The UFC Middleweight Title: A Visual History

Just when it seemed to be inching back towards stability, the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division reverted to its characteristic chaos.

In the headliner of UFC 293 on Saturday in Sydney, Australia, Sean Strickland upended Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision in a massive upset that somehow didn’t feel like one in the moment. Round after round, the American used a crisp one-two, patience and relentless forward pressure to completely stymie one of the most dazzling strikers the sport has ever seen. In less than half an hour, the narrative had turned from what Adesanya would need to do after beating Strickland in order to resume his march on divisional GOAT status, to how on earth a challenger who was not even the promotion’s first choice managed to make a historic upset look so easy.

Of course, to those who have been paying attention over the years, Saturday’s eye-opening main event was merely a return to form for one of the UFC’s weirdest divisions. Because middleweight is so synonymous with Anderson Silva, owner of one of the longest, most dominant title reigns in MMA history, it can be easy to forget what a mess it had been before his arrival. Like its fellow unloved stepchild, the lightweight division, the UFC middleweight division had a long period during which there was no champ at all, in this case the two-and-a-half-year gap from October 2002, when Murilo Bustamante defected to Pride Fighting Championships, until February 2005.

Silva’s run of 10 title defenses—which would have been 11 had Travis Lutter made weight for UFC 67— came to a crashing halt at thanks to a left hook for the ages from Chris Weidman. In the wake of that upset, the middleweight title picture turned into a free-for-all, defined by stunning upsets, a couple of very questionable title shots, challengers missing weight, and a shocking litany of injuries and illnesses. Of the five men to wear the belt between Silva and Adesanya, Georges St. Pierre and Michael Bisping retired for reasons related at least partly to their health, Weidman and Luke Rockhold moved up to light heavyweight and Robert Whittaker withdrew from more title bouts than he fought.

Adesanya seemed well on his way to establishing a new order at 185 pounds, as he had reached the point of granting outmatched challengers second title shots while he himself eyed multi-divisional glory, but now having lost two of his last three fights, he appears to be just another victim of the UFC middleweight maelstrom. As for the new champ, whether Strickland’s first title defense ends up being a rematch with Adesanya or a clash with the man he replaced at UFC 293, Dricus Du Plessis, it is nearly a foregone conclusion that interesting times await.

Here is the 22-year history of the UFC middleweight title and the times it was won, lost or defended. Interim title fights are omitted with the exception of Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero at UFC 213, since the winner of that fight was promoted to undisputed champion without a unification bout. It tells the story of a talented but chaotic division, a competitive maelstrom that only one man has truly managed to tame so far.