🏆 The Lineal Heavyweight BeltWHO HOLDS IT NOW🇨🇲Francis Ngannou"The Predator"HOLDING SINCE MAR 27, 202117 HAND-OFFS · 15 HOLDERS · 12 PROMOTIONS · SINCE 1997
The belt is not where you think.
THE LINEAL BELT: THE REF, the record book of real MMA, by Glass Jaw
The man who beat the man. One belt per division. It only moves in the cage.
BELTS BY PROMOTION
Every promotion keeps its own belt. The Ref keeps them all.
🇺🇸UFCUFC Heavyweight ChampionshipCHAMPION🇫🇷Ciryl GaneREIGNING SINCE SEP 19, 2026SEE EVERY REIGN ▶🇯🇵PRIDEPride Heavyweight ChampionshipBELT RETIRED OCT 4, 2007LAST CHAMPION: Fedor EmelianenkoBought by the UFC on March 27, 2007.SEE EVERY REIGN ▶🇺🇸STRIKEFORCEStrikeforce Heavyweight ChampionshipBELT RETIRED JAN 12, 2013LAST CHAMPION: Alistair OvereemBought by the UFC on March 12, 2011.SEE EVERY REIGN ▶🇺🇸BELLATORBellator Heavyweight World ChampionshipBELT RETIRED MAR 26, 2025LAST CHAMPION: Ryan BaderBought by the PFL on November 20, 2023.SEE EVERY REIGN ▶🇺🇸PFLPFL Heavyweight ChampionshipCHAMPION🇷🇺Vadim NemkovREIGNING SINCE DEC 13, 2025SEE EVERY REIGN ▶🇸🇬ONEONE Heavyweight World ChampionshipBELT VACANTSINCE MAY 15, 2026SEE EVERY REIGN ▶🇺🇸ELITEXCEliteXC Heavyweight ChampionshipBELT RETIRED OCT 20, 2008LAST CHAMPION: Antonio SilvaClosed on October 20, 2008.SEE EVERY REIGN ▶
HOW THE REF COUNTS
- 1
WHERE IT STARTS
The line starts where the biggest promotion first put weight on a belt: UFC 12, February 7, 1997. Mark Coleman beat Dan Severn for the first UFC Heavyweight Championship. Before that night, UFC belts had no weight.
- 2
HOW IT MOVES
The belt changes hands one way: the holder loses a professional MMA bout. Any promotion. Any country. Any weight. Title on the line or not.
- 3
WHAT DOES NOT MOVE IT
Draws and no contests do not move it. A result overturned to a no contest never moved it. Boxing, kickboxing and exhibitions do not count.
- 4
WHAT DOES NOT TAKE IT
The holder keeps it when a promotion strips him, when he leaves for another promotion, and when he retires. Belts are won in the cage.
- 5
THE SHELF
If the holder is gone three full years without a professional MMA bout, the belt goes on the shelf. The line restarts with the next undisputed heavyweight title fight in the biggest promotion. (Not needed yet for heavyweight; the rule exists so the line can never die.)
CHASE A BELT OF YOUR OWN.
Glass Jaw is a free online MMA career sim. Every belt in it has a lineage too.