MMA UFC 1 Lineal Championship Title Holders


The concept of a lineal championship exists in combat sports like boxing and mixed martial arts, outside of the formal titles and belts used in the various organizations and promotions. Usually, an historically significant fight is used as the starting point with the winner considered the champion. The lineal title passes to the next fighter who beats the reigning champion, regardless of whether there was an official belt on the line, then passing to whoever was the next person to defeat that fighter and so on. Simply put, you need to beat the man to be the man.

UFC 1 was the first major tournament in mixed martial arts. It was an openweight tournament where fighters could compete regardless of weight or size. The Brazilian Royce Gracie won the tournament by defeating Gerard Gordeau in the final, thus beginning the longest and most significant lineal championship in mixed martial arts.




1993-2000 Royce Gracie (Brazil)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Gerard Gordeau Submission Rear-naked choke 1 1:44 UFC 1 1993 Nov 12 Denver, Colorado
Minoki Ichihara Submission Lapel choke 1 5:08 UFC 2 1994 Mar 11 Denver, Colorado
Jason DeLucia Submission Armbar 1 1:07 UFC 2 1994 Mar 11 Denver, Colorado
Remco Pardoel Submission Lapel choke 1 1:31 UFC 2 1994 Mar 11 Denver, Colorado
Patrick Smith TKO Submission to punches 1 1:17 UFC 2 1994 Mar 11 Denver, Colorado
Kimo Leopoldo Submission Armbar 1 4:40 UFC 3 1994 Sep 9 Charlotte, North Carolina
Ron van Clief Submission Rear-naked choke 1 3:59 UFC 4 1994 Dec 16 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Keith Hackney Submission Armbar 1 5:32 UFC 4 1994 Dec 16 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dan Severn Submission Triangle choke 1 15:49 UFC 4 1994 Dec 16 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Ken Shamrock Draw Time limit 1 36:00 UFC 5 1995 Apr 7 Charlotte, North Carolina
Nobuhiko Takada Decision Unanimous 1 15:00 PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round 2000 Jan 30 Tokyo, Japan

2000-2000 Kazushi “The Gracie Hunter” Sakuraba (Japan)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Royce Gracie TKO Corner stoppage 6 15:00 PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals 2000 May 1 Tokyo, Japan


2000-2000 Igor “Ice Cold” Vovchanchyn (Ukraine)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Kazushi Sakuraba TKO Corner stoppage 1 15:00 PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals 2000 May 1 Tokyo, Japan


2000-2001 Mark “The Hammer” Coleman (USA)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Igor Vovchanchyn TKO Submission to knees 2 3:09 PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals 2000 May 1 Tokyo, Japan
Allan Goes TKO Knees 1 1:19 PRIDE 13 2001 Mar 25 Saitama, Japan


2001-2003 Antônio Rodrigo “Big Nog” Nogueira (Brazil)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Mark Coleman Submission Triangle armbar 1 6:10 PRIDE 16 2001 Sep 24 Osaka, Japan
Heath Herring Decision Unanimous 3 5:00 PRIDE 17 2001 Nov 3 Tokyo, Japan
Enson Inoue Technical submission Triangle choke 1 6:17 PRIDE 19 2002 Feb 24 Saitama, Japan
Sanae Kikuta KO Punch 2 0:29 UFO-Legend 2002 Aug 8 Tokyo, Japan
Bob Sapp Submission Armbar 2 4:03 Pride Shockwave 2002 Aug 28 Tokyo, Japan
Semmy Schilt Submission Triangle choke 1 6:36 PRIDE 23 2002 Nov 24 Tokyo, Japan
Dan Henderson Submission Armbar 3 1:49 PRIDE 24 2002 Dec 23 Fukuoka, Japan


