Talk:List of current mixed martial arts champions

Women's Weight Classes

Despite what the article mentions, the way the women's titles are listed- the division titles are NOT most common across major promotions. Bellator does not call Zoila Frausto its Women's Featherweight champion. Right now the Women's divisions are listed according to the Association of Boxing Commissions 2008 proposed weight class changes to the Unified Rules of MMA (http://www.mmaonline.com/headlines/abc-proposed-changes-to-unified-rules-of-mma/). Although the women's weight class names have been adopted by Strikeforce, we all know that the proposed changes were unanimously rejected by the MMA community. Thus, if the article cannot be consisted with the unified rules of MMA (105 lbs = junior strawweight?), there should at least be some clarity in the women's section.(Justinsane15 (talk) 05:39, 26 July 2011 (UTC))

Actually Zuffa has changed the naming of the Strikeforce women's titles. 135 is once again bantamweight and 145 is featherweight. --Phospheros (talk) 21:36, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Very good, its better to use the unified rules of mixed martial arts whenever possible, I shall make the changes.(Justinsane15 (talk) 04:36, 27 July 2011 (UTC))

Good to know, thanks for the update. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 16:49, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Also I would consider 105 as minimum weight, as it is a full standard weight division lower (i.e. 10 lbs), if that suits everyone. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 17:56, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

I forgot about Minimumweight, good call.(Justinsane15 (talk) 22:07, 27 July 2011 (UTC))

Updated to Atomweight as that has become the common parlance.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 15:21, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

Organizations up for removal

• KSW - As KSW is not really the principal organization in Europe, with the rise of CWFC and the continued growth of M-1 global, and it has a very poor track record on title fights it may be time to cut it out all together, it currently gets a charity vote as the largest organization operating principally in the north-western European area, but that's about it.
• UCMMA - They barely qualify to be on here. They put on a lot of events, they're one of the larger MMA promotions in England, but they have zero media coverage, and while they produce a reasonable amount of talent, they play second fiddle to BAMMA, which is itself totally inept.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 20:31, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

List Order

• The organizations on this list are ordered by a point system to determine notoriety. For the reference of others the new potential list order is this: UFC-12, Bellator-6, M1 Global-6, Shooto-5, Deep-5, Jungle Fight-5, KOTC-4, Pancrase-4, One FC-2, Invicta FC-2, CWFC-2, MFC-2, Ultimate Challenge MMA-2, Jewels-1, KSW-1. This order should be maintained for any new belt additions; new organizations will be rated and listed accordingly.

• Okay, I've decided to solidify the list order a bit better by giving each organization a score depending on how many of the following criteria they meet, I think this system can be refined over time, but a more clear and stable format than the past one is needed. The more criteria an organization meets the higher up the list it will be." (the scores for each organization are listed above next to the org. name in bold.) Thaddeus Venture (talk) 19:43, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

1.) Years active. Organizations that have promoted MMA longer than 10+ years under their current name check this box. (UFC, M-1, MFC, Shooto, CWFC, KOTC, DEEP, Pancrase, Jungle Fight)

1.5.) Years active pt. 2. Promotions that are 20+ years old check this box. (Shooto)

2.) Accessability. Organizations that have every event broadcast live on TV check this box. (UFC, Bellator, Jungle Fight)

3.) Recognition. Organizations that have 5+ yearly events headlined by a top ranked fighter check this box. (UFC, Bellator,)

3.5.) Recognition pt. 2. Organizations that have 10+ yearly events headlined by a top ranked fighter check this box. (UFC)

4.) Individuality. Organizations that are either the principal organization in their region, or provide a specific niche check this box (i.e. specific weight class, or women's org.). (UFC, M-1, MFC, KSW, Jungle Fight, Jewels, One FC, Invicta FC)

5.) Size. Organizations hosting more than 50+ fighters check this box. (UFC, Bellator, M-1, One FC, Invicta FC)

5.5.) Size pt. 2. Organizations hosting more than 100+ fighters check this box. (UFC, Bellator, M-1)

6.) Titles. Organizations have 5+ title fights a year check this box. (UFC, M-1, KOTC, Deep, UCMMA, Pancrase, Jungle Fight)

6.5) Titles pt. 2. Organizations that have 10+ title fights a year check this box. (UFC)

7.) Events. Organizations that put on more than 10+ events a year check this box. (UFC, Bellator, M-1, Shooto, CWFC, KOTC, DEEP, UCMMA, Pancrase, Jungle Fight)

7.5.) Events pt. 2. Organizations that put on 20+ events per year check this box.(UFC, Bellator, Shooto, KOTC, DEEP)

8.) Lineage. Organizations with an active title lineage extending 10+ years check this box. (UFC, Shooto, KOTC, DEEP, Pancrase)

Promotion Qualifications

• The essential list of credentials are:

1.) At least 2-3 years and/or 10 to 15 events under current promotional banner

2.) Most title belts are filled (depending on size of promotion)

3.) Title belts are continually in competition. Titles are defended yearly and new champions are crowned when others vacate.

