List of UFC champions#Middleweight Championship
{{Short description|None}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships.{{cite web
|url=http://www.ocregister.com/sports/ufc-def-title-1751549-round-heavyweight
|title=UFC Championship Lineage
|work=The Orange County Register
|date=July 2, 2007
|access-date=September 14, 2007
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103234552/http://www.ocregister.com/sports/ufc-def-title-1751549-round-heavyweight
|archive-date=November 3, 2007
}}
Historical notes
At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classes. Instead of the traditional championship model, the UFC held tournaments with the winner receiving a permanent appellation.{{Cite journal
|url=http://www.slate.com/id/46344c
|title=Fight Clubbed
|journal=Slate
|last=Plotz
|first=David
|date=November 7, 1999
|access-date=March 21, 2007
}} In response to criticism from Senator John McCain that saw the loss of its television deal and the banning of the sport in thirty-six states, the UFC increased its cooperation with state athletic commissions and introduced weight classes in 1997, starting with UFC 12, and began introducing weight-specific titles.{{cite book
|last=Gentry III
|first=Clyde
|title=No Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting and the Martial Arts Revolution
|publisher=Milo Books
|year=2003
|edition=Paperback
|isbn=978-1-903854-30-3
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/noholdsbarred00clyd/page/106 106, 123]
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/noholdsbarred00clyd/page/106
}}
The original codification for weight classes introduced only two divisions: heavyweight, which grouped together all competitors above {{convert|200|lb|kg}}, and lightweight, which encompassed all competitors 199 pounds (90 kg) and under. At UFC 14 the lightweight division would be renamed to middleweight, though it would still encompass all fighters 199 pounds (90 kg) and under. The lightweight moniker would later return at UFC 16 with a new division consisting of those competitors {{convert| 170|lb|kg}} and under.{{cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dm-ufxsixteen041809|title=UFC 16: Frank's house|publisher=Yahoo! Sports|date=April 18, 2009|access-date=January 15, 2013|last=Meltzer|first=Dave}} Two years later a fourth weight class, the bantamweight division, arrived at UFC 26 and included all fighters {{convert| 155|lb|kg}} and under.{{cite web|url=http://www.yellmagazine.com/ufc-weight-classes-champions-history/15201/|title=UFC Weight Classes & Their Champions: A History|publisher=Yell! Magazine|access-date=December 24, 2012|last=Harshcore|first=Rod|date=2011-09-29|archive-date=2023-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410050918/https://www.yellmagazine.com/ufc-weight-classes-champions-history/15201/|url-status=dead}}
In 2000, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board completely took over MMA regulation in its home state and developed new rules and weight classes that eventually became the de facto rule set for all mixed martial arts.{{cite web
|url=http://www.state.nj.us/lps/sacb/docs/martial.html
|title=Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules of Conduct
|publisher=New Jersey State Athletic Control Board
|year=2000
|access-date=September 8, 2007
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403062008/http://www.state.nj.us/lps/sacb/docs/martial.html
|archive-date=April 3, 2009
}} The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with these new regulations in 2001, beginning with UFC 31.{{cite web
|url=http://www.ivansblog.com/2006/07/mixed-martial-arts-new-jersey.html
|title=New Jersey Commission Corrects Mainstream UFC Stories
|last=Trembow
|first=Ivan
|publisher=Ivan's Blog
|work=MMAWeekly.com
|date=July 21, 2006
|access-date=September 8, 2007
}} At the time, this brought the total number of active divisions in the UFC to five: lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight.
It would be nearly ten years before the UFC would expand their divisional offerings to include any of the lower weight classes. The first additions came in late 2010 when the UFC merged with their sister organization World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC). Due to the WEC's focus on lighter weight fighters, this merger necessitated the addition of both the featherweight and bantamweight divisions to the UFC, starting with The Ultimate Fighter season 12 finale.{{cite web|url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-WEC-to-Merge-in-2011-27812|title=UFC, WEC to Merge in 2011 |publisher=Sherdog.com|date=October 28, 2010|access-date=October 20, 2012|last=Whitman|first=Mike}} In early 2012 the UFC decided they would delve even further into the lower weight classes when they announced the introduction of the flyweight division to their ranks, beginning with UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann.{{cite web|url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-Adds-Flyweight-Class-4Man-Title-Tourney-Begins-March-3-37981|title=UFC Adds Flyweight Class; 4-Man Title Tourney Begins March 3|publisher=Sherdog.com|date=December 11, 2011|access-date=October 20, 2012|last=Whitman|first=Matt}}
In November 2012, as a result of the forthcoming dissolution of their sister organization Strikeforce, the UFC announced they would be adding female fighters to their roster for the first time in the promotion's history. Initially, only the women's bantamweight division was brought over, with the division's premiere bout taking place at UFC 157.{{cite web|url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Report-Strikeforce-Champion-Ronda-Rousey-to-Join-UFC-in-2013-Strikeforce-to-Fold-47207|title=Report: Strikeforce Champion Ronda Rousey to Join UFC in 2013, Strikeforce to Fold|publisher=Sherdog.com|date=November 9, 2012|access-date=December 12, 2012|last=Whitman|first=Mike}} A little over a year later, the UFC announced they would be expanding their weight classes for female fighters with the addition of a women's strawweight division,{{cite web|url=http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/12/11/5202056/tuf-20-will-feature-all-womens-cast-crown-first-ufc-strawweight|title='TUF 20' will feature all-women's cast; crown first UFC strawweight champion|publisher=MMAFighting.com|date=December 11, 2013|access-date=December 15, 2013|last=Doyle|first=Dave}} the first bout took place at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Miller.{{cite web|url=http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/6/11/5800914/strawweights-claudia-gadelha-tina-lahdemaki-meet-at-ufc-fight-night-45|title=Strawweights Claudia Gadelha, Tina Lahdemaki meet at UFC Fight Night 45|publisher=MMAFighting.com|date=June 11, 2014|access-date=June 11, 2014|last=Cruz|first=Guilherme}}
In late 2016, a featherweight division was introduced for the women with the first bout to be for the inaugural championship at UFC 208 on February 11, 2017. In that same year the UFC announced the Women's Flyweight division would officially be added, with the winner of the 26th season of The Ultimate Fighter to be named the inaugural champion.
Current champions
=Men=
| class="wikitable sortable"
! width=120| Division !!width=200| Champion !!width=70| Since !!width=45| Defenses |
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2| Heavyweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones | Mar 4, 2023 | align=center| 1 |
|---|
| {{flagicon|ENG}} Tom Aspinall (interim)
| Nov 11, 2023 | style="text-align:center;" | 1 |
| style="text-align:left;"| Light Heavyweight
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Magomed Ankalaev | Mar 8, 2025 | align=center| 0 |
| style="text-align:left;"| Middleweight
| {{flagicon|RSA}} Dricus du Plessis | Jan 20, 2024 | align=center| 2 |
| style="text-align:left;"| Welterweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Belal Muhammad | Jul 27, 2024 | align=center| 0 |
| style="text-align:left;"| Lightweight
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Islam Makhachev | Oct 22, 2022 | align=center| 4 |
| style="text-align:left;"| Featherweight
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Alexander Volkanovski | Apr 12, 2025 | align=center| 0 |
| style="text-align:left;"| Bantamweight
| {{flagicon|GEO}} Merab Dvalishvili | Sep 14, 2024 | align=center| 1 |
| style="text-align:left;" | Flyweight
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Alexandre Pantoja | Jul 8, 2023 | align=center| 3 |
=Women=
| class="wikitable sortable"
! width=120| Division !!width=200| Champion !!width=70| Since !!width=45| Defenses |
| style="text-align:left;"| Bantamweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Julianna Peña | Oct 5, 2024 | align=center | 0 |
|---|
| style="text-align:left;"| Flyweight
| {{flagicon|KGZ}} Valentina Shevchenko | Sep 14, 2024 | align=center| 0 |
| style="text-align:left;"| Strawweight
| {{flagicon|CHN}} Zhang Weili | Nov 12, 2022 | align=center| 3 |
Men's championship history
=Heavyweight Championship =
206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)
The UFC Superfight Championship was unified with the UFC 11 Tournament Championship to determine the inaugural UFC Heavyweight Champion on February 7, 1997, when Mark Coleman defeated Dan Severn at UFC 12.
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!!Name!!Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:9%;"|Reign |
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Mark Coleman | UFC 12 | align=center| Feb 7, 1997 | align=center| 170 days | |
|---|
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} Maurice Smith | UFC 14 | align=center| Jul 27, 1997 | align=center| 147 days | {{small| 1. def. Tank Abbott at UFC 15 on Oct 17, 1997}} |
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Couture | UFC Japan | align=center| Dec 21, 1997 | align=center| ? days | |
| colspan=6 align=center |Couture was stripped of the title in January 1998, when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute. |
| 4
| {{flagicon|Netherlands}} Bas Rutten | UFC 20 | align=center| May 7, 1999 | align=center| 34 days | |
| colspan=6 align=center |''Rutten vacated the title in June 1999 in order to drop down to Light Heavyweight. He retired soon after due to training injuries.{{cite web
|url=http://basrutten.tv/biography.html |title=Bas Rutten Biography |last=Rutten |first=Bas |author-link=Bas Rutten |access-date=September 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520191724/http://www.basrutten.tv/biography.html |archive-date=May 20, 2007 |url-status=dead }} '' |
| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} Kevin Randleman | UFC 23 | align=center| Nov 19, 1999 | align=center| 364 days | {{small| 1. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 26 on Jun 9, 2000}} |
| 6
| {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Couture {{small|(2)}} | UFC 28 | align=center| Nov 17, 2000 | align=center| 490 days | {{small| 1. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 31 on May 4, 2001 2. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 34 on Nov 2, 2001}} |
| 7
| {{flagicon|USA}} Josh Barnett | UFC 36 | align=center| Mar 22, 2002 | align=center| 126 days | |
| colspan=6 align=center |'Barnett was stripped of the title on July 26, 2002, after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.{{cite web
|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Aug-14-Sat-2004/sports/24534514.html |title=UFC fighter flunks drug test |last=Fitzgerald |first=Tom |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=November 26, 2006 |access-date=September 12, 2007 }} ' |
| 8
| {{flagicon|USA}} Ricco Rodriguez | UFC 39 | align=center| Sep 27, 2002 | align=center| 154 days | |
| 9
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tim Sylvia | UFC 41 | align=center| Feb 28, 2003 | align=center| 229 days | |
| colspan=6 align=center |''Sylvia was stripped of the title on October 15, 2003, after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.{{cite web
|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/26/SPG19MJT8O1.DTL |title=Fighting outside the box |last=Fitzgerald |first=Tom |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=November 26, 2006 |access-date=September 12, 2007 }} '' |
| 10
| {{flagicon|USA}} Frank Mir | UFC 48 | align=center| Jun 19, 2004 | align=center| 419 days | |
| —
| {{flagicon|BLR}} Andrei Arlovski | UFC 51 | align=center| Feb 5, 2005 | align=center| — | {{small| 1. def. Justin Eilers at UFC 53 on Jun 4, 2005}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |''Mir was stripped of the title on August 12, 2005, for inactivity resulting from injuries he sustained in a road accident.{{cite web
|url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=3249 |title=UFC Strips Mir of Heavyweight Belt, Arlovski New Champion |publisher=Sherdog.com |date=August 13, 2005 |access-date=September 12, 2007 |author=Staff }} '' |
| 11
| {{flagicon|BLR}} Andrei Arlovski | align=center| — | align=center| Aug 12, 2005 | align=center| 246 days | {{small| 1. def. Paul Buentello at UFC 55 on Oct 7, 2005}} |
| 12
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tim Sylvia {{small|(2)}} | UFC 59 | align=center| Apr 15, 2006 | align=center| 322 days | {{small| 1. def. Andrei Arlovski at UFC 61 on Jul 8, 2006 2. def. Jeff Monson at UFC 65 on Nov 18, 2006}} |
| 13
| {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Couture {{small|(3)}} | UFC 68 | align=center| Mar 3, 2007 | align=center| 623 days | {{small| 1. def. Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 on Aug 25, 2007}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira | UFC 81 | align=center| Feb 2, 2008 | align=center| — | |
| 14
| {{flagicon|USA}} Brock Lesnar | UFC 91 | align=center| Nov 15, 2008 | align=center| 707 days | {{small| {{nowrap| 1. def. interim champion Frank Mir at UFC 100 on Jul 11, 2009}} {{nowrap|2. def. interim champion Shane Carwin at UFC 116 on Jul 3, 2010}}}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Frank Mir | UFC 92 | align=center| Dec 27, 2008 | align=center| — | |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Shane Carwin | UFC 111 | align=center| Mar 27, 2010 | align=center| — | |
| 15
| {{flagicon|USA}} Cain Velasquez | UFC 121 | align=center| Oct 23, 2010 | align=center| 385 days | |
| 16
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Junior dos Santos | UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. dos Santos | align=center| Nov 12, 2011 | align=center| 413 days | |
| 17
| {{flagicon|USA}} Cain Velasquez {{small|(2)}} | UFC 155 | align=center| Dec 29, 2012 | align=center| 896 days | {{small| 1. def. Antônio Silva at UFC 160 on May 25, 2013 2. def. Junior dos Santos at UFC 166 on Oct 19, 2013}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Fabrício Werdum | UFC 180 | align=center| Nov 15, 2014 | align=center| — | |
| 18
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Fabrício Werdum | UFC 188 | align=center| Jun 13, 2015 | align=center| 336 days | |
| 19
| {{flagicon|US}} Stipe Miocic | UFC 198 | align=center| May 14, 2016 | align=center| 784 days | {{small| 1. def. Alistair Overeem at UFC 203 on Sep 10, 2016 2. def. Junior dos Santos at UFC 211 on May 13, 2017 3. def. Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 on Jan 20, 2018}} |
| 20
| {{flagicon|USA}} Daniel Cormier | UFC 226 | align=center| Jul 7, 2018 | align=center| 406 days | {{small| 1. def. Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 on Nov 3, 2018}} |
| 21
| {{flagicon|USA}} Stipe Miocic {{small|(2)}} | UFC 241 | align=center| Aug 17, 2019 | align=center| 588 days | {{small| 1. def. Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 on Aug 15, 2020}} |
| 22
| {{flagicon|CMR}} Francis Ngannou | UFC 260 | align=center| Mar 27, 2021 | align=center| 659 days | {{small| 1. def. interim champion Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 on Jan 22, 2022}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|FRA}} Ciryl Gane | UFC 265 | align=center| Aug 7, 2021 | align=center| — | |
| colspan=6 align=center |Ngannou was stripped of the title on January 14, 2023 when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute.{{Cite web|last=Mahjouri|first=Shakiel|date=January 14, 2023|title=UFC releases heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou from contract, strips him of title|url=https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/ufc-releases-heavyweight-champion-francis-ngannou-from-contract-strips-him-of-title/amp/|access-date=January 14, 2023|website=CBS Sports|language=en-US}} |
| 23
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones | UFC 285 | align=center| Mar 4, 2023 | align=center| {{age in days|2023|03|04|show unit=full}} | {{small| 1. def. Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on Nov 16, 2024}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|ENG}} Tom Aspinall | UFC 295 | align=center| Nov 11, 2023 | align=center| {{age in days|2023|11|11|show unit=full}} | {{small| 1. def. Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 on Jul 27, 2024}} |
=Light Heavyweight Championship=
186 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg)
The Light Heavyweight Championship was known as the Middleweight Championship prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
The Pride World Middleweight Championship (205.03 lb) was unified with the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on September 8, 2007, when Quinton Jackson defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 75.
