1) The champion loses. In which case, the winner of the match becomes champion.
2) The champion fails to beat a top contender in that division for more than 1 year.
In case 2, the new champion will be the highest statistically rated
fighter who has beat a top contender in the last 12 months.
SEPTEMBER 2006 - Josh Barnett beats Rodrigo Nogueira for the mmaranks HW title
SEPTEMBER 2006 - Mirko Filipovic beats Josh Barnett for the mmaranks HW title
NOVEMBER 2006 - Paulo Filho defeats Kazuo Misaki for the mmaranks MW title
NOVEMBER 2006 - Georges St. Pierre beats Matt Hughes for the mmaranks WW title
DECEMBER 2006 - Takanori Gomi defeats Mitsuhiro Ishida for the mmaranks LW title
APRIL 2007 - Matt Serra defeats George St. Pierre for the mmaranks WW title
APRIL 2007 - Gabriel Gonzaga defeats Mirko Filipovic for the mmaranks HW title
May 2007 - Antonio Carvalho defeats Hatsu Hioki for the mmaranks FW title
May 2007 - Quinton Jackson defeats Chuck Liddell for the mmaranks LHW title
August 2007 - Randy Couture defeats Gabriel Gonzaga for the mmaranks HW title
November 2007 - Hiroyuki Takaya beats Antonio Carvalho for the mmaranks FW title
December 2007 - Takanori Gomi does not defend within 12 months and vacates the LW title
January 2008 - Frank Edgar fills vacated mmaranks LW title
February 2008 - Leonard Garcia beats Hiroki Takaya for the mmaranks FW title
187-206
207 and over
last qualified fight:
beat Chuck Liddell May 2007
last qualified fight:
beat Gabriel Gonzaga August 2007
Arlovski, Andrei (236)
Sylvia, Tim (256)
Filipovic, Mirko (218)
Rothwell, Ben (264)
Werdum, Fabricio (238)
Nogueira, Rodrigo (240)
Ouedroago, Cheick 'Kongo' (230)
Emelianenko, Fedor (233)
Vera, Brandon (226)
Emelianenko, Alexander (253)
Barnett, Josh (243)
Sanchez, Eddie (239)
Desilets, Martin (225)
Monson, Jeff (239)
Russow, Michael (265)
Gonzaga, Gabriel (252)
Hague, Tim (255)
O'Brien, Jake (240)
Carwin, Shane (265)
Tuchscherer, Chris
Rua, Mauricio (205)
Silva, Thiago (205)
Griffin, Forrest (204)
Machida, Ryoto (205)
Evans, Rashad (205)
Gusmao, Andre (205)
Bonnar, Stephan (205)
Sobral, Renato (205)
Belcher, Alan (205)
Hamman, Jared (205)
Matyushenko, Vladimir (205)
Cahoon, Paul (205)
Liddell, Chuck (204)
Bisping, Michael (205)
Jardine, Keith (205)
Smith, Scott (205)
Lambert, Jason (205)
Patterson, Jamal (205)
Alexander, Houston (205)
Schafer, Eric (205)
163-176
177-186
last qualified fight:
beat George St. Pierre April 2007
last qualified fight:
beat Chael Sonnen December 2007
Parisyan, Karo (170)
Fitch, Jon (170)
Thompson, Nick (176)
Kitaoka, Satoru (165)
Shields, Jake (170)
Baron, David (170)
Koscheck, Josh (170)
Sanchez, Diego (170)
Burkman, Josh (170)
Wilson, Chris (170)
Fickett, Drew (170)
Sakurai, Hayato (167)
Markham, Rory (170)
St. Pierre, Georges (170)
Fisher, Spencer (170)
Hieron, Jay (170)
Keasley, Dereck (167)
Yoshida, Yoshiyuki (168)
Alvarez, Eddie (164)
Hironaka, Kuniyoshi (170)
Silva, Anderson (185)
Franklin, Rich (185)
Okami, Yushin (185)
Lindland, Matt (185)
Doerksen, Joe (185)
Larson, Brock (185)
Starnes, Kalib (185)
Marquardt, Nathan (185)
Henderson, Dan (183)
Morkevicius, Petras (185)
MacDonald, Jason (185)
Kampmann, Martin (184)
Kang, Denis (185)
Swick, Mike (185)
Radach, Benji (185)
Monma, Hidetaka (185)
Leben, Chris (185)
Maia, Demian (185)
Sonnen, Chael (185)
Cote, Patrick (185)
140-149
150-162
last qualified fight:
beat Spencer Fisher November 2007
last qualified fight:
beat Hiroki Takaya February 2008
Cavalcante, Gesias (158)
Melendez, Gilbert (155)
Gomi, Takanori (154)
Aoki, Shinya (155)
Ishida, Mitsuhiro (154)
Fisher, Spencer (155)
Amade, Andre 'Dida' (155)
Huerta, Roger (155)
Taurosevicus, Deividas (155)
Sakurai, Hayato (160)
Aurelio, Marcus (155)
Hansen, Joachim (160)
Palaszewski, Bart (155)
Thomson, Josh (155)
Yunker, Tristan (155)
McCullough, Rob (154)
Tibau, Gleison (155)
Kawajiri, Tatsuya (154)
Griffin, Tyson (155)
Florian, Kenny (155)
Yamamoto, Norifumi (142)
Hioki, Hatsu (144)
Imanari, Masakazu (145)
Assuncao, Rafael (143)
Inoue, Takeshi 'Lion' (143)
Menjivar, Ivan (145)
Fabiano, Wagnney (145)
Fujimiya, Tenkei (143)
Faber, Urijah (145)
Olivier, Robbie (145)
Tamura, Akitoshi (143)
Pang, Adrian (142)
Tapia, Manny (145)
Cruz, Dominic (145)
Brown, Mike Thomas (143)
Curran, Jeff (143)
Greer, Ben (145)
Diaz, Ryan (145)
Maeda, Yoshiro (140)
Takaya, Hiroyuki (144)