4.)The promotion has a reasonable amount of National and some International acclaim (even if it's just having fighters consistently use the promotion as a platform to bigger promotions (ie. moving from Deep to Dream or Sengoku))

5.) The organization is the, or one of the most recognizable promotions in a country or region of the world.

6.) The promotion has hosted a number of notable fighters over it's history, who have fought in other, larger (or similar) organizations.

The acclaim is the most difficult to determine, but I think of it as having a decent amount of coverage in the country it takes place, and at least a little coverage outside that country. I would like to have USA, Japan, Brazil, Canada, and England always represented if possible and I'm sort of waiting on the MFC to crown champions so I can add them. Everyone else is sort of a crap shoot. M1 Global gets in as central Europe's longest standing production, and KSW has gotten a large wave of notoriety of late, as has Shark Fights, but they're right on the cusp.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 22:09, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

A final note on this, as it is the most difficult aspect of maintaining this article. Essentially, in my mind, all the organizations from UFC down to Ultimate Challenge MMA are safe (at least until they go bankrupt). All of these organizations meet at least two to three of the criteria for selecting organizations. Everything below Ultimate Challenge MMA is possible for deletion. Pancrase and RITC are only on this list because of their long history of fight promotion, and Cage Force is here primarily because I'm unwilling to delete Valkyrie as one of a very few organizations with woman's title belts. So if anyone wants to add anything please be sure that it meets several, and not just one, of the criteria listed above.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 07:45, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

Deleted Organizations

• I have removed Strikeforce as they are now defunct.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 16:55, 15 January 2013 (UTC)
• I have removed Tachi Palace Fights as they are no longer the owner of North America's largest flyweight division, hold only a handful of events a year and put on very few title fights a year and thus are no longer a really relevant promotion in the MMA landscape.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 20:34, 6 October 2012 (UTC)
• I have removed DREAM as news is now surfacing that that the promotion is officially defunct.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 16:41, 3 June 2012 (UTC)
• I have removed Valkyrie as it appears to be defunct with no events since 2010 and none planned.

• I have removed Shark Fights as they appear to have lost the notability they gained in 2010 and appear to be operating at the bottom end of the MMA scene right now.

• I have removed Sengoku from this article as it has been in a state of unrest/arbitration for the past 6 months or so, with no future as an MMA promotion in sight. I have also been reading reports that members of the companies management have been arrested for fraud, so I have trouble believing that it has even the slimmest hope of a future. If it somehow manages to make a comeback I'd consider returning it to this list, but until it does it will not be included.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 17:53, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

• I have removed Rage in the Cage from this article. Despite the fact that they continue to put on a large number of shows per year, and have most of their title belts filled, there is simply not enough news and information about the organization to keep track of title holders and defenses. Besides Joe Yager no RITC championship title has changed hands in the past two years. Either there is a distinct lack of information getting through, or the belts aren't being fought for. Because of this I think that RITC's public presence has fallen too low to continue as a part of this article.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 00:25, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

• I have removed Cage Force from this list as none of it's three title holders have defended in the past two years, one of their title holders is currently in the UFC and it appears to have no title bouts planned in the near future.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 19:42, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

• All WAMMA information has been removed from this site as it is no longer relevant.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 18:25, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

• For those interested I would like to open discussion on ZST, formerly a part of this article. They have just crowned a new flyweight champion (one of a very few organizations to do so) which gives them two titles over an 8 year span. They get a reasonable amount of press and have a decent amount of recognition, but they are also an odd-man-out stylistically as they do tag-team and all sorts of other odds and ends matchups and are one of a very few organizations using custom weight classes. Should they be on this list? I'm not sure if anyone has an opinion, please pitch in. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 20:35, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

• I have removed Rising On promotions from this list, because despite having belts in the hands of some recognizable names they are only on their 3rd show and thus too young to be given much consideration.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 19:15, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

I know RisingOn was established in 2009 and there are only 3 shows, but the promotion was started as "PowerGate" in 2005. I think RisingOn is a continued event of PowerGate. For instance, Hiroshi Shiba who was the current champion of PowerGate was sanctioned as the champion of RisingOn, and the promotion company is same.--Yappakoredesho (talk) 11:37, 31 October 2010 (UTC)

