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A Title without a Belt The long, strange journey of the linear titles. By: Joe Maurits September 19, 2011 One phrase you hear often in MMA circles is that "To be the best, you have to beat the best." For many of us fight fans, some of our favorite fights happen when we get to see two of the best of a division square off. When our champions become too dominant, we begin to call for "Superfights" between the best of two divisions like Anderson Silva vs Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva vs Jon "Bones" Jones. With all these fantasy fights and title bouts, there is one topic that has always intrigued me: the linear championship title and who owns it at any given time. In trying to determine a linear champion the first thing we have to do is define what the heck a "linear title" is exactly. I admit, some of the stuff presented in this series of articles may be a bit controversial, but there's never any fun if it's always cut and dry. The idea behind a linear title is this: Imagine the first inception of a MMA title; it had to happen at one point. At first nothing, and then (BANG) a title was created. Now, we need to distinguish between a title and a belt. A belt is a gilded strap of leather a company uses to distinguish their champion. A title is different. It is, as the name suggests, a title. Or, a label, if you will. So now it gets interesting. First off, you need to cite where a title began. Next, you have the difficult task of finding where the title then went. Here are some things you need to take into consideration: 1) Companies are not a factor. Whether UFC, PRIDE, etc. If it's MMA that's all that matters. 2) You need to determine the parameters for judging when the title changes hands. For example, in one fight in our examination of the Heavyweight Title, we're going to encounter a fight where no punches were thrown. The only thing that was thrown in the fight was a towel, right after the opening bell. However, because of that, we have a clear cut winner and loser. And that's the standard we'll be working from. Some choose to think differently, but it's my list (not to mention, a lot cleaner this way). 3) The title follows the champion, not the organization. You'll see this happen a few times, but it does bring up an interesting scenario: what if a Linear title holder retires without being defeated? Interesting scenario and I'll cover that if it ever happens. Until then, enjoy this trek through the history of the linear title holders throughout MMA. Heavyweight Linear Championship History  The first World Heavyweight Champion was awarded way back in 1997. On February 7th at UFC 12, Mark Coleman defeated Dan Severn by Submission (Side Choke). This is where it all begins. This is the first point this title was awarded.
 At UFC 14 on July 27th 1997 Maurice Smith defeats Mark Coleman by Unanimous Decision, capturing the title.
 By Majority Decision at UFC Japan 1 on Decemer 21st 1997 Randy "The Natural" Couture defeats Maurice Smith.
Because of a monetary dispute with the UFC, Couture departs the company. Consequently he was stripped of his UFC title, but as mentioned previously, he's the linear champion, so that title stays with him as he leaves for Vale Tudo Japan. His first fight is against Enson Inoue.  On October 28th 1998 at Vale Tudo Japan, Randy Couture submits via Armbar to Enson Inoue, the new linear title holder.
 Inoue on January 30th 2000 loses to Mark Kerr at Pride Grand Prix 2000 via Unanimous Decision.
 In the final round of the Pride Grand Prix 2000 on May 1st, 2000, Kerr loses an Unanimous Decision to Kazuyuki Fujita, passing the title along to him.
 Here's where it gets interesting. Fujita beat Kerr, but injured his knee in the process by slamming it into Kerr's head too many times. This was the semi-finals of the Grand Prix, so Fujita's next fight is actually later on that same day, May 1st 2000. However, Fujita doesn't get paid unless he makes it to the fight. So, he enters the ring as the Linear Champ. His opponent, none other than former Linear Champ, Mark Coleman. Fujita waits for the bell to ring and throws in the towel immediately upon the start of the fight, granting a TKO victory to Coleman (First two time Linear title holder).
DISCLAIMER: Some take issue with this transference because while Coleman is granted the win, he didn't defeat the Linear title holder via KO, TKO, Submission or Decision but by corner stoppage due to injury. I think the moment Fujita stepped into the ring, the match was on and therefore, he passed the title on to Coleman. Ultimately it doesn't matter much because the title will end up at the same location eventually, whether this counts or not. I'll show you why in a few entries.  On September 24, 2001 Coleman fights in Pride 16 against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. At 6:10 of the first round he submits to Nogueira's triangle armbar. The title is then passed on to Nogueira.
 A year and a half later, Nogueira faces Fedor Emelianenko at Pride 25 on March 16th, 2003. After an epic battle Nogueira loses to Fedor via Unanimous Decision, passing the linear title on to Fedor.
Now, back to my disclaimer from above. If you don't consider Fujita's forfeit to Coleman we then would go to Fujita's next loss, which would happen against Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic. CroCop would then lose to Nogueira, who would lose to, you guessed it... "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko would hold the linear title for over 7 years. Until...  June 26th 2010, in San Jose California. Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum. In a moment that shocked the MMA world, Fabricio Werdum gets Emelianenko to submit to a combined triangle/armbar, and becomes the Linear title holder.
 In 2011, Strikeforce assembles their crop of Heavyweights for a Grand Prix of their own. In the quarterfinal, on June 18, 2011, Fabricio Werdum loses a Unanimous Decision against new Linear Champ Alistair Overeem.
So there you have it, the current Linear Title Holder is Alistair Overeem. This is very interesting because now that Overeem is signed with the UFC, his next fight and defense of the Linear Title occurs on December 30th 2011 against Brock Lesnar. Thereupon, it is believed whoever wins this fight, whether Lesnar or Overeem, would then be next in line to face the UFC Heavyweight Champ, whether at that time it would either be Cain Velasquez or Junior Dos Santos; effectively unifying the UFC Heavyweight Championship with the Linear Title for the foreseeable future. Hope you've enjoyed this fun and confusing look at the mythical Linear Title. If you've enjoyed it, I've got good news for you: this was just the Heavyweight Title. We've got at least 4 more to look at in the coming days; one of which is about to be defended. Check on back here at MMA Quick Hits for our next installment, the Light Heavyweight Linear Title. Feel free to leave comments below or contact us via e-mail at info@mmaquickhits.com MMA Quick Hits is loading comments...
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