The History of MMA's Lineal HW Championship

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MMA’s Lineal HW Championship

1995 - Ken Shamrock defeats Dan Severn for the Inaugural UFC Superfight Championship

1996 - Dan Severn defeats Ken Shamrock

1997 - Mark Coleman defeats Dan Severn and wins the Inaugural UFC HW Championship (unified Superfight Title)

1997 - Maurice Smith defeats Mark Coleman

1997 - Randy Couture defeats Maurice Smith

1998 - Enson Inoue defeats Randy Couture (Reigning UFC Champ loses outside UFC)

1999 - Enson Inoue retains no fights that year

2000 - Mark Kerr defeats Enson Inoue

2000 - Kazuyuki Fujita defeats Mark Kerr

2000 - Mark Coleman defeats Kazuyuki Fujita (via forfeit mid tournament)

2001 - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defeats Mark Coleman

2002 - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira retains

2003 - Fedor Emelianenko defeats Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira

2004 - Fedor Emelianenko retains

2005 - Fedor Emelianenko retains

2006 - Fedor Emelianenko retains

2007 - Fedor Emelianenko retains

2008 - Fedor Emelianenko retains

2009 - Fedor Emelianenko retains

2010 - Fabricio Werdum defeats Fedor Emelianenko

2011 - Alistair Overeem defeats Fabricio Werdum

2012 - Alistair Overeem retains but doesn’t fight due to suspension

2013 - Antonio Bigfoot Silva defeats Alistair Overeem (Title returns to the UFC)

2013 - Cain Velasquez defeats Antonio Bigfoot Silva

2014 - Cain Velasquez retains no fights that year

2015 - Fabricio Werdum defeats Cain Velasquez

2016 - Stipe Miocic defeats Fabricio Werdum

2017 - Stipe Miocic retains

2018 - Daniel Cormier defeats Stipe Miocic

2019 - Stipe Miocic defeats Daniel Cormier

2020 - Stipe Miocic retains

2021 - Francis Ngannou defeats Stipe Miocic

2022 - Francis Ngannou retains

2023 - The Lineage leaves the UFC once again as they are unable to come to terms with their Champion and a Paper Champion is crowned breaking the chain just as it happened with Randy Couture decades prior

Interesting that Mark Coleman, Fabricio Werdum, and Stipe were able to regain it once they lost it with Coleman and Werdum doing it years apart which is very impressive.

Another Interesting note is if you technically do not count the Mark Coleman beating Fujita in the Tournament due to the forfeit then it would go to Cro Cop who beat Fujita and then lost to Fedor which would put the Lineage back on this same track. Just a detour depending on interpretation but with the same destination.

More important in most cases than a Paper Championship you can pin on someone like it’s a BMF Belt is the actual MMA Linear Championship which is why us as fans losing out on Francis vs Jon is a huge Loss for everyone.

Hopefully they do fight regardless of who you want to win for the sake of Sport and keeping a Lineage that goes back over a quarter Century in tact but not keeping fingers crossed.

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And not a single one of them beats UFC 100 Brock Lesnar

9Q2A

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Lol here is Overeem vs Brock in 2011 which was technically for the Lineal Championship so he did fight for it which is cool but unfortunately for you it was Brock with an upset tummy that got even more upset after some knees

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Steroids + that’s not ufc 100 Brock

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It was a wash steroids vs steroids lol

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I just gotta say I really appreciate your thoughtful contributions and discussions lol

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Thanks. I try

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The UFC Superfight belt title evolved into the HW title.

So by extension you could say Ken Shamrock was the original Lineal HW champion for MMA when he beat Dan Severn.

That’s the list I prefer.

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Every… Fucking… Thread…

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Sylvester Stallone Facepalm GIF

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True I could go back and add that part to it but it would still result in the same Lineage from 1997 and on after Mark Coleman defeats Dan Severn who had that Belt. This was just from that point of the UFC HW Championship and on but good point that is part of the History.

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Go look at all the great combat sports eventually some lineal champ retires and belt goes with them. It can only exist so long.

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I don’t think Francis fights again.

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Also true but isn’t it amazing that the Championship has basically been unbroken from then until now?

And what is sad is that it is not breaking because of a retired fighter it is because of stupid parties not being able to agree on terms

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Right…

But you’re leaving out Shamrock and Severn, who were really the 2 best guys of that pioneer era not named Royce (and even that is arguable but that’s a different conversation).

I just like the extended list…

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Yeah i think that’s on Francis though.

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Ok I’ll update it to include the Superfight Championship to get a full picture and pay respects to those Pioneers and Legends

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Ha. Now who’s the hardcore causal

Animated GIF

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Might want to skip over all Severn’s “title defenses” LOL.

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Imagine if Couture hadn’t gone to Japan and gotten beat.

He devalued the UFC belt more than anyone.

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