I understand that, and I'm willing to leave Risingon, I'm just a little skeptical because I have heard little, if anything about it as a promotion (which is not to say it isn't a very prominent Japanese organization, I can't read Japanese which hinders me a bit there). And even as a new face of an older organization it would still be the youngest of any promotion on this list. All the others whether they have switched names or not have been around for three or four years, or at least 10-12 shows under their current banner. I'm worried that if we start putting very small/very new organizations in here we'll end up with 20 belts in each weight class which somewhat diminishes the integrity of the article. It's the same reason that Canada has no organizational representation, and England only has 1 organization, because the others, whether offshoots or not, are all too new, or too small. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 05:30, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

There are also currently 10 Japanese MMA organizations on this list (to go with 6 American (7 if you count the soon departed WEC), 1 British, 2 continental European, and 1 Brazilian which begins to look like an article bias to listing Japanese Belts. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 06:31, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

I wanted to amend this comment as well, as I don't want to sound like some hyper nationalist lout. I realize that The standard bearers of MMA for the past couple of decades have been Japan and America, and thus the majority of Major promotions are going to be either in Japan or the US. The popular conception right now is that Japanese MMA is somewhat on the decline (at least that's the US perception) and to some degree I may be buying into that, whether it's correct or not. If you are really honestly 100% behind Risingon as a major/popular promotion, at least on the scale of RITC, then I'm fine with it. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 16:24, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

I don't mind to reject the champions of RisingOn because I don't think RisingOn is as popular and known as RITC is, and RisingOn is too local. I think we need to make a rough draft of standard to decide which organizations should be listed in this article. According to your comment, the organizations in this article should be larger than RITC, right? --Yappakoredesho (talk) 16:39, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Title Holders of Non-UFC-Belts in the UFC

• Hatsu Hioki is still shooto's featherweight champ in ufc exile.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 20:41, 24 January 2013 (UTC)
• Ildemar Alcantara's Junglefight middleweight title has been removed as he is now in the UFC.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 20:57, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
• Francisco Trinaldo's Junglefight Lightweight title has been removed as he is now officially part of the UFC.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 19:37, 24 June 2012 (UTC)
• Hector Lombard's Bellator Middleweight title has been removed as he is now signed with the UFC.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 23:01, 24 April 2012 (UTC)
• Luis Ramos Shooto welterweight title has been removed as he has signed with the UFC.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 20:00, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
• Riki Fukuda's Deep middleweight title has been removed as Fukuda has signed with the UFC.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 22:46, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
• Erick Silva's Jungle Fight welterweight title has been removed as he is now in the UFC.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 18:35, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
• Dan Henderson's strikeforce lightheavyweight title has been removed, as he has signed with the UFC it will be returned if he is able to defend it while under UFC contract.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 12:43, 20 September 2011 (UTC)
• Siyar Bahadurzada's Shooto Middleweight title has been removed as he has signed with the UFC. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 15:52, 30 September 2011 (UTC)
• Ryan Jimmo's MFC Light Heavyweight title has been removed as he has signed with the UFC.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 17:09, 30 November 2011 (UTC)
• John Lineker's Jungle Fight Bantamweight title has been removed as he has signed with the UFC.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 13:41, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Organizations Missing From Article

• Reliable and consistent information must be provided (with links so that we can access this information as well) for any promotion that is up for addition to this site.

• Current promotions I am keeping an eye on are: BAMMA, Legacy FC, Road FC, PXC, Legend FC, Cage Fighting Championship, ProFC,, EFCA, WFC, Cage Force, Titan FC, Bitetti Combat, ProElite, Fight Festival, ZST, United Glory.

• Should Tachi Palace Fights be added to this list now (possibly BAMMA too). TPF meets most the qualifications to be on the list. 2 years+, 10 events+, all belts are filled, some the belts were defended once already, Notable Fighters: David Loiseau, Jussier Da Silva, and I personally think it as an organization has the best Flyweights. I'm just not sure where it would be sorted in this list's order.

