White: 'No Interest' in 5-Round Non-Title Affairs

Addressing media prior Saturday’s UFC 102 event, UFC President Dana White warned fans that five round non-title fights -- officially an option for events held in Nevada -- won’t be part of his promotion’s curriculum.

“I was saying [last week] I wish this was a five-round fight, Nogueira and Couture, and there's been other fights, too, that I've wished were five rounds," MMA Junkie quoted White as saying. "But I'm a purist, man. Title fights are five rounds. When you fight for the title, it's five rounds."

The mess that would be created by random five-round bouts without a title on the line would be unholy: if Nogueira-Couture went five rounds, but October’s Cain Velasquez-Ben Rothwell fight only three, that gives the former pair additional time to work and possibly alter the outcome. Since all four men are in pursuit of a heavyweight belt, why change the rules for two?

MMA has avoided suffering from a lack of uniformity: no reason to start now.