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!!Name!!Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:9%;"|Reign |
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Frank Shamrock | UFC Japan | align=center| Dec 21, 1997 | align=center| 703 days | {{small| 1. def. Igor Zinoviev at UFC 16 on Mar 13, 1998 2. def. Jeremy Horn at UFC 17 on May 15, 1998 3. def. John Lober at UFC Brazil on Oct 16, 1998 4. def. Tito Ortiz at UFC 22 on Sep 24, 1999}} |
|---|
| colspan=6 align=center |Shamrock vacated the title on November 24, 1999, when he retired from the UFC, citing a lack of competition. |
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tito Ortiz | UFC 25 | align=center| Apr 14, 2000 | align=center| 1,260 days | {{small| 1. def. Yuki Kondo at UFC 29 on Dec 16, 2000 2. def. Evan Tanner at UFC 30 on Feb 23, 2001 3. def. Elvis Sinosic at UFC 32 on Jun 29, 2001 4. def. Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 33 on Sep 28, 2001 5. def. Ken Shamrock at UFC 40 on Nov 22, 2002}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Couture | UFC 43 | align=center| Jun 6, 2003 | align=center| — | |
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Couture | UFC 44 | align=center| Sep 26, 2003 | align=center| 127 days | |
| 4
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Vitor Belfort | UFC 46 | align=center| Jan 31, 2004 | align=center| 203 days | |
| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Couture {{small|(2)}} | UFC 49 | align=center| Aug 21, 2004 | align=center| 238 days | |
| 6
| {{flagicon|USA}} Chuck Liddell | UFC 52 | align=center| Apr 16, 2005 | align=center| 770 days | {{small| 1. def. Jeremy Horn at UFC 54 on Aug 20, 2005 2. def. Randy Couture at UFC 57 on Feb 4, 2006 3. def. Renato Sobral at UFC 62 on Aug 26, 2006 4. def. Tito Ortiz at UFC 66 on Dec 30, 2006}} |
| 7
| {{flagicon|USA}} Quinton Jackson | UFC 71 | align=center| May 26, 2007 | align=center| 406 days | {{small| 1. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 75 on Sep 8, 2007}} |
| 8
| {{flagicon|USA}} Forrest Griffin | UFC 86 | align=center| Jul 5, 2008 | align=center| 175 days | |
| 9
| {{flagicon|USA}} Rashad Evans | UFC 92 | align=center| Dec 27, 2008 | align=center| 147 days | |
| 10
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Lyoto Machida | UFC 98 | align=center| May 23, 2009 | align=center| 350 days | {{small| 1. def. Maurício Rua at UFC 104 on Oct 24, 2009}} |
| 11
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Maurício Rua | UFC 113 | align=center| May 8, 2010 | align=center| 315 days | |
| 12
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones | UFC 128 | align=center| Mar 19, 2011 | align=center| 1,501 days | {{small| 1. def. Quinton Jackson at UFC 135 on Sep 24, 2011 2. def. Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 on Dec 10, 2011 3. def. Rashad Evans at UFC 145 on Apr 21, 2012 4. def. Vitor Belfort at UFC 152 on Sep 22, 2012 5. def. Chael Sonnen at UFC 159 on Apr 27, 2013 {{nowrap|6. def. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 on Sep 21, 2013}} 7. def. Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 on Apr 26, 2014 8. def. Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 on Jan 3, 2015}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Jones was stripped of the title on April 28, 2015, due to his involvement and arrest in a felony hit-and-run.{{cite web|url=http://www.mmafighting.com/2015/4/28/8512255/jon-jones-stripped-of-title-daniel-cormier-vs-anthony-johnson-for|title=Jon Jones stripped of title, Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson for belt headlines UFC 187|publisher=mmafighting.com|date=April 28, 2015|access-date=April 28, 2015}} |
| 13
| {{flagicon|USA}} Daniel Cormier | UFC 187 | align=center| May 23, 2015 | align=center| 1,315 days | {{small| 1. def. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192 on Oct 3, 2015 2. def. Anthony Johnson at UFC 210 on Apr 8, 2017 3. def. Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 on Jan 20, 2018}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones | UFC 197 | align=center| Apr 23, 2016 | align=center| — | |
| colspan=6 align=center |Jones was stripped of the interim title on November 9, 2016, due to his one-year suspension related to a failed pre-fight drug test.{{cite web|url=http://mmajunkie.com/2016/11/ufc-strips-jon-jones-of-interim-light-heavyweight-title-on-heels-of-one-year-suspension|title=UFC strips Jon Jones of interim light heavyweight title on heels of one-year suspension|publisher=mmajunkie.com|author=Staff|date=2016-11-09|access-date=2016-11-09}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Jones won the undisputed title at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017, but was stripped on September 13, 2017, after his win was overturned to a no-contest due to a failed pre-fight drug test. Cormier was then retroactively reinstated as champion.{{cite news|url=https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/9/13/16305374/daniel-cormier-reinstated-as-ufc-light-heavyweight-champion|title=Daniel Cormier reinstated as UFC light heavyweight champion|publisher=mmafighting.com|author=Marc Raimondi|date=2017-09-13|access-date=2017-09-13}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Cormier vacated the title on December 28, 2018, 174 days after winning the heavyweight title.{{cite news|url=http://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/25633875/daniel-cormier-relinquish-ufc-light-heavyweight-title|title=Daniel Cormier to relinquish UFC light heavyweight title|work=espn.com|author=Ariel Helwani|date=2018-12-28|access-date=2018-12-28}} |
| 14
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones {{small|(2)}} | UFC 232 | align=center| Dec 29, 2018 | align=center| 597 days | {{small| 1. def. Anthony Smith at UFC 235 on Mar 2, 2019 2. def. Thiago Santos at UFC 239 on Jul 6, 2019 3. def. Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 on Feb 8, 2020}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Jones vacated the belt on August 17, 2020, citing issues with the UFC over salary negotiation and the desire to compete at heavyweight.{{cite news|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/08/jon-jones-vacates-ufc-light-heavyweight-title-officially|title=Jon Jones vacates UFC title: 'It's officially up for grabs'|publisher=mmajunkie.com|author=Mike Bohn|date=2020-08-17|access-date=2020-08-17}}{{cite news|url=https://www.ufc.com/news/jon-jones-announces-hes-vacated-ufc-light-heavyweight-championship|title=Jon Jones Announces he's vacated the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship|publisher=UFC|access-date=2020-08-18}} |
| 15
| {{flagicon|POL}} Jan Błachowicz | UFC 253 | align=center| Sep 27, 2020 | align=center| 398 days | {{small| 1. def. Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 on Mar 6, 2021}} |
| 16
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Glover Teixeira | UFC 267 | align=center| Oct 30, 2021 | align=center| 225 days | |
| 17
| {{flagicon|CZE}} Jiří Procházka | UFC 275 | align=center| Jun 12, 2022 | align=center| 164 days | |
| colspan=6 align=center |Procházka vacated the belt on November 23, 2022, after suffering a severe shoulder injury.{{Cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/ufc-282-jiri-prochazka-injured-vacates-light-heavyweight-championship-blachowicz-ankalaev-title-bout-booked-212050487.html|title=UFC 282: Jiri Prochazka injured, vacates light heavyweight championship; Blachowicz-Ankalaev title bout booked|publisher=sports.yahoo.com|author=Kevin Iole|date=2022-11-23|access-date=2022-11-23}}{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/11/ufc-282-jiri-prochazka-statement-injury-shoulder|title=Jiri Prochazka apologizes for UFC 282 withdrawal, explains vacating light heavyweight title|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Nolan King|date=2022-11-23|access-date=2022-11-23}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Jan Błachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev fought to a draw for the vacant title on December 10, 2022, at UFC 282 in Las Vegas, NV, US.{{Cite web|last=Doherty|first=Dan|date=2022-12-11|url=https://cagesidepress.com/2022/12/11/ufc-282-magomed-ankalaev-jan-blachowicz-fight-puzzling-draw/|title=UFC 282: Magomed Ankalaev and Jan Blachowicz Fight to Puzzling Draw|website=Cageside Press|access-date=2022-12-11|language=en-US}} |
| 18
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jamahal Hill | UFC 283 | align=center| Jan 21, 2023 | align=center| 174 days | |
| colspan=6 align=center |Hill vacated the belt on July 14, 2023, after suffering an achilles tendon rupture.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/07/ufc-news-jamahal-hill-reqlinquishes-stripped-light-heavyweight-title-achilles-injury|title=Jamahal Hill relinquishes UFC light heavyweight title after ruptured Achilles tendon|website=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|date=14 July 2023 |language=en-US}} |
| 19
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Alex Pereira | UFC 295 | align=center| Nov 11, 2023 | align=center| 483 days | {{small| 1. def. Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 on Apr 13, 2024 2. def. Jiří Procházka at UFC 303 on Jun 29, 2024 3. def. Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 on Oct 5, 2024}} |
| 20
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Magomed Ankalaev | UFC 313 | align=center| Mar 8, 2025 | align=center| {{age in days|2025|03|08|show unit=full}} | |
=Middleweight Championship=
171 to 185 lb (78 to 84 kg)
The Pride World Welterweight Championship (182.98 lb) was unified with the UFC Middleweight Championship on March 1, 2008, when Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82.{{cite web|url=http://www.ufc.com/news/Champion-vs-Champion-A-UFC-History|title=Champion vs. Champion: A UFC History |publisher=UFC|date=October 19, 2012|access-date=December 24, 2012|last=Kyte|first=Spencer}}
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!!Name!!Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:9%;"|Reign!!Defenses |
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Dave Menne | UFC 33 | align=center| Sep 28, 2001 | align=center| 105 days | |
|---|
| 2
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Murilo Bustamante | UFC 35 | align=center| Jan 11, 2002 | align=center| 267 days | {{small| 1. def. Matt Lindland at UFC 37 on May 10, 2002}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Bustamante was stripped of the title on October 5, 2002, when he left the UFC for Pride. |
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} Evan Tanner | UFC 51 | align=center| Feb 5, 2005 | align=center| 119 days | |
| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} Rich Franklin | UFC 53 | align=center| Jun 4, 2005 | align=center| 497 days | {{small| 1. def. Nate Quarry at UFC 56 on Nov 19, 2005 2. def. David Loiseau at UFC 58 on Mar 4, 2006}} |
| 5
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Anderson Silva | UFC 64 | align=center| Oct 14, 2006 | align=center| 2,457 days | {{small| 1. def. Nate Marquardt at UFC 73 on Jul 7, 2007 2. def. Rich Franklin at UFC 77 on Oct 20, 2007 3. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 82 on Mar 1, 2008 4. def. Patrick Côté at UFC 90 on Oct 25, 2008 5. def. Thales Leites at UFC 97 on Apr 18, 2009 6. def. Demian Maia at UFC 112 on Apr 10, 2010 7. def. Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 on Aug 7, 2010 8. def. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126 on Feb 5, 2011 9. def. Yushin Okami at UFC 134 on Aug 27, 2011 10. def. Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 on Jul 7, 2012 |
| 6
| {{flagicon|USA}} Chris Weidman | UFC 162 | align=center| Jul 6, 2013 | align=center| 889 days | {{small| {{nowrap|1. def. Anderson Silva at UFC 168 on Dec 28, 2013 2. def. Lyoto Machida at UFC 175 on Jul 5, 2014 3. def. Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 on May 23, 2015 |
| 7
| {{flagicon|USA}} Luke Rockhold | UFC 194 | align=center| Dec 12, 2015 | align=center| 175 days | |
| 8
| {{flagicon|ENG}} Michael Bisping | UFC 199 | align=center| Jun 4, 2016 | align=center| 518 days | {{small| 1. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 204 on Oct 8, 2016}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Robert Whittaker | UFC 213 | align=center| Jul 8, 2017 | align=center| — | |
| 9
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Georges St-Pierre | UFC 217 | align=center| Nov 4, 2017 | align=center| 33 days | |
| colspan=6 align=center |St-Pierre vacated the title on December 7, 2017, due to ulcerative colitis.{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/21637378/georges-st-pierre-indefinitely-colitis-ufc-president-dana-white-says|title=Dana White: Georges St-Pierre will be 'out for a minute' with colitis|work=espn.com|author=Brett Okamoto|date=December 2, 2017|access-date=December 8, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/21705441/georges-st-pierre-vacates-ufc-middleweight-championship-robert-whittaker-becomes-titleholder|title=Georges St-Pierre vacates middleweight title; Robert Whittaker takes spot|work=espn.com|author=Brett Okamoto|date=December 7, 2017|access-date=December 8, 2017}} |
