes to the belts will see different size titles for the men and women (with the women’s belts being slightly smaller), each belt will have a specific serial number on it for the champion holding it, UFC President Dana White’s engraved signature will also be put on all the belts and all red stones will get added to the belt for successful title defenses starting at UFC Fight Night Brooklyn.