UFC on Fox Preview: The Lineal Kickboxing Titles of Alistair Overeem

This Saturday, December 13, UFC presents UFC Fight Night on FOX: Dos Santos vs Miocic. In one of the night's featured fights, K-1 veteran Alistair Overeem takes on Stefan Struve. Here, we present you with this collaboration between myself and BE reader/historian mjanacek, part of an ongoing project to track the lineal history of kickboxing titles. In this edition, we look at the history of kickboxing's heavyweight titles, many of which now sit around the waist of The Reem. Please give us your feedback in the comments so that we can improve as the project continues. Now take it away...

Hello there lineal title fans! Today, we continue our new series dedicated to the lineal history of major kickboxing titles. Our goal is to use this detailed research as a way to appreciate the true greats throughout the history of the sport we love. Lineal titles are one way to recognize the fighters who truly deserve to be hailed as champions for their accomplishments in the ring. If you missed our first installment, I highly recommend checking out our post on the 70 kg weight class currently ruled by Glory's own Robin van Roosmalen who owns an impressive 75% of all active titles in the division. And, if you are unfamiliar with my work on Bloody Elbow, I also recommend doing a quick search of the Fan Posts where you'll find a host of articles on the lineal history of MMA titles across all weight classes.

But enough of all that, it's about to get Heavy...and what better representation of why people love Heavyweights than this weekend's UFC match up between Alistair Overeem and Stefan Struve. One guy eats horse meat for breakfast and is built like a super hero action figure and the other is a billion feet tall with arms like tree trunks and hair as red as the fires of hell!...okay, so he's bald, but you get my drift.

These days, it's easy to forget just how successful of a combat sports practitioner Overeem has been throughout a 66 fight career (14 kickboxing, 52 MMA) spanning 15 years. Let's face it, he's been somewhat of a bust with the UFC, But, one thing that fans might not realize is that The Reem currently holds 13 lineal kickboxing titles in the Heavyweight division. This puts him in the top 5 all-time along side legendary lineal title holders like Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt, Remy Bonjasky, Ernesto Hoost and Mirko Cro Cop. We will detail the lineage of Overeem's titles below for your reading pleasure in this, Part 1 of a 2 part narrative on the kickboxing lineal titles of the Heavyweight division. Lineal title fans can look forward to the second half of this installment leading up to a crucial lineal title unification bout between Rico Verhoeven and Errol Zimmerman at Glory 19 in February 2015!

Before we jump into the details of The Reem's lineal titles, here's a quick reminder of the rules that we follow when tracing these belts...

Rules:

1. All lineal titles will begin with the inaugural champion crowned by a given promotion. The title will change hands only with a loss by the champion regardless of what promotion that fight takes place in. In a phrase, a lineal champion is "the man who beat the man."

2. Unlike MMA lineal titles, weight class will not be a factor in tracking the lineage of Kickboxing titles.

3. The spirit behind this collection of titles is to appreciate the history of the K-1 rules / Orietal Kicking style. But, we do sprinkle in a few titles of other similar rule sets like International (Leg Kick) and Shoot boxing rules. For this reason, all fights that would traditionally be considered on a kickboxing record will be included in the lineage. This means that even Muay Thai rules and Shoot Boxing rules fights will be recognized.

Lineal Reem: The K-1 Titles

Easily the most iconic of kickboxing organizations, K-1 hosted yearly tournaments between 1993 and 2012 to crown a World Grand Prix champion. Each year the winner was invited back into the field of 8 finalists for a chance to defend the previous year's crown. But, each Grand Prix tournament resulted in a unique championship accomplishment, so we list them as individual titles. In 2007, K-1 decided to introduce more traditional championship belts in the Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight divisions. You'll see below that Overeem currently holds these lineal titles as well.

