List of UFC champions

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

The original codification for weight classes introduced only two divisions: heavyweight, which grouped together all competitors above 200 pounds (91 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.[4] The lightweight moniker would later return at UFC 16 with a new division consisting of those competitors 170 pounds (77 kg) and under.[5] Two years later a fourth weight class, the bantamweight division, arrived at UFC 26 and included all fighters 155 pounds (70 kg) and under.[4]

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.[6] The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with these new regulations in 2001, beginning with UFC 31.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] 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,[11] the first bout took place at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Miller.[12] 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

[13]

Men
DivisionChampionSinceDefenses
Heavyweight Stipe Miocic Aug 17, 2019 1
Light Heavyweight Jan Błachowicz Sep 27, 2020 0
Middleweight Israel Adesanya Oct 6, 2019 2
Welterweight Kamaru Usman Mar 2, 2019 2
Lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov Apr 7, 2018 3
Featherweight Alexander Volkanovski Dec 14, 2019 1
Bantamweight Petr Yan Jul 12, 2020 0
Flyweight Deiveson Figueiredo Jul 19, 2020 2

Women
DivisionChampionSinceDefenses
Featherweight Amanda Nunes Dec 29, 2018 1
Bantamweight Jul 9, 2016 5
Flyweight Valentina Shevchenko Dec 8, 2018 4
Strawweight Zhang Weili Aug 31, 2019 1

Men's championship history

Heavyweight Championship

206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)
The UFC Superfight Championship was unified with the UFC Tournament Championship to determine the inaugural UFC Heavyweight Champion on February 7, 1997, when Mark Coleman defeated Dan Severn at UFC 12.[4]

No.NameEventDateReign
(total)		Defenses
1 Mark Coleman
def. Dan Severn		 UFC 12
Dothan, AL, US		 Feb 7, 1997 170 days
2 Maurice Smith UFC 14
Birmingham, AL, US		 Jul 27, 1997 147 days

1. def. Tank Abbott at UFC 15 on Oct 17, 1997

3 Randy Couture UFC Japan
Yokohama, Japan		 Dec 21, 1997 ? days
Couture was stripped of the title in January 1998, when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute.
4 Bas Rutten
def. Kevin Randleman		 UFC 20
Birmingham, AL, US		 May 7, 1999 ? days
Rutten vacated the title in June 1999 in order to drop down to Light Heavyweight. He retired soon after due to training injuries.[14]
5 Kevin Randleman
def. Pete Williams		 UFC 23
Tokyo, Japan		 Nov 19, 1999 364 days

1. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 26 on Jun 9, 2000

6 Randy Couture (2) UFC 28
Atlantic City, NJ, US		 Nov 17, 2000 490 days
(490+ days)

1. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 31 on May 4, 2001
2. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 34 on Nov 2, 2001

7 Josh Barnett UFC 36
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Mar 22, 2002 126 days
Barnett was stripped of the title on July 26, 2002, after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.[15]
8 Ricco Rodriguez
def. Randy Couture		 UFC 39
Uncasville, CT, US		 Sep 27, 2002 154 days
9 Tim Sylvia UFC 41
Atlantic City, NJ, US		 Feb 28, 2003 229 days

1. def. Gan McGee at UFC 44 on Sep 26, 2003

Sylvia was stripped of the title on October 15, 2003, after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.[16]
10 Frank Mir
def. Tim Sylvia		 UFC 48
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jun 19, 2004 419 days
- Andrei Arlovski
def. Tim Sylvia for interim title		 UFC 51
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Feb 5, 2005 —

1. def. Justin Eilers at UFC 53 on Jun 4, 2005

Mir was stripped of the title on August 12, 2005, for inactivity resulting from injuries he sustained in a road accident.[17]
11 Andrei Arlovski
promoted to undisputed champion		 — Aug 12, 2005 246 days

1. def. Paul Buentello at UFC 55 on Oct 7, 2005

12 Tim Sylvia (2) UFC 59
Anaheim, CA, US		 Apr 15, 2006 322 days
(551 days)

1. def. Andrei Arlovski at UFC 61 on Jul 8, 2006
2. def. Jeff Monson at UFC 65 on Nov 18, 2006

13 Randy Couture (3) UFC 68
Columbus, OH, US		 Mar 3, 2007 623 days
(1,113+ days)

1. def. Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 on Aug 25, 2007

- Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
def. Tim Sylvia for interim title		 UFC 81
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Feb 2, 2008 —
14 Brock Lesnar UFC 91
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Nov 15, 2008 707 days

1. def. interim champion Frank Mir at UFC 100 on Jul 11, 2009
2. def. interim champion Shane Carwin at UFC 116 on Jul 3, 2010

