As promised, the MMA Lineal Championship Histories are now a permanent fixture at FightMatrix.com!
Check them out here:
This Past Weekend: UFC 135 – Jones vs. Rampage
UFC 135 – Jones vs. Rampage
September 24, 2011
Pepsi Center,
Denver, Colorado, United States
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
[#1/#7DD] up 0/3 to [#1/#4DD] Jon Jones (14-1-0) def. [#4] down 1 to [#5] Quinton Jackson (32-9-0) via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in 1:14 of round 4.
Jon Jones is the All-Time #17 ranked Light Heavyweight fighter.
Quinton Jackson is the All-Time #1 ranked Light Heavyweight and #11 ranked Absolute fighter.
Last 3 Fights (prior to tonight’s bout): Jon Jones (3-0-0)
2011-03-19: W vs. [#2LHW/#10DD] Mauricio Rua (20-5-0) via TKO (Punches and Knees) in 2:37 of round 3
2011-02-05: W vs. [#18LHW] Ryan Bader (12-2-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 4:20 of round 2
2010-08-01: W vs. [#22LHW] Vladimir Matyushenko (26-5-0) via TKO (Elbows) in 1:52 of round 1
Last 3 Fights (prior to tonight’s bout): Quinton Jackson (2-1-0)
2011-05-28: W vs. [#20LHW] Matt Hamill (10-4-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2010-11-20: W vs. [#5LHW] Lyoto Machida (17-2-0) via SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
2010-05-29: L vs. [#3LHW] Rashad Evans (19-1-1) via UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Welterweight (170 lbs)
[#8] up 1 to [#7] Josh Koscheck (16-5-0) def. [#17] down 6 to [#23] Matt Hughes (45-9-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:59 of round 1
Matt Hughes is the All-Time #2 ranked Welterweight and #4 ranked Absolute fighter.
Josh Koscheck is the All-Time #7 ranked Welterweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights (prior to tonight’s bout): Josh Koscheck (2-1-0)
2010-12-11: L vs. [#1WW/#2DD] Georges St. Pierre (22-2-0) via UD (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
2010-05-08: W vs. [#23MW] Paul Daley (28-11-2) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2009-11-21: W vs. [#21WW] Anthony Johnson (9-3-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 4:47 of round 2
Last 3 Fights (prior to tonight’s bout): Matt Hughes (2-1-0)
2010-11-20: L vs. [#6WW] B.J. Penn (16-7-2) via KO (Punches) in 0:21 of round 1
2010-08-07: W vs. [#28WW] Ricardo Almeida (13-5-0) via Technical Submission (Anaconda Choke) in 3:15 of round 1
2010-04-10: W vs. [*] Renzo Gracie (13-7-1) via TKO (Punches) in 4:40 of round 3
Heavyweight (265 lbs)
[#21] up 4 to [#17] Travis Browne (12-0-1) def. [#51] down 19 to [#70] Rob Broughton (15-6-1) via UD
Last 3 Fights (prior to tonight’s bout): Travis Browne (2-0-1)
2011-05-28: W vs. [#48HW+] Stefan Struve (21-5-0) via KO (Punch) in 4:11 of round 1
2010-10-16: D vs. [#14HW+] Cheick Kongo (16-6-2) via Draw in 5:00 of round 3
2010-06-19: W vs. [#100HW+] James McSweeney (6-8-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:32 of round 1
Last 3 Fights (prior to tonight’s bout): Rob Broughton (3-0-0)
2010-10-16: W vs. [#328HW+] Vinicius Kappke de Queiroz (5-2-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 1:43 of round 3
2010-01-30: W vs. [#146HW+] Oli Thompson (9-2-0) via UD ()
2010-01-30: W vs. [#103HW+] James Thompson (16-14-0) via KO (Punch) in 2:28 of round 2
Keep Reading
Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)
| Friday, October 3rd 2025: PFL Champions Series 2: Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 | |||
 [#4 LHW] Corey Anderson |  [#10 LHW] Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 7/19/2025 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#13 HW] Denis Goltsov Last 5: NC L W W W | Last Fight Date: 11/29/2024 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#21 MW] Impa Kasanganay Last 5: W W W W W | ||
| Friday, October 3rd 2025: PFL Champions Series 2: Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 | |||
 [#9 LW] Usman Nurmagomedov (-164) |  [#14 LW] Paul Hughes (+128) | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 1/25/2025 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#14 LW] Paul Hughes Last 5: W W NC W W | Last Fight Date: 5/10/2025 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#51 LW] Bruno Miranda Last 5: W W W L W | ||
| Saturday, November 8th 2025: Dynamite MMA 4 - Nov. 8 | |||
 [#4 W105] Andressa Romero |  [#20 W105] Claire Lopez | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 9/20/2024 [Invicta FC] Last Opponent: [#2 W105] Elisandra Ferreira de Oliveira Last 5: W L L W L | Last Fight Date: 4/04/2025 [Invicta FC] Last Opponent: [#12 W105] Taynara Silva Last 5: W W L L L | ||
Featured Fighters
| [#3 FW] | Diego Lopes | [#19 FW] | Jean Silva | |
| [#2 LW] |  Ilia Topuria | [#1 LW] | Islam Makhachev | |
| [NR] | Matt Brown | [#4 LW] | Charles Oliveira | |
| [#90 WW] |  Daniil Donchenko | [NR] |  Conor McGregor | |
| [#1 MW] |  Khamzat Chimaev | [NR] | Chris Lytle |
MMA Rankings Updated: 09/25/2011
Notable Info
- Featherweight division expanded to Top 300
Lineal Championship Wrap-Up
In case you missed our series on this, your lineal champions are:
Heavyweight: Alistair Overem
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones
Middleweight: Anderson Silva
Welterweight: Georges St. Pierre
Lightweight: Shinya Aoki
Featherweight: Jose Aldo
Bantamweight: Dominick Cruz
Flyweight: Ian McCall
We will be publishing those histories on our site as permanent fixtures within the coming weeks.
