Hello there lineal title fans! This Saturday is another UFC PPV and it's not short on lineal title action. Jose Aldo has been the Lineal King of the Featherweight division for 5 years and 8 defenses, a reign only Fedor, Tara LaRosa, and GSP have bested in their respective weight classes. Since Aldo and Mendes last fought in 2012, Aldo has defended his titles 3 times and added 7 lineal titles to a collection which now totals 18 belts, good for 6th place on the Lineal Title Leaderboard. For his part, Mendes has gone 5-0 since their last meeting and captured the lineal Cage Fury Fighting title from Darren Elkins. Whomever wins this rematch will boast 19 lineal titles and 42% unification of all belts in the Featherweight division.
Before we dive into the details, here's a quick reminder of the rules that I follow when tracing these lineages:
Rules:
1. All titles trace back to the given promotion's inaugural championship, unless specifically noted
2. Only bouts contested within the weight class for which the belt was created are counted in the lineage. (See Rule 3 for exceptions)
3. WMMA belts will be allowed to "migrate" to different weight classes due to more frequent weight class changes by female fighters
4. If a title dead ends due to change of weight class or retirement, the next title issued by the promotion will be considered. I will refer to each issued title as an "iteration" of the belt (1st iteration, 2nd iterations, etc.)
5. No Contest rulings will always be respected (i.e. Diaz vs Gomi: Diaz tested positive for marijuana, so the fight does not effect the lineage)
6. TUF fights are exhibitions and will generally not count in the lineage of a title. TUF 20 for the Strawweight title may be an exception if it comes into play
Lineal Titles of Jose Aldo:
1. Shooto
Lineal History: Kenichi Tanaka (1990) → Hiroyuki Kanno → Kazuhiro Sakamoto → Noboru Asahi → Alexandre Nogueira → Tetsuo Katsuta → Alexandre Nogueira → Hiroyuki Abe → Alexandre Nogueira → Jose Aldo
- Lineage ignores Asahi's loss to Royler Gracie in VTJ at an Open weight. Also, Nogueira moved up to 154 lbs to compete in K-1 Hero's before dropping back down and losing to Jose Aldo in the WEC at FW
2. King of the Cage
Lineal History: David Velasquez (2000) → Charlie Valencia → Urijah Faber → Mike Thomas Brown → Jose Aldo
- Referred to as Bantamweight, but the limit is 145 lbs
3. Gladiator Challenge
Lineal History: David Velasquez (2002) → Urijah Faber→ Tyson Griffin → Bart Palaszewski → Hatsu Hioki → Ricardo Lamas → Jose Aldo
- Referred to as BW, but limit is 145. Tyson Griffin beat Faber for this title and then moved up to LW for most of his UFC run. He moved back down to FW for his last 2 UFC bouts and lost the belt to Bart Palszewski. It was technically a 148 lb catchweight, but was intended as a FW fight so I chose to allow it
4. IFC
Lineal History: Jens Pulver (2003) → Urijah Faber → Mike Thomas Brown → Jose Aldo
- Traces back to inaugural champion Jens Pulver from 2003 and ignores Pulver's losses at 155 until he returns to FW in the WEC
5. TKO
Lineal History: Stephane Vigneault (2004) → Mark Hominick → Hatsu Hioki → Antonio Carvalho → Hiroyuki Takaya → Leonard Garcia → Mike Thomas Brown → Jose Aldo
- Traces back to inaugural TKO Featherweight title. Fabiano held the UCC title from TKO 1 in 2000, but that was contested at 155
6. Shooto Americas
Lineal History: Jeff Curran (2005) → Hatsu Hioki → Antonio Carvalho → Hiroyuki Takaya → Leonard Garcia → Mike Thomas Brown → Jose Aldo