- Frank Mir
def. interim champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira		 UFC 92
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 27, 2008 —
- Shane Carwin
def. Frank Mir for interim title		 UFC 111
Newark, NJ, US		 Mar 27, 2010 —
15 Cain Velasquez UFC 121
Anaheim, CA, US		 Oct 23, 2010 385 days
16 Junior dos Santos UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. dos Santos
Anaheim, CA, US		 Nov 12, 2011 413 days

1. def. Frank Mir at UFC 146 on May 26, 2012

17 Cain Velasquez (2) UFC 155
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 29, 2012 896 days
(1,281 days)

1. def. Antônio Silva at UFC 160 on May 25, 2013
2. def. Junior dos Santos at UFC 166 on Oct 19, 2013

- Fabrício Werdum
def. Mark Hunt for interim title		 UFC 180
Mexico City, Mexico		 Nov 15, 2014 —
18 Fabrício Werdum UFC 188
Mexico City, Mexico		 Jun 13, 2015 336 days
19 Stipe Miocic UFC 198
Curitiba, Brazil		 May 14, 2016 785 days

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 Daniel Cormier UFC 226
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jul 7, 2018 407 days

1. def. Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 on Nov 3, 2018

21 Stipe Miocic (2) UFC 241
Anaheim, CA, US		 Aug 17, 2019 539 days
(incumbent)

1. def. Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 on Aug 15, 2020

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 (209.4 lb) was unified with the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on September 8, 2007, when Quinton Jackson defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 75.[4]

No.NameEventDateReign
(Total)		Defenses
1 Frank Shamrock
def. Kevin Jackson		 UFC Japan
Yokohama, Japan		 Dec 21, 1997 703 days

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

Shamrock vacated the title on November 24, 1999, when he retired from the UFC, citing a lack of competition.[1]
2 Tito Ortiz
def. Wanderlei Silva		 UFC 25
Tokyo, Japan		 Apr 14, 2000 1,260 days

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

- Randy Couture
def. Chuck Liddell for interim title		 UFC 43
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jun 6, 2003 —
3 Randy Couture UFC 44
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Sep 26, 2003 127 days
4 Vitor Belfort UFC 46
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jan 31, 2004 203 days
5 Randy Couture (2) UFC 49
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Aug 21, 2004 238 days
(365 days)
6 Chuck Liddell UFC 52
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Apr 16, 2005 770 days

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 Quinton Jackson UFC 71
Las Vegas, NV, US		 May 26, 2007 406 days

1. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 75 on Sep 8, 2007

8 Forrest Griffin UFC 86
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jul 5, 2008 175 days
9 Rashad Evans UFC 92
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 27, 2008 147 days
10 Lyoto Machida UFC 98
Las Vegas, NV, US		 May 23, 2009 350 days

1. def. Maurício Rua at UFC 104 on Oct 24, 2009

11 Maurício Rua UFC 113
Montreal, QC, Canada		 May 8, 2010 315 days
12 Jon Jones UFC 128
Newark, NJ, US		 Mar 19, 2011 1,501 days

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
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

Jones was stripped of the title on April 28, 2015, due to his involvement and arrest in a felony hit-and-run.[18]
13 Daniel Cormier
def. Anthony Johnson		 UFC 187
Las Vegas, NV, US		 May 23, 2015 1,315 days

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

- Jon Jones
def. Ovince Saint Preux for interim title		 UFC 197
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Apr 23, 2016 —
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.[19]
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.[20]
Cormier vacated the title on December 28, 2018, 174 days after winning the heavyweight title.[21]
14 Jon Jones (2)
def. Alexander Gustafsson		 UFC 232
Inglewood, CA, US		 Dec 29, 2018 597 days
(2,098 days)

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

Jones vacated the belt on August 17, 2020, citing issues with the UFC over salary negotiation and the desire to compete at heavyweight.[22][23]
15 Jan Błachowicz
def. Dominick Reyes		 UFC 253
Abu Dhabi, UAE		 Sep 27, 2020 132 days
(incumbent)

Middleweight Championship

171 to 185 lb (77 to 84 kg)
The Pride World Welterweight Championship (183 lb) was unified with the UFC Middleweight Championship on March 1, 2008, when Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82.[24]

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
1 Dave Menne
def. Gil Castillo		 UFC 33
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Sep 28, 2001 105 days
2 Murilo Bustamante UFC 35
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jan 11, 2002 267 days

1. def. Matt Lindland at UFC 37 on May 10, 2002

Bustamante was stripped of the title on October 5, 2002, when he left the UFC for Pride.[1]
3 Evan Tanner
def. David Terrell		 UFC 51
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Feb 5, 2005 119 days
4 Rich Franklin UFC 53
Atlantic City, NJ, US		 Jun 4, 2005 497 days

1. def. Nate Quarry at UFC 56 on Nov 19, 2005
2. def. David Loiseau at UFC 58 on Mar 4, 2006

5 Anderson Silva UFC 64
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Oct 14, 2006 2,457 days

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 Chris Weidman UFC 162
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jul 6, 2013 889 days

