Hello there lineal title fans! This Saturday, the UFC offers up some great lineal title action with a combined 30 titles on the line, culminating in the main event where UFC Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis puts 27 lineal titles on the line. If Gilbert Melendez is successful in wrestling the gold from Pettis, he'll own 27 of 60 active titles in the weight class, good for 45% unification and 3rd place on the overall leaderboard. Most impressively, Gil would have 48 lineal titles for his career across 2 weight classes. This would pass Anderson Silva (21) on the all-time list of fighters who have held titles in more than one weight class. It would also put him 2nd on the Career Lineal Title List behind only Cain Velasquez (49).

For those who may be new to this series, I track 425 lineal titles across 85 promotions (past and present). 151 fighters can currently claim the title of "Lineal Champion." What that means is that they "beat the guy who beat the guy" (or girl). Regardless of what the promoter decides to do with their organizational title (strip the champ, go out of business etc.), the lineal belt lives on and can only change hands in the cage/ring.

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 Anthony Pettis:

1. Ironheart Crown

Lineage: Phil Johns (1999) → Jens Pulver → Din Thomas → BJ Penn → Jens Pulver → Duane Ludwig → Tyson Griffin → Frankie Edgar → Gray Maynard → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

2. UFC

Lineage: Jens Pulver (2001) → Duane Ludwig → Tyson Griffin → Frankie Edgar → Gray Maynard → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

3. Gladiator Challenge

Lineage: Juliano Prado (2001) → David Gardner → Javier Vazquez → Alberto Crane → Roger Huerta → Kenny Florian → BJ Penn → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

4. Ring of Fire

Lineage: Leonard Garcia (2001) → Roger Huerta → Kenny Florian → BJ Penn → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: Traces back to LW tournament at ROF 2 won by Leonard Garcia. That same night, a separate LW champion was crowned, Eric Payne, but his title dead ends

5. TKO

Lineage - Duane Ludwig (2003) → Tyson Griffin → Frankie Edgar → Gray Maynard → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: 2nd iteration, Sean Pierson moved up to WW

6. Rumble on the Rock

Lineage: BJ Penn (2003) → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

7. WEC

Lineage: Gilbert Melendez (2004) → Mitsuhiro Ishida → Caol Uno → Shinya Aoki → Joachim Hansen → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

8. SportFight

Lineage: Dennis Davis (2004) → Jake Short → Roger Huerta → Kenny Florian → BJ Penn → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

9. Reality Fighting

Lineage: Kurt Pellegrino (2004) → Satoru Kitaoka → Katsuya Inoue → Akira Kikuchi → Shinya Aoki → Joachim Hansen → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

10. Shooto Americas

Lineage: JZ Cavalcante (2005) → Shinya Aoki → Joachim Hansen → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: Earliest iterations of Shooto Americas titles were awarded at various other promotions' events. This one traces back to a 2005 HookNShoot event where JZ Cavalcante won the inaugural title.

11. Extreme Challenge

Lineage: Rich Clementi (2005) → Caol Uno → JZ Cavalcante → Shinya Aoki → Joachim Hansen → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: Traces back to Rich Clementi from 2005. Earlier iterations of the belt held by Shonie Carter and Ben Earwood were contested closer to what we would today call Welterweight

12. IFC

Lineage: Roger Huerta (2005) → Kenny Florian → BJ Penn → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

13. Icon Sport

Lineage: Kultar Gill (2005) → Daisuke Sugie → Josh Thomson → Clay Guida → Gilbert Melendez → Mitsuhiro Ishida → Caol Uno → Shinya Aoki → Joachim Hansen → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: Traces back to original SuperBrawl LW title (later changed their name to Icon Sport)

14. Strikeforce

Lineage: Clay Guida (2006) → Gilbert Melendez → Josh Thomson → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: Strikeforce also issued a US version of the title won by Josh Thomson in 2006. This version of the belt was unified with the World title by Josh Thomson in 2008 so I just track it as a single title

15. Cage Fury Fighting Championship

Lineage: Al Buck (2006) → Jim Miller → Gray Maynard → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

16. EliteXC

Lineage: KJ Noons (2007) → Jorge Masvidal → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

17. IFL

Lineage: Ryan Schultz (2007) → Mizuto Hirota → Kazunori Yokota → Satoru Kitaoka → Mizuto Hirota → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

18. K-1 Hero's

Lineage: JZ Cavalcante (2007) → Shinya Aoki → Joachim Hansen → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: 2nd iteration, 1st dead ends at Kid Yamamoto who moved down in weight

19. Spirit MC

Lineage: Kwang Hee Lee (2007) → Eiji Mitsuoka → Satoru Kitaoka → Mizuto Hirota → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: Spirit refers to this as a WW title, but bouts are contested at 154 lbs

20. National Association of Boxing Commissions (NABC)

Lineage: Deividas Taurosevicius (2007) → Ryan Schultz → Mizuto Hirota → Kazunori Yokota → Satoru Kitaoka → Mizuto Hirota → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: National Association of Boxing Commissions used to crown MMA champions at various Regional Promotions: Cage Fury Fighting and Legends of Fighting

21. PFC

Lineage: Shad Smith (2007) → Nam Phan → Billy Evangelista → Jorge Masvidal → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

22. Dream

Lineage: Joachim Hansen (2008) → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

23. WAMMA

Lineage: Shinya Aoki (2008) → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

24. Ring of Combat

Lineage: Jim Miller (2008) → Gray Maynard → Frankie Edgar → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

25. Cage Force

Lineage: Mizuto Hirota (2008) → Kazunori Yokota → Satoru Kitaoka → Mizuto Hirota → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

• Note: Traces back to 2nd iteration, 1st dead ends at different weight class

26. WVR - Sengoku

Lineage: Satoru Kitaoka (2009) → Mizuto Hirota → Shinya Aoki → Gilbert Melendez → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

27. Tachi Palace

Lineage: Gabe Ruediger (2010) → Joe Lauzon → George Sotiropoulos → Dennis Siver → Donald Cerrone → Nate Diaz → Benson Henderson → Anthony Pettis

Lightweight Lineal Pie:

Below, you will notice that Donald Cerone also holds an impressive chunk of the pie with 11 active lineal titles in the division. This includes the two oldest active titles in IVC and Shooto, which were both established in 1999.

Lineal History Lesson (Lightweight Edition):

Big Ten Titles of the Lightweight Division:

Lineal Leaderboard: