The lineal championship histories display the divisional histories of “the man, who beat the man, who beat the man….” The first “man” in each division was a judgment call, made depending on whether or not there was an organization overseeing the divisional matchmaking. In this case, the winner of the first recorded match in said division (if this was the only divisional match on that card) determined the first champion. Otherwise, the winner of the first match between recognized top contenders (#1 vs. #2, #1 vs. #3, and rarely #2 vs. #3 — FightMatrix ratings were used as a guide) was used to determine an initial champion . The latter method was also used when champions retired, or went inactive.
Although judgment calls were necessary, it is highly doubtful that any of them affected today’s current champion. Nevertheless, we have posted the complete histories, along with notes, for each division’s lineage. The weight limits observed are a bit more “strict” than for our standard rankings to ensure that catchweight and “stay busy” fights did not interrupt the lineages. Furthermore, we reserve the right to make any retroactive changes upon discovery of errors, bad divisional info, and well-researched logical objections. If you have any objections or comments, please let us know.
Complete lineal championship histories for each division:
Heavyweight (current champion: Francis Ngannou)
Light Heavyweight (current champion: Alex Pereira)
Middleweight (current champion: Driscus du Plessis)
Welterweight (current champion: Belal Muhammad)
Lightweight (current champion: Islam Makhachev)
Featherweight (current champion: Ilia Topuria)
Bantamweight (current champion: Sean O’Malley)
Flyweight (current champion: Alexander Pantoja)
Strawweight (current champion: vacant)
Women’s Featherweight+ (current champion: Amanda Nunes)
Women’s Bantamweight (current champion: Amanda Nunes)
Women’s Flyweight (current champion: Rose Namajunas)
Women’s Strawweight (current champion: Weili Zhang)
Women’s Atomweight (current champion: Seika Izawa)