And on a final note, with Japanesse MMA in the state of dissary that it is maybe its is time to move Bellator closer to the top of the list, if not in front of DREAM at least in front of the dying and near bankrupt Sengoku. Whats your take with these things considered? 71.244.102.129 (talk) 18:46, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

I will keep TPF in the list, as it's close enough and appears to be rising. BAMMA needs more events and champions to prove it's stability so I would like to wait out the year on it. As far as Bellator rising above sengoku is concerned, it's probably time, I would sort of like to see what the actual fallout might be from their sponsorship loss, as they may soon be gone altogether, but you're right, it's probably just time, in general. I'm also going to move TPF below Pancrase as they both have very limited coverage at the moment, but Pancrase has a much larger, richer history.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 19:25, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

• I am adding One FC to this article as they are the largest promotion in Asia and deserve an automatic bid now that they have titles. As part of this I am removing TPF, as they no longer have the only flyweight division in North America, and are thus a C-level promotion running only a couple of shows a year.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 18:48, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

Weight Classes

• I might consider the addition of a Jr. Strawweight category at some point as I believe that Valkyrie has a 107 lb belt that is currently vacant.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 19:15, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

Also, if anyone can think of a better term than Junior Strawweight I'd be pleased. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 19:09, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

• Hey, I like that little touch of adding the organizations flags to every champion in a column of its own. Also, I made a few adjustments in the intro of the article and the womens div intro, as well as absorbed a few of the "creative" weightclasses the into its unified MMA rules couterpart. And earlier tweaked the contents outline in the beginning of the page. I think it helps make the overall page seem more uniform. 71.244.102.129 (talk) 00:48, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

-OR- I just had another idea. If you still prefer to have Cruiserweight, Jr Welterweight, Strawweight as a div of their own I could have it as another subcatagory under heavyweight, welterweight, flyweight respectivly. Maybe i'll play around with it tomorrow. 71.244.102.129 (talk) 01:52, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

-Update- I can agree with what you said under my talk page about having one KOTC champ under another it its own grouping. And honestly I didn't like it all that much neither [see: para graph above]. But I didn't like all that much to have a "creative" weight div on it's own if is the only organization that has a champion in that class. Maybe I found a happy medium by making those titles on the own under a seperate subtopic of the weight classes that I orginally thought they should be grouped under. This way its an independant weight class, but its title is a smaller font since the NSAC does not reconize them. Wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts on this, I hope this satifies both our visions for this page. 71.244.102.129 (talk) 19:06, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

M-1 Global

• Someone is changing all of the M-1 Global info from the Netherlands to Russia, I have decided to follow this as I can see no evidence that M-1 is associated with the Netherlands in any way. If anyone has any good information that either supports or contradicts this, please list it here. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 06:29, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

• It is my understanding that M-1 Global has offices all over the world. And I believe their "actual" headquarters is located in the Netherlands and not in Russia. I guess I could be completely wrong about this. Sorry about the lack of source on this, but I have spent a good deal of my life immersing myself in MMA for the past 6 years and I hear a lot of stuff so I think I may not be too far off on this. Dachknanddarice (T‖C) 22:28, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Tournament Titles

• I am not sure also if Jewels titles are actually defended or just tournament crowns.Thaddeus Venture (talk) 19:15, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

I sent an e-mail to Jewels to ask about the position of tournament title. According to their answer is as follows:

"Rought Stone GP in Jewels is tournament held regularly, and the winners of tournaments are champions of tournamnets, but they are not the champions of organization. Naturally, the defending matches will not be arranged and their honour is temporary. The winners of tournaments are same as the winners of Neo Blood tournament in Pancrase, Future King tournament in Deep, and Freshmen tournament in Shooto."

For this reason, the winners of Jewel tournaments should not be listed. Thanks.--Yappakoredesho (talk) 15:32, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Nice and super super helpful. Thank you so much. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 16:00, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Vacant/Interim Titles

• I am considering whether I should include vacant belts in listed organizations. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 19:15, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

• In my opinion, vacant titles should not be listed in the list, but the interim champions can be included in the list.--Yappakoredesho (talk) 11:41, 31 October 2010 (UTC)

• No interim Champs for reasons as listed in the article. Since they eventually have to fight to get the belt anyway its just a place holder name for no. 1 contender to a vacant title. To give an example, one wouldn't list Georges St-Pierre's current title reign as having started when he gained the interim title belt, because that wasn't the welterweight title. Only the actual title is listed. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 07:34, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

The interim champions are not just no.1 contenders to a vacant title, they are still "champions" even if their title is not regular. They are given championship belts and they are called "champion". See List of current world boxing champions. The interim champions are listed in this article with small notes.--Yappakoredesho (talk) 16:52, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Alright, I can be persuaded on that one. I'll call it a necessary evil. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 22:10, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Citations

• This is a very small issue, but it's been bugging me just a little, it get this article to the highest standards there should probably be citations on the number of title defenses for each fighter. I'm not sure I totally feel like doing this, and may just sort of pick away at it over time, but if anyone else would like to, it'd be appreciated. Thaddeus Venture (talk) 20:52, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

World Series of Fighting

Somebody add WSOF champion's, they are the third largest MMA promotion in the USA. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.64.130.9 (talk) 06:27, 3 February 2014 (UTC)