The UFC Middleweight Title: A Visual History

On Saturday in Houston, Israel Adesanya will look to reaffirm his supremacy over the UFC middleweight division, while building his case to be considered its greatest champ ever.

In the main event of UFC 271, “The Last Stylebender” will meet the man he defeated to win the belt a little over two years ago, Robert Whittaker. Whittaker has gone 3-0 since their first meeting, doing more than enough to earn his chance in the eyes of most fans, but the rematch is indicative of the problem the UFC 185-pound division faces. This will be Adesanya's second straight rematch in a title defense, and if gets past Whittaker, Derek Brunson may well make it three in a row depending on how things play out between him and Jared Cannonier on Saturday. At 32 and in his apparent prime, the champ is already in the midst of a victory lap over past conquests, while the UFC holds its breath and hopes that one of the new rising contenders like Sean Strickland or Kevin Holland can string together enough wins to justify a title shot this year.

That dearth of fresh faces at the top is likely one of the main reasons behind Adesanya’s attempt at winning the light heavyweight title next year. That fairly one-sided defeat against then-champ Jan Blachowicz seems to have convinced Adesanya to stay in his lane, at least for the time being. That means that with all due respect to Whittaker and the rest of the middleweight Top 10, Adesanya’s biggest rival might be the specter of Anderson Silva, who coincidentally faced the same problem — a shortage of compelling challenges — as he forged his incredible title résumé from 2006 to 2013.

Silva’s run of 10 title defenses—which would have been 11 had Travis Lutter made weight at UFC 67—came to a crashing halt at the end of a sweet left hook from Weidman at UFC 162. For the next five years, the title picture was a mess, defined by stunning upsets, a couple of very iffy title shots, challengers missing weight and above all, a shocking litany of injuries and illnesses. Of the next five men to wear the belt after “The Spider,” Georges St. Pierre and Michael Bisping are out of the sport for reasons related at least partly to their health, Weidman and Luke Rockhold moved up to light heavyweight and Whittaker withdrew from at least as many title bouts as he fought.

Here is the two-decade 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.