UFC & Pride Championship History

This is one of the coolest posts that I have ever seen and you'll never see this posted anywhere, on any website. This chronological historical account of the championship titles gets us up to speed on the history of both of the storied pasts of the two largest MMA organizations on the planet in UFC and Pride FC.

From richieb19 who posted at MMAPlayground's forum:

UFC


Lightweight: (146lbs-155lbs)

Jens Pulver def. Caol Uno via decision, UFC 30. Defended 2X
- title vacated - (contract dispute)
Sean Sherk def. Kenny Florian via decision, UFC 64


Welterweight: (156lbs-170lbs)

Pat Miletich def. Mikey Burnett via decision, UFC Ultimate Brazil*
Carlos Newton def. Pat Miletich via submission, UFC 31
Matt Hughes def. Carlos Newton via KO, UFC 34. Defended 5X
B.J. Penn def. Matt Hughes via submission, UFC 46
- title vacated - (contract dispute)
Matt Hughes def. Georges St.Pirerre via submission, UFC 50. Defended 2X
Georges St.Pierre def. Matt Hughes via KO, UFC 65

*WW division at the time had a cap of 170lbs, and was named LW division.

Middleweight: (171lbs-185lbs)

Dave Menne def. Gil Castillo via decision, UFC 33
Murilo Bustamante def. Dave Menne via TKO, UFC 35. Defended 1X
- title vactated - (Bustamante moves to PRIDE FC)
Evan Tanner def. David Terrel via TKO, UFC 51
Rich Franklin def. Evan Tanner via TKO, UFC 53. Defended 2X
Anderson Silva def. Rich Franklin via KO, UFC64

Light Heavyweight: (186lbs-205lbs)

Frank Shamrock def. Kevin Jackson via submission, UFC Ultimate Japan. Defended 4X *
-title vacated - (lack of competition)
Tito Ortiz def. Wanderlei Silva via decision, UFC 25. Defended 5X
Randy Couture def. Chuck Liddell via TKO, UFC 43. Defended 1X**
Vitor Belfort def. Randy Couture via TKO, UFC 46
Randy Couture def. Vitor Belfor via TKO, UFC 49
Chuck Liddell def. Randy Couture via KO, UFC 52. Defended 4X

* LHW division at that time had a cap of 200lbs, and was named MW division.
** Became interim champion after defeating Liddell, promoted to LHW Champion after defeating Ortiz.


Heavyweight: (206lbs-265lbs)

Mark Coleman def. Dan Severn via submission, UFC 12
Maurice Smith def. Mark Coleman via decision, UFC 14
Randy Couture def. Maurice Smith via decision, UFC Ultimate Japan
- title vacated - (contract dispute)
Bas Rutten def. Kevin Randleman via decision, UFC 26
- title vacated - (Rutten drops to LHW)
Kevin Randleman def. Pedro Rizzo via decision, UFC 26
Randy Couture def. Kevin Randleman via TKO, UFC 28. Defended 2X
Josh Barnett def. Randy Couture via TKO, UFC 36
- title vacated - (title stripped after testing positive for steroids)
Ricco Rodriguez def. Randy Couture via submission, UFC39
Tim Syliva def. Ricco Rodriguez via TKO, UFC 41
- title vacated - (title stripped after testing positive for steroids)
Frank Mir def. Tim Sylvia via submission, UFC 48
- title vacated - (Mir was injured)
Andrei Arlovski def. Tim Sylvia via submission, UFC 51. Defended 2X*
Tim Sylvia def. Anrei Arlovski via TKO, UFC 59. Defended 2X

* Became Interim champion after defeating Sylvia, promoted to champion after defeating Eilers.


Openweight:

Ken Shamrock def. Dan Severn via submission, UFC 6. Defended 1X*
Dan Severn def. Ken Shamrock via decision, UFC 9


Tournaments:

UFC 1: Royce Gracie def. Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock, Gerard Gordeau
UFC 2: Royce Gracie def. Minoki Ichihara, Jason Delucia, Remco Pardoel, Pat Smith
UFC 3: Steve Jennum def. Harold Howard
UFC 4: Royce Gracie def. Ron van Clief, Keith Hackney, Dan Severn
UFC 5: Dan Severn def. Joe Charles, Oleg Taktarov, Dave Beneteau
UFC 6: Oleg Taktarov def. Dave Beneteau, Anthony Macias, Tank Abbott
UFC 7: Marco Ruas def. Larry Cureton, Remco Pardoel, Paul Varelans
UFC 8: Don Frye def. Thomas Ramirez, Sam Adkins, Gary Goodridge
UFC 10: Mark Coleman def. Moti Horenstein, Gary Goodridge, Don Frye
UFC 11: Mark Coleman def. Julian Sanchez, Brian Johnston
UU 96: Don Frye def. Gary Goodridge, Mark Hall, Tank Abbott
UFC 12 (MW): Jerry Bolhander def. Rainy Martinez, Nick Sanzo
UFC 12 (HW): Vitor Belfort def. Tra Telligman, Scott Ferozzo
UFC 13 (MW): Guy Mezger def. Christophe Leninger, Tito Ortiz
UFC 13 (HW): Randy Couture def. Tony Halme, Steven Graham
UFC 14 (HW): Mark Kerr def. Moti Horenstein, Dan Bobish
UFC 14 (MW): Kevin Jackson def. Todd Butler, Tony Fryklund
UFC 15 (HW): Mark Kerr def. Greg Stott, Dwayne Cason
Ultimate Japan (HW): Kazushi Sakuraba def. Marcus Silveira*
UFC 16 (LW): Pat Miletich def. Townsend Saunders, Chris Brennan
UFC 17 (MW): Dan Henderson def. Allan Goes, Carlos Newton
UFC 23 (MW): Kenichi Yamamoto def. Daiju Takase, Shamoji Fujii
TUF 1 / UF1F (MW): Diego Sanchez def. Kenny Florian*
TUF 1 / UF1F (LHW): Forrest Griffin def. Stephan Bonnar*
TUF 2 / UF2F (WW): Joe Stevenson def. Luke Cummo*
TUF 2 / UF2F (HW): Rashad Evans def. Brad Imes*
TUF 3 / UF3F (MW): Kendall Grove def. Ed Herman*
TUF 3 / UF3F (LHW): Micheal Bisping def. Josh Haynes*
TUF 4 / UF4F (WW): Matt Serra [SIZE="1"]def. Chris Lytle[/SIZE] *
TUF 4 / UF4F (MW): Travis Lutter def. Patrick Coté*

* These tournaments took place on Spike TV's Ultimate Fighter reality show, all fights aired aside from the finals where concidered as exhibition matches.
**Sakuraba faced Silveira in the opeing round, but it was later declared a NC, and Abbott was unable to advance to the finals, so a rematch between Sakuraba and Silveira was set.




PRIDE FC


Lightweight: (lesser than 73Kg/161lbs)

Takanori Gomi def. Hayato Sakurai via KO, Shockwave 05. Defended 1X


Welterweight: (lesser than 83 Kg/183lbs)

Dan Henderson def. Murilo Bustamante Via KO, Shockwave 05


Middleweight: (lesser than 93Kg/205lbs)

Wanderlei Silva def. Kazuhsi Sakuraba via TKO, Pride 17. Defended 5X
Dan Henderson def. Wanderlei Silva via KO, Pride 33.


Heavyweight: (greater than 93Kg/205lbs)

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Heath Herring via decision, Pride 17. Defended 1X
Fedor Emelianenko def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via decision, Pride 25. Defended 3X


Tournaments:

2000 Grand Prix (OW): Mark Coleman def. Masaaki Satake, Akira Shoji, Kazuyuki Fujita, Igor Vovchanchyn
2003 Grand Prix (MW): Wanderlei Silva def. Kazushi Sakuraba, Hidehiko Yoshida, Quinton Jackson
2004 Grand Prix (HW): Fedor Emelianenko def. Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Naoya Ogawa, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
2005 Grand Prix (WW): Dan Henderson def. Ryo Chonan, Akihiro Gono, Murilo Bustamante
2005 Grand Prix (MW): Mauricio Rua def. Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, Ricardo Arona
2006 Grand Prix (WW): Kazuo Misaki def. Phil Baroni, Dan Henderson, Denis Kang*
2006 Grand Prix (OW): Mirko Filipovic def. Ikuhisa Minowa, Hidehiko Yoshida, Wanderlei Silva, Josh Barnett

* Misaki lost in the semi-finalsto Fihlo, but Fihlo was unable to face Kang and Misaki took his place as an alternate.