2003-2010 Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (Russia)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Decision Unanimous 3 5:00 PRIDE 25 2003 Mar 16 Yokohama, Japan
Egidijus Valavicius Submission Kimura 2 1:11 Rings: Lithuania 2003 Apr 5 Vilnius, Lithuania
Kazuyuki Fujita Submission Rear-naked choke 1 4:17 PRIDE 26 2003 Jun 8 Tokyo, Japan
Gary Goodridge TKO Soccer kicks and punches 1 1:09 PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 2003 Aug 10 Saitama, Japan
Yuji Nagata TKO Punches 1 1:02 Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 2003 Dec 31 Kobe, Japan
Mark Coleman Submission Armbar 1 2:11 PRIDE Total Elimination 2004 2004 Apr 25 Saitama, Japan
Kevin Randleman Submission Kimura 1 1:33 PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 2004 Jun 20 Saitama, Japan
Naoya Ogawa Submission Armbar 1 0:54 PRIDE Final Conflict 2004 2004 Aug 14 Saitama, Japan
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira No contest Accidental cut 1 3:52 PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 2004 Aug 14 Saitama, Japan
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Decision Unanimous 3 5:00 PRIDE Shockwave 2004 2004 Dec 31 Saitama, Japan
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka TKO Doctor stoppage 1 10:00 PRIDE Bushido 6 2005 Apr 3 Yokohama, Japan
Mirko Cro Cop Decision Unanimous 3 5:00 PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 2005 Aug 28 Saitama, Japan
Zuluzinho TKO Submission to punches 1 0:26 PRIDE Shockwave 2005 2005 Dec 31 Saitama, Japan
Mark Coleman Submission Armbar 2 1:17 PRIDE 32 2006 Oct 21 Las Vegas, Nevada
Mark Hunt Submission Kimura 1 8:16 PRIDE Shockwave 2006 2006 Dec 31 Saitama, Japan
Matt Lindland Submission Armbar 1 2:58 BodogFIGHT: Clash of the Nations 2007 Apr 14 St. Petersburg, Russia
Hong-man Choi Submission Armbar 1 1:54 Yarennoka! 2007 Dec 31 Saitama, Japan
Tim Sylvia Submission Rear-naked choke 1 0:36 Affliction: Banned 2008 Jul 19 Anaheim, California
Andrei Arlovski KO Punch 1 3:14 Affliction: Day of Reckoning 2009 Jan 24 Anaheim, California
Brett Rogers TKO Punches 2 1:48 Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers 2009 Nov 7 Hoffman Estates, Illinois


2010-2011 Fabrício “Vai Cavalo” Werdum (Brazil)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Fedor Emelianenko Submission Triangle armbar 1 1:09 Strikeforce: Fedor vs Werdum 2010 Jun 26 San Jose, California


2011-2013 Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem (Netherlands)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Fabrício Werdum Decision Unanimous 3 5:00 Strikeforce: Overeem vs Werdum 2011 Jun 18 Dallas, Texas
Brock Lesnar TKO Kick to the body and punches 1 2:26 UFC 141 2011 Dec 30 Las Vegas, Nevada


2013-2013 Antônio “Bigfoot” Silva (Brazil)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Alistair Overeem KO Punches 3 0:25 UFC 156 2013 Feb 2 Las Vegas, Nevada


2013-2015 Cain Velasquez (USA)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Antônio Silva TKO Punches 1 1:21 UFC 160 2013 May 25 Las Vegas, Nevada
Junior dos Santos TKO Slam and punch 5 3:09 UFC 166 2013 Oct 19 Las Vegas, Nevada


2015-2016 Fabrício Werdum (2) (Brazil)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Cain Velasquez Submission Guillotine choke 3 2:13 UFC 188 2015 Jun 13 Mexico City, Mexico


2016-2018 Stipe Miocic (USA)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Fabrício Werdum KO Punch 1 2:47 UFC 198 2016 May 14 Curitiba, Brazil
Alistair Overeem KO Punches 1 4:27 UFC 203 2016 Sep 10 Cleveland, Ohio
Junior dos Santos TKO Punches 1 2:22 UFC 211 2017 May 13 Dallas, Texas
Francis Ngannou Decision Unanimous 5 5:00 UFC 220 2018 Jan 20 Boston, Massachusetts


2018-2019 Daniel “D.C.” Cormier (USA)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Stipe Miocic KO Punches 1 4:33 UFC 226 2018 Jul 7 Las Vegas, Nevada
Derrick Lewis Submission Rear-naked choke 2 2:14 UFC 230 2018 Nov 3 New York City, New York


2019-2021 Stipe Miocic (2) (USA)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Daniel Cormier TKO Punches 4 4:09 UFC 241 2019 Aug 17 Anaheim, California
Daniel Cormier Decision Unanimous 5 5:00 UFC 252 2020 Aug 15 Las Vegas, Nevada


2021-curr Francis “The Predator” Ngannou (Cameroon)
Opponent Result Method Round Time Event Date Location
Stipe Miocic KO Punch 2 0:52 UFC 260 2021 Mar 27 Las Vegas, Nevada
Ciryl Gane Decision Unanimous 5 5:00 UFC 270 2022 Jan 22 Anaheim, California
Renan Ferreira KO Punches 1 3:32 PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants 2024 Oct 19 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia



Click each champion for details.

Also, Women's Lineal Championship Title Holders.



Last revised: 2024.12.18                                       Send me a comment                                       home