K-1 Grand Prix Tournament 2002
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
Dec 2002	Ernesto Hoost	6
Dec 2004	Remy Bonjasky	3
April 2005	Mighty Mo	1	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2004
Sept 2005	Peter Aerts	2
May 2006	Ernesto Hoost	2	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2005
Dec 2006	Semmy Schilt	10	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 06 & 07, K-1 Heavyweight & Super Heayweight, & IKF Titles during reign
Sept 2008	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2008	Badr Hari	1
Dec 2008	Remy Bonjasky	3	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2008
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2009, It's Showtime HW, & It's Showtime MW
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	4
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

The 8-man Field: Peter Aerts, Jerome Le Banner, Ernesto Hoost (replaced injured Schilt), Mark Hunt, Stefan Leko, Musashi, Bob Sapp, Ray Sefo

K-1 Grand Prix Tournament 2004
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
Dec 2004	Remy Bonjasky	1	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2002
April 2005	Mighty Mo	1
Sept 2005	Peter Aerts	2
May 2006	Ernesto Hoost	2	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2005
Dec 2006	Semmy Schilt	10	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 06, 07, K-1 Heavyweight & Super Heayweight, IKF Titles during reign
Sept 2008	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2008	Badr Hari	1
Dec 2008	Remy Bonjasky	3	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2008
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2009, It's Showtime HW, & It's Showtime MW
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	4
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

The 8-man Field: Kaoklai Kaennorsing, Mighty Mo, Ray Sefo, Musashi, Peter Aerts, Francois Botha, Ernesto Hoost, Remy Bonjasky

K-1 Grand Prix Tournament 2005
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
Dec 2005	Semmy Schilt	1
March 2006	Peter Aerts	0
May 2006	Ernesto Hoost	2	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2002 & 2004
Dec 2006	Semmy Schilt	10	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 06, 07, K-1 Heavyweight & Super Heayweight, IKF Titles during reign
Sept 2008	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2008	Badr Hari	1
Dec 2008	Remy Bonjasky	3	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2008
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2009, It's Showtime HW, & It's Showtime MW
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	4
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

The 8-man Field: Remy Bonjasky, Hong Man-Choi, Ray Sefo, Semmy Schilt, Jerome Le Banner, Peter Aerts, Musashi, Ruslan Karaev

K-1 Grand Prix Tournament 2006
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
Dec 2006	Semmy Schilt	9	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04, 05, 07, K-1 Heavyweight, Super Heayweight, IKF Titles during reign
Sept 2008	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2008	Badr Hari	1
Dec 2008	Remy Bonjasky	3	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2008
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2009, It's Showtime HW, & It's Showtime MW
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	4
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

The 8-man Field: Jerome Le Banner, Semmy Schilt, Chalid Arrab, Ernesto Hoost, Glaube Feitosa, Ruslan Karaev, Remy Bonjasky, Sefan Leko

K-1 Grand Prix Tournament 2007
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
Dec 2007	Semmy Schilt	2	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04-06, K-1 Heavyweight & Super Heayweight, IKF
Sept 2008	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2008	Badr Hari	1
Dec 2008	Remy Bonjasky	3	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2008
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2009, It's Showtime HW, & It's Showtime MW
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	4
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

The 8-man Field: Jerome Le Banner, Hong Man-Choi, Semmy Schilt, Glaube Feitosa, Remy Bonjasky, Badr Hari, Peter Aerts, Junichi Sawayashiki

K-1 Grand Prix Tournament 2008
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
Dec 2008	Remy Bonjasky	3	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04-07, K-1 Heavyweight & Super Heayweight, IKF
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2009, It's Showtime HW, & It's Showtime MW
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	4
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

The 8-man Field: Peter Aerts, Badr Hari, Errol Zimmerman, Ewerton Teixeira, Gokhan Saki, Ruslan Karaev, Remy Bonjasky, Jerome Le Banner

K-1 Grand Prix Tournament 2009
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04-08, K-1 HW & SHW, It's Showtime HW, It's Showtime MW, IKF
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	4
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

The 8-man Field: Ruslan Karaev, Badr Hari, Alistair Overeem, Ewerton Teixiera, Jerome Le Banner, Semmy Schilt, Errol Zimmerman, Remy Bonjasky

K-1 Grand Prix Tournament 2010
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04-09, K-1 Heavyweight & Super Heayweight, It's Showtime MW & HW, IKF

The 8-man Field: Mighty Mo, Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt, Kyotaro, Gokhan Saki, Daniel Ghita, Alistair Overeem, Tyrone Spong

K-1 Super Heavyweight Title
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
March 2007	Semmy Schilt	7	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04-07, K-1 Heavyweight Titles, IKF
Sept 2008	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2008	Badr Hari	1
Dec 2008	Remy Bonjasky	3	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2008
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2009, It's Showtime HW, & It's Showtime MW
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	4
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