- The early Americas titles were awarded at various other promotion's events. This one traces back to inaugural title won by Jeff Curran in 2005 at an Ironheart Crown event
7. Deep
Lineal History: Masakazu Imanari (2005) → Fredson Paixao → Wagnney Fabiano → Mackens Semerzier → Deividas Taurosevicius → L.C. Davis → Josh Grispi → Dustin Poirier → Korean Zombie → Jose Aldo
8. Icon Sport
Lineal History: Ed Newalu (2005) → Brandon Visher → Tyler Toner → Diego Nunes → Kenny Florian → Jose Aldo
9. WEC
Lineal History: Urijah Faber (2006) → Mike Thomas Brown → Jose Aldo
- 2nd iteration, 1st champ was Cole Escovedo in 2002, but title dead ends where Melendez moves to LW
10. Pancrase
Lineal History: Yoshiro Maeda (2006)→ Joe Pearson → Urijah Faber→ Mike Thomas Brown → Jose Aldo
11. SportFight
Lineal History: Enoch Wilson (2006) → Urijah Faber → Mike Thomas Brown → Jose Aldo
12. IFL
Lineal History: Wagnney Fabiano (2007)→ Mackens Semerzier → Deividas Taurosevicius → L.C. Davis → Josh Grispi → Dustin Poirier → Korean Zombie → Jose Aldo
13. Shooto Pacific Rim
Lineal History: Akitoshi Tamura (2007) → Hideki Kadowaki → Takeshi Inoue → Hatsu Hioki → Ricardo Lamas → Jose Aldo
- 2nd iteration, 1st was won by Sato in 2005, but the belt dead ends when Gilbert Melendez moves up to LW
14. Cage Force
Lineal History: Yuji Hoshino (2008) → Marlon Sandro → Hatsu Hioki → Ricardo Lamas → Jose Aldo
15. Ring of Combat
Lineal History: Anthony Morrison (2009) → Mike Thomas Brown → Manny Gamburyan → Jose Aldo
- 2nd iteration. 1st version dead ends at Deividas Taurosevicius who may be retired
16. WVR - Sengoku
Lineal History: Masanori Kanehara (2009) → Marlon Sandro → Hatsu Hioki → Ricardo Lamas → Jose Aldo
17. UCMMA
Lineal History: David Lee (2010) → Jeff Lawson → Hatsu Hioki → Ricardo Lamas → Jose Aldo
- 2nd iteration, 1st dead ends at Pickett due to change in weight
18. UFC
Lineal History: Jose Aldo (2011: Last WEC Champion)
Lineal Titles of Chad Mendes:
19. Cage Fury Fighting
Lineal History: Joey Gambino (2011) → Steven Siler → Darren Elkins → Chad Mendes
Lineal History Lesson (Featherweight Edition):
History of Featherweight Lineal Kings | |||
Champion | Titles | % Unify | |
Jose Aldo | 18 | 40% | 2014 |
Jose Aldo | 13 | 30% | 2013 |
Jose Aldo | 11 | 30% | 2011 |
Jose Aldo | 10 | 27% | 2011 |
Jose Aldo | 9 | 28% | 2010 |
Jose Aldo | 8 | 31% | 2009 |
Mike Thomas Brown | 7 | 33% | 2008 |
Urijah Faber | 5 | 24% | 2008 |
Urijah Faber | 4 | 22% | 2007 |
Urijah Faber | 3 | 17% | 2007 |
Urijah Faber | 2 | 15% | 2006 |
Kenichi Tanaka | Shooto | - | 1990 (Earliest Active) |
NEW FEATURE! Featherweight Lineal Pie:
Big Ten Titles of the Featherweight Division:
Criteria for Selection of Big Ten Titles | |||||
1 | Significance of title to division when first installed | ||||
2 | Significance of the inaugural champion crowned | ||||
3 | Significance of lineal path title follows over time |
Featherweight |
1. Shooto - Kenichi Tanaka (1990) |
6. Pancrase - Yoshiro Maeda (2006) | Jose Aldo (60% Unification) | Conor McGregor (20% Unification) | Patricio Freire (20% Unification) | |||||||
2. King of the Cage - David Velasquez (2000) |
7. EliteXC - Wilson Reis (2008) | |||||||||||
3. Ironheart Crown - Jeff Curran (2002) |
8. Bellator MMA - Joe Soto (2009) | |||||||||||
4. Deep - Masakazu Imanari (2005) |
9. Dream - Bibiano Fernandes (2009) | |||||||||||
5. WEC - Urijah Faber (2006) |
10. UFC - Jose Aldo (2011) |
Lineal Leaderboard:
# | Name | # of Titles | Unify | Big 10 |
1 | Cain Velasquez | 35 | 70% | 100% |
2 | Georges St. Piere | 30 | 57% | 80% |
3 | Anthony Pettis | 26 | 46% | 60% |
4 | Chris Weidman | 24 | 51% | 70% |
