First, a run-down of the particulars:
- Due to potential metric conversion issues and weight class changes, a limit of 206 pounds is observed for this list.
- Inception of the championship occurred in UFC, at the first “Under 200lb” Finals. The late start was due to the lack of guidance by an organization, with no semblance of matchmaking. Before the UFC, the Light Heavyweight division was used a “stop gap” between Middleweight and Heavyweight. Some argument could be made to start the lineage with Jorge Patino in 1995
- Only one period of inactivity was seen in this lineage.
- The lineage is retroactively restarted with Daniel Cormier vs Anthony Johnson II due to Jon Jones’ USADA violation at UFC 214.
Your current lineal Light Heavyweight champion is Magomed Ankalaev
The full history is below. Note, the colored backgrounds indicate a title change.
MMA Light Heavyweight Lineal Championship History
| Date | Champion | Outcome | Challenger | Notes |
| 1996-09-20 | Jerry Bohlander | WIN | Fabio Gurgel | |
| 1997-02-07 | Jerry Bohlander | WIN | Rainy Martinez | |
| 1997-02-07 | Jerry Bohlander | WIN | Nick Sanzo | |
| 1997-09-27 | Murilo Bustamante | WIN | Jerry Bohlander | |
| 2000-04-14 | Murilo Bustamante | WIN | Yoji Ando | One could argue this inactivity was significant and that we should restart with Shamrock? |
| 2001-09-28 | Chuck Liddell | WIN | Murilo Bustamante | |
| 2002-01-11 | Chuck Liddell | WIN | Amar Suloev | |
| 2002-06-22 | Chuck Liddell | WIN | Vitor Belfort | |
| 2002-11-22 | Chuck Liddell | WIN | Renato Sobral | |
| 2003-06-06 | Randy Couture | WIN | Chuck Liddell | |
| 2003-09-26 | Randy Couture | WIN | Tito Ortiz | Top contender match |
| 2004-01-31 | Vitor Belfort | WIN | Randy Couture | |
| 2004-08-21 | Randy Couture | WIN | Vitor Belfort | |
| 2005-04-16 | Chuck Liddell | WIN | Randy Couture | |
| 2005-08-20 | Chuck Liddell | WIN | Jeremy Horn | |
| 2006-02-04 | Chuck Liddell | WIN | Randy Couture | |
| 2006-08-26 | Chuck Liddell | WIN | Renato Sobral | |
| 2006-12-30 | Chuck Liddell | WIN | Tito Ortiz | |
| 2007-05-26 | Quinton Jackson | WIN | Chuck Liddell | |
| 2007-09-08 | Quinton Jackson | WIN | Dan Henderson | |
| 2008-07-05 | Forrest Griffin | WIN | Quinton Jackson | |
| 2008-12-27 | Rashad Evans | WIN | Forrest Griffin | |
| 2009-05-23 | Lyoto Machida | WIN | Rashad Evans | |
| 2009-10-24 | Lyoto Machida | WIN | Mauricio Rua | |
| 2010-05-08 | Mauricio Rua | WIN | Lyoto Machida | |
| 2011-03-19 | Jon Jones | WIN | Mauricio Rua | |
| 2011-09-24 | Jon Jones | WIN | Quinton Jackson | |
| 2011-12-11 | Jon Jones | WIN | Lyoto Machida | |
| 2012-04-21 | Jon Jones | WIN | Rashad Evans | |
| 2012-09-22 | Jon Jones | WIN | Vitor Belfort | |
| 2013-04-27 | Jon Jones | WIN | Chael Sonnen | |
| 2013-09-21 | Jon Jones | WIN | Alexander Gustafsson | |
| 2014-04-26 | Jon Jones | WIN | Glover Teixeira | |
| 2015-01-03 | Jon Jones | WIN | Daniel Cormier | Jones stripped of the UFC title and faced a potentially long hiatus.
Lineage temporarily restarted with the top contender bout of Cormier vs Johnson. |
| 2016-04-24 | Jon Jones | WIN | Ovince St. Preux | Jones lineage is resumed as he makes a successful return to MMA.
Cormier’s wins over Johnson and Gustafsson are erased from the lineage. |
| 2017-04-08 | Daniel Cormier | WIN | Anthony Johnson | After Jones’ tests positive for performance enhancing drugs after UFC 214, Jones vs Cormier II is declared a No Contest.
Lineage retroactively restarted with Cormier vs Johnson II as a top contender bout. |
| 2018-01-20 | Daniel Cormier | WIN | Volkan Oezdemir | Cormier moves up to heavyweight then retires. |
| 2021-10-30 | Glover Teixeira | WIN | Jan Blachowicz | Top contender match |
| 2022-06-12 | Jiri Prochazka | WIN | Glover Teixeira | |
| 2023-11-11 | Alex Pereira | WIN | Jiri Prochazka | |
| 2024-04-13 | Alex Pereira | WIN | Jamahal Hill | |
| 2024-06-29 | Alex Pereira | WIN | Jiri Prochazka | |
| 2024-10-05 | Alex Pereira | WIN | Khalil Rountree Jr. | |
| 2025-03-08 | Magomed Ankalaev | WIN | Alex Pereira |
Jerry Bohlander vs Fabio Gurgel is an openweight. The lineage started with UFC 12 Tournament, when Bohlander won the final against Sanzo.