| 10
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Robert Whittaker | align=center| — | align=center| Dec 7, 2017 | align=center| 660 days | |
| —
| {{flagicon|NGA}} Israel Adesanya | UFC 236 | align=center| Apr 13, 2019 | style="text-align:center;”|— | |
| 11
| {{flagicon|NGA}} Israel Adesanya | UFC 243 | align=center| Oct 6, 2019 | style="text-align:center;”| 1,134 days | {{small| 1. def. Yoel Romero at UFC 248 on Mar 7, 2020 2. def. Paulo Costa at UFC 253 on Sep 27, 2020 3. def. Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 on Jun 12, 2021 {{nowrap|4. def. Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 on Feb 12, 2022}} 5. def. Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 on Jul 2, 2022}} |
| 12
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Alex Pereira | UFC 281 | align=center| Nov 12, 2022 | style="text-align:center;”| 147 days | |
| 13
| {{flagicon|NGA}} Israel Adesanya {{small|(2)}} | UFC 287 | align=center| Apr 8, 2023 | style="text-align:center;”| 155 days | |
| 14
| {{flagicon|USA}} Sean Strickland | UFC 293 | align=center| Sep 10, 2023 | style="text-align:center;”| 132 days | |
| 15
| {{flagicon|RSA}} Dricus du Plessis | UFC 297 | align=center| Jan 20, 2024 | style="text-align:center;”| {{age in days|2024|01|20|show unit=full}} | {{small| 1. def. Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 on Aug 18, 2024 2. def. Sean Strickland at UFC 312 on Feb 9, 2025}} |
=Welterweight Championship=
156 to 170 lb (71 to 77 kg)
The Welterweight Championship was known as the Lightweight Championship prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!!Name!! style="width:14%;"|Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:10%;"|Reign |
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Pat Miletich | UFC Brazil |style="text-align:center;"| Oct 16, 1998 |style="text-align:center;"|931 days | {{small| 1. def. Jorge Patino at UFC 18 on Jan 8, 1999 2. def. André Pederneiras at UFC 21 on Jul 16, 1999 3. def. John Alessio at UFC 26 on Jun 9, 2000 4. def. Kenichi Yamamoto at UFC 29 on Dec 16, 2000}} |
|---|
| 2
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Carlos Newton | UFC 31 |style="text-align:center;"| May 4, 2001 |style="text-align:center;"| 183 days | |
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} Matt Hughes | UFC 34 |style="text-align:center;"| Nov 2, 2001 |style="text-align:center;"|820 days | {{small| 1. def. Hayato Sakurai at UFC 36 on Mar 22, 2002 2. def. Carlos Newton at UFC 38 on Jul 13, 2002 3. def. Gil Castillo at UFC 40 on Nov 22, 2002 4. def. Sean Sherk at UFC 42 on Apr 25, 2003 5. def. Frank Trigg at UFC 45 on Nov 21, 2003}} |
| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} B.J. Penn | UFC 46 |style="text-align:center;"| Jan 31, 2004 |style="text-align:center;"| 107 days | |
| colspan=6 align=center |''Penn was stripped of the title on May 17, 2004, when he left the UFC for K-1.{{cite web
|url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Zuffa-Strips-Penn-of-Title-1671 |title=Zuffa Strips Penn of Title |publisher=Sherdog.com |date=May 18, 2004 |access-date=December 9, 2007 }} '' |
| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} Matt Hughes {{small|(2)}} | UFC 50 |style="text-align:center;"| Oct 22, 2004 |style="text-align:center;"|757 days | {{small| 1. def. Frank Trigg at UFC 52 on Apr 16, 2005 |
| 6
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Georges St-Pierre | UFC 65 |style="text-align:center;"| Nov 18, 2006 |style="text-align:center;"| 140 days | |
| 7
| {{flagicon|USA}} Matt Serra | UFC 69 |style="text-align:center;"| Apr 7, 2007 |style="text-align:center;"|378 days | |
| —
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Georges St-Pierre | UFC 79 |style="text-align:center;"| Dec 29, 2007 |style="text-align:center;"|— | |
| 8
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Georges St-Pierre {{small|(2)}} | UFC 83 |style="text-align:center;"| Apr 19, 2008 |style="text-align:center;"|2,064 days | {{small| 1. def. Jon Fitch at UFC 87 on Aug 9, 2008 2. def. B.J. Penn at UFC 94 on Jan 31, 2009 3. def. Thiago Alves at UFC 100 on Jul 11, 2009 4. def. Dan Hardy at UFC 111 on Mar 27, 2010 5. def. Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 on Dec 11, 2010 6. def. Jake Shields at UFC 129 on Apr 30, 2011 {{nowrap|7. def. interim champion Carlos Condit at UFC 154 on Nov 17, 2012 8. def. Nick Diaz at UFC 158 on Mar 16, 2013 9. def. Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Nov 16, 2013}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Carlos Condit | UFC 143 |style="text-align:center;"| Feb 4, 2012 |style="text-align:center;"|— | |
| colspan=6 align=center |St-Pierre vacated the title on December 13, 2013, when he decided to take time off.{{cite web|url=http://mmajunkie.com/2013/12/its-official-georges-st-pierre-vacating-ufc-welterweight-title/|title=It's official: Georges St-Pierre vacating UFC welterweight title|publisher=mmajunkie.com|date=December 13, 2013|access-date=December 13, 2013}} |
| 9
| {{flagicon|USA}} Johny Hendricks | UFC 171 |style="text-align:center;"| Mar 15, 2014 |style="text-align:center;"|266 days | |
| 10
| {{flagicon|USA}} Robbie Lawler | UFC 181 |style="text-align:center;"| Dec 6, 2014 |style="text-align:center;"|602 days | {{small| 1. def. Rory MacDonald at UFC 189 on Jul 11, 2015 2. def. Carlos Condit at UFC 195 on Jan 2, 2016}} |
| 11
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tyron Woodley | UFC 201 |style="text-align:center;"| Jul 30, 2016 |style="text-align:center;"|945 days | {{small| 1. drew with Stephen Thompson at UFC 205 on Nov 12, 2016 2. def. Stephen Thompson at UFC 209 on Mar 4, 2017 3. def. Demian Maia at UFC 214 on Jul 29, 2017 4. def. Darren Till at UFC 228 on Sep 8, 2018}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Colby Covington | UFC 225 |style="text-align:center;"|Jun 9, 2018 |style="text-align:center;"|— | |
| colspan=6 align=center |Covington was stripped of the interim title on September 8, 2018, due to injury.{{Cite news|url=https://mmajunkie.com/2018/07/tyron-woodley-vs-darren-till-title-fight-in-works-for-ufc-228-dallas-colby-covington|title=Tyron Woodley vs. Darren Till title fight headlines UFC 228; Colby Covington to be stripped (updated)|publisher=mmajunkie.com|author=Steven Marrocco|date=2018-07-24|access-date=2018-09-09}} |
| 12
| {{flagicon|NGA}} Kamaru Usman | UFC 235 |style="text-align:center;"| Mar 2, 2019 |style="text-align:center;"| 1,267 days | {{small| 1. def. Colby Covington at UFC 245 on Dec 14, 2019 2. def. Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 on Jul 12, 2020 3. def. Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 on Feb 13, 2021 4. def. Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 on Apr 24, 2021 5. def. Colby Covington at UFC 268 on Nov 6, 2021}} |
| 13
| {{flagicon|ENG}} Leon Edwards | UFC 278 |style="text-align:center;"| Aug 20, 2022 |style="text-align:center;"| 707 days | {{small| 1. def. Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 on Mar 18, 2023 2. def. Colby Covington at UFC 296 on Dec 16, 2023}} |
| 14
| {{flagicon|USA}} Belal Muhammad | UFC 304 |style="text-align:center;"| Jul 27, 2024 |style="text-align:center;"| {{age in days|2024|07|27|show unit=full}} | |
=Lightweight Championship=
146 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg)
The Lightweight Championship was known as the Bantamweight Championship prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
The Strikeforce Lightweight Championship was unified (perhaps unofficially) with the UFC Lightweight Championship on April 20, 2013, when Benson Henderson defeated Gilbert Melendez at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez.{{cite web|url=http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/1/15/3879852/ufc-on-fox-7-fight-card-benson-henderson-vs-gilbert-melendez-daniel-cormier-vs-frank-mir |title=Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez, Daniel Cormier vs. Frank Mir set for UFC on FOX 7 |publisher=MMA Fighting |date= 2013-01-15|access-date=2014-08-12}}
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!!Name!! style="width:14%;"|Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:10%;"|Reign |
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jens Pulver | UFC 30 | align=center| Feb 23, 2001 | align=center| 393 days | {{small| 1. def. Dennis Hallman at UFC 33 on Sep 28, 2001 |
|---|
| colspan=6 align=center |Pulver was stripped of the title on March 23, 2002, when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute. |
| colspan=6 align=center |B.J. Penn and Caol Uno fought to a draw on February 28, 2003, at UFC 41 in Atlantic City, NJ, US in the finale of a four-man tournament for the vacant title. |
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} Sean Sherk | UFC 64 | align=center| Oct 14, 2006 | align=center| 420 days | {{small| 1. def. Hermes França at UFC 73 on Jul 7, 2007}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |''Sherk was stripped of the title on December 8, 2007, after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.{{cite news
|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/mma_experts/post/Sherk-stripped-of-lightweight-title?urn=mma,56811 |first=Dave |last=Meltzer |title=Sherk stripped of lightweight title |date=December 9, 2007 |access-date=December 10, 2007 |publisher=Yahoo! Sports }} '' |
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} B.J. Penn | UFC 80 | align=center| Jan 19, 2008 | align=center| 812 days | {{small| 1. def. Sean Sherk at UFC 84 on May 24, 2008 2. def. Kenny Florian at UFC 101 on Aug 8, 2009 3. def. Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 on Dec 12, 2009}} |
| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} Frankie Edgar | UFC 112 | align=center| Apr 10, 2010 | align=center| 687 days | {{small| 1. def. B.J. Penn at UFC 118 on Aug 28, 2010 2. drew with Gray Maynard at UFC 125 on Jan 1, 2011 3. def. Gray Maynard at UFC 136 on Oct 8, 2011}} |
| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} Benson Henderson | UFC 144 | align=center| Feb 26, 2012 | align=center| 552 days | {{small| 1. def. Frankie Edgar at UFC 150 on Aug 11, 2012 2. def. Nate Diaz at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz on Dec 8, 2012 {{nowrap|3. def. Gilbert Melendez at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez on Apr 20, 2013}}}} |
| 6
| {{flagicon|USA}} Anthony Pettis | UFC 164 | align=center| Aug 31, 2013 | align=center| 560 days | {{small| 1. def. Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181 on Dec 6, 2014}} |
| 7
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Rafael dos Anjos | UFC 185 | align=center| Mar 14, 2015 | align=center| 481 days | {{small| 1. def. Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 on Dec 19, 2015}} |
| 8
| {{flagicon|USA}} Eddie Alvarez | UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Alvarez | align=center| Jul 7, 2016 | align=center| 128 days | |
| 9
| {{flagicon|IRL}} Conor McGregor | UFC 205 | align=center| Nov 12, 2016 | align=center| 511 days | |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tony Ferguson | UFC 216 | align=center| Oct 7, 2017 | align=center| — | |
| colspan=6 align=center |Both McGregor and Ferguson were stripped of their titles on April 7, 2018, due to inactivity and injury, respectively.{{cite web | url=https://www.bjpenn.com/mma-news/ufc-223/breaking-dana-white-addresses-the-ufcs-complicated-lightweight-title-picture/ | title=Breaking! Dana White addresses the UFC's complicated lightweight title picture | BJPenn.com| date=2018-04-02}} |
| 10
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Khabib Nurmagomedov | UFC 223 | align=center| Apr 7, 2018 | align=center| 1,077 days | {{small| 1. def. Conor McGregor at UFC 229 on Oct 6, 2018 2. def. interim champion Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 on Sep 7, 2019 3. def. interim champion Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on Oct 24, 2020}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Dustin Poirier | UFC 236 | align=center| Apr 13, 2019 | align=center| — | |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Justin Gaethje | UFC 249 | align=center| May 9, 2020 | align=center| — | |
| colspan=6 align=center |Nurmagomedov announced his retirement on October 24, 2020.{{cite web | url=https://www.mmafighting.com/2020/10/24/21532169/khabib-nurmagomedov-announces-retirement-following-emotional-victory-justin-gaethje-ufc-254-main | title=Khabib Nurmagomedov announces his retirement following emotional victory over Justin Gaethje in UFC 254 main event mmafighting.com| date=2020-10-24}} The title was officially vacated on March 19, 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/31090572/dana-white-khabib-nurmagomedov-officially-retired-michael-chandler-charles-oliveira-title|title=Dana White: Khabib Nurmagomedov officially retired; Michael Chandler-Charles Oliveira for title|work=espn.com|author=Brett Okamoto|date=2021-03-19|access-date=2021-03-19}} |
| 11
