UFC 230 is now available on Amazon Prime.
At UFC 230 this Saturday, Derrick Lewis will attempt to become the 17th man to bear the title of undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king. Opposing him in that attempt will be two-division champ Daniel Cormier, who will be on a quest of his own -- to become only the 10th heavyweight champ to successfully defend his belt. While many have noted the hastily-thrown together nature of this main event title fight, it’s worth noting that such strangeness is par for the course when talking about the UFC heavyweight title.
From its inception in 1997, the UFC’s heavyweight division was
marked in its early years by a dizzying series of twists and turns,
including three different champions in its first year, multiple
champs abandoning the title to fight elsewhere and two men losing
their belts in the lab rather than the Octagon. The UFC’s
heavyweight title was also a clear second fiddle to its Pride Fighting Championships counterpart for
most of that first decade. With the 2007 absorption of Pride and, a
few years later, the acquisition of Strikeforce -- including Cormier, incidentally, fresh
from winning the heavyweight grand prix -- the UFC’s heavyweight
division eventually gained the preeminent status it still enjoys.
Today, the fighter wearing UFC heavyweight gold can lay a claim to
“baddest man on the planet” status that is hard to dispute.
Here is a graphic representation of the 21-year history of the UFC undisputed heavyweight title and the times it was won, lost or defended. Interim title fights are omitted with the exception of Andrei Arlovski-Tim Sylvia 1, since the winner of that fight ended up inheriting the undisputed title without a unification bout. From 6’10” giants to 5’9” monsters, from larger-than-life pro wrestlers to humble firefighters, from drug scandals to grisly injuries in and out of the cage, the picture tells a story as strange and amazing as the sport itself.
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At UFC 230 this Saturday, Derrick Lewis will attempt to become the 17th man to bear the title of undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king. Opposing him in that attempt will be two-division champ Daniel Cormier, who will be on a quest of his own -- to become only the 10th heavyweight champ to successfully defend his belt. While many have noted the hastily-thrown together nature of this main event title fight, it’s worth noting that such strangeness is par for the course when talking about the UFC heavyweight title.
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Here is a graphic representation of the 21-year history of the UFC undisputed heavyweight title and the times it was won, lost or defended. Interim title fights are omitted with the exception of Andrei Arlovski-Tim Sylvia 1, since the winner of that fight ended up inheriting the undisputed title without a unification bout. From 6’10” giants to 5’9” monsters, from larger-than-life pro wrestlers to humble firefighters, from drug scandals to grisly injuries in and out of the cage, the picture tells a story as strange and amazing as the sport itself.
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