FightMatrix Program: UFC 135 (9-24-2011)
Light Heavyweight Championship (205)
[#1/#7DD] Jon Jones (13-1-0) vs. [#4] Quinton Jackson (32-8-0)
Jon Jones is the All-Time #17 ranked Light Heavyweight fighter.
Quinton Jackson is the All-Time #1 ranked Light Heavyweight and #11 ranked Absolute fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Jon Jones (3-0-0)
2011-03-19: W vs. [#2LHW/#10DD] Mauricio Rua (20-5-0) via TKO (Punches and Knees) in 2:37 of round 3
2011-02-05: W vs. [#18LHW] Ryan Bader (12-2-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 4:20 of round 2
2010-08-01: W vs. [#22LHW] Vladimir Matyushenko (26-5-0) via TKO (Elbows) in 1:52 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Quinton Jackson (2-1-0)
2011-05-28: W vs. [#20LHW] Matt Hamill (10-4-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2010-11-20: W vs. [#5LHW] Lyoto Machida (17-2-0) via SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
2010-05-29: L vs. [#3LHW] Rashad Evans (19-1-1) via UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Welterweight (170)
[#8] Josh Koscheck (15-5-0) vs. [#17] Matt Hughes (45-8-0)
Matt Hughes is the All-Time #2 ranked Welterweight and #4 ranked Absolute fighter.
Josh Koscheck is the All-Time #7 ranked Welterweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Josh Koscheck (2-1-0)
2010-12-11: L vs. [#1WW/#2DD] Georges St. Pierre (22-2-0) via UD (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
2010-05-08: W vs. [#23MW] Paul Daley (28-11-2) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2009-11-21: W vs. [#21WW] Anthony Johnson (9-3-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 4:47 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Matt Hughes (2-1-0)
2010-11-20: L vs. [#6WW] B.J. Penn (16-7-2) via KO (Punches) in 0:21 of round 1
2010-08-07: W vs. [#28WW] Ricardo Almeida (13-5-0) via Technical Submission (Anaconda Choke) in 3:15 of round 1
2010-04-10: W vs. [*] Renzo Gracie (13-7-1) via TKO (Punches) in 4:40 of round 3
Heavyweight (265)
[#21] Travis Browne (11-0-1) vs. [#51] Rob Broughton (15-5-1)
Last 3 Fights: Travis Browne (2-0-1)
2011-05-28: W vs. [#48HW+] Stefan Struve (21-5-0) via KO (Punch) in 4:11 of round 1
2010-10-16: D vs. [#14HW+] Cheick Kongo (16-6-2) via Draw in 5:00 of round 3
2010-06-19: W vs. [#100HW+] James McSweeney (6-8-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:32 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Rob Broughton (3-0-0)
2010-10-16: W vs. [#328HW+] Vinicius Kappke de Queiro (5-2-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 1:43 of round 3
2010-01-30: W vs. [#146HW+] Oli Thompson (9-2-0) via UD ()
2010-01-30: W vs. [#103HW+] James Thompson (16-14-0) via KO (Punch) in 2:28 of round 2
Keep Reading
Lineal Championship History: Heavyweights
First, a run-down of the particulars:
- Inception of the championship occured on 10/14/1993, the first “top contender” match-up that took place within this division.
- Vacancies after inactivity periods were fulfilled by the next “top contender” match. Absence of such, was not a problem at Heavyweight.