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Charles Oliveira | UFC 262 | align=center| May 15, 2021 | align=center| 357 days | {{small| 1. def. Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 on Dec 11, 2021}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Oliveira was stripped of the title on May 7, 2022 after failing to make weight for his title defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-06 |title=Update On The UFC 274 Main Event |url=https://www.ufc.com/news/update-ufc-274-main-event-lightweight-charles-oliveira-justin-gaethje |access-date=2022-05-06 |website=UFC |language=en}} |
| 12
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Islam Makhachev | UFC 280 | align=center| Oct 22, 2022 | align=center| {{age in days|2022|10|22|show unit=full}} | {{small| 1. def. Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 on Feb 12, 2023 2. def. Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294 on Oct 21, 2023 3. def. Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 on Jun 1, 2024 4. def. Renato Moicano at UFC 311 on Jan 18, 2025}} |
=Featherweight Championship=
136 to 145 lb (61 to 66 kg)
Prior to the UFC-WEC merger, José Aldo was the WEC Featherweight Champion. Aldo was awarded the inaugural UFC Featherweight Championship on November 20, 2010, at UFC 123 in a ceremony prior to the event.{{cite web|url=http://mmajunkie.com/news/21481/new-ufc-champion-jose-aldo-officially-awarded-title-belt.mma|title=New UFC Champion Jose Aldo officially awarded title belt|publisher=MMAjunkie.com|date=November 20, 2010|access-date=October 20, 2012|last1=Morgan|first1=John|last2=Stupp|first2=Dann|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023091540/http://mmajunkie.com/news/21481/new-ufc-champion-jose-aldo-officially-awarded-title-belt.mma|archive-date=October 23, 2012}}
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!!Name!! style="width:14%;"|Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:10%;"|Reign |
| 1
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} José Aldo | UFC 123 | align=center| Nov 20, 2010 | align=center| 1,848 days | {{small| 1. def. Mark Hominick at UFC 129 on Apr 30, 2011 2. def. Kenny Florian at UFC 136 on Oct 8, 2011 3. def. Chad Mendes at UFC 142 on Jan 14, 2012 4. def. Frankie Edgar at UFC 156 on Feb 2, 2013 5. def. Jung Chan-sung at UFC 163 on Aug 3, 2013 6. def. Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169 on Feb 1, 2014 7. def. Chad Mendes at UFC 179 on Oct 25, 2014 |
|---|
| —
| {{flagicon|IRL}} Conor McGregor | UFC 189 | align=center| Jul 11, 2015 | align=center| — | |
| 2
| {{flagicon|IRL}} Conor McGregor | UFC 194 | align=center| Dec 12, 2015 | align=center| 350 days | |
| —
| {{flagicon|BRA}} José Aldo | UFC 200 | align=center| Jul 9, 2016 | align=center| — | |
| colspan=6 align=center |McGregor was stripped of the title on November 26, 2016, 14 days after winning the lightweight title.{{cite web|url=http://www.ufc.com/news/McGregor-vacates-featherweight-title?id=|title=McGregor vacates featherweight title, Aldo now undisputed champion|publisher=UFC|date=November 26, 2016|access-date=November 26, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/12/18/13995966/conor-mcgregor-ufc-never-contacted-me-about-relinquishing-the|title=Conor McGregor: UFC never contacted me about relinquishing the featherweight title|publisher=mmafighting.com|date=December 18, 2016|access-date=December 18, 2016}} |
| 3
| {{flagicon|BRA}} José Aldo {{small|(2)}} | align=center| — | align=center| Nov 26, 2016 | align=center| 189 days | |
| —
| {{flagicon|USA}} Max Holloway | UFC 206 | align=center| Dec 10, 2016 | align=center| — | |
| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} Max Holloway | UFC 212 | align=center| Jun 3, 2017 | align=center| 925 days | {{small| 1. def. José Aldo at UFC 218 on Dec 2, 2017 2. def. Brian Ortega at UFC 231 on Dec 8, 2018 3. def. Frankie Edgar at UFC 240 on Jul 27, 2019}} |
| 5
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Alexander Volkanovski | UFC 245 | align=center| Dec 14, 2019 | align=center| 1,526 days | {{small| 1. def. Max Holloway at UFC 251 on Jul 12, 2020 2. def. Brian Ortega at UFC 266 on Sep 25, 2021 3. def. Jung Chan-sung at UFC 273 on Apr 9, 2022 4. def. Max Holloway at UFC 276 on Jul 2, 2022 {{nowrap|5. def. interim champion Yair Rodríguez at UFC 290 on Jul 8, 2023}}}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|MEX}} Yair Rodríguez | UFC 284 | align=center| Feb 12, 2023 | align=center| — | |
| 6
| {{flagicon|GEO}} Ilia Topuria | UFC 298 | align=center| Feb 17, 2024 | align=center| 419 days | {{small| 1. def. Max Holloway at UFC 308 on Oct 26, 2024}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |''Topuria announced on February 19, 2025, that he was vacating the title in order to move up to lightweight. It was officially vacated on April 12, 2025.{{Cite web|title=UFC 314 headlined by Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes title bout with Ilia Topuria vacating|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2025/02/ufc-314-fight-card-volkanovski-vs-lopes|date=2025-02-19|access-date=2025-02-19|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Nolan King}} |
| 7
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Alexander Volkanovski {{small|(2)}} | UFC 314 | align=center| Apr 12, 2025 | align=center| {{age in days|2025|4|12|show unit=full}} | |
=Bantamweight Championship=
126 to 135 lb (57 to 61 kg)
Prior to UFC-WEC merger, Dominick Cruz was the WEC Bantamweight Champion. At WEC 53, Cruz defeated Scott Jorgensen to retain the WEC Bantamweight Championship and was awarded the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Championship.{{cite web
|url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Harris-Eager-to-Crown-First-UFC-Bantamweight-Champ-28633
|title=Harris Eager to Crown First UFC Bantamweight Champ
|publisher=Sherdog.com
|date=December 14, 2010
|access-date=October 20, 2012
|last=Nelson
|first=Chris
}}
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!!Name!! style="width:14%;"|Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:10%;"|Reign |
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Dominick Cruz | WEC 53 | align=center| Dec 16, 2010 | align=center| 1,117 days | {{small| 1. def. Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Jul 2, 2011 2. def. Demetrious Johnson at UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson on Oct 1, 2011}} |
|---|
| —
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Renan Barão | UFC 149 | align=center| Jul 21, 2012 | align=center| — | {{small| {{nowrap|1. def. Michael McDonald at UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald on Feb 16, 2013}} 2. def. Eddie Wineland at UFC 165 on Sep 21, 2013}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Cruz vacated the title on January 6, 2014, after repeated injuries prevented him from returning to competition to defend his title.{{cite web|url=http://mmajunkie.com/2014/01/dominick-cruz-out-vacates-bantamweight-title-urijah-faber-now-meets-renan-barao-at-ufc-169/|title=Dominick Cruz out, vacates bantamweight title; Urijah Faber now meets Renan Barao at UFC 169|publisher=mmajunkie.com|date=January 6, 2014|access-date=January 6, 2014}} |
| 2
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Renan Barão | align=center| — | align=center| Jan 6, 2014 | align=center| 138 days | {{small| 1. def. Urijah Faber at UFC 169 on Feb 1, 2014 |
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} T.J. Dillashaw | UFC 173 | align=center| May 24, 2014 | align=center| 603 days | {{small| 1. def. Joe Soto at UFC 177 on Aug 30, 2014 2. def. Renan Barão at UFC on Fox: Dillashaw vs. Barão 2 on Jul 25, 2015}} |
| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} Dominick Cruz {{small|(2)}} | UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz | align=center| Jan 17, 2016 | align=center| 348 days | {{small| 1. def. Urijah Faber at UFC 199 on Jun 4, 2016}} |
| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} Cody Garbrandt | UFC 207 | align=center| Dec 30, 2016 | align=center| 309 days | |
| 6
| {{flagicon|USA}} T.J. Dillashaw {{small|(2)}} | UFC 217 | align=center| Nov 4, 2017 | align=center| 501 days | {{small| 1. def. Cody Garbrandt at UFC 227 on Aug 4, 2018}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |''Dillashaw vacated the title on March 20, 2019, due to a failed drug test.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2019/3/20/18274036/t-j-dillashaw-announces-positive-drug-test-relinquishes-ufc-bantamweight-title-mma-news|title=T.J. Dillashaw suspended for failed drug test, relinquishes UFC bantamweight title
|publisher=BloodyElbow.com|date=March 20, 2019|access-date=March 20, 2019}} '' |
| 7
| {{flagicon|USA}} Henry Cejudo | UFC 238 | align=center| Jun 8, 2019 | align=center| 352 days | {{small| 1. def. Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 on May 9, 2020}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Cejudo announced his retirement on May 9, 2020. The title was officially vacated on May 24, 2020.{{cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/05/henry-cejudo-explains-decision-to-retire-after-ufc-249-win-i-want-to-leave-on-top|title=Henry Cejudo explains decision to retire after UFC 249 win: 'I want to leave on top|publisher=MMAJunkie|date=May 10, 2020|access-date=May 10, 2020}} |
| 8
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Petr Yan | UFC 251 | align=center| Jul 12, 2020 | align=center| 237 days | |
| 9
| {{flagicon|USA}} Aljamain Sterling | UFC 259 | align=center| Mar 6, 2021 | align=center| 896 days | {{small| 1. def. interim champion Petr Yan at UFC 273 on Apr 9, 2022 2. def. T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280 on Oct 22, 2022 3. def. Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 on May 6, 2023}} |
| —
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Petr Yan | UFC 267 | align=center| Oct 30, 2021 | align=center| — | |
| 10
| {{nowrap|{{flagicon|USA}} Sean O'Malley}} | UFC 292 | align=center| Aug 19, 2023 | align=center| 393 days | {{small| 1. def. Marlon Vera at UFC 299 on Mar 9, 2024}} |
| 11
| {{flagicon|GEO}} Merab Dvalishvili | UFC 306 | align=center| Sep 14, 2024 | align=center| {{age in days|2024|9|14|show unit=full}} | {{small| 1. def. Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 on Jan 18, 2025}} |
=Flyweight Championship=
116 to 125 lb (53 to 57 kg)
Demetrious Johnson defeated Joseph Benavidez on September 22, 2012, at UFC 152 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the finale of a four-man tournament for the inaugural title.{{cite web|url=http://www.mmamania.com/2012/9/23/3375122/ufc-152-results-demetrious-johnson-wins-flyweight-title-split-decision-joseph-benavidez|title=UFC 152 results: Demetrious Johnson wins flyweight title with split decision victory over Joseph Benavidez|publisher=MMAmania.com|date=September 23, 2012|access-date=December 24, 2012|last=Mrosko|first=Geno}}
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!!Name!! style="width:14%;"|Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:10%;"|Reign |
| 1
| {{nowrap|{{flagicon|USA}} Demetrious Johnson | UFC 152 | align=center| Sep 22, 2012 | align=center| 2,142 days | {{small| 1. def. John Dodson at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson on Jan 26, 2013 2. def. John Moraga at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Moraga on Jul 27, 2013 3. def. Joseph Benavidez at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Benavidez 2 on Dec 14, 2013 4. def. Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174 on June 14, 2014 5. def. Chris Cariaso at UFC 178 on Sep 27, 2014 6. def. Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC 186 on Apr 25, 2015 7. def. John Dodson at UFC 191 on Sep 5, 2015 8. def. Henry Cejudo at UFC 197 on Apr 23, 2016 {{nowrap|9. def. Tim Elliott at The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions Finale on Dec 3, 2016}} 10. def. Wilson Reis at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Reis on Apr 15, 2017 |
|---|
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} Henry Cejudo | UFC 227 | align=center| Aug 4, 2018 | align=center| 574 days | {{small| 1. def. T.J. Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw on Jan 19, 2019}} |
| colspan=6 align=center | Cejudo announced on December 20, 2019, that he would vacate his title to focus on defending the bantamweight title. It was officially vacated on February 29, 2020.{{cite web |title=Deiveson Figueiredo KO's Joseph Benavidez; flyweight title stays vacant |url=https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/28811705/deiveson-figueiredo-ko-joseph-benavidez-flyweight-title-stays-vacant |work=espn.com|date=March 2020 }} |
| 3
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Deiveson Figueiredo | UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 | align=center| Jul 19, 2020 | align=center| 328 days | {{small| 1. def. Alex Perez at UFC 255 on Nov 21, 2020 2. drew with Brandon Moreno at UFC 256 on Dec 12, 2020}} |
| 4
| {{flagicon|MEX}} Brandon Moreno | UFC 263 | align=center| Jun 12, 2021 | align=center| 223 days | |
| 5