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 Luke Rockhold UFC 194
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 12, 2015 175 days
8 Michael Bisping UFC 199
Inglewood, CA, US		 Jun 4, 2016 518 days

1. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 204 on Oct 8, 2016

- Robert Whittaker
def. Yoel Romero for interim title		 UFC 213
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jul 8, 2017 —
9 Georges St-Pierre UFC 217
New York City, NY, US		 Nov 4, 2017 33 days
St-Pierre vacated the title on December 7, 2017, due to ulcerative colitis.[25][26]
10 Robert Whittaker
promoted to undisputed champion		 — Dec 7, 2017 660 days
- Israel Adesanya
def. Kelvin Gastelum for interim title		 UFC 236
Atlanta, GA, US		 Apr 13, 2019 —
11 Israel Adesanya
 UFC 243
Melbourne, Australia		 Oct 6, 2019 489 days
(incumbent)

1. def. Yoel Romero at UFC 248 on Mar 7, 2020
2. def. Paulo Costa at UFC 253 on Sep 27, 2020

Welterweight Championship

156 to 170 lb (70 to 77 kg)
The Welterweight Championship was known as the Lightweight Championship prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).

No.NameEventDateReign
(Total)		Defenses
1 Pat Miletich
def. Mikey Burnett		 UFC Brazil
São Paulo, Brazil		 Oct 16, 1998 931 days

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 Carlos Newton UFC 31
Atlantic City, NJ, US		 May 4, 2001 183 days
3 Matt Hughes UFC 34
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Nov 2, 2001 820 days

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 B.J. Penn UFC 46
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jan 31, 2004 107 days
Penn was stripped of the title on May 17, 2004, when he left the UFC for K-1.[27]
5 Matt Hughes (2)
def. Georges St-Pierre		 UFC 50
Atlantic City, NJ, US		 Oct 22, 2004 757 days
(1,577 days)

1. def. Frank Trigg at UFC 52 on Apr 16, 2005
2. def. B.J. Penn at UFC 63 on Sep 23, 2006

6 Georges St-Pierre UFC 65
Sacramento, CA, US		 Nov 18, 2006 140 days
7 Matt Serra UFC 69
Houston, TX, US		 Apr 7, 2007 378 days
- Georges St-Pierre
def. Matt Hughes for interim title		 UFC 79
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 29, 2007 —
8 Georges St-Pierre (2) UFC 83
Montreal, QC, Canada		 Apr 19, 2008 2,064 days
(2,204 days)

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
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

- Carlos Condit
def. Nick Diaz for interim title		 UFC 143
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Feb 4, 2012 —
St-Pierre vacated the title on December 13, 2013, when he decided to take time off.[28]
9 Johny Hendricks
def. Robbie Lawler		 UFC 171
Dallas, TX, US		 Mar 15, 2014 266 days
10 Robbie Lawler UFC 181
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 6, 2014 602 days

1. def. Rory MacDonald at UFC 189 on Jul 11, 2015
2. def. Carlos Condit at UFC 195 on Jan 2, 2016

11 Tyron Woodley UFC 201
Atlanta, GA, US		 Jul 30, 2016 945 days

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

- Colby Covington
def. Rafael dos Anjos for interim title		 UFC 225
Chicago, IL, US		 Jun 9, 2018 —
Covington was stripped of the interim title on September 8, 2018, due to injury.[29]
12 Kamaru Usman UFC 235
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Mar 2, 2019 707 days
(incumbent)

1. def. Colby Covington at UFC 245 on Dec 14, 2019
2. def. Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 on Jul 12, 2020

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.[30]

No.NameEventDateReign
(Total)		Defenses
1 Jens Pulver
def. Caol Uno		 UFC 30
Atlantic City, NJ, US		 Feb 23, 2001 393 days

1. def. Dennis Hallman at UFC 33 on Sep 28, 2001
2. def. B.J. Penn at UFC 35 on Jan 11, 2002

Pulver was stripped of the title on March 23, 2002, when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute.[1]
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.[1]
2 Sean Sherk
def. Kenny Florian		 UFC 64
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Oct 14, 2006 420 days

1. def. Hermes França at UFC 73 on Jul 7, 2007

Sherk was stripped of the title on December 8, 2007, after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.[31]
3 B.J. Penn
def. Joe Stevenson		 UFC 80
Newcastle, England, UK		 Jan 19, 2008 812 days

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 Frankie Edgar UFC 112
Abu Dhabi, UAE		 Apr 10, 2010 687 days

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 Benson Henderson UFC 144
Saitama, Japan		 Feb 26, 2012 552 days

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
3. def. Gilbert Melendez at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez on Apr 20, 2013

