FAQ on the LINEAL TITLES

Q: Why do you have the LINEAL champ above all the other contenders?

A: Because a champion is not a contender. The contenders are contending for what the Champ has - the Championship Title. You don't need to contend for something you already possess.

It doesn't make much sense to have ten contenders contending for only the #1 contender spot. If it's only about who's the best of the ten then it's only a best of list...and not a true Top-Ten Contender list.

The UFC also has Top Ten Contender Rankings. You wouldn't expect them to rank their champion as the #1 contender, would you? What would he be contending for, his own title!?

Q: What does LINEAL / LINEAR mean?

A: According to the dictionary, the words LINEAL / LINEAR mean - "in a direct line of descent" / "In a straight line". In other words, it's a straight line (or direct lineage), back to the original champion. This usually holds true, except when a champion retires, dies, is excessively inactive (for 2 or 3 years), or moves to compete in another weight class. In those cases a new title line needs to be established between the two top-ranked contenders.

Q: How does a LINEAL title get established?

A: To better understand how a LINEAL title works, imagine a kingdom that has just started. At first there was no king, it was just a community with some strong leaders at the top of it's ruling class. But one day one of them says he wants to be the boss. So they decide to have a competition of fighting duels to decide who is the best and strongest among them, and best suited to be the supreme leader - aka; "King". So one of them beats all the other strong leaders, and he's then crowned the first king of the new kingdom. They then decide that, every few months or so, they will have a contender to fight the king and see if he can become the new king. The only time it doesn't work, is if the king dies, the king becomes too ill or inactive to rule properly, or the king moves to another land and leaves the crown vacant (in those cases they would then have a tournament or title elimination fight between the very top contenders).

It works the same in MMA. Long before the UFC had a MW, WW, LW, FW, or BW champion, Shooto, over in Japan, already did. Most of the lighter-weight titles started there. For MW, LHW and HW, they started in the UFC...but when the UFC nearly died, back in the late 1990's, most of their top fighters went to fight in PrideFC, and the titles migrated to Japan. Then, with the death of PrideFC and the emergence of Zuffa, they migrated back to America and the UFC.

But the best and first champions are where the LINEAL / LINEAR titles started. All one need do is trace the lineage to the current title holder. Pretty basic.

Q: Shouldn't the best and current UFC title holder always be the top champion?

A: Not necessarily. As we just explained, the LINEAR title has a starting point. It then follows a straight lineage to the current title holder. Regardless of the promotion it started with, the current title holder does not have to be a UFC champion. But...most of the LINEAR titles are now held by current UFC champions. The reason being, because Zuffa has taken the UFC to a new level...they have elevated it as the premier MMA promotion in the entire sport...and the best fighters are all ending up in the UFC. So the best will always gravitate towards the best...and end-up fighting the best for the title...and the best are mostly, now, in the UFC. At one time though, the best were in PrideFC and Shooto.

Q: Why even have a LINEAL title or champion?

A: It only makes perfect sense to. The fact that all the LINEAR champs are ending up in the UFC, only shows that it's a perfect system of deciding who the Top and Best of the Best (in their respective weight classes), really is. The proof is in the pudding...and the pudding shows that the LINEAR title holder will always and eventually end-up fighting the best of the best - which currently reside in the UFC.

Q: How did the concept of having a LINEAL champion begin (for Combat Sports)?

A: The idea that inspired us came from other Combat Sports like Pro-Wrestling and Boxing. 'The Ring' magazine once listed only 8 Boxing weight classes, with a Champion above the Top-Ten Contenders. Back in the early 1980's,'The Ring' magazine editors were getting tired of all the Boxing organizations creating the problem of having numerous world champions, so they (Ring magazine), decided to have just one - and so they picked him. They based their decision on the best system - that of using the champion they could trace a LINEAL title to...or, by using the best of a division, who currently held a major world title, and choose him as their champ. Usually it wasn't too difficult to trace a LINEAL championship title to the current title holder. So the system worked pretty well...almost flawlessly.

Hopefully that will help anyone to better understand what it means to have a LINEAL champion & title. We'll be adding more as we get them.

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