Title Histories

Heavyweight: Fedor Emelianenko beats Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds in July 2008 to win the inaugural title for the short-lived Affliction promotion. Fabricio Werdum takes it from him in June 2010 in the opening round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, though he loses it to Alistair Overeem in his next fight. Overeem takes it to the UFC after the merger and defends it against Brock Lesnar, but loses it to Bigfoot Silva in February 2013. Silva would lose the title to Cain Velasquez in May, merging it with the UFC title and ending the lineage. 

Light Heavyweight: Babalu Sobral (#13) defeats Mike Whitehead (#17) at Affliction in July 2008 to win the inaugural belt. He loses it the following summer to Gegard Mousasi in Strikeforce. Gegard loses it to King Mo in April 2010, who loses it to Rafael Cavalcante, and then it goes to Dan Henderson in quick succession. Dan takes it back to the UFC where he loses it to Machida in 2013. He loses it to Phil Davis, who loses it to Rumble. DC finally takes it off of Rumble in 2015, merging it with the UFC title and ending its lineage.

Middleweight: Chael Sonnen (#23) wins the inaugural belt from a legally-insane Paulo Filho (#2) at WEC 36 in November 2008. Chael takes it to the UFC and loses it to Demian Maia the following year. Maia loses it immediately to Marquardt, who loses it immediately back to uncle Chael, who turns the win into his historic loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 117 in 2010, merging it with the UFC belt and ending its lineage.

Welterweight: Jake Shields (#8) submits Paul Daley (#21) in October 2008 to win the inaugural belt, which he would hold until losing to GSP in Toronto in 2011, ending its lineage.

Lightweight: Shinya Aoki beat Eddie Alvarez at Dynamite!! on New Year's Eve 2008 for the inaugural WAMMA lightweight championship. He would lose it to Gil Melendez in April 2010, who lost it to Benson Henderson three years later, merging it with the UFC LW title and ending its lineage.

Featherweight: Basically the WEC belt: Mike Brown (#2) defeats Urijah Faber (#1) in November 2008 for the inaugural title, and the real WEC belt. He loses both to Aldo, who is the champ when UFC buys the WEC and acquires the belts.

Bantamweight: Miguel Torres (#1) beats Manny Tapia (#9) in December 2008 to take the inaugural title and defend his WEC belt. He loses them to Brian Bowles the following year, who loses them to Dom Cruz, and the rest is history.

Flyweight: WEC didn't have a 125 division so it's a little more interesting. Yuki Shoujou (#5) beats Yasuhiro Urushitani (#1) in Shooto, September 2008 to win the first belt. He immediately loses it to Shinichi Kojima in March, who loses it to Jussier Formiga in July 2009. Formiga will eventually lose it to Ian McCall in 2011 at something called TPF 8: All or Nothing. McCall holds it until he is signed by the UFC and entered into the Flyweight tournament to decide the first UFC FLW champ, the final of which he loses to Demetrious Mighty Mouse Johnson in 2012, terminating the WAMMA line.

WFW: Gina Carano (#1) beats someone called Kelly Kobold at EliteXC in October 2008. She loses it to Cyborg the following year, and she holds it until she is finally allowed into the UFC and then finally allowed to fight at 145 for the UFC title in 2017, almost ten years later. The WAMMA title lineage ends when merged with the UFC belt.

WBW: Takayo Hashi (#1) beats a Chiza Yonezawa at a regional promotion in Tokyo in April 2009, though she loses it to Sarah Kaufman in Strikeforce in her next fight. Kaufman loses it, along with the SF Bantamweight title to Marloes Coenen later in 2010. Coenen will lose both to Miesha Tate in 2011. Miesha famously loses her belt(s) to Ronda the following year. Ronda takes the title to the UFC and the lineage ends when she is named the first female champion in UFC history.

WFLW: Tara LaRosa (#1) beats a Sally Crumdiack in March 2009 for the inaugural title. LaRosa will lose the occasional fight in the coming years but they are all in catchweight or Bantamweight fights - her next loss at 125 comes to Roxanne Modaferri in 2014 at Invicta FC 8. She loses it to Vanessa Porto in Invicta the following year. She loses it to Jennifer Maia in 2016, merging the WAMMA title with Maia's Invicta 125-lb championship. Maia comes to the UFC in July 2018, losing the WAMMA title to Liza Carmouche, who of course gave it up to Valentina Shevchenko last weekend in the worst women's title fight I can think of and finally merging it with the UFC title.

WSW: Megumi Fujii (#1), a legend of women's MMA, beats Tomoko Morii in JEWELS in November 2008 for the inaugural title. She holds it for two years before losing to Zoila Gurgel in Bellator. Gurgel doesn't fight at 115 lbs for several years, so we announce another title fight 18 months from that fight, meaning the May 2012 fight between Megumi Fujii (now on a three-fight streak and back to #1) and Jessica Aguilar (#4) is for the title. Aguilar wins. She holds it for three years before losing it to Claudia Gadelha in 2015 in the UFC. When Gadelha loses to Joanna in July 2016, she merges the title with the UFC belt and the lineage ends.