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Deiveson Figueiredo {{small|(2)}} | UFC 270 | align=center| Jan 22, 2022 | align=center| 364 days | |
| —
| {{flagicon|MEX}} Brandon Moreno | UFC 277 | align=center| Jul 30, 2022 | align=center| — | |
| 6
| {{flagicon|MEX}} Brandon Moreno {{small|(2)}} | UFC 283 | align=center| Jan 21, 2023 | align=center| 168 days | |
| 7
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Alexandre Pantoja | UFC 290 | align=center| Jul 8, 2023 | align=center| {{age in days|2023|07|08|show unit=full}} | {{small|1. def. Brandon Royval at UFC 296 on Dec 16, 2023 2. def. Steve Erceg at UFC 301 on May 4, 2024 3. def. Kai Asakura at UFC 310 on Dec 7, 2024}} |
Women's championship history
=Women's Bantamweight Championship=
126 to 135 lb (57 to 61 kg)
Prior to its folding and absorption by the UFC, Ronda Rousey was the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. Rousey was awarded the inaugural UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship on December 6, 2012, at a UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz pre-event press conference.{{cite web|url=http://www.ufc.com/news/The-UFC-Crowns-Its-First-Queen|title=The UFC Crowns Its First Queen|publisher=UFC|date=December 6, 2012|access-date=January 7, 2013|last=Gerbasi|first=Thomas}}
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!! Name!! Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:9%;"|Reign!!Defenses |
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Ronda Rousey | UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz | align=center| Dec 6, 2012 | align=center| 1,074 days | {{small| 1. def. Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 on Feb 23, 2013 2. def. Miesha Tate at UFC 168 on Dec 28, 2013 3. def. Sara McMann at UFC 170 on Feb 22, 2014 4. def. Alexis Davis at UFC 175 on Jul 5, 2014 5. def. Cat Zingano at UFC 184 on Feb 28, 2015 6. def. Bethe Correia at UFC 190 on Aug 1, 2015}} |
|---|
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} Holly Holm | UFC 193 | align=center| Nov 15, 2015 | align=center| 111 days | |
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} Miesha Tate | UFC 196 | align=center| Mar 5, 2016 | align=center| 126 days | |
| 4
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes | UFC 200 | align=center| Jul 9, 2016 | align=center| 1,981 days | {{small| 1. def. Ronda Rousey at UFC 207 on Dec 30, 2016 2. def. Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 215 on Sep 9, 2017 3. def. Raquel Pennington at UFC 224 on May 12, 2018 4. def. Holly Holm at UFC 239 on Jul 6, 2019 {{nowrap|5. def. Germaine de Randamie at UFC 245 on Dec 14, 2019}}}} |
| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} Julianna Peña | UFC 269 | align=center| Dec 11, 2021 | align=center| 232 days | |
| 6
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes {{small|(2)}} | UFC 277 | align=center| Jul 30, 2022 | align=center| 325 days |{{small| 1. def. Irene Aldana at UFC 289 on Jun 10, 2023}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Nunes announced her retirement on June 10, 2023. The title was officially vacated on June 20, 2023. |
| 7
| {{flagicon|USA}} Raquel Pennington | UFC 297 | align=center| Jan 20, 2024 | align=center| 255 days | |
| 8
| {{flagicon|USA}} Julianna Peña {{small|(2)}} | UFC 307 | align=center| Oct 5, 2024 | align=center| {{age in days|2024|10|5|show unit=full}} | |
=Women's Flyweight Championship=
116 to 125 lb (53 to 57 kg)
The inaugural title was contested on December 1, 2017, in Las Vegas, NV, US at The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion Finale. The inaugural title fight was between two fighters who appeared on the 26th season of The Ultimate Fighter.
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!! Name!! Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:9%;"|Reign!!Defenses |
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Nicco Montaño | The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion Finale | align=center| Dec 1, 2017 | align=center| 280 days | |
|---|
| colspan=6 align=center |Montaño was stripped of the title on September 7, 2018, after she was forced to withdraw from her title defense at UFC 228 due to weight cut issues.{{Cite news|url=https://www.mmafighting.com/2018/9/7/17833436/dana-white-says-nicco-montano-is-no-longer-the-ufc-womens-flyweight-champion|title=Dana White says Nicco Montaño is no longer the UFC women's flyweight champion|publisher=mmafighting.com|author=Marc Raimondi|date=2018-09-07|access-date=2018-09-07}} |
| 2
| {{nowrap| {{flagicon|KGZ}} Valentina Shevchenko}} | UFC 231 | align=center| Dec 8, 2018 | align=center| 1,547 days | {{small| 1. def. Jessica Eye at UFC 238 on Jun 8, 2019 2. def. Liz Carmouche at UFC Fight Night: Shevchenko vs. Carmouche 2 on Aug 10, 2019 3. def. Katlyn Chookagian at UFC 247 on Feb 8, 2020 4. def. Jennifer Maia at UFC 255 on Nov 21, 2020 5. def. Jéssica Andrade at UFC 261 on Apr 24, 2021 6. def. Lauren Murphy at UFC 266 on Sep 25, 2021 7. def. Taila Santos at UFC 275 on Jun 12, 2022}} |
| 3
| {{flagicon|MEX}} Alexa Grasso | UFC 285 | align=center| Mar 4, 2023 | align=center| 561 days | {{small| {{nowrap|1. drew with Valentina Shevchenko at UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 on Sep 16, 2023}}}} |
| 4
| {{nowrap|{{flagicon|KGZ}} Valentina Shevchenko {{small|(2)}}}} | UFC 306 | align=center| Sep 14, 2024 | align=center| {{age in days|2024|09|14|show unit=full}} | |
=Women's Strawweight Championship=
106 to 115 lb (48 to 52 kg)
Previously the Invicta FC Strawweight Champion, Carla Esparza defeated Rose Namajunas for the inaugural title on December 12, 2014, in the tournament finale of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned.
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!! Name!! Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:9%;"|Reign!!Defenses |
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Carla Esparza | The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned Finale | align=center| Dec 12, 2014 | align=center| 92 days | |
|---|
| 2
| {{nowrap| {{flagicon|POL}} Joanna Jędrzejczyk}} | UFC 185 | align=center| Mar 14, 2015 | align=center| 966 days | {{small| {{nowrap|1. def. Jessica Penne at UFC Fight Night: Jędrzejczyk vs. Penne on Jun 20, 2015}} 2. def. Valérie Létourneau at UFC 193 on Nov 15, 2015 {{nowrap|3. def. Cláudia Gadelha at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia Finale on Jul 8, 2016}} 4. def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 205 on Nov 12, 2016 5. def. Jéssica Andrade at UFC 211 on May 13, 2017}} |
| 3
| {{nowrap| {{flagicon|USA}} Rose Namajunas}} | UFC 217 | align=center| Nov 4, 2017 | align=center| 554 days | {{small| {{nowrap| 1. def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 223 on Apr 7, 2018}}}} |
| 4
| {{nowrap| {{flagicon|BRA}} Jéssica Andrade}} | UFC 237 | align=center| May 11, 2019 | align=center| 112 days | |
| 5
| {{nowrap| {{flagicon|CHN}} Zhang Weili}} | UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang | align=center| Aug 31, 2019 | align=center| 603 days | {{small| {{nowrap| 1. def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 248 on Mar 7, 2020}}}} |
| 6
| {{nowrap| {{flagicon|USA}} Rose Namajunas {{small|(2)}}}} | UFC 261 | align=center| Apr 24, 2021 | align=center| 378 days | {{small| {{nowrap| 1. def. Zhang Weili at UFC 268 on Nov 6, 2021}}}} |
| 7
| {{nowrap| {{flagicon|USA}} Carla Esparza {{small|(2)}}}} | UFC 274 | align=center| May 7, 2022 | align=center| 190 days | |
| 8
| {{nowrap| {{flagicon|CHN}} Zhang Weili {{small|(2)}}}} | UFC 281 | align=center| Nov 12, 2022 | align=center| {{age in days|2022|11|12|show unit=full}} | {{small| 1. def. Amanda Lemos at UFC 292 on Aug 19, 2023 2. def. Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300 on Apr 13, 2024 3. def. Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312 on Feb 9, 2025}} |
Defunct titles
=Superfight Championship=
The openweight title used before the introduction of weight classes in 1997. It was designed to create a reigning UFC champion for the UFC tournament winners to challenge.{{cite web |last=Meltzer |first=Dave |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AnbS9oIfkDYxeule15884RJZEo14?slug=dm-ufcsix040809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns |title=Relive UFC 6: Clash of the Titans |work=Sports.yahoo.com |date=April 8, 2009 |access-date=January 8, 2013}}
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!!Name!!Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:9%;"|Reign!!Defenses |
| colspan=6 align=center |Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie fought to a draw on April 7, 1995, at UFC 5 in Charlotte, NC, US for the inaugural Superfight title. |
|---|
| 1
| {{nowrap| {{flagicon|USA}} Ken Shamrock | UFC 6 | align=center| Jul 14, 1995 | align=center| 308 days | {{small| {{nowrap| 1. drew with Oleg Taktarov at UFC 7 on Sep 8, 1995 2. def. Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 8 on Feb 16, 1996}} |
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} Dan Severn | UFC 9 | align=center| May 17, 1996 | align=center| 266 days | |
| colspan=6 align=center |Mark Coleman defeated Severn on February 7, 1997, at UFC 12 in Dothan, AL, US. This bout unified the UFC Superfight Championship with the UFC 11 Tournament Championship to determine the inaugural UFC Heavyweight Champion. |
=Women's Featherweight Championship=
136 to 145 lb (62 to 66 kg)
The inaugural title was contested on February 11, 2017, in Brooklyn, NY, US at UFC 208.{{cite news|url=http://mmajunkie.com/2016/12/holly-holm-and-germaine-de-randamie-fight-for-featherweight-title-at-ufc-208|title=Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie fight for inaugural featherweight title at UFC 208|publisher=mmajunkie.com|author=Staff|date=2016-12-13|access-date=2016-12-13}}
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! style="width:2%;"|No.!! Name!! Event!! style="width:9%;"|Date!! style="width:9%;"|Reign!!Defenses |
| 1
| {{nowrap|{{flagicon|NED}} Germaine de Randamie | UFC 208 | align=center| Feb 11, 2017 | align=center| 128 days | |
|---|
| colspan=6 align=center |de Randamie was stripped of the title on June 19, 2017, after she refused to defend the title against Cris Cyborg.{{cite web|url=http://mmajunkie.com/2017/06/ufc-214-cyborg-justino-megan-anderson-germaine-de-randamie-stripped|title='Cyborg' vs. Megan Anderson for title at UFC 214 after Germaine de Randamie stripped|author=Staff|publisher=mmajunkie.com|date=2017-06-19|access-date=2017-06-19}} |
| 2
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Cris Cyborg | UFC 214 | align=center| Jul 29, 2017 | align=center| 517 days | {{small| 1. def. Holly Holm at UFC 219 on Dec 30, 2017 2. def. Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 222 on Mar 3, 2018}} |
| 3
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes | UFC 232 | align=center| Dec 29, 2018 | align=center| 1,634 days | {{small| 1. def. Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 on Jun 6, 2020 {{nowrap|2. def. Megan Anderson at UFC 259 on Mar 6, 2021}}}} |
| colspan=6 align=center |Nunes announced her retirement on June 10, 2023.{{cite web | url= https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/06/ufc-289-results-amanda-nunes-retires-vs-irene-aldana-video-title | title=UFC 289 results: Amanda Nunes retires after one-sided title defense vs. Irene Aldana |publisher=mmajunkie.com|author=Nolan King| date=2023-06-10}} The title was officially vacated on June 20, 2023. |
Tournament winners
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! Event !! Date !! Division !! Winner !! Runner-up |
| UFC 1
| Nov 12, 1993 | Openweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Royce Gracie | {{flagicon|NED}} Gerard Gordeau |
| UFC 2
| Mar 11, 1994 | Openweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Royce Gracie {{small|(2)}} | {{flagicon|USA}} Patrick Smith |
| UFC 3
| Sep 9, 1994 | Openweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Steve Jennum | {{flagicon|CAN}} Harold Howard |
| UFC 4
| Dec 16, 1994 | Openweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Royce Gracie {{small|(3)}} | {{flagicon|USA}} Dan Severn |
| UFC 5
| Apr 7, 1995 | Openweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Dan Severn | {{flagicon|CAN}} Dave Beneteau |
| UFC 6
| Jul 14, 1995 | Openweight | {{flagicon|RUS}} Oleg Taktarov | {{flagicon|USA}} Tank Abbott |
| UFC 7
| Sep 8, 1995 | Openweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Marco Ruas | {{flagicon|USA}} Paul Varelans |
| The Ultimate Ultimate
| Dec 16, 1995 | Openweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Dan Severn {{small|(2)}} | {{flagicon|RUS}} Oleg Taktarov |
| UFC 8
| Feb 16, 1996 | Openweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Don Frye | {{flagicon|Trinidad and Tobago}} Gary Goodridge |
| UFC 10
| Jul 12, 1996 | Openweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Mark Coleman | {{flagicon|USA}} Don Frye |
| UFC 11
| Sep 20, 1996 | Openweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Mark Coleman {{small|(2)}} | {{flagicon|USA}} Scott Ferrozzo |