6 Anthony Pettis UFC 164
Milwaukee, WI, US		 Aug 31, 2013 560 days

1. def. Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181 on Dec 6, 2014

7 Rafael dos Anjos UFC 185
Dallas, TX, US		 Mar 14, 2015 481 days

1. def. Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 on Dec 19, 2015

8 Eddie Alvarez UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Alvarez
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jul 7, 2016 128 days
9 Conor McGregor UFC 205
New York City, NY, US		 Nov 12, 2016 511 days
- Tony Ferguson
def. Kevin Lee for interim title		 UFC 216
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Oct 7, 2017 —
Both McGregor and Ferguson were stripped of their titles on April 7, 2018, due to inactivity and injury, respectively.[32]
10 Khabib Nurmagomedov
def. Al Iaquinta		 UFC 223
Brooklyn, NY, US		 Apr 7, 2018 1036 days
(incumbent)

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

- Dustin Poirier
def. Max Holloway for interim title		 UFC 236
Atlanta, GA, US		 Apr 13, 2019 —
- Justin Gaethje
def. Tony Ferguson for interim title		 UFC 249
Jacksonville, FL, US		 May 9, 2020 —
Nurmagomedov announced his retirement on October 24, 2020. The title is yet to be vacated.[33]

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.[34]

No.NameEventDateReign
(Total)		Defenses
1 José Aldo
promoted to undisputed champion		 UFC 123
Auburn Hills, MI, US		 Nov 20, 2010 1,848 days

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. Chan Sung Jung 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

- Conor McGregor
def. Chad Mendes for interim title		 UFC 189
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jul 11, 2015 —
2 Conor McGregor UFC 194
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 12, 2015 350 days
- José Aldo
def. Frankie Edgar for interim title		 UFC 200
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jul 9, 2016 —
McGregor was stripped of the title on November 26, 2016, 14 days after winning the lightweight title.[35][36]
3 José Aldo (2)
promoted to undisputed champion		 — Nov 26, 2016 189 days
(2,037 days)
- Max Holloway
def. Anthony Pettis for interim title		 UFC 206
Toronto, ON, Canada		 Dec 10, 2016 —
4 Max Holloway UFC 212
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil		 Jun 3, 2017 925 days

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 Alexander Volkanovski UFC 245
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 14, 2019 420 days
(incumbent)

1. def. Max Holloway at UFC 251 on Jul 12, 2020

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.[37]

No.NameEventDateReign
(Total)		Defenses
1 Dominick Cruz
def. Scott Jorgensen		 WEC 53
Glendale, AZ, US		 Dec 16, 2010 1,117 days

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

- Renan Barão
def. Urijah Faber for interim title		 UFC 149
Calgary, AB, Canada		 Jul 21, 2012 —

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

Cruz vacated the title on January 6, 2014, after repeated injuries prevented him from returning to competition to defend his title.[38]
2 Renan Barão
promoted to undisputed champion		 — Jan 6, 2014 138 days

1. def. Urijah Faber at UFC 169 on Feb 1, 2014

3 T.J. Dillashaw UFC 173
Las Vegas, NV, US		 May 24, 2014 603 days

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 Dominick Cruz (2) UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz
Boston, MA, US		 Jan 17, 2016 348 days
(1,465 days)

1. def. Urijah Faber at UFC 199 on Jun 4, 2016

5 Cody Garbrandt UFC 207
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 30, 2016 309 days
6 T.J. Dillashaw (2) UFC 217
New York City, NY, US		 Nov 4, 2017 501 days
(1,104 days)

1. def. Cody Garbrandt at UFC 227 on Aug 4, 2018

Dillashaw vacated the title on March 20, 2019, due to a failed drug test.[39]
7 Henry Cejudo
def. Marlon Moraes		 UFC 238
Chicago, IL, US		 Jun 8, 2019 352 days

1. def. Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 on May 9, 2020

Cejudo announced his retirement on May 9, 2020. The title was officially vacated on May 24, 2020.[40]
8 Petr Yan
def. José Aldo		 UFC 251
Abu Dhabi, UAE		 Jul 12, 2020 209 days
(incumbent)

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.[41]

No.NameEventDateReign
(Total)		Defenses
1 Demetrious Johnson
def. Joseph Benavidez		 UFC 152
Toronto, ON, Canada		 Sep 22, 2012 2,142 days

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
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
11. def. Ray Borg at UFC 216 on Oct 7, 2017

2 Henry Cejudo UFC 227
Los Angeles, CA, US		 Aug 4, 2018 574 days 1. def. T.J. Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw on Jan 19, 2019
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.[42]
3 Deiveson Figueiredo
def. Joseph Benavidez		 UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2
Abu Dhabi, UAE		 Jul 19, 2020 202 days
(incumbent)

1. def. Alex Perez at UFC 255 on Nov 21, 2020
2. drew with Brandon Moreno at UFC 256 on Dec 12, 2020

Women's championship history

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.[43]

