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The concept of a UFC interim championship is pretty straightforward: In the absence of an undisputed champion, a temporary titleholder is introduced to keep the action going in the division.
While some interim champions of the past have been questionable, crowning one is still valid on many occasions. However, not every UFC interim titleholder gets a chance to unify both belts.
Here are five UFC interim champions who never unified their titles:
#5 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Former UFC interim heavyweight champion
Antonio 'Minotauro' Nogueira, aka Big Nog, is among the elite club fighters to have captured titles in PRIDE and the UFC. What Nogueira wasn't able to accomplish throughout his illustrious career is becoming an undisputed UFC champion.
In 2007, UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture announced that he's severing ties with the promotion due to a pay dispute and a legal battle ensued. In his absence, Nogueira fought Tim Sylvia for the UFC interim belt. The Brazilian went on to capture the UFC interim crown, submitting 'The Maine-iac' in the third round via guillotine choke.
In a bizarre twist of events, Couture put the undisputed title on the line against Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 after his legal dispute with the company ended. That night, Couture dropped the title after getting dominated by Lesnar.
Meanwhile, Nogueira defended his strap against his rival TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) coach Frank Mir instead at UFC 92. Unfortunately, Nogueira lost the title to Mir and never got his championship unification.
#4 Renan Barao - Former UFC interim bantamweight champion
Blood rivals Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber were scheduled to settle their feud in a championship bout at UFC 148. Unfortunately, bantamweight champion Cruz was forced to withdraw from the fight after sustaining an ACL tear.
In Cruz's absence, Renan Barao stepped in to fight Faber for the UFC interim bantamweight title. The Brazilian would shock the world by outclassing 'The California Kid' in five rounds before emerging as the temporary champ.
As Cruz recovered, Barao defended his UFC interim title twice, setting up a unification bout with 'The Dominator' at UFC 169. Fate, however, had other plans after Cruz tore his groin with just a month before the pay-per-view event.
After three years of inactivity, the UFC finally stripped Cruz of his title and promoted Barao as the undisputed bantamweight champion. Renan Barao never got the chance to unify both belts, although he probably didn't mind the turn of events.
#3 Colby Covington - Former UFC interim welterweight champion
In 2017, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley was sidelined after tearing a labrum in his right shoulder during his title defense against Demian Maia.
As Woodley nursed his injury, the UFC booked an interim welterweight title bout between Colby Covington and Rafael dos Anjos. 'Chaos' convincingly bested dos Anjos to capture the UFC interim title, setting up a unification bout with Woodley.
But Covington needed to take time off to recover from nasal surgery following the dos Anjos fight. However, the UFC decision-makers weren't keen on waiting for Covington to recover, so they set up a title fight between Woodley and Darren Till instead.
After Woodley retained his belt, it only made sense for UFC interim titleholder Covington to challenge the undisputed champ for a unification bout. However, Kamaru Usman was given the opportunity instead.
Years later, Covington finally got his undisputed title shot against new champion Usman but would fail to capture the crown.
#2 Jose Aldo - Former UFC interim featherweight champion
After spending four years at the top of the featherweight division, Jose Aldo was unceremoniously dethroned by Conor McGregor in 13 seconds.
The next logical step for the Irishman was to defend his newly won title against Frankie Edgar, who saw a career resurgence in 2016. However, 'Notorious' opted to pursue more accolades, moving up to the UFC lightweight division to seek a second strap.
Meanwhile, an opportunity opened up for Aldo as he was booked to fight number one contender Edgar for the UFC interim featherweight title at UFC 200. Come fight night, Aldo silenced his doubters when he recaptured UFC gold by defeating the New Jersey native in a unanimous decision.
McGregor teased a highly-anticipated rematch against Aldo as he watched the Brazilian become the interim 145-pound champ. However, McGregor would never return to featherweight.
Aldo's belt was subsequently upgraded to the undisputed title, but he never got his vengeance against the Irish megastar.
#1 Tony Ferguson - Former UFC interimlightweight champion
Tony Ferguson never got a shot at the undisputed title despite putting together the longest winning streak in UFC lightweight history.
Once it became evident that then-lightweight champion McGregor wasn't too excited to return to the octagon, the UFC turned to Ferguson and Kevin Lee for a UFC interim title showdown. 'El Cucuy' finally got his hands on UFC gold when he escaped the jaws of defeat and scored a submission win over Lee.
With McGregor still unwilling to return to the UFC, Ferguson was scheduled to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov with the undisputed lightweight title on the line. Unfortunately, Ferguson injured his knee after tripping on a media cable just a week before the scheduled main event bout.
'El Cucuy' was stripped of his belt for seemingly no fault of his own. Khabib Nurmagomedov went on to dominate replacement fighter Al Iaquinta to capture the undisputed UFC lightweight title.
It's been an unfortunate turn of events for Tony Ferguson, and based on his recent performances, it's unlikely that he'll get close to the title picture once again.