| The Ultimate Ultimate 2
| Dec 7, 1996 | Openweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Don Frye {{small|(2)}} | {{flagicon|USA}} Tank Abbott |
| rowspan=2| UFC 12
| rowspan=2| Feb 7, 1997 | Heavyweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Vitor Belfort | {{flagicon|USA}} Scott Ferrozzo |
| Light Heavyweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jerry Bohlander | {{flagicon|USA}} Nick Sanzo |
| rowspan=2| UFC 13
| rowspan=2| May 30, 1997 | Heavyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Couture | {{flagicon|USA}} Steven Graham |
| LightHeavyweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Guy Mezger | {{flagicon|USA}} Tito Ortiz |
| rowspan=2| UFC 14
| rowspan=2| Jul 27, 1997 | Heavyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Mark Kerr | {{flagicon|USA}} Dan Bobish |
| LightHeavyweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Kevin Jackson | {{flagicon|USA}} Tony Fryklund |
| UFC 15
| Oct 17, 1997 | Heavyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Mark Kerr {{small|(2)}} | {{flagicon|USA}} Dwayne Cason |
| Ultimate Japan
| Dec 21, 1997 | Heavyweight | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazushi Sakuraba | {{flagicon|BRA}} Marcus Silveira |
| UFC 16
| Mar 13, 1998 | Welterweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Pat Miletich | {{flagicon|USA}} Chris Brennan |
| UFC 17
| May 15, 1998 | Middleweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Dan Henderson | {{flagicon|CAN}} Carlos Newton |
| UFC 23
| Nov 19, 1999 | Middleweight | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kenichi Yamamoto | {{flagicon|JPN}} Katsuhisa Fujii |
| UFC 39 UFC 41 | Feb 28, 2003 | Lightweight | colspan=2 | B.J. Penn drew with Caol Uno in the finale of the 4-man tournament. |
| UFC on FX 2 UFC on FX 3 UFC 152 | Sep 22, 2012 | Flyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Demetrious Johnson | {{flagicon|USA}} Joseph Benavidez |
''The Ultimate Fighter''
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) is a reality television series and mixed martial arts competition produced by the UFC. The show features professional fighters living together and competing against one another in a tournament for a contract with the UFC.
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
!Season!!Finale!!Division!!Winner!!Runner-up |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 1: Team Couture vs. Team Liddell
| rowspan=2| Apr 9, 2005 | Light Heavyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Forrest Griffin | {{flagicon|USA}} Stephan Bonnar |
| Middleweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Diego Sanchez | {{flagicon|USA}} Kenny Florian |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 2: Team Hughes vs. Team Franklin
| rowspan=2| Nov 5, 2005 | Heavyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Rashad Evans | {{flagicon|USA}} Brad Imes |
| Welterweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Joe Stevenson | {{flagicon|USA}} Luke Cummo |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 3: Team Ortiz vs. Team Shamrock
| rowspan=2| Jun 24, 2006 | Middleweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Kendall Grove | {{flagicon|USA}} Ed Herman |
| Light Heavyweight
| {{flagicon|ENG}} Michael Bisping | {{flagicon|USA}} Josh Haynes |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 4: The Comeback
| rowspan=2| Nov 11, 2006 | Middleweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Travis Lutter | {{flagicon|CAN}} Patrick Côté |
| Welterweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Matt Serra | {{flagicon|USA}} Chris Lytle |
| align=left| TUF 5: Team Pulver vs. Team Penn
| Lightweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Nate Diaz | {{flagicon|ARM}} Manny Gamburyan |
| align=left| TUF 6: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra
| Welterweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Mac Danzig | {{flagicon|USA}} Tom Speer |
| align=left| TUF 7: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest
| Middleweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Amir Sadollah | {{flagicon|USA}} C. B. Dollaway |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 8: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir
| rowspan=2| Dec 13, 2008 | Light Heavyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Ryan Bader | {{flagicon|BRA}} Vinny Magalhães |
| Lightweight
| {{flagicon|MEX}} Efrain Escudero | {{flagicon|USA}} Phillipe Nover |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 9: United States vs. United Kingdom
| rowspan=2| Jun 20, 2009 | Lightweight | {{flagicon|ENG}} Ross Pearson | {{flagicon|GRD}} Andre Winner |
| Welterweight
| {{flagicon|ENG}} James Wilks | {{flagicon|USA}} DaMarques Johnson |
| align=left| TUF 10: Heavyweights
| Heavyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Roy Nelson | {{flagicon|USA}} Brendan Schaub |
| align=left| TUF 11: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz
| Middleweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Court McGee | {{flagicon|USA}} Kris McCray |
| align=left| TUF 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck
| Lightweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Jonathan Brookins | {{flagicon|USA}} Michael Johnson |
| align=left| TUF 13: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos
| Welterweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Tony Ferguson | {{flagicon|USA}} Ramsey Nijem |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 14: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller
| rowspan=2| Dec 3, 2011 | Bantamweight | {{flagicon|USA}} John Dodson | {{flagicon|USA}} T.J. Dillashaw |
| Featherweight
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Diego Brandão | {{flagicon|USA}} Dennis Bermudez |
| align=left| TUF 15: Live
| Lightweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Michael Chiesa | {{flagicon|USA}} Al Iaquinta |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF: Brazil
| rowspan=2| Jun 23, 2012 | Featherweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Rony Jason | {{flagicon|BRA}} Godofredo Pepey |
| Middleweight
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Cezar Ferreira | {{flagicon|BRA}} Sérgio Moraes |
| align=left| TUF 16: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson
| Welterweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Colton Smith | {{flagicon|CAN}} Mike Ricci |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF: The Smashes
| rowspan=2| Dec 15, 2012 | Lightweight | {{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Norman Parke | {{flagicon|ENG}} Colin Fletcher |
| Welterweight
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Robert Whittaker | {{flagicon|ENG}} Brad Scott |
| align=left| TUF 17: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen
| Middleweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Kelvin Gastelum | {{flagicon|JAM}} Uriah Hall |
| align=left| TUF: Brazil 2
| Welterweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Leonardo Santos | {{flagicon|BRA}} William Macario |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 18: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate
| rowspan=2| Nov 30, 2013 | Bantamweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Chris Holdsworth | {{flagicon|ENG}} Davey Grant |
| Women's Bantamweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Julianna Peña | {{flagicon|CAN}} Jessica Rakoczy |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF: China
| Welterweight | {{flagicon|CHN}} Zhang Lipeng | {{flagicon|CHN}} Wang Sai |
| Ago 23, 2014
| Featherweight | {{flagicon|CHN}} Ning Guangyou | {{flagicon|CHN}} Yang Jianping |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF Nations: Canada vs. Australia
| rowspan=2| Apr 16, 2014 | Welterweight | {{flagicon|CAN}} Chad Laprise | {{flagicon|CAN}} Olivier Aubin-Mercier |
| Middleweight
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Elias Theodorou | {{flagicon|CAN}} Sheldon Westcott |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF: Brazil 3
| rowspan=2| May 31, 2014 | Middleweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Warlley Alves | {{flagicon|BRA}} Márcio Alexandre Júnior |
| Heavyweight
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Antônio Carlos Júnior | {{flagicon|BRA}} Vitor Miranda |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 19: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn
| rowspan=2| Jul 6, 2014 | Middleweight | {{flagicon|JAM}} Eddie Gordon | {{flagicon|BRA}} Dhiego Lima |
| Light Heavyweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Corey Anderson | {{flagicon|USA}} Matt Van Buren |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF: Latin America
| rowspan=2| Nov 15, 2014 | Bantamweight | {{flagicon|MEX}} Alejandro Pérez | {{flagicon|MEX}} José Alberto Quiñónez |
| Featherweight
| {{flagicon|MEX}} Yair Rodríguez | {{flagicon|NIC}} Leonardo Morales |
| align=left| TUF 20: A Champion Will Be Crowned
| Women's Strawweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Carla Esparza | {{flagicon|USA}} Rose Namajunas |
| align=left| TUF 21: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians
| Welterweight | {{flagicon|NGR}} Kamaru Usman | {{flagicon|USA}} Hayder Hassan |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF: Brazil 4
| rowspan=2| Aug 1, 2015 | Bantamweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Reginaldo Vieira | {{flagicon|BRA}} Dileno Lopes |
| Lightweight
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Glaico França | {{flagicon|BRA}} Fernando Bruno |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF: Latin America 2
| rowspan=2| Nov 21, 2015 | Lightweight | {{flagicon|PER}} Enrique Barzola | {{flagicon|MEX}} Horacio Gutiérrez |
| Welterweight
| {{flagicon|MEX}} Erick Montaño | {{flagicon|ESP}} Enrique Marín |
| align=left| TUF 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber
| Lightweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Ryan Hall | {{flagicon|RUS}} Artem Lobov |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 23: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia
| rowspan=2| Jul 8, 2016 | Women's Strawweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Tatiana Suarez | {{flagicon|USA}} Amanda Cooper |
| Light Heavyweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Andrew Sanchez | {{flagicon|USA}} Khalil Rountree Jr. |
| align=left| TUF: Latin America 3
| Lightweight | {{flagicon|MEX}} Martin Bravo | {{flagicon|PER}} Claudio Puelles |
| align=left| TUF 24: Tournament of Champions
| Flyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Tim Elliott | {{flagicon|JPN}} Hiromasa Ougikubo |
| align=left| TUF 25: Redemption
| Welterweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Jesse Taylor | {{flagicon|BRA}} Dhiego Lima |
| align=left| TUF 26: A New World Champion
| Women's Flyweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Nicco Montaño | {{flagicon|USA}} Roxanne Modafferi |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 27: Undefeated
| rowspan=2| Jul 6, 2018 | Featherweight | {{flagicon|CAN}} Brad Katona | {{flagicon|ENG}} Jay Cucciniello |
| Lightweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Michael Trizano | {{flagicon|USA}} Joe Giannetti |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 28: Heavy Hitters
| rowspan=2| Nov 30, 2018 | Heavyweight | {{flagicon|ESP}} Juan Espino | {{flagicon|USA}} Justin Frazier |
| Women's Featherweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Macy Chiasson | {{flagicon|SWE}} Pannie Kianzad |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 29: Team Volkanovski vs. Team Ortega
| rowspan=2| Aug 28, 2021 | Bantamweight | {{flagicon|USA}} Ricky Turcios | {{flagicon|USA}} Brady Hiestand |
| Middleweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Bryan Battle | {{flagicon|USA}} Gilbert Urbina |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 30: Team Peña vs. Team Nunes
| rowspan=2| Aug 6, 2022 | Heavyweight | {{flagicon|NGR}} Mohammed Usman | {{flagicon|USA}} Zac Pauga |
| Women's Flyweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Juliana Miller | {{flagicon|USA}} Brogan Walker-Sanchez |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 31: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler
| rowspan=2| Aug 19, 2023 | Bantamweight | {{flagicon|CAN}} Brad Katona | {{flagicon|USA}} Cody Gibson |
| Lightweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Kurt Holobaugh | {{flagicon|USA}} Austin Hubbard |
| rowspan=2 align=left| TUF 32: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko
| rowspan=2| Aug 24, 2024 | Featherweight | {{flagicon|BRA}} Mairon Santos | {{flagicon|AUS}} Kaan Ofli |
| Middleweight
| {{flagicon|USA}} Ryan Loder | {{flagicon|SUI}} Robert Valentin |
Championship wins by nationality