Inaugural Championship Match up: Semmy Schilt vs Ray Sefo

K-1 Heavyweight Title (100 kg)
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
April 2007	Badr Hari	1
Dec 2007	Remy Bonjasky	0
Dec 2007	Semmy Schilt	2	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04-07, K-1 Super Heavyweight, IKF
Sept 2008	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2008	Badr Hari	1
Dec 2008	Remy Bonjasky	3	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2008
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2009, It's Showtime HW, & It's Showtime MW
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

Inaugural Championship Match up: Badr Hari vs Peter Graham

Lineal Reem: It's Showtime

It's Showtime was an Amsterdam based organization founded in 1998. They were among the first to offer a wide variety of weight classes: 61 kg; 65 kg; 70 kg; 73 kg; 77 kg; 85 kg; 95 kg; +95kg

It's Showtime Heavyweight Title
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
May 2009	Badr Hari	3
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with It's Showtime HW, K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04-10, K-1 HW & SHW, IKF
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0

Inaugural Championship Match up: Badr Hari vs Semmy Schilt

It's Showtime MW Title (85 kg)
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
Aug 2009	Melvin Manhoef	0
Sept 2009	Remy Bonjasky	1
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with It's Showtime HW, K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04-10, K-1 HW & SHW, IKF
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0

Inaugural Championship Match up: Melvin Manhoef vs Denes Racz

Lineal Reem: International Rules

International or Free Style Rules is just one of many rule sets sanctioned by the alphabet soup governing bodies of the kickboxing world. Organizations like ISKA, WAKO, WIPU, and IKF sanction all types of martial arts competitions and tournaments under many different rule sets. And, they also have also crowned their own champions over the years.

The common rule sets include:

• Full Contact (American Kickboxing) - Kicks above the waist, no knees or elbows, no sweeps
• Muay Thai - Leg kicks, knees, and elbow allowed, sweeps and clinch work
• Point Fighting - Semi-Contact
• Sanshou - Throws above the waist
• International (Free Style) - Leg kicks, but no knees or elbow
• Shoot boxing - no elbows, standing submissions and knees allowed
• Oriental - K-1 rules, limited clinch, knees, low kicks, no elbows

Clearly, many of these rule sets constitute completely different sports than what we witness as fans of K-1 and Glory. However, many of the best fighters in the world cross over between rule sets frequently. For this reason, we choose to recognize all fights on a kick boxer's record, regardless of rule set, when tracing our lineages. And, like the International Rules title below and the Shoot boxing titles from our 70 kg post, we do trace a few unique rule set titles where appropriate.

IKF Heavyweight Title (International Rules)
Month/Yr	Champion	Defenses	Unification Notes
May 1999	Rick Roufus	0
March 2000	Cyrille Diabaté	2
Dec 2003	Petar Majstorović	0
Dec 2003	Alexander Ustinov	6
May 2004	Lloyd van Dams	3
Dec 2005	Petar Majstorović	2
Sept 2007	Magomed Magomedov	5
June 2007	Björn Bregy	0
June 2007	Paul Slowinski	1
Sept 2007	Semmy Schilt	5	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 02, 04-07, K-1 HW & SHW, It's Showtime MW & HW
Sept 2008	Peter Aerts	0
Dec 2008	Badr Hari	1
Dec 2008	Remy Bonjasky	3	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2008
Dec 2009	Semmy Schilt	4	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2009
Dec 2010	Peter Aerts	4
Dec 2010	Alistair Overeem	0	Unifies with K-1 Grand Prix 2010

Inaugural Championship Match up: Rick Roufus vs Stan Longinidis

Part II Teaser!

Next year, ahead of Glory 19, we will round out the Heavyweight Kickboxing Lineal title picture by detailing the unification implications of Verhoeven vs Zimmerman!

Plus...

• Who owns the rest of the K-1 titles?
• Who is the current Heavyweight Lineal Kickboxing King?
• Can any Heavyweight top Masato's All-time 70 kg mark of 22 lineal titles?
• Which K-1 legend once held the inaugural K-1 World Grand Prix lineal title for 15 defenses over 2 years?
• Which "Out-Of-Retirement" Heavyweight match up could result in the unification of 27 lineal titles?

We'll answer all of these questions and more! See you next year lineal title fans. We look forward to your feedback in the comments section.