Francis Ngannou grabbed the UFC heavyweight title when he knocked out Stipe Miocic and later defended this throne. He then vacated his title but took the lineage with him. Wrapped up in the UFC heavyweight title are several other MMA lineal titles making it one of the most prestigious crowns in combat sports history.
On Oct. 19 in the PFL, Ngannou will face the Brazilian knockout striker Renan Ferreira who brings in a mix of MMA lineage as well, but we will get to that.
Francis Ngannou – Lineal UFC Champion
The UFC heavyweight title, currently held by Ngannou represents a convergence of several prestigious MMA lineal titles. Let’s map out the key lineages:
UFC 1
Royce Gracie won the UFC 1 title and would hold onto this crown until his loss to Kazushi Sakuraba on May 1, 2000. Later that same evening, Sakuraba would lose it to Igor Vovchanchyn, who would then lose it to Mark Coleman.
UFC Heavyweight Championship
The first UFC heavyweight championship was won by Mark Coleman at UFC 12 when he defeated Dan Severn and this combined the UFC superfight title into the lineage. Coleman would later lose it to Maurice Smith via head kick, who then lost the title to Randy Couture, who then later lost the title to Enson Inoue by way of armbar.
The title then goes to Mark Kerr, then Kazuyuki Fujita, then to Mark Coleman. So now there are two areas of thought. Number 1, some say that the lineal title cannot be passed by way of corner stoppage thus Fujita then hangs on to the title until his loss to Mirko Cro Cop. Number 2, it was passed to Mark Coleman who now holds the UFC 1 and UFC heavyweight title lineage. Regardless it ends up in the same place eventually.
PRIDE FC heavyweight title – Fedor Emelianenko
At this point, UFC 1 is held by Mark Coleman, and the UFC heavyweight title is either held by Coleman or Mirko Cro Cop. Ultimately, both would lose to the PRIDE FC heavyweight king Fedor Emelianenko who adds the PRIDE title into the mix.
Fedor Emelianenko would hold onto these titles and remain unbeaten for years, adding the WAMMA title into the fold, until his loss in Strikeforce to Fabricio Werdum. Werdum would then lose to Alistair Overeem.
Alistair Overeem with his win over Werdum now gives him the UFC 1, PRIDE FC, WAMMA, and UFC heavyweight title lineages in addition to the titles he was able to grab including the Strikeforce and Dream crowns.
Back to the UFC
‘The Dutch Demolition Man’ Overeem would then sign with the UFC and bring in all of the above lineages. ‘Bigfoot’ Antônio Silva would then hold all of them until losing to UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
Now, Cain Velasquez holds the WAMMA, UFC 1, PRIDE FC, Strikeforce, Dream, and UFC heavyweight title lineages to his name but most importantly they are all mixed into the actual UFC heavyweight title once again.
It then goes back to Fabrício Werdum, then to Stipe Miocic, Daniel Cormier, and then Miocic again. Until it is captured by its current holder Francis Ngannou.
Other titles in MMA have been added into the UFC heavyweight title such as the IFL heavyweight crown which was held by Roy Nelson. Plus, the EliteXC heavyweight title was held by ‘Bigfoot’ Antônio Silva.
Which is to say, Francis Ngannou now currently holds the lineal titles for UFC 1, PRIDE FC heavyweight title, WAMMA, IFL, EliteXC, Strikeforce, Dream, and the UFC heavyweight championship.
Ryan Bader held the Bellator heavyweight championship, and the lineal title was later passed to Renan Ferreira due to a knockout loss. This means, the PFL champion Renan Ferreira also holds the Bellator lineal title.
When Francis Ngannou fights Renan Ferreira on Oct. 19 we will add the PFL tournament title and Bellator heavyweight title into the lineage. The winner of the match will carry nearly all of the major titles in MMA history.
A quick note on other sports: Lineage changes typically don’t happen through other sports. Ngannou did not lose his lineal title to Tyson Fury as they fought under boxing rules. Alistair Overeem’s K-1 title did not get passed into MMA as it was won under kickboxing rules.