The table is divided by number of division championships, tournament championships, total championships, and individual champions. Fighters with multiple championship wins have each championship counted for the total. There is a distinction between the total number of championships won by a nationality and the number of individual fighters that won them. Division championships are the primary separation criteria due to being non-closed competition. It includes title holders and interim title holders. Countries that are tied are separated by number of individual champions. Interim champions who become undisputed champions are listed only once. Tournament championships are secondary due to many tournaments being country-specific and thus not generally a national achievement to win. Runners-up and TUF runners-up are not included.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Country !! Division | |||
| align="left" | {{flagicon|USA}} United States | 82 | 17 | 99
|72 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|BRA}} Brazil | 24 | 6 | 30
|22 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|RUS}} Russia | 5 | 1 | 6
|5 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|MEX}} Mexico | 4 | - | 4
|3 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|CAN}} Canada | 4 | - | 4
|2 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|ENG}} England | 3 | - | 3
|3 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|NGA}} Nigeria | 3 | - | 3
|2 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|AUS}} Australia | 3 | - | 3
|2 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|GEO}} Georgia | 2 | - | 2
|2 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|NED}} Netherlands | 2 | - | 2
|2 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|POL}} Poland | 2 | - | 2
|2 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|CHN}} China | 2 | - | 2
|1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|IRE}} Ireland | 2 | - | 2
|1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|KGZ}} Kyrgyzstan | 2 | - | 2
|1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|BLR}} Belarus | 1 | - | 1
|1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|CMR}} Cameroon | 1 | - | 1
|1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|FRA}} France | 1 | - | 1
|1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|CZE}} Czech Republic | 1 | - | 1
|1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|RSA}} South Africa | 1 | - | 1
|1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Japan | 0 | 2 | 2
|2 |
TUF winners by nationality
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Country !! TUF | |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|USA}} United States | 35 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|BRA}} Brazil | 8 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|MEX}} Mexico | 5 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|CAN}} Canada | 4 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|ENG}} England | 3 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|CHN}} China | 2 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|NGA}} Nigeria | 2 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|AUS}} Australia | 1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JAM}} Jamaica | 1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Northern Ireland | 1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|PER}} Peru | 1 |
| align="left" | {{flagicon|ESP}} Spain | 1 |
Most wins in title bouts
Fighters with four or more championship and/or interim championship title wins.{{cite web|url=http://www.fightmatrix.com/ufc-records/title-wins/|title=Most wins in UFC title bouts|publisher=Fightmatrix.com|access-date=December 24, 2012}} Fighters with the same number of title wins are arranged in order of most title fights. Tournament championships and TUF winners are not included.
| class="wikitable"
! Title wins !! Champion !! Division !! {{vertical header|Win}} !! {{vertical header|Loss}} !! {{vertical header|Draw}} !! {{vertical header|No-Contest}} | |||||
| 16
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones || Heavyweight | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Georges St-Pierre || Middleweight | |||||
| 12
| {{flagicon|USA}} Demetrious Johnson || Bantamweight | |||||
| rowspan=2| 11
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Anderson Silva || Middleweight ||align=center| 11 ||align=center| 2 || || | |||||
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes | Women's Featherweight Women's Bantamweight | align=center| 3 8 | align=center| 0 1 | ||
| rowspan=3| 9
| {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Couture || Heavyweight | |||||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Matt Hughes | Welterweight | align=center| 9 | align=center| 3 | ||
| {{flagicon|KGZ}} Valentina Shevchenko | Women's Bantamweight Women's Flyweight | align=center| 0 9 | align=center| 1 1 | 0 1 | |
| rowspan=2| 8
| {{flagicon|BRA}} José Aldo || Featherweight | |||||
| {{flagicon|NGR}} Israel Adesanya | Light Heavyweight Middleweight | align=center| 0 8 | align=center| 1 3 | ||
| 7
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Alexander Volkanovski || Lightweight | |||||
| rowspan=7| 6
| {{flagicon|POL}} Joanna Jędrzejczyk || Women's Flyweight | |||||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Daniel Cormier | Heavyweight Light Heavyweight | align=center| 2 4 | align=center| 2 1 | align=center| 0 1 | |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tito Ortiz | Light Heavyweight | align=center| 6 | align=center| 3 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Stipe Miocic | Heavyweight | align=center| 6 | align=center| 3 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Ronda Rousey | Women's Bantamweight | align=center| 6 | align=center| 2 | ||
| {{flagicon|NGR}} Kamaru Usman | Welterweight | align=center| 6 | align=center| 2 | ||
| {{flagicon|CHN}} Zhang Weili | Women's Strawweight | align=center| 6 | align=center| 2 | ||
| rowspan=10| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} B.J. Penn || Welterweight | |||||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Max Holloway | Lightweight Featherweight | align=center| 0 5 | align=center| 1 4 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tim Sylvia | Heavyweight | align=center| 5 | align=center| 4 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} T.J. Dillashaw | Bantamweight Flyweight | align=center| 5 0 | align=center| 2 1 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Chuck Liddell | Light Heavyweight | align=center| 5 | align=center| 2 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Dominick Cruz | Bantamweight | align=center| 5 | align=center| 2 | ||
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Alex Pereira | Light Heavyweight Middleweight | align=center| 4 1 | align=center| 1 1 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Pat Miletich | Welterweight | align=center| 5 | align=center| 1 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Frank Shamrock | Light Heavyweight | align=center| 5 | align=center| 0 | ||
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Islam Makhachev | Lightweight | align=center| 5 | align=center| 0 | ||
| rowspan=10| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} Rose Namajunas || Women's Strawweight ||align=center| 4 ||align=center| 3 || || | |||||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Cain Velasquez | Heavyweight | align=center| 4 | align=center| 2 | ||
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Renan Barão | Bantamweight | align=center| 4 | align=center| 2 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tyron Woodley | Welterweight | align=center| 4 | align=center| 1 | align=center| 1 | |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Henry Cejudo | Bantamweight Flyweight | align=center| 2 2 | align=center| 1 1 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Benson Henderson | Lightweight | align=center| 4 | align=center| 1 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Chris Weidman | Middleweight | align=center| 4 | align=center| 1 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Aljamain Sterling | Bantamweight | align=center| 4 | align=center| 1 | ||
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Khabib Nurmagomedov | Lightweight | align=center| 4 | align=center| 0 | ||
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Alexandre Pantoja | Flyweight | align=center| 4 | align=center| 0 |
Most consecutive title defenses
The following includes all UFC champions who were able to consecutively defend their title three times or more. Fighters with the same number of title defenses are listed chronologically.{{cite web|url=http://www.fightmatrix.com/ufc-records/title-defenses/|title=Most consecutive UFC title defenses|publisher=Fightmatrix.com|access-date=December 24, 2012}}
| class="wikitable"
! Defenses !! Champion !! Division !! Period | ||
| 11
| {{flagicon|USA}} Demetrious Johnson || Flyweight || Sep 22, 2012 — Aug 4, 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 10
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Anderson Silva || Middleweight || Oct 14, 2006 — Jul 6, 2013 | ||
| 9
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Georges St-Pierre || Welterweight || Apr 19, 2008 — Dec 13, 2013 | ||
| 8
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones || Light Heavyweight || Mar 19, 2011 — Apr 28, 2015 | ||
| rowspan=2| 7
| {{flagicon|BRA}} José Aldo || Featherweight || Nov 20, 2010 — Dec 12, 2015 | ||
| {{flagicon|KGZ}} Valentina Shevchenko | Women's Flyweight | Dec 8, 2018 — Mar 4, 2023 |
| 6
| {{flagicon|USA}} Ronda Rousey || Women's Bantamweight || Dec 6, 2012 — Nov 15, 2015 | ||
| rowspan=7| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tito Ortiz || Light Heavyweight || Apr 14, 2000 — Sep 26, 2003 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Matt Hughes | Welterweight | Nov 2, 2001 — Jan 31, 2004 |
| {{flagicon|POL}} Joanna Jędrzejczyk | Women's Strawweight | Mar 14, 2015 — Nov 4, 2017 |
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes | Women's Bantamweight | Jul 9, 2016 — Dec 11, 2021 |
| {{flagicon|NGR}} Kamaru Usman | Welterweight | Mar 2, 2019 — Aug 20, 2022 |
| {{flagicon|NGR}} Israel Adesanya | Middleweight | Oct 6, 2019 — Nov 12, 2022 |
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Alexander Volkanovski | Featherweight | Dec 14, 2019 — Feb 17, 2024 |
| rowspan=5| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} Frank Shamrock || Light Heavyweight || Dec 21, 1997 — Nov 24, 1999 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Pat Miletich | Welterweight | Oct 16, 1998 — May 4, 2001 |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Chuck Liddell | Light Heavyweight | Apr 16, 2005 — May 26, 2007 |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Tyron Woodley{{efn|Woodley successfully defended the UFC Welterweight Championship three times and retained the title once following a draw against Stephen Thompson at UFC 205.}}
| Welterweight | Jul 30, 2016 — Mar 2, 2019 | |
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Islam Makhachev | Lightweight | Oct 22, 2022 — Present |
| rowspan=14| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} B.J. Penn || Lightweight || Jan 19, 2008 — Apr 10, 2010 | ||
| {{flagicon|USA}} Frankie Edgar{{efn|Edgar successfully defended the UFC Lightweight Championship twice and retained the title once following a draw against Gray Maynard at UFC 125.}}
| Lightweight | Apr 10, 2010 — Feb 26, 2012 | |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Benson Henderson | Lightweight | Feb 26, 2012 — Aug 31, 2013 |
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Renan Barão{{efn|Barão successfully defended the interim UFC Bantamweight Championship twice before being promoted to undisputed champion and defending his title once more.}} | Bantamweight | Jul 21, 2012 — May 24, 2014 |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Chris Weidman | Middleweight | Jul 6, 2013 — Dec 12, 2015 |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Daniel Cormier{{efn|Cormier lost to Jon Jones attempting his 3rd consecutive defense. However, Jones' win was later overturned to a no-contest due to a failed pre-fight drug test. Cormier was later reinstated as champion and made his 3rd successful title defense at UFC 220.}} | Light Heavyweight | May 23, 2015 — Dec 28, 2018 |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Stipe Miocic | Heavyweight | May 14, 2016 — Jul 7, 2018 |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Max Holloway | Featherweight | Jun 3, 2017 — Dec 14, 2019 |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones | Light Heavyweight | Dec 29, 2018 — Aug 17, 2020 |
| {{flagicon|RUS}} Khabib Nurmagomedov | Lightweight | Apr 7, 2018 — Mar 19, 2021 |
| {{flagicon|USA}} Aljamain Sterling | Bantamweight | Mar 6, 2021 — Aug 19, 2023 |
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Alex Pereira | Light Heavyweight | Nov 11, 2023 — Mar 8, 2025 |
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Alexandre Pantoja | Flyweight | Jul 8, 2023 — Present |
| {{flagicon|CHN}} Zhang Weili | Women's Strawweight | Nov 12, 2022 — Present |
- Bold — Incumbent champion.
{{notelist}}
Longest reigning champions
The following is a list of the ten longest reigning UFC champions.