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
1 Germaine de Randamie
def. Holly Holm		 UFC 208
Brooklyn, NY, US		 Feb 11, 2017 128 days
de Randamie was stripped of the title on June 19, 2017, after she refused to defend the title against Cris Cyborg.[44]
2 Cris Cyborg
def. Tonya Evinger		 UFC 214
Anaheim, CA, US		 Jul 29, 2017 517 days

1. def. Holly Holm at UFC 219 on Dec 30, 2017
2. def. Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 222 on Mar 3, 2018

3 Amanda Nunes UFC 232
Inglewood, CA, US		 Dec 29, 2018 770 days
(incumbent)

1. def. Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 on Jun 6, 2020

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.[45]

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
1 Ronda Rousey
promoted to undisputed champion		 UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz
Seattle, WA, US		 Dec 6, 2012 1,074 days

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 Holly Holm UFC 193
Melbourne, Australia		 Nov 15, 2015 111 days
3 Miesha Tate UFC 196
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Mar 5, 2016 126 days
4 Amanda Nunes UFC 200
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Jul 9, 2016 1,673 days
(incumbent)

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
5. def. Germaine de Randamie at UFC 245 on Dec 14, 2019

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.

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
1 Nicco Montaño
def. Roxanne Modafferi		 The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion Finale
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 1, 2017 280 days
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.[46]
2 Valentina Shevchenko
def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk		 UFC 231
Toronto, ON, Canada		 Dec 8, 2018 791 days
(incumbent)

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

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.[11]

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
1 Carla Esparza
def. Rose Namajunas		 The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned Finale
Las Vegas, NV, US		 Dec 12, 2014 92 days
2 Joanna Jędrzejczyk UFC 185
Dallas, TX, US		 Mar 14, 2015 966 days

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
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 Rose Namajunas UFC 217
New York City, NY, US		 Nov 4, 2017 554 days

1. def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 223 on Apr 7, 2018

4 Jéssica Andrade UFC 237
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil		 May 11, 2019 112 days
5 Zhang Weili UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang
Shenzhen, China		 Aug 31, 2019 525 days
(incumbent)

1. def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 248 on Mar 7, 2020

Title defunct

Superfight Championship

An 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.[47]

No.NameEventDateReignDefenses
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]
1 Ken Shamrock
def. Dan Severn		 UFC 6
Casper, WY, US		 Jul 14, 1995 308 days

1. drew with Oleg Taktarov at UFC 7 on Sep 8, 1995
2. def. Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 8 on Feb 16, 1996

2 Dan Severn UFC 9
Detroit, MI, US		 May 17, 1996 266 days
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 Tournament Championship to determine the inaugural UFC Heavyweight Champion.[4]

Tournament winners
EventDateDivisionWinnerRunner-up
UFC 1 Nov 12, 1993 None Royce Gracie Gerard Gordeau
UFC 2 Mar 11, 1994 None Royce Gracie (2) Patrick Smith
UFC 3 Sep 9, 1994 None Steve Jennum Harold Howard
UFC 4 Dec 16, 1994 None Royce Gracie (3) Dan Severn
UFC 5 Apr 7, 1995 None Dan Severn Dave Beneteau
UFC 6 Jul 14, 1995 None Oleg Taktarov Tank Abbott
UFC 7 Sep 8, 1995 None Marco Ruas Paul Varelans
The Ultimate Ultimate Dec 16, 1995 None Dan Severn (2) Oleg Taktarov
UFC 8 Feb 16, 1996 None Don Frye Gary Goodridge
UFC 10 Jul 12, 1996 None Mark Coleman Don Frye
UFC 11 Sep 20, 1996 None Mark Coleman (2) Scott Ferrozzo
The Ultimate Ultimate 2 Dec 7, 1996 None Don Frye (2) Tank Abbott
UFC 12 Feb 7, 1997 Heavyweight Vitor Belfort Scott Ferrozzo
Lightweight Jerry Bohlander Nick Sanzo
UFC 13 May 30, 1997 Heavyweight Randy Couture Steven Graham
Lightweight Guy Mezger Tito Ortiz
UFC 14 Jul 27, 1997 Heavyweight Mark Kerr Dan Bobish
Middleweight Kevin Jackson Tony Fryklund
UFC 15 Oct 17, 1997 Heavyweight Mark Kerr (2) Dwayne Cason
Ultimate Japan Dec 21, 1997 Heavyweight Kazushi Sakuraba Marcus Silveira
UFC 16 Mar 13, 1998 Lightweight Pat Miletich Chris Brennan
UFC 17 May 15, 1998 Middleweight Dan Henderson Carlos Newton
UFC 23 Nov 19, 1999 Middleweight Kenichi Yamamoto Katsuhisa Fujii
UFC 39
UFC 41		 Feb 28, 2003 Lightweight 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 Demetrious Johnson 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.

