I’ve always found the idea of lineal titles to be amusing. The premise is pretty simple – sometimes, promotions close down and people leave as champions. Instead of just letting that title die with the promotion, it’s kept alive in the eyes of goofy fans like me who keep track of wins and losses in the aftermath.
For example, let’s use Strikeforce. Luke Rockhold was their last middleweight champion. He got beat by Vitor Belfort in his UFC debut. Belfort lost to Chris Weidman. Weidman lost to – guess who? Luke Rockhold! But then Michael Bisping beat him. So Bisping is the lineal Strikeforce middleweight champion.
Seems pretty simple right? Well, it can get complicated sometimes. Bloody Elbow is lucky enough to have a lineal guy, mjanacek, who has written a ton of awesome fanposts documenting lineal titles in MMA and kickboxing. Check out a flyweight one here and a particularly great one about UFC 205 here.
A couple of years ago, I decided to get in on the act by doing a post about who the lineal Ultimate Fighters were. There have been so many seasons and so much had gone on that it turned out to be a really fun research project and post. Rafael dos Anjos was a TUF lineal champ long before he won the lightweight title. Even Ryan LaFlare held two at the time.
So, I decided to do it again. And after writing it all out, it’s amazing how much has changed…and how much has stayed the same.
The emergence of Conor McGregor has turned a bunch of these upside down, with him holding a whopping seven of them. But Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre still have a bunch, with five and four respectively. Michael Bisping has three, and in a really odd twist, he’s actually the lineal champ of TUF 3 – but not at the weight class he won the show at.
Even this weekend’s card in Brazil, which doesn’t look that crazy on paper, has FIVE lineal TUF championships on the line. Joe Soto is defending two! JOE SOTO!
Anyway, without further ado, here’s a look at every iteration of TUF, and who the current lineal champ is. Enjoy.
Season 1
Winner: Diego Sanchez
Diego Sanchez – Josh Koscheck (UFC 69) – Georges St-Pierre (UFC 74)
Winner – Forrest Griffin
Forrest Griffin – Tito Ortiz (UFC 59) – Chuck Liddell (UFC 66) – Quinton Jackson (UFC 71) – Forrest Griffin (UFC 86) – Rashad Evans (UFC 92) – Lyoto Machida (UFC 98) – Mauricio Rua (UFC 113) – Jon Jones (UFC 128)
Season 2
Winner: Joe Stevenson
Joe Stevenson – Josh Neer (UFN 4) – Josh Burkman (UFC 61) – Karo Parisyan (UFC 71) – Thiago Alves (UFN 13) – Georges St-Pierre (UFC 100)
Winner: Rashad Evans
Rashad Evans – Lyoto Machida (UFC 98) – Mauricio Rua (UFC 113) – Jon Jones (UFC 128)
Season 3
Winner: Michael Bisping
Michael Bisping – Rashad Evans (UFC 78) – Lyoto Machida (UFC 98) – Mauricio Rua (UFC 113) – Jon Jones (UFC 128)
Winner: Kendall Grove
Kendall Grove – Patrick Cote – (UFC 74) – Anderson Silva – (UFC 90) – Chris Weidman (UFC 162) – Luke Rockhold (UFC 194) – Michael Bisping (UFC 199)
Season 4
Winner: Matt Serra
Matt Serra – Georges St-Pierre (UFC 83)
Winner: Travis Lutter
Travis Lutter – Anderson Silva (UFC 67) – Chris Weidman (UFC 162) – Luke Rockhold (UFC 194) – Michael Bisping (UFC 199)
Season 5
Winner: Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz – Clay Guida (UFC 94) – Diego Sanchez (TUF 9 Finale) – B.J. Penn (UFC 107) – Frankie Edgar – (UFC 112) – Ben Henderson (UFC 144) – Anthony Pettis (UFC 164) – Rafael dos Anjos (UFC 185) – Eddie Alvarez (FN 90) – Conor McGregor (UFC 205)
Season 6
Winner: Mac Danzig
Mac Danzig – Clay Guida (UFN 15) – Diego Sanchez (TUF 9 Finale) – B.J. Penn (UFC 107) – Frankie Edgar – (UFC 112) – Ben Henderson (UFC 144) – Anthony Pettis (UFC 164 – Rafael dos Anjos (UFC 185) – Eddie Alvarez (FN 90) – Conor McGregor (UFC 205)
Season 7
Winner: Amir Sadollah
Amir Sadollah – Johny Hendricks (UFC 101) – Rick Story (UFC 117) – Charlie Brenneman (UFC on Versus 4) – Anthony Johnson (UFC on Versus 6) – Vitor Belfort (UFC 142) – Jon Jones (UFC 152)
Season 8
Winner: Efrain Escudero
Efrain Escudero – Evan Dunham (UFN 20) – Sean Sherk (UFC 119) – retired
Winner: Ryan Bader
Ryan Bader – Jon Jones (UFC 126)
Season 9
Winner: Ross Pearson
