A historic powerhouse in MMA, Brazil is the second country with the most belts in UFC history, with 18 linear champions (excluding tournaments), behind only the United States and far ahead of Russia, in third place with only three holders. Despite the large number of champions, only four Brazilians have been able to defend their linear titles on three or more occasions. This Saturday (7), at UFC 310, Alexandre pantoja try to join Anderson Silva, José Aldo, Amanda nunes e Alex Poatán in this select group.
Champion since July last year, when he dethroned Brandon Moreno in memorable battle, Alexandre pantoja defended the title against Brandon royval, in December 2023 and, more recently, Steve Erceg, in May of this year. If he passes the Japanese debutant Kai Asakura No. UFC 310, the athlete from Arraial do Cabo will become only the fifth Brazilian to complete three linear belt defenses.
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The first to achieve the feat was Anderson Silva, who defended the belt for the third time in March 2008, with a submission over Dan Henderson. 'Spider' didn't stop there and managed seven more defenses, remaining the middleweight record holder (up to 83,9 kg) and the third with the most defenses in the organization's history.
Another one that easily hit the mark was José Aldo, who arrived as UFC featherweight champion (up to 65,7 kg) in 2011 and achieved his third defense in January of the following year, with the memorable knee on Chad Mendes. The 'King of Rio' would defend the title four more times before being dethroned by Conor McGregor.
In the women's bantamweight (up to 61,2 kg), Amanda nunes reached his third belt defense against Rachel Pennington, in 2018. The 'Lioness' would still complete three more defenses in the category, in addition to two in the featherweight category (up to 65,7 kg) before announcing her retirement.
The last one to enter the list was Alex Poatán, who made history by defending the light heavyweight belt (up to 93 kg) on three occasions in a time window of just six months.
An honorable mention goes to the bantamweight division. Renan Barao, who had three title defenses in the organization, but two of them with the interim belt and only one with the linear belt.
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Read More about: Alex Poatán, Alexandre pantoja, Amanda nunes, Anderson Silva, Jose aldo, UFC
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