SeasonFinaleDivisionWinnerRunner-up
TUF 1: Team Couture vs. Team Liddell Apr 9, 2005 Light Heavyweight Forrest Griffin Stephan Bonnar
Middleweight Diego Sanchez Kenny Florian
TUF 2: Team Hughes vs. Team Franklin Nov 5, 2005 Heavyweight Rashad Evans Brad Imes
Welterweight Joe Stevenson Luke Cummo
TUF 3: Team Ortiz vs. Team Shamrock Jun 24, 2006 Middleweight Kendall Grove Ed Herman
Light Heavyweight Michael Bisping Josh Haynes
TUF 4: The Comeback Nov 11, 2006 Middleweight Travis Lutter Patrick Côté
Welterweight Matt Serra Chris Lytle
TUF 5: Team Pulver vs. Team Penn Jun 23, 2007 Lightweight Nate Diaz Manvel Gamburyan
TUF 6: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra Dec 8, 2007 Welterweight Mac Danzig Tommy Speer
TUF 7: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest Jun 21, 2008 Middleweight Amir Sadollah C.B. Dollaway
TUF 8: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir Dec 13, 2008 Light Heavyweight Ryan Bader Vinicius Magalhães
Lightweight Efrain Escudero Phillipe Nover
TUF 9: United States vs. United Kingdom Jun 20, 2009 Lightweight Ross Pearson Andre Winner
Welterweight James Wilks DaMarques Johnson
TUF 10: Heavyweights Dec 5, 2009 Heavyweight Roy Nelson Brendan Schaub
TUF 11: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz Jun 19, 2010 Middleweight Court McGee Kris McCray
TUF 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck Dec 4, 2010 Lightweight Jonathan Brookins Michael Johnson
TUF 13: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos Jun 4, 2011 Welterweight Tony Ferguson Ramsey Nijem
TUF 14: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller Dec 3, 2011 Bantamweight John Dodson T.J. Dillashaw
Featherweight Diego Brandao Dennis Bermudez
TUF 15: Live Jun 1, 2012 Lightweight Michael Chiesa Al Iaquinta
TUF: Brazil Jun 23, 2012 Featherweight Rony Mariano Bezerra Godofredo Pepey
Middleweight Cezar Ferreira Sergio Moraes
TUF 16: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Dec 15, 2012 Welterweight Colton Smith Mike Ricci
TUF: The Smashes Dec 15, 2012 Lightweight Norman Parke Colin Fletcher
Welterweight Robert Whittaker Brad Scott
TUF 17: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen Apr 13, 2013 Middleweight Kelvin Gastelum Uriah Hall
TUF: Brazil 2 Jun 8, 2013 Welterweight Leonardo Santos William Macario
TUF 18: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate Nov 30, 2013 Bantamweight Chris Holdsworth Davey Grant
Women's Bantamweight Julianna Peña Jessica Rakoczy
TUF: China Mar 1, 2014 Featherweight Ning Guangyou Yang Jianping
Welterweight Zhang Lipeng Wang Sai
TUF Nations: Canada vs. Australia Apr 16, 2014 Welterweight Chad Laprise Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Middleweight Elias Theodorou Sheldon Westcott
TUF: Brazil 3 May 31, 2014 Middleweight Warlley Alves Márcio Alexandre Júnior
Heavyweight Antônio Carlos Júnior Vitor Miranda
TUF 19: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn Jul 6, 2014 Middleweight Eddie Gordon Dhiego Lima
Light Heavyweight Corey Anderson Matt Van Buren
TUF: Latin America Nov 15, 2014 Bantamweight Alejandro Pérez José Alberto Quiñónez
Featherweight Yair Rodríguez Leonardo Morales
TUF 20: A Champion Will Be Crowned Dec 12, 2014 Women's Strawweight Carla Esparza Rose Namajunas
TUF 21: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians Jul 12, 2015 Welterweight Kamaru Usman Hayder Hassan
TUF: Brazil 4 Aug 1, 2015 Bantamweight Reginaldo Vieira Dileno Lopes
Lightweight Glaico França Fernando Bruno
TUF: Latin America 2 Nov 21, 2015 Lightweight Enrique Barzola Horacio Gutiérrez
Welterweight Erick Montaño Enrique Marín
TUF 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber Dec 11, 2015 Lightweight Ryan Hall Artem Lobov
TUF 23: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia Jul 8, 2016 Women's Strawweight Tatiana Suarez Amanda Cooper
Light Heavyweight Andrew Sanchez Khalil Rountree
TUF: Latin America 3 Nov 5, 2016 Lightweight Martín Bravo Claudio Puelles
TUF 24: Tournament of Champions Dec 3, 2016 Flyweight Tim Elliott Hiromasa Ogikubo
TUF 25: Redemption Jul 7, 2017 Welterweight Jesse Taylor Dhiego Lima
TUF 26: A New World Champion Dec 1, 2017 Women's Flyweight Nicco Montaño Roxanne Modafferi
TUF 27: Undefeated Jul 6, 2018 Featherweight Brad Katona Jay Cucciniello
Lightweight Michael Trizano Joe Giannetti
TUF 28: Heavy Hitters Nov 30, 2018 Heavyweight Juan Francisco Espino Justin Frazier
Women's Featherweight Macy Chiasson Pannie Kianzad

Champions by nationality

Division champions are the primary separation criteria due to being non-closed competition. It includes title holders and interim title holders. Interim champions who become undisputed champions are listed only once. People with multiple title reigns will have each of them counted. Tournament wins 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.