Ross Pearson – Cole Miller – UFN 22) – Matt Wiman (FFTT 2) – Dennis Siver (UFC 132) – Donald Cerrone (UFC 137) – Nate Diaz (UFC 141) – Ben Henderson (UFC on Fox 5) – Anthony Pettis (UFC 164) – Rafael dos Anjos (UFC 185) – Eddie Alvarez (FN 90) – Conor McGregor (UFC 205)
Winner: James Wilks
James Wilks – Matt Brown (UFC 105) – Ricardo Almeida (UFC 111) – Matt Hughes (UFC 117) – B.J. Penn (UFC 123) – Nick Diaz (UFC 137) – Carlos Condit (UFC 143) – Georges St-Pierre (UFC 154)
Season 10
Winner: Roy Nelson
Roy Nelson – Junior dos Santos (UFC 117) – Cain Velasquez (UFC 155) – Fabricio Werdum (UFC 188) – Stipe Miocic (UFC 198)
Season 11
Winner: Court McGee
Court McGee – Costas Philippou (UFC on FX 2) – Francis Carmont (UFC 165) – Ronaldo Souza (UFN 36) – Yoel Romero (UFC 194)
Season 12
Winner: Jonathan Brookins
Jonathan Brookins – Erik Koch (UFN 25) – Ricardo Lamas (UFC on Fox 6) – Jose Aldo (UFC 169) – Conor McGregor (UFC 194) – Nate Diaz (UFC 196) – Conor McGregor (UFC 202)
Season 13
Winner: Tony Ferguson
Tony Ferguson – Michael Johnson (UFC on Fox 3) – Myles Jury (UFC 155) – Donald Cerrone (UFC 182) – Rafael dos Anjos (UFC on Fox 17) – Eddie Alvarez (FN 90) – Conor McGregor (UFC 205)
Season 14
Winner: Diego Brandao
Diego Brandao – Darren Elkins (UFC 146) – Chad Mendes (UFC on Fox 7) – Jose Aldo (UFC 179) – Conor McGregor (UFC 194) – Nate Diaz (UFC 196) – Conor McGregor (UFC 202)
Winner: John Dodson
John Dodson – Demetrious Johnson (UFC on Fox 6)
Season 15
Winner: Michael Chiesa
Michael Chiesa – Jorge Masvidal (UFC on Fox 8) – Rustam Khabilov (FFTT 3) – Ben Henderson (UFN 42) – Rafael dos Anjos (UFN 49) – Eddie Alvarez (FN 90) – Conor McGregor (UFC 205)
Season 16
Winner: Colton Smith
Colton Smith – Robert Whittaker (UFC 160) – Court McGee (UFN 27) – Ryan LaFlare (UFC on Fox 9) – Demian Maia (UFN 62)
Season 17
Winner: Kelvin Gastelum
Kelvin Gastelum – Tyron Woodley (UFC 183)
Season 18
Winner: Julianna Pena
Julianna Pena – Valentina Shevchenko (UFC on Fox 23)
Winner: Chris Holdsworth
Season 19
Winner: Eddie Gordon
Eddie Gordon – Josh Samman (UFC 181) – Tamdan McCrory (UFC on Fox 17) – Krzysztof Jotko (UFN 89)
Winner: Corey Anderson
Corey Anderson – Gian Villante (UFC on Fox 15) – Tom Lawlor (UFC on Fox 16) – Corey Anderson (UFC 196) – Shogun Rua (UFC 198)
Season 20
Winner: Carla Esparza
Carla Esparza – Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 185)
Season 21
Winner: Kamaru Usman (sort of)
Season 22
Winner: Ryan Hall
Season 23
Winner: Andrew Sanchez
Winner: Tatiana Suarez
Season 24
Winner: Tim Elliott
Tim Elliott – Demetrious Johnson (TUF 24 Finale)
TUF Brazil 1
Winner: Rony Jason
Rony Jason – Jeremy Stephens (UFC on Fox 10) – Cub Swanson (UFN 44) – Frankie Edgar (UFN 57) – Jose Aldo (UFC 200)
Winner: Cezar Ferreira
Cezar Ferreira – C.B. Dollaway (UFN 38) – Lyoto Machida (UFN 58) – Luke Rockhold (UFC on Fox 15) – Michael Bisping (UFC 199)
TUF Brazil 2
Winner: Leonardo Santos
TUF Brazil 3
Winner: Warlley Alves
Warlley Alves – Bryan Barberena (UFC 198) – Colby Covington (UFC on Fox 22)
Winner: Antonio Carlos Junior
Antonio Carlos Junior – Patrick Cummins (UFN 58) – Ovince Saint Preux (UFC on Fox 15) – Glover Teixeira (UFN 73) – Anthony Johnson (UFC 202)
TUF Brazil 4
Winner: Reginaldo Vieira
Reginaldo Vieira – Marco Beltran (UFN 90) – Joe Soto (TUF LA 3 Finale)
Winner: Glaico Franca
Glaico Franca – James Vick (UFC 197) – Beneil Dariush (UFC 199)
TUF Smashes
Winner: Robert Whittaker
Robert Whittaker – Court McGee (UFN 27) – Ryan LaFlare (UFC on Fox 9) – Demian Maia (UFN 62)
Winner: Norman Parke
Norman Parke – Gleison Tibau (UFN 59) – Tony Ferguson (UFC 184)
TUF China
Winner: Zhang Lipeng
Zhang Lipeng – Chris Wade (UFN 59) – Rustam Khabilov (UFN 87)
Winner: Ning Guangyou
Ning Guangyou – Marco Beltran (UFN 79) – Joe Soto (TUF LA 3 Finale)
TUF Nations
Winner: Chad Laprise
Chad Laprise – Francisco Trinaldo (UFN 74)
Winner: Elias Theodorou
Elias Theodorou – Thiago Santos (UFN 80) – Gegard Mousasi (UFC 200)
TUF Latin America
Winner: Alejandro Perez
Alejandro Perez – Patrick Williams (UFC 188)
Winner: Yair Rodriguez
TUF Latin America 2
Winner: Enrique Barzola
Enrique Barzola – Kyle Bochniak (UFC on Fox 21)
Winner: Erick Montano
Erick Montano – Randy Brown (UFN 94) – Belal Muhammad (UFC 208)
TUF Latin America 3
Winner: Martin Bravo
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