A story about Francis Ngannou: the current lineal and UFC HW champion
UFC creates the lineal HW championship and loses it to Randy Couture
The story of the lineal HW champion in MMA begins at UFC 12 on 7 February 1997, when Mark Coleman defeated Dan Severn to become the first recognized UFC heavyweight champion. Mark "the Hammer" Coleman lost the title to Maurice Smith at UFC 14 on 27 July 1997, who in turn lost the title to Randy Couture at UFC Japan on 21 December 1997. Randy "the Natural" Couture then got into some contract disputes with the UFC and left, vacating the UFC HW title, but taking the lineal world championship with him.
The unification of the lineal HW championship and the PRIDE HW championship
Randy Couture went to fight in Japan and lost in his next fight against Enson Inoue at "Vale Tudo Japan 1998" on 25 October 1998. Enson Inoue moved together with his lineal HW championship to PRIDE, where he eventually lost it to Mark Kerr in the first round of the PRIDE 2000 Grand Prix on 30 January 2000. Thus the PRIDE era began. Mark Kerr, as a participant in the 3 fights in one night PRIDE 2000 Grand Prix finale that took place on 1 May 2000, put it all on the line. However, he lost the lineal HW championship in the quarterfinals to Kazuyuki Fujita, who then lost to Mark Coleman in the semi-finals. Mark Coleman, now the first two-time lineal HW champion, would go on to win the PRIDE 2000 Grand Prix that night. Mark Coleman would eventually lose to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at PRIDE 16 in September 2001. After beating Coleman, Nogueira would fight for and win the newly established PRIDE HW belt in his next fight against Heath Herring and thereby unifying the the lineal HW championship and the PRIDE HW championship.
The long reign of the lineal HW championship by 2 PRIDE heavyweights
Nogueira successfully defended the lineal HW championship a record six times, including wins over (the before mentioned) Heath Herring, former champion Inoue, Bob Sapp, kickboxing legend Sammy Schilt, and Dan Henderson, before losing to Fedor Emelianenko at PRIDE 25 on 16 March 2003. Fedor then had 18 successful lineal HW championship title defenses (and one no-contest against Nogueira) in three different organizations: PRIDE, Affliction and Strikeforce. During his tenures at PRIDE and Affliction, Fedor fought and defeated a who’s who of elite heavyweights (and to be fair, an assortment of lesser opponents as well), including Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Coleman (twice), Fujita, Kevin Randleman, Mirko Cro Cop, Tim Sylvia, and Andrei Arlovski, most of which he dispatched via KO or submission in devastating fashion. After PRIDE folded and subsequently Affiliction folded as well, Fedor moved to Strikeforce and defended the lineal championship one more time against Brett Rogers.
Bringing the lineal HW championship back to the UFC by "The Reem"
In his second Strikeforce fight, Fedor was set to face Fabricio Werdum. On June 26, 2010, the MMA world was caught by surprise (much like Fedor), when Fabricio Werdum managed to catch Fedor in a tight triangle and tapped him out in just over one minute. Considered one of the biggest upsets in MMA history, Fabricio Werdum defeated the Last Emperor and won the lineal heavyweight title in the process. Fabricio Werdum, together with the lineal HW championship, then entered the Strikeforce HW Grand Prix. He lost in the quarterfinals to Alistair Overeem at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum on 18 June 2011. Alistair Overeem subsequently left Strikeforce and the Strikeforce HW Grand Prix for the UFC, bringing the lineal HW Championship back to the organization that created the title.
Reuniting the lineal HW championship with UFC HW championship
In his first fight, "The Reem" defended the lineal HW championship against Brock Lesnar. Overeem was then set to unify the lineal HW championship with the UFC HW championship against Junior dos Santos in 2012, but a failed drug test would put the lineal HW champ on the sidelines. Overeem came back to fight Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and lost the lineal HW championship in spectacular fashion, by a vicious KO at UFC 156 on 2 February 2013. In the meantime, Cain Velasquez had captured the UFC HW championship and the title reunification fight between Antonio Silva and Cain Velasquez was set. At UFC 160 on 25 May 2013, Cain Velasquez stops a bloodied up Bigfoot Silva to defend the UFC HW championship and unify it with the lineal HW championship. A new era was born, the undisputed lineal and UFC HW champion, with Cain Velasquez as the first holder of this title since Randy Couture.
The crowning of Francis: undisputed lineal and UFC HW champion
Cain Velasquez defended the title against Junior dos Santos before losing to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 188 on 13 June 2015. The reign of Fabricio Werdum, the second two-time lineal HW champion in history, was short-lived as he lost the championship in his next fight to Stipe Miocic at UFC 198 on 14 May 2016. Stipe went on to defend his title for 3 times before losing to Daniel Cormier at UFC 226 on 7 July 2018. Cormier defended his title once against Derrick Lewis before losing it back to Stipe Miocic at UFC 241 on 17 August 2019. Stipe, now the third two-time lineal HW champion in history, defended the title in his next match and won his trilogy fight against DC. But the title was to change hands soon once more. The rising #1 contender, Francis Ngannou, faced Stipe Miocic for the second time in his career at UFC 260 on 27 March 2021. In this fight, Francis knocks out Stipe to win the undisputed lineal and UFC HW championship. A new king is crowned for the most important title in combat sports: the lineal MMA HW championship.
Collection of alternatives presented by pissed off Sherdoggers (just kidding, love you guys):
1. Fujita didn't really "lose" the title to Coleman in 2000 PRIDE GP, because he didn't fight the match. He just had his corner throw in the towel right away due to injury.
Coleman -> Smith -> Couture -> Inoue -> Kerr -> Fujita -> Cro Cop -> Nogueira -> Fedor -> Werdum -> Overeem -> Bigfoot Silva -> Velasquez -> Werdum -> Miocic -> Ngannou
2. Open weight fights don't count. Only fights contested at HW count.
Version a. The 2000 PRIDE GP doesn't count, because it's open weight.
Coleman -> Smith -> Couture -> Inoue -> Vovchanchyn -> Telligman -> Rizzo -> Kharitonov -> Overeem -> Werdum -> Nogueira -> Barnett -> Nogueira -> Mir -> Lesnar -> Velasquez -> JDS -> Velasquez -> Werdum -> Miocic -> Cormier -> Miocic -> Ngannou
Version b. The 2000 PRIDE GP doesn't count, because it's open weight. Also, the 2006 PRIDE GP doesn't count, also open weight.
Couture -> Inoue -> Vovchanchyn -> Telligman -> Rizzo -> Kharitonov -> Overeem -> Kharitonov -> Monson -> Rizzo -> Emelianenko -> Mittrione -> Bader
3. Royce Gracie should be considered the original HW champion.
Gracie -> Sakuraba -> Vovchanchyn -> Coleman -> Nogueira -> Fedor -> Werdum -> Overeem -> Bigfoot Silva -> Velasquez -> Werdum -> Miocic -> Ngannou