CountryDivision
champions		Tournament
champions		TUF
winners		Total
United States 691631116
Brazil 165829
Canada 4-37
Russia 21-3
Australia 2-13
Nigeria 2-13
Ireland 2--2
Netherlands 2--2
Poland 2--2
England 1-45
China 1-23
Belarus 1--1
Kyrgyzstan 1--1
Mexico --55
Japan -2-2
Jamaica --11
Northern Ireland --11
Peru --11
Spain --11

Most wins in title bouts

Fighters with four or more championship and/or interim championship title wins.[48] Fighters with the same number of title wins are arranged in order of most title fights. Tournament championships and TUF winners are not included.

Title winsChampionDivisionWLDNC
14 Jon JonesLight Heavyweight1401
13 Georges St-PierreMiddleweight
Welterweight		1
12		0
2
12 Demetrious JohnsonBantamweight
Flyweight		0
12		1
1
11 Anderson SilvaMiddleweight112
9 Randy CoutureHeavyweight
Light Heavyweight		6
3		3
3
Matt HughesWelterweight93
8 José AldoFeatherweight
Bantamweight		8
0		3
1
Amanda NunesWomen's Featherweight
Women's Bantamweight		2
6		0
0
6 Joanna JędrzejczykWomen's Flyweight
Women's Strawweight		0
6		1
3
Daniel CormierHeavyweight
Light Heavyweight		2
4		2
1		0
1
Tito OrtizLight Heavyweight63
Ronda RouseyWomen's Bantamweight62
Stipe MiocicHeavyweight61
5 B.J. PennWelterweight
Lightweight		1
4		2
3		0
1
Tim SylviaHeavyweight54
Max HollowayLightweight
Featherweight		0
5		1
2
Chuck LiddellLight Heavyweight52
T.J. DillashawBantamweight
Flyweight		5
0		1
1
Dominick CruzBantamweight52
Pat MiletichWelterweight51
Valentina ShevchenkoWomen's Bantamweight
Women's Flyweight		0
5		1
0
Frank ShamrockLight Heavyweight50
4 Cain VelasquezHeavyweight42
Renan BarãoBantamweight42
Tyron WoodleyWelterweight411
Benson HendersonLightweight41
Chris WeidmanMiddleweight41
Henry CejudoBantamweight
Flyweight		2
2		0
1
Israel AdesanyaMiddleweight40
Khabib NurmagomedovLightweight40

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.[49]

DefensesChampionDivisionPeriod
11 Demetrious JohnsonFlyweightSep 22, 2012 — Aug 4, 2018
10 Anderson SilvaMiddleweightOct 14, 2006 — Jul 6, 2013
9 Georges St-PierreWelterweightApr 19, 2008 — Dec 13, 2013
8 Jon JonesLight HeavyweightMar 19, 2011 — Apr 28, 2015
7 José AldoFeatherweightNov 20, 2010 — Dec 12, 2015
6 Ronda RouseyWomen's BantamweightDec 6, 2012 — Nov 15, 2015
5 Tito OrtizLight HeavyweightApr 14, 2000 — Sep 26, 2003
Matt HughesWelterweightNov 2, 2001 — Jan 31, 2004
Joanna JędrzejczykWomen's StrawweightMar 14, 2015 — Nov 4, 2017
Amanda NunesWomen's BantamweightJul 9, 2016 — present
4 Frank ShamrockLight HeavyweightDec 21, 1997 — Nov 24, 1999
Pat MiletichWelterweightOct 16, 1998 — May 4, 2001
Chuck LiddellLight HeavyweightApr 16, 2005 — May 26, 2007
Tyron Woodley[lower-alpha 1] WelterweightJul 30, 2016 — Mar 2, 2019
Valentina ShevchenkoWomen's FlyweightDec 8, 2018 — present
3 B.J. PennLightweightJan 19, 2008 — Apr 10, 2010
Frankie Edgar[lower-alpha 2] LightweightApr 10, 2010 — Feb 26, 2012
Benson HendersonLightweightFeb 26, 2012 — Aug 31, 2013
Renan Barão[lower-alpha 3]BantamweightJul 21, 2012 — May 24, 2014
Chris WeidmanMiddleweightJul 6, 2013 — Dec 12, 2015
Daniel Cormier[lower-alpha 4] Light HeavyweightMay 23, 2015 — Dec 28, 2018
Stipe MiocicHeavyweightMay 14, 2016 — Jul 7, 2018
Max HollowayFeatherweightJun 3, 2017 — Dec 14, 2019
Jon JonesLight HeavyweightDec 29, 2018 — Aug 17, 2020
Khabib NurmagomedovLightweightApr 7, 2018 — present
  • Bold — Incumbent champion.
  1. Woodley successfully defended the UFC Welterweight Championship three times and retained the title once following a draw against Stephen Thompson at UFC 205.
  2. Edgar successfully defended the UFC Lightweight Championship twice and retained the title once following a draw against Gray Maynard at UFC 125.
  3. Barão successfully defended the interim UFC Bantamweight Championship twice before being promoted to undisputed champion and defending his title once more.
  4. Cormier lost to Jon Jones attempting his 3rd consecutive defense. However, Jones' win was later overtuned 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.

