- Joined
- Nov 17, 2019
- Messages
- 831
- Reaction score
- 1,693
In this thread, I'm hopefully gonna demonstrate that RDA was the first MMA champ to actually hold all LW titles from all major organisations (UFC (all three times), WEC (all three times) , Strikeforce, Bellator and Pride).
Below are lists of how the belts from each organisation would have moved based on the fighters career. In the case of champions who leave organisations as the belt holder, their next defeat at lightweight will signify the belt being moved on i.e. Eddie Alvarez left Bellator as its lw champ but then lost to cerrone so by that regard, Cerrone has the theoretical Bellator LW belt.
Note arrows like this --> indicate the theoretical movement of belts between fighters whereas arrows like this -> indicate the physical belt moving from fighter to fighter.
1st UFC (Pulver):
Pulver --> Ludwig --> Tyson Griffin (Duanes loss to BJ doesn't count since it was at WW) --> Frankie --> Maynard --> Frankie --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
2nd UFC (Sherk):
Sherk --> BJ --> Frankie --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
3rd UFC (BJ):
BJ -> Frankie -> Bendo -> Pettis -> RDA.
1st WEC (Gilbert):
Gilbert --> Mitsuhiro Ishida --> Caol Uno --> Aoki --> Hansen --> Aoki --> Gilbert --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
2nd WEC (Ruediger):
Ruediger (TUF 5 failure) -> Franca --> Sherk --> BJ --> Frankie --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
3rd WEC (Showtime):
McCullogh -> Varner -> Bendo -> Pettis --> Guida --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
Strikeforce:
Guida -> Gilbert -> Thomson -> Gilbert --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
Bellator:
Alvarez -> Chandler -> Alvarez --> Cerrone -> RDA.
Pride:
Gomi --> Sergey Golyaev --> Eiji Mitsuoka --> Kazunori Yakota --> Tatsuya Kawajiri --> Aoki (unified with Dream Belt) --> Alvarez --> Cerrone --> RDA.
So when RDA beat Cerrone on the 19th December 2015, he effectively unified the Belts from all major MMA organisations and became the first Lineal LW Champ. It also means that there were only 4 lineal MMA champs in LW history:
RDA
who lost to Alvarez
who lost to Conor
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/52114445/143_Conor_McGregor_vs_Eddie_Alvarez.0.0.jpeg)
who lost to Khabib
.
With Khabibs retirement at UFC 254, he not only retired undisputed undefeated lightweight GOAT, but also officially retires the lineal LW lineage. Insane to think about.
Edit: Slight addition: IF you consider that the UFC stripped Conor and Khabib won a UFC belt at UFC 223, It would mean that Khabib is the only fighter in history to literally hold a version of every single major organisation LW belt (all 4 UFC belts, 3 WEC belts, Strikeforce, Bellator, Pride and DREAM) when he beat Conor at UFC 229. Undoubtedly, the LW GOAt.
Below are lists of how the belts from each organisation would have moved based on the fighters career. In the case of champions who leave organisations as the belt holder, their next defeat at lightweight will signify the belt being moved on i.e. Eddie Alvarez left Bellator as its lw champ but then lost to cerrone so by that regard, Cerrone has the theoretical Bellator LW belt.
Note arrows like this --> indicate the theoretical movement of belts between fighters whereas arrows like this -> indicate the physical belt moving from fighter to fighter.
1st UFC (Pulver):
Pulver --> Ludwig --> Tyson Griffin (Duanes loss to BJ doesn't count since it was at WW) --> Frankie --> Maynard --> Frankie --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
2nd UFC (Sherk):
Sherk --> BJ --> Frankie --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
3rd UFC (BJ):
BJ -> Frankie -> Bendo -> Pettis -> RDA.
1st WEC (Gilbert):
Gilbert --> Mitsuhiro Ishida --> Caol Uno --> Aoki --> Hansen --> Aoki --> Gilbert --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
2nd WEC (Ruediger):
Ruediger (TUF 5 failure) -> Franca --> Sherk --> BJ --> Frankie --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
3rd WEC (Showtime):
McCullogh -> Varner -> Bendo -> Pettis --> Guida --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
Strikeforce:
Guida -> Gilbert -> Thomson -> Gilbert --> Bendo --> Pettis --> RDA.
Bellator:
Alvarez -> Chandler -> Alvarez --> Cerrone -> RDA.
Pride:
Gomi --> Sergey Golyaev --> Eiji Mitsuoka --> Kazunori Yakota --> Tatsuya Kawajiri --> Aoki (unified with Dream Belt) --> Alvarez --> Cerrone --> RDA.
So when RDA beat Cerrone on the 19th December 2015, he effectively unified the Belts from all major MMA organisations and became the first Lineal LW Champ. It also means that there were only 4 lineal MMA champs in LW history:
RDA
who lost to Alvarez
who lost to Conor
who lost to Khabib
With Khabibs retirement at UFC 254, he not only retired undisputed undefeated lightweight GOAT, but also officially retires the lineal LW lineage. Insane to think about.
Edit: Slight addition: IF you consider that the UFC stripped Conor and Khabib won a UFC belt at UFC 223, It would mean that Khabib is the only fighter in history to literally hold a version of every single major organisation LW belt (all 4 UFC belts, 3 WEC belts, Strikeforce, Bellator, Pride and DREAM) when he beat Conor at UFC 229. Undoubtedly, the LW GOAt.
Last edited:
