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 |
Click each champion for details.
Also, Women's Lineal Championship Title Holders.
Last revised: 2023.02.02 Send me a comment home