Longest reigning champions

The following is a list of the ten longest reigning UFC champions.

Longest individual reigns
NameTitle ReignWeight classSuccessful defenses
1. Anderson Silva2,457 daysMW10
2 Demetrious Johnson2,142 daysFLW11
3 Georges St-Pierre2,064 daysWW9
4 José Aldo1,848 daysFTW7
5 Amanda Nunes1,673 daysW-BW5
6 Jon Jones1,501 daysLHW8
7 Daniel Cormier1,315 daysLHW3
8 Tito Ortiz1,260 daysLHW5
9 Dominick Cruz1,117 daysBW2
10 Ronda Rousey1,074 daysW-BW6

Longest combined reigns
NameDays as championReignsWeight classCumulative title defenses
1 Anderson Silva2,457 days1MW10
2 Amanda Nunes2443 days2W-BW, W-FTW6
3 Georges St-Pierre2,237 days3WW, MW9
4 Demetrious Johnson2,142 days1FLW11
5 Jon Jones2,098 days2LHW11
6 José Aldo2,037 days2FTW7
7 Daniel Cormier1,722 days2LHW, HW4
8 Matt Hughes1,577 days2WW7
9 Randy Couture1,478+ days5HW, LHW3
10 Dominick Cruz1,465 days2BW3
  • Bold — Incumbent champion.

Multi-division champions

Fighters who have won championships in multiple weight classes.[50] Interim titles, 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.

Titles earned again are not shown in the table (e.g Randy Couture reclaiming the Heavyweight title).

Men's Category
Number Name Title Date Opponent Method Defenses
1
Randy Couture		 Heavyweight (265) 1997-12-21 Maurice Smith MD 1/1 0
Light heavyweight (205) 2003-06-26 Tito Ortiz UD 5/5 0
2
B.J. Penn		 Welterweight (170) 2004-01-31 Matt Hughes Submission (rear-naked choke) 1/5 0
Lightweight (155) 2008-01-18 Joe Stevenson Submission (rear-naked choke) 2/5 3
3
Conor McGregor		 Featherweight (145) 2015-12-12 José Aldo TKO (punch) 1/5 0
Lightweight (155) 2016-11-12 Eddie Alvarez TKO (punches) 2/5 0
4
Georges St-Pierre		 Welterweight (170) 2006-11-18 Matt Hughes TKO (head kick and punches) 2/5 0
Middleweight (185) 2017-11-04 Michael Bisping Submission (rear-naked choke) 3/5 0
5
Daniel Cormier		 Light heavyweight (205) 2015-05-23 Anthony Johnson Submission (rear-naked choke) 3/5 3
Heavyweight (265) 2018-07-07 Stipe Miocic KO (punches) 1/5 1
6
Henry Cejudo		 Flyweight (125) 2018-08-04 Demetrious Johnson SD 5/5 1
Bantamweight (135) 2019-06-08 Marlon Moraes TKO 3/5 1

Women's Category
Number Name Title Date Opponent Method Defenses
1
Amanda Nunes		 Bantamweight (135) 2016-07-09 Miesha Tate Submission (rear-naked choke) 1/5 5
Featherweight (145) 2018-12-29 Cris Cyborg KO (punch) 1/5 1

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 to win, or the fight was changed to a non-title fight.

EventDateWeight classResult
UFC 56 November 19, 2005 Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes (170 lb) def. Joe Riggs (172.5 lb)
UFC 67 February 3, 2007 Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (185 lb) def. Travis Lutter (187 lb)
UFC 206 December 10, 2016 Featherweight Interim - Max Holloway (145 lb) def. Anthony Pettis (148 lb)
UFC 221 February 11, 2018 Middleweight Interim - Yoel Romero (187.7 lb) def. Luke Rockhold (185 lb)
UFC 225 June 9, 2018 Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker (185 lb) def. Yoel Romero (185.2 lb)
UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo February 29, 2020 Flyweight Vacant - Deiveson Figueiredo (127.5 lb) def. Joseph Benavidez (124.5 lb)

See also

References
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