Your current lineal Heavyweight champion is Alistair Overeem
The full history is below. Note, the colored backgrounds indicate a title change.
MMA Heavyweight Lineal Championship History
The Ultimate Fighter 14, Episode 1 Review
The first episode of ‘The Ultimate Fighter 14’ featured all 32 fighters competing in elimination bouts for a spot in the TUF house.
A few of the early favorites were eliminated in a series of exciting fights.
Here are the 16 fighters who earned a spot in the house (all rankings are approximated as-of the show’s taping)
Featherweights
[#58] Steven Siler: defeated [#30] Micah Miller by guillotine choke in the third (overtime) round.
[#67] Bryan Caraway: defeated [#91 LW] Eric Mariott by unanimous decision (20-18).
[#80] Diego Brandao: defated [NR] Jesse Newell by TKO in the first round.
[#82] Hamid Corassani: defated [#166] Brian Pearman by KO in the first round.
[#396 LW] Dennis Bermudez: defeated [#27 BW] Jimmie Rivera by TKO in the second round.
[NR] Marcus Brimage: defeated [NR] Bryson Wailehua-Hansen by TKO in the second round.
[NR] Stephen Bass: defeated [#227] Karsten Lenjoint by triangle choke in the second round.
[NR] Dustin Neace: defeated [NR] Josh Clopton by unanimous decision (20-18)
Bantamweights after the jump:
Lineal Championship History: Light Heavyweights
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 on 12/21/1997. 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.
- Only one period of inactivity was seen in this lineage.
Your current lineal Light Heavyweight champion is Jon Jones
The full history is below. Note, the colored backgrounds indicate a title change.
MMA Light Heavyweight Lineal Championship History
Lineal Championship History: Middleweights
First, a run-down of the particulars:
- Due to potential metric conversion issues and weight class changes, a limit of 187 pounds is observed for this list.
- Inception of the championship occured on 5/18/1989, the first fight in the division.
- Sporadic periods of inactivity were observed throughout the first half of the lineage. Clear “top contender” matches took place to determine the next champion.
Your current lineal Middleweight champion is Anderson Silva
The full history is below. Note, the colored backgrounds indicate a title change.
MMA Middleweight Lineal Championship History
FightMatrix Program: DREAM 17 (9-24-2011)
Lightweight (155)
[#4] Shinya Aoki (28-5-0) vs. [#187] Rob McCullough (19-7-0)
Shinya Aoki is the All-Time #3 ranked Lightweight and #22 ranked Absolute fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Shinya Aoki (3-0-0)
2011-05-29: W vs. [#189LW] Rich Clementi (40-20-1) via Submission (Neck Crank) in 2:17 of round 2
2011-04-09: W vs. [#67LW] Lyle Beerbohm (15-2-0) via Submission (Neck Crank) in 1:33 of round 1
2010-10-24: W vs. [NA] Yokthai Sithoar (0-1-0) via Submission (Keylock) in 1:00 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Rob McCullough (2-1-0)
2011-03-12: L vs. [#65LW] Patricky Freire (9-2-0) via TKO (Punches) in 3:11 of round 3
2010-09-09: W vs. [#734LW] Corey Hill (4-4-0) via UD (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
2010-07-09: W vs. [#146FW] Isaac DeJesus (9-3-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:31 of round 1
Featherweight (145)
[#10LW] Tatsuya Kawajiri (28-7-2) vs. [#12] Joachim Hansen (22-10-1)
Last 3 Fights: Tatsuya Kawajiri (2-1-0)
2011-07-16: W vs. [#105WW] Drew Fickett (41-16-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:41 of round 1
2011-04-09: L vs. [#3LW] Gilbert Melendez (19-2-0) via TKO (Elbows) in 3:14 of round 1
2010-12-31: W vs. [#28LW] Josh Thomson (18-4-0) via UD ()
Last 3 Fights: Joachim Hansen (3-0-0)
2011-05-29: W vs. [#28FW] Mitsuhiro Ishida (20-7-1) via SD ()
2010-10-29: W vs. [#193FW] Sami Aziz (5-3-1) via Submission (Armbar) in 3:47 of round 2
2010-09-25: W vs. [#6BW] Hideo Tokoro (30-23-1) via Submission (Triangle Choke) in 2:48 of round 1
Featherweight (145)
[#18] Takeshi Inoue (20-5-0) vs. [#25] Caol Uno (26-14-5)
Takeshi Inoue is the All-Time #18 ranked Featherweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Takeshi Inoue (2-1-0)
2011-05-29: W vs. [#47FW] Koichiro Matsumoto (13-3-0) via TKO (Punches) in 6:51 of round 1
2011-04-29: W vs. [#53FW] Taiki Tsuchiya (9-3-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:27 of round 2
2010-09-25: L vs. [#19FW] Kazuyuki Miyata (11-8-0) via UD ()
Last 3 Fights: Caol Uno (1-2-0)
2011-05-29: W vs. [#56FW] Akiyo Nishiura (11-7-1) via UD ()
2010-12-31: L vs. [#19FW] Kazuyuki Miyata (11-8-0) via UD ()
2010-03-31: L vs. [#19LW] Gleison Tibau (23-7-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:13 of round 1
Keep Reading
Lineal Championship History: Welterweights
First, a run-down of the particulars:
- Due to potential metric conversion issues and weight class changes, a limit of 172 pounds is observed for this list.
