By Hunter Homistek

Chaos reigns in the big boys' division.

Heavyweight Stipe Miocic stunned MMA fans worldwide Saturday at UFC 198 when he sent his opponent, reigning UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, crashing to the mat in a lifeless heap in Round 1. It only took one shot.

It's a story as old as the UFC itself: Heavyweight champion wins the belt, looks unbeatable, then loses in emphatic fashion. At a certain point, you have to wonder when we'll wise up and accept we don't know anything—especially when 500 pounds of combined force is at play.

Co-owner of the longest streak of UFC title defenses at heavyweight, Randy "The Natural" Couture was a figure too good to be true. He won the strap in November 2000 at UFC 28, then defended it twice—each against Pedro Rizzo. He had charisma. He had a military background. He had good looks and charm, and his fighting skills were undeniable. 

Then came Josh Barnett, a catch wrestler with a mean streak determined to overthrow "The Natural." Barnett did just that, defeating Couture via second-round TKO to claim the throne. Ironically, there was nothing "natural" about Barnett; he was stripped of his belt after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.

That opened the door for Couture to reclaim what was previously his. But his opponent, Ricco Rodriguez, had other plans. Couture was stopped again—this time, by submission due to elbows. 

No heavyweight on this planet has defended the UFC's heavyweight title more than twice consecutively. Couture, Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar, and Cain Velasquez all notched two, but failed to capitalize on a third.

For comparison, here are the records for consecutive title defenses in the UFC's other divisions:

Women's Strawweight: Two (Joanna Jedrzejczyk)*

Flyweight: Eight (Demetrious Johnson)*

Women's Bantamweight: Six (Ronda Rousey)

Bantamweight: Two (TJ Dillashaw, Dominick Cruz, Renan Barao)

Featherweight: Seven (Jose Aldo)

Lightweight: Three (BJ Penn, Frankie Edgar, Benson Henderson)

Welterweight: Nine (Georges St-Pierre)

Middleweight: 10 (Anderson Silva)

Light Heavyweight: Eight (Jon Jones)

*Denotes an active streak

The divide is immediately apparent. The divisions on par with heavyweight—women's strawweight and men's bantamweight—are quickly and easily explained. 

Jedrzejczyk, the current champ, can notch her third consecutive title defense against Claudia Gadelha in July. The women's 115-pound division didn't crown its first queen until December 2014. Although the division is not yet two years old, a champ is already on the cusp of snapping the heavyweight division's mark.

At bantamweight, Barao defended the interim title twice while champion Cruz was sidelined. Barao then added a third title defense against Urijah Faber at UFC 169. Between defenses two and three, the UFC stripped Cruz of his title for inactivity due to injuries, which gave Barao the undisputed title. As such, his three defenses are not traditionally lumped together, though they did occur consecutively.

Like the women's strawweight division, the 135-pound class is young—its first title fight took place in June 2011. In total, the UFC has crowned two strawweight champs and three bantamweight champs.

Fifteen men have held the undisputed heavyweight championship, and a couple more captured the interim strap. None of them could defend his title more than twice.

The handoff is never smooth, either. When Lesnar attempted his third title defense, Velasquez tuned him up on the feet and hammered away for first-round stoppage.

Soon after, Velasquez met that same end. Following two dominant title defenses over Junior dos Santos and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, Velasquez met Werdum, a once-forgotten heavyweight now enjoying a remarkable career resurgence.

Werdum battered Velasquez before securing the fight-ending guillotine choke in Round 3.

There's that pesky number: three. It seems impossible for heavyweights to surpass. After his victory over Velasquez, fans and critics alike were quick to throw Werdum into "Greatest Heavyweight of All Time" talks and lauded his well-rounded game. "Here's a guy with arguably the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the sport who is also knocking out K-1 champions and piecing up longer, rangier fighters on the feet. There's no beating him."

Unless you hit him in the face really hard. That usually works.

Especially in the heavyweight division, where knockouts can come from anywhere, anytime, any limb. Miocic's right hand blasted into Werdum's skull, and now, we wait to see just how far the Cleveland native can ride the golden train.

He's won three straight via knockout—all against worthy opponents (Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, and Werdum). His only loss in three years was controversial. Dos Santos defeated him via decision at UFC on Fox 13, but many felt Miocic should have earned the judges' nod.

There's no doubt about it: Miocic can scrap. He's quick and technical. His hands carry instant unconsciousness, and his transitions from striking to wrestling are smooth and unpredictable.

He's a well-rounded fighter with a game that lends itself to a lengthy run atop the mountain.

It's a shame he's so damn big.