August 3rd is just around the corner. And, although we have one card in between in which Mighty Mouse will put his own 5 lineal titles on the line (UFC, KOTC, Shooto, Gladiator Challenge, Tachi Palace), the prospect of lineal title unification has me a little bit more excited.
For those who have not read my lineal title posts before, I follow a couple of simple rules:
1. Each lineal title can be traced back to the original title issued by the respective promotion
2. I don't count fights outside of the title's weight class, except where noted
Lineal Titles on the Line:
1. UFC
Tile History: Aldo defeated Mark Hominick after coming over from the WEC
2. Pancrase
Title History: Maeda > Pearson > Faber > Brown > Aldo
3. King of the Cage
Title History: Velasquez > Valencia > Faber > Brown > Aldo
4. Deep
Title History: Imanari > Paixao > Fabiano > Semerzier > Taurosevicius > Davis > Grispi > Poirier > Zombie
5. Sport Fight
Title History: Wilson > Faber > Brown > Aldo
6. WEC
Title History: Faber > Brown > Aldo
7. IFL
Title History: Fabiano > Semerzier > Taurosevicius > Davis > Grispi > Poirier > Zombie
8. TKO
Title History: Fabiano > Curran > Faber > Brown > Aldo
9. Icon Sport
Title History: Newalu > Visher > Toner > Nunes > Florian > Aldo
Important Notes
- WEC title is the 2nd iteration of the belt. The 1st was originally won by Escovedo in 2002. The belt gets passed around a bit until it ends up in the hands of Gilbert Melendez in one of his few FW bouts. Melendez moves back up to LW and the title dead ends there unless Gilbert makes the drop again someday...
- Icon Sort title ignores a string of losses by Newalu as he competed at BW.
Lineal Title Leaderboard
| # | Name | # of Titles | Unify |
| 1 | Benson Henderson | 28 | 80% |
| 2 | Cain Velasquez | 24 | 76% |
| 3 | George St. Piere | 19 | 58% |
| 3 | Chris Weidman | 19 | 54% |
| 4 | Jon Jones | 17 | 56% |
| 5 | Jose Aldo | 7 | 28% |
| 6 | Johny Hendricks | 6 | 19% |
| 7 | Mighty Mouse | 5 | 50% |
| 7 | Dominick Cruz | 5 | 24% |
| 7 | Vitor Belfort | 5 | 14% |
| 8 | Marlon Moraes | 4 | |
| 8 | Akira Corassani | 4 | |
| 8 | Constantinos Philippou | 4 | |
| 8 | Bibiano Fernandes | 4 | |
| 8 | Gegard Moussasi | 4 | |
| 8 | Pat Curran | 4 | |
| 9 | Ricardo Lamas | 3 | |
| 10 | Six fighters tied with 2 titles | 2 |
The winner of this bout between Aldo and the Zombie would secure 36% of available titles in the weightclass. A quick glance at the Leaderboad tells us that the next chance for unification of lineal titles would be a match with the Akira Corassani who holds 4 tiles (Dream, Shooto, Cage Warrior, IHC) or the much deserving Ricardo Lamas who holds 3 titles (Gladiator Challenge, UCMMA, Sengoku-WVR). Also notable is Pat Curran who holds the Bellator MMA, XFC, PFC, and Shark Fights titles. Unfortunately, it may be a while before we can see those titles unified.
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