=Longest individual reigns=
| class="sortable wikitable"
! !! Name!! Title Reign !! Weight class !! Successful defenses |
| 1
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Anderson Silva || 2,457 days || MW ||align=center| 10 |
|---|
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} Demetrious Johnson || 2,142 days || FLW ||align=center| 11 |
| 3
| {{flagicon|Canada}} Georges St-Pierre || 2,064 days || WW ||align=center| 9 |
| 4
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes || 1,981 days || W-BW ||align=center| 5 |
| 5
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} José Aldo || 1,848 days || FTW ||align=center| 7 |
| 6
| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes || 1,634 days || W-FTW ||align=center| 2 |
| 7
| {{flagicon|KGZ}} Valentina Shevchenko || 1,547 days || W-FLW ||align=center| 7 |
| 8
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Alexander Volkanovski || 1,526 days || FTW ||align=center| 5 |
| 9
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones || 1,501 days || LHW ||align=center| 8 |
| 10
| {{flagicon|USA}} Daniel Cormier || 1,315 days || LHW ||align=center| 3 |
=Longest combined reigns=
| class="sortable wikitable"
! !! Name !! Days as champion !! Reigns !! Weight class !! Cumulative title defenses |
| 1
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Amanda Nunes || 3,940 days || 3 || W-BW, W-FTW ||align=center| 8 |
|---|
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones || {{Formatnum:{{#expr: 2098 + {{ age in days | 2023|03|04}}}}}} days || 3 || LHW, HW || align="center" | 12 |
| 3
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Anderson Silva || 2,457 days || 1 || MW ||align=center| 10 |
| 4
| {{flagicon|Canada}} Georges St-Pierre || 2,237 days || 3 || WW, MW ||align=center| 9 |
| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} Demetrious Johnson || 2,142 days || 1 || FLW ||align=center| 11 |
| 6
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} José Aldo || 2,037 days || 2 || FTW ||align=center| 7 |
| 7
| {{flagicon|KGZ}} Valentina Shevchenko || {{Formatnum:{{#expr: 1547 + {{ age in days | 2024|09|14}}}}}} days || 2 || W-FLW ||align=center| 7 |
| 8
| {{flagicon|USA}} Daniel Cormier || 1,722 days || 2 || LHW, HW ||align=center| 4 |
| 9
| {{flagicon|USA}} Matt Hughes || 1,577 days || 2 || WW ||align=center| 7 |
| 10
| {{flagicon|AUS}} Alexander Volkanovski || {{Formatnum:{{#expr: 1526 + {{ age in days | 2025|04|12}}}}}} days || 2 || FTW ||align=center| 5 |
- Bold — Incumbent champion.
Multi-division champions
Fighters who have won championships in multiple weight classes.{{cite magazine|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1205/mma-through-the-years/content.13.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517085317/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1205/mma-through-the-years/content.13.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 17, 2012 |title=MMA All-time Record Holders |magazine=Sports Illustrated}} Tournament championships and TUF winners are not included.
Randy Couture is notably the first champion to hold belts in two different divisions, and one of the few to reclaim a title after being defeated. Conor McGregor was the first fighter to hold multiple titles simultaneously.
| class="wikitable"
|style="background-color:#C0C0C0"| | Interim |
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
! ! Champion !! Division !! Won !! Lost !! Defenses !! Reign !! Total reign |
| rowspan="6" |1
| rowspan=6| {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Couture | rowspan=3| Heavyweight | Dec 21, 1997 (UFC Japan) | Jan ?, 1998 (stripped) | align=center| 0 | align=center| {{0}}{{0}}? days | rowspan=6 align=center | 1,478 + ? days |
|---|
| Nov 17, 2000 (UFC 28)
| Mar 22, 2002 (UFC 36) | align=center| 2 | align=center| 490 days |
| Mar 3, 2007 (UFC 68)
| Nov 15, 2008 (UFC 91) | align=center| 1 | align=center| 623 days |
| rowspan=3| Light Heavyweight
| bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Jun 6, 2003 (UFC 43) | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Sep 26, 2003 (UFC 44) | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | 0 | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | - |
| Sep 26, 2003 (UFC 44)
| Jan 31, 2004 (UFC 46) | align=center| 0 | align=center| 127 days |
| Aug 21, 2004 (UFC 49)
| Apr 16, 2005 (UFC 52) | align=center| 0 | align=center| 238 days |
| rowspan="2" |2
| rowspan=2| {{flagicon|USA}} B.J. Penn | Jan 31, 2004 (UFC 46) | May 17, 2004 (stripped) | align=center| 0 | align=center| 107 days | rowspan=2 align=center | 919 days |
| Lightweight
| Jan 19, 2008 (UFC 80) | Apr 10, 2010 (UFC 112) | align=center| 3 | align=center| 812 days |
| rowspan="3" |3
| rowspan=3| {{flagicon|IRE}} Conor McGregor | rowspan=2| Featherweight | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 | Jul 11, 2015 (UFC 189) | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 | Dec 12, 2015 (UFC 194) | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | 0 | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | - | rowspan=3 align=center | 861 days |
| Dec 12, 2015 (UFC 194)
| Nov 26, 2016 (stripped) | align=center| 0 | align=center| 350 days |
| Lightweight
| Nov 12, 2016 (UFC 205) | Apr 7, 2018 (stripped) | align=center| 0 | align=center| 511 days |
| rowspan="4" |4
| rowspan=4| {{flagicon|CAN}} Georges St-Pierre | rowspan=3| Welterweight | Nov 18, 2006 (UFC 65) | Apr 7, 2007 (UFC 69) | align=center| 0 | align=center| 140 days | rowspan=4 align=center | 2,237 days |
| bgcolor=#C0C0C0 | Dec 29, 2007 (UFC 79)
| bgcolor=#C0C0C0 | Apr 19, 2008 (UFC 83) | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | 0 | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | - |
| Apr 19, 2008 (UFC 83)
| Dec 13, 2013 (vacated) | align=center| 9 | align=center| 2,064 days |
| Middleweight
| Nov 4, 2017 (UFC 217) | Dec 7, 2017 (vacated) | align=center| 0 | align=center| 33 days |
| rowspan="2" |5
| rowspan=2| {{flagicon|USA}} Daniel Cormier | May 23, 2015 (UFC 187) | Dec 28, 2018 (vacated) | align=center| 3 | align=center| 1,315 days | rowspan=2 align=center | 1,722 days |
| Heavyweight
| Jul 7, 2018 (UFC 226) | Aug 17, 2019 (UFC 241) | align=center| 1 | align=center| 407 days |
| rowspan="3" |6
| rowspan=3| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes | rowspan=2| Women's Bantamweight | Jul 9, 2016 (UFC 200) | Dec 11, 2021 (UFC 269) | align=center| 5 | align=center| 1,981 days | rowspan=3 align=center | 3,940 days |
| Jul 30, 2022 (UFC 277)
| Jun 20, 2023 (vacated) | align=center| 1 | align=center| 325 days |
| Women's Featherweight
| Dec 29, 2018 (UFC 232) | Jun 20, 2023 (vacated) | align=center| 2 | align=center| 1,634 days |
| rowspan="2" |7
| rowspan=2| {{flagicon|USA}} Henry Cejudo | Aug 4, 2018 (UFC 227) | Feb 29, 2020 (vacated) | align=center| 1 | align=center| 574 days | rowspan=2 align=center | 926 days |
| Bantamweight
| Jun 8, 2019 (UFC 238) | May 24, 2020 (vacated) | align=center| 1 | align=center| 352 days |
| rowspan="4" |8
| rowspan=4| {{flagicon|USA}} Jon Jones | rowspan=3| Light Heavyweight | Mar 19, 2011 (UFC 128) | Apr 28, 2015 (stripped) | align=center| 8 | align=center| 1,501 days | rowspan=4 align=center | {{formatnum:{{#expr: 1501 + 597 + {{age in days|2023|03|04}}}}}} days |
| bgcolor=#C0C0C0 | Apr 23, 2016 (UFC 197)
| bgcolor=#C0C0C0 | Nov 19, 2016 (stripped) | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | 0 | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | - |
| Dec 29, 2018 (UFC 232)
| Aug 17, 2020 (vacated) | align=center| 3 | align=center| 597 days |
| Heavyweight
| Mar 4, 2023 (UFC 285) | align=center| Incumbent | align=center| 1 | align=center| {{formatnum:{{age in days|2023|03|04|show unit=full}}}} |
| rowspan="2" |9
| rowspan=2| {{flagicon|BRA}} Alex Pereira | Nov 12, 2022 (UFC 281) | Apr 8, 2023 (UFC 287) | align=center| 0 | align=center| 147 days | rowspan=2 align=center | 630 days |
| Light Heavyweight
| Nov 11, 2023 (UFC 295) | Mar 8, 2025 (UFC 313) | align=center| 3 | align=center| 483 days |
=Simultaneous two division champions=
- Note: Defenses shown are while champion was a two division champion.
| class=wikitable style=text-align:center | ||||
| ! Champion | Division | Period | Defenses | Reign |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan=2| 1
|align=left rowspan=2| {{flagicon|IRE}} Conor McGregor |align=left| Featherweight |rowspan=2| Nov 12, 2016 – Nov 26, 2016 |0 |align=center rowspan=2| 14 days | ||||
| align=left| Lightweight
|0 | ||||
| rowspan=2| 2
|align=left rowspan=2| {{flagicon|USA}} Daniel Cormier |align=left| Light Heavyweight |rowspan=2| Jul 7, 2018 – Dec 28, 2018 |0 |align=center rowspan=2| 174 days | ||||
| align=left| Heavyweight
|1 | ||||
| rowspan=2| 3
|align=left rowspan=2| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes |align=left| Women's Bantamweight |rowspan=2| Dec 29, 2018 – Dec 11, 2021 |2 |align=center rowspan=2| 1,078 days | ||||
| align=left| Women's Featherweight
|2 | ||||
| rowspan=2| 4
|align=left rowspan=2| {{flagicon|USA}} Henry Cejudo |align=left| Flyweight |rowspan=2| Jun 8, 2019 – Feb 29, 2020 |0 |align=center rowspan=2| 266 days | ||||
| align=left| Bantamweight
|1 | ||||
| rowspan=2| 5
|align=left rowspan=2| {{flagicon|BRA}} Amanda Nunes {{small|(2)}} |align=left| Women's Featherweight |rowspan=2| Jul 30, 2022 – Jun 20, 2023 |0 |align=center rowspan=2| 325 days | ||||
| align=left| Women's Bantamweight
|1 |
- Bold - Active reigns.
Missed weight title fights
There have been multiple instances in UFC history where a fighter misses the required weight limit for a championship fight. The following fights were originally scheduled and advertised as title fights, with the contenders earning a title shot, but due to a fighter missing weight these fights took place, only one fighter was eligible for the title, or the fight was changed to a non-title fight.
| class="wikitable"
! Event !! Date !! Championship ! colspan=3| Result !! Notes |
| UFC 56
| Nov 19, 2005 | Matt Hughes (c) (170 lb) | def. | Joe Riggs (172.5 lb) | Fight changed to non-title contest |
| UFC 67
| Feb 3, 2007 | Anderson Silva (c) (185 lb) | def. | Travis Lutter (187 lb) | Fight changed to non-title contest |
| UFC 206
| Dec 10, 2016 | Interim Featherweight | Max Holloway (145 lb) | def. | Anthony Pettis (148 lb) | Only Holloway was eligible to win title |
| UFC 221
| Feb 11, 2018 | Interim Middleweight | Yoel Romero (187.7 lb) | def. | Luke Rockhold (185 lb) | Only Rockhold was eligible to win title |
| UFC 225
| Jun 9, 2018 | Robert Whittaker (c) (185 lb) | def. | Yoel Romero (185.2 lb) | Fight changed to non-title contest |
| UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo
| Feb 29, 2020 | Deiveson Figueiredo (127.5 lb) | def. | Joseph Benavidez (124.5 lb) | Only Benavidez was eligible to win title |
| UFC 274
| May 7, 2022 | Charles Oliveira | def. | Justin Gaethje (155 lb) | Oliveira was stripped of the title, only Gaethje was eligible to win title |
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.ufc.com/athletes Current Title Holders] at [http://www.UFC.com UFC.com]
{{Ultimate Fighting Championship}}
{{UFC title holders}}
{{UFC Heavyweight Championship}}
{{UFC Light Heavyweight Championship}}
{{UFC Middleweight Championship}}
{{UFC Welterweight Championship}}
{{UFC Lightweight Championship}}
{{UFC Featherweight Championship}}
{{UFC Bantamweight Championship}}
{{UFC Flyweight Championship}}
{{UFC Women's Featherweight Championship}}
{{UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship}}
{{UFC Women's Flyweight Championship}}
{{UFC Women's Strawweight Championship}}
{{Mixed martial arts champions}}