- Inception of the championship occured on 1/13/1990, the first fight between two top fighters that resulted in a clear #1.
- Sporadic periods of inactivity were observed throughout the first half of the lineage. Clear “top contender” matches took place to determine the next champion.
Your current lineal Welterweight champion is Georges St. Pierre
The full history is below. Note, the colored backgrounds indicate a title change.
MMA Welterweight Lineal Championship History
Lineal Championship History: Lightweights
First, a run-down of the particulars:
- Due to potential metric conversion issues and weight class changes, a limit of 161 pounds is observed for this list.
- Inception of the championship occured on 1/13/1990, the first fight between two top fighters that resulted in a clear #1.
- Sporadic periods of inactivity were observed throughout the first half of the lineage. Clear “top contender” matches took place to determine the next champion.
Your current lineal Lightweight champion is Shinya Aoki
The full history is below. Note, the colored backgrounds indicate a title change.
MMA Lightweight Lineal Championship History
Lineal Championship History: Featherweights
First, a run-down of the particulars:
- Due to potential metric conversion issues and weight class changes, a limit of 148 pounds is observed for this list.
- Inception of the championship occured on 3/27/1992, the first known professional fight taking place at or below 148 pounds.
- Only a period in the mid 2000s saw fighters leave the division without losing. These situations were easily resolved in quick fashion by “best available” match-ups featuring 1/2, 2/3 or 1/3 ranked fighters.
Your current lineal Featherweight champion is Jose Aldo
The full history is below. Note, the colored backgrounds indicate a title change.
MMA Featherweight Lineal Championship History
“What Ever Happened to…?” Alex Owen
Bristol, England pugilist Alex Owen (19 – 1 – 0) (last ranking [#52FW] in July 2008) was going somewhere in MMA. From 2002 to 2007, Owen tore through the British featherweight ranks, scoring victories over top fighters such as [#50BW] Paul McVeigh (18 – 6 – 0) and WEC veteran [#27BW] Brad Pickett (20 – 5 – 0).
By then he was 19-0, 14 of those wins coming by stoppage. However, following his first loss to [*] Emmanuel Fernandez (9 – 4 – 1) (another talented yet inexplicably inactive fighter), everything changed. An excerpt from an article written by Chris Cork on mmahitpit.com gives some details on the situation:
“…Like most British fighters, Owen trained and competed part-time while holding down a full-time day job. For the past eight-and-a-half years he has paid the bills serving as a Police Constable with Avon & Somerset Constabulary – a job which permitted him to fight professional MMA. That was until July 2007 when, following a loss to Emmanuel Fernandez, Owen was told he would no longer be allowed to fight…”
Owen has not fought since.
Fighters who have the luxury to train full-time should feel fortunate. A story like this illustrates the harsh reality that only a select few will be truly successful in the fight game. If a talent like Alex Owen could be forced to leave the sport he loved (and did remarkably well in) due to financial issues, then it could happen to any fighter. We can hope that as MMA continues to grow as a global sport, less and less talented fighters will have to suffer similar fates as Owen.
At the end of the article, Owen talks about his possible return to the cage, but unfortunately the article was written in May 2010. Perhaps (and hopefully) we have not seen the last of Alex Owen in MMA.
Full Article: http://www.mmahitpit.com/news/alexowenonhiswayback
Lineal Championship History: Bantamweights
First, a run-down of the particulars:
- Due to potential metric conversion issues and weight class changes, a limit of 137 pounds is observed for this list.
- Inception of the championship occured on 7/29/1989, the fifth known professional fight taking place at or below 137 pounds, which included the first two winners of Bantamweight bouts in a previous event (the other two bouts were draws).
- Periodic inactivity was a sporadic issue in the Bantamweight division. In early history, ranked fights were so sporadic, that the winners of these “best available” matches were used to fill gaps. Idea is to not allow title vacancy for more than 2 years. In later Bantamweight history, only fights between established 1/2, 1/3 or 2/3 were used.
Your current lineal Bantamweight champion is Dominick Cruz
The full history is below. Note, the colored backgrounds indicate a title change.
MMA Bantamweight Lineal Championship History