5 | Jon Jones | 22 | 51% | 90% |
6 | Jose Aldo | 18 | 40% | 60% |
7 | Ronda Rousey | 16 | 67% | 90% |
8 | Donald Cerone | 11 | 19% | 40% |
9 | Mighty Mouse | 8 | 33% | 70% |
9 | Dominick Cruz | 8 | 21% | 40% |
10 | Patricio Freire | 7 | 13% | 20% |
11 | Bibiano Fernandes | 6 | 18% | 20% |
11 | Vitor Belfort | 6 | 13% | 20% |
11 | Jacare Souza | 6 | 13% | 10% |
12 | Cyborg Justino | 5 | 100% | - |
12 | Claudia Gadelha | 5 | 36% | - |
12 | Ben Askren | 5 | 9% | 20% |
13 | Marlon Moraes | 4 | 13% | 10% |
13 | Gegard Mousasi | 4 | 10% | 0% |
13 | Vitaly Minakov | 4 | 8% | 0% |
13 | Rick Glenn | 4 | 9% | 0% |
14 | Michelle Waterson | 3 | 75% | - |
14 | Conor McGregor | 3 | 7% | 20% |
14 | Kalindra Faria | 3 | 21% | - |
14 | Miesha Tate | 3 | 13% | 0% |
14 | Emanuel Newton | 3 | 8% | 0% |
14 | Alexander Gustafsson | 3 | 8% | 0% |
14 | Tyron Woodley | 3 | 6% | 0% |
14 | Khabib Nurmegomodov | 3 | 5% | 10% |
15 | Ten tied with two each | 2 | - | - |
Lineal Title Fights on the Horizon:
Upcoming Unification Bouts | # | Date | |
Jose Aldo vs Chad Mendes | 19 titles | 25-Oct | |
Takayo Hashi vs Barb Honchak | 2 titles | 1-Nov | |
Kalindra Faria vs Jessica Aguilar | 4 titles | 15-Nov | |
Jon Fitch vs Rousimar Palhares | 2 titles | 13-Dec | |
Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier | 23 titles | 3-Jan | |
Chris Weidman vs Vitor Belfort | 29 titles | Feb | |
Emanuel Newton vs Liam McGeary | 4 titles | TBD | |
Dominick Cruz vs TJ Dillashaw | 10 titles | TBD | |
Other Titles on the Line | # | Date | |
Emanuel Newton vs Linton Vassell | 3 titles | 24-Oct | |
David Branch vs Yushin Okami | 1 title | 24-Oct | |
Carlos Diego Ferreira vs Beneil Dariush | 1 title | 25-Oct | |
Christos Giagos vs Gilbert Burns | 1 title | 25-Oct | |
Eduardo Diez vs Felipe Cuscianna | 1 title | 25-Oct | |
Xian Ji vs Yadong Song | 1 title | 31-Oct | |
Mike Ricci vs Yoshiyuki Yoshida | 1 title | 31-Oct | |
Viviane Pereira vs Fernanda Barros | 1 title | 1-Nov | |
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Mizuki Inoue | 1 title | 1-Nov | |
Seo Hee Ham vs Saori Ishioka | 1 title | 3-Nov | |
Irshaad Sayed vs Abdul Hassan | 1 title | 6-Nov | |
Aljamain Sterling vs Frankie Saenz | 1 title | 7-Nov | |
Ian McCall vs John Lineker | 1 title | 8-Nov | |
Clint Hester vs Robert Whittaker | 1 title | 8-Nov | |
Thomas Almeida vs Tim Gorman | 1 title | 8-Nov | |
Dennis Bermudez vs Ricardo Lamas | 1 title | 15-Nov | |
Justin Gaethje vs Melvin Guillard | 1 title | 15-Nov | |
Josh Copeland vs Ruslan Megomedov | 1 title | 22-Nov | |
Dustin Ortiz vs Joseph Benavidez | 1 title | 22-Nov | |
Kohei Kuraoka vs Keisuke Fujiwara | 1 title | 23-Nov | |
Cyborg Justino vs TBD | 5 titles | 4-Dec | |
Anthony Pettis vs Gilbert Melendez | 26 titles | 6-Dec | |
Mamed Khabilov vs V. Vasilevsky | 1 title | 6-Dec | |
Robbie Lawler vs Johny Hendricks | 2 titles | 6-Dec | |
Holly Holm vs Raquel Pennington | 1 title | 6-Dec | |
Gota Yamashita vs Yuki Kondo | 1 title | 6-Dec | |
Rafael dos Anjos vs Nate Diaz | 1 title | 13-Dec | |
Matt Mitrione vs Gabriel Gonzaga | 1 title | 13-Dec | |
Stipe Miocic vs Junior Dos Santos | 1 title | 13-Dec | |
Anthony Birchak vs Ian Entwistle | 1 title | 13-Dec | |
Jussier Formiga vs John Moraga | 2 titles | 13-Dec | |
Claudia Gadelha vs Joanna Jędrzejczyk | 5 titles | 13-Dec | |
Hector Lombard vs Josh Burkman | 1 title | 3-Jan | |
Ronda Rousey vs Cat Zingano | 16 titles | 3-Jan | |
Alexander Gustafsson vs Rashad Evans | 3 titles | 24-Jan | |
Jordan Mein vs Thiago Alves | 1 title | 31-Jan | |
Vitaly Minakov vs Alexander Volkov | 4 titles | TBD |