Hello there lineal title fans! Tonight Jones will put 19 titles on the line in an attempt to add the lineal KSW Light Heavyweight strap to his collection. That title, of course, is currently held by the challenger, Glover Teixeira. The winner will secure 20 of 33 titles in the LHW division, good for 61% unification and 4th place on the lineal leaderboard (tied with Chris Weidman). Let's take a closer look at what's at stake and how the titles arrived at Bones and Glover.

Here is a quick reminder of my criteria:

1. In an effort to maintain the belts within the Light Heavyweight division, only bouts contested at the 205 lb limit will be considered

2. All titles trace back to the inaugural belt issued by the respective promotion

3. If a fighter retires with the belt or changes weight classes, a 2nd iteration of the title can be considered. These instances are noted below

Lineal Titles on the Line:

1. UFC

Title Lineage: Tito Ortiz => Randy Couture => Vitor Belfort => Randy Couture => Chuck Liddell => Rampage Jackson => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

2. Pancrase

Title Lineage: Sanae Kikuta => Yuki Kondo => Wanderlei Silva => Ricardo Arona => Shogun Rua => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

3. King of the Cage

Title Lineage: Vernon White => Jeremy Horn => Chuck Liddell => Rampage Jackson => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

4. MFC

Title Lineage: Victor Valimaki => David Heath => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

5. Gladiator Challenge

Title Lineage: Chael Sonnen => Jeremy Horn => Chuck Liddell => Rampage Jackson => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

6. Cage Warrior

Title Lineage: Michael Bisping => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

7. IFC (Original Tournament Belt)

Title Lineage: Babalu Sobral => Chuck Liddell => Rampage Jackson => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

8. Pride FC

Title Lineage: Wanderlei Silva => Ricardo Arona => Shogun Rua => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

9. WEC

Title Lineage: Jason Lambert => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

10. IFL

Title Lineage: Vladimir Matyushenko => Little Nog => Ryan Bader => Jon Jones

11. Cage Rage

Title Lineage: Mark Epstein => Micheal Bisping => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

12. TKO

Title Lineage: Jeremy Horn => Babalu Sobral => Chuck Liddell => Rampage Jackson => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

13. WFA

Title Lineage: Marvin Eastman => Vitor Belfort => Rand Couture => Chuck Liddell => Rampage Jackson => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

14. Rings

Title Lineage: Dan Henderson => Wanderlei Silva => Ricardo Arona => Shogun Rua => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

15. Ironheart Crown

Title Lineage: Jim Theobald => Little Nog => Vladimir Matyushenko => Little Nog => Ryan Bader => Jon Jones

16. World Vale Tudo

Title Lineage: Amar Suloev => Chuck Liddell => Randy Couture => Vitor Belfort => Randy Couture => Chuck Liddell => Rampage Jackson => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

17. Cage Fighting Championship

Title Lineage: James Te Huna => Alexander Gustafsson => Jon Jones

18. IVC

Title Lineage: Wanderlei Silva => Tito Ortiz => Randy Couture => Vitor Belfort => Randy Couture => Chuck Liddell => Rampage Jackson => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

19. Spirit MC

Title Lineage: Eun Soo Lee => Yoshihiro Nakao => Kaz Nakamura => Shogun Rua => Forrest Griffin => Rashad Evans => Lyoto Machida => Shogun Rua => Jon Jones

20. KSW

Title Lineage: Rameau Sokoudjou => Ryan Jimmo => Jame Te Huna => Glover Teixeira

Notes:

• UFC: Technically the 2nd iteration of the belt as Frank Shamrock moved to the MW division without ever losing the title
• Pancrase: 2nd iteration of the belt. 1st was never really contested at Light Heavyweight. Ignores a number of Heavyweight losses along the way in order to maintain the belt in the weight class
• KOTC: Ignores loss by inaugural champ Vernon White at Heavyweight to Allan Goes
• Gladiator Challenge: 2nd iteration of the belt. 1st champ Buck Greer never really competed at 205 lbs and belt dead ends at lower weight class. Lineage also ignores a number of Middleweight losses to maintain weight class
• WEC: 2nd iteration of the belt. Frank Shamrock vacated the original title and never competed at LHW again
• TKO: Traces back to the UCC before the name change to TKO
• Ironheart Crown: 2nd iteration of the belt. The 1st was never contested at 205 lbs
• World Vale Tudo: 2nd iteration of the belt. The 1st was never contested at 205 lbs
• Spirit MC: Title traces back to the 1st "Heavyweight" title won in a tournament at Spirit MC 1 by Eun Soo Lee in 2003. Although the belt is referred to as HW, it has been contested exclusively by fighters in the 205 lb division
• KSW: 2nd iteration of the belt. 1st champion Mamed Khalidov gave up the belt when he moved to MW

Lineal Title Leaderboard:

Those of you who follow these posts will notice something a little different about the leaderboard this time around. I've added a new Unification percentage in the far right column called "The Big 10." This is in response to some feedback that I have received in the comment section regarding the importance of certain titles compared to others. I agree that it is misleading to equate the UFC and Pride FC titles with Ironheart Crown and Shark Fight. For this reason, I have singled out what I'm calling "The Big 10" promotions and calculated the % of Unification for each fighter on the board.

Let the debate begin on the 10 promotions I've chosen to highlight :) UFC, Bellator MMA, Pancrase, Shooto, Deep, Pride FC, Strikeforce, WEC, Dream, EliteXC. If I had 11 spots, I would have included IFL.

It should also be noted that for some weight classes, it makes sense to include other promotions. For instance, the 125 lb weight class includes Tachi Palace in the "Big 10," because that was the home of the best Flyweights in the world before the UFC picked up the weight class. Lastly, not every promotion in the Big Ten issued belts at every single weight class. For instance, Pride never had a 170 lb title. In those cases, the percentages might look funny, but it's just because I am dividing by something other then 10.