The following is a list of Ultimate Fighting Championship champions at each weight class and tournament.
At the time of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's inception in 1993, the sport of mixed martial arts was unsanctioned in the United States, and it did not include weight classes. Instead of the traditional championship model, tournaments were held with the winner receiving a permanent appellation. 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.[1]
The original codification for weight classes introduced only two divisions: heavyweight, which grouped competitors above 200 lb, and lightweight, which encompassed all other competitors. The UFC would later rename its lightweight division to middleweight and add lightweight 170 lb and bantamweight 155 lb divisions. In 2000, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board completely took over regulation in its home state, and its rules and weight classes became the de facto rule set for mixed martial arts. The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with the new regulations in 2001.
Current title histories[]
Heavyweight Championship[]
- 206 to 265 lbs (93 to 120 kg)
No. | Name | Date | Location | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mark Coleman (def. Dan Severn) |
February 7, 1997 (UFC 12) |
Dothan, Alabama, US | |
2 | Maurice Smith | July 27, 1997 (UFC 14) |
Birmingham, Alabama, US |
|
3 | Randy Couture | December 21, 1997 (UFC Japan) |
Yokohama, Japan | |
Couture was stripped of the title and left the UFC in January 1998 due to a contract dispute. | ||||
4 | Bas Rutten (def. Kevin Randleman) |
May 7, 1999 (UFC 20) |
Birmingham, Alabama, US | |
The title was vacated in June 1999 when Rutten retired due to training injuries. | ||||
5 | Kevin Randleman (def. Pete Williams) |
November 19, 1999 (UFC 23) |
Tokyo, Japan |
|
6 | Randy Couture (2) | November 17, 2000 (UFC 28) |
Atlantic City, New Jersey, US |
|
7 | Josh Barnett | March 22, 2002 (UFC 36) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
Barnett was stripped of the title on July 26, 2002 after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test. | ||||
8 | Ricco Rodriguez (def. Randy Couture) |
September 27, 2002 (UFC 39) |
Uncasville, Connecticut, US | |
9 | Tim Sylvia | February 28, 2003 (UFC 41) |
Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | |
Sylvia relinquished his title in September 2003 after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test. | ||||
10 | Frank Mir (def. Tim Sylvia) |
June 19, 2004 (UFC 48) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
Andrei Arlovski (def. Tim Sylvia for interim title) |
February 5, 2005 (UFC 51) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US |
| |
Mir was stripped of the title in August 2005 after being unable to defend due to an injury. | ||||
11 | Andrei Arlovski (promoted to undisputed champion) |
August 12, 2005 |
| |
12 | Tim Sylvia (2) | April 15, 2006 (UFC 59) |
Anaheim, California, US |
|
13 | Randy Couture (3) | March 3, 2007 (UFC 68) |
Columbus, Ohio, US |
|
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (def. Tim Sylvia for interim title) |
February 2, 2008 (UFC 81) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | ||
14 | Brock Lesnar (def. Randy Couture) |
November 15, 2008 (UFC 91) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
Frank Mir (def. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira for interim title) |
December 27, 2008 (UFC 92) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | ||
14 | Brock Lesnar (def. Frank Mir for undisputed title) |
July 11, 2009 (UFC 100) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
Shane Carwin (def. Frank Mir for interim title) |
March 27, 2010 (UFC 111) |
Newark, New Jersey, US | ||
14 | Brock Lesnar (def. Shane Carwin for undisputed title) |
July 3, 2010 (UFC 116) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
15 | Cain Velasquez |
July 3, 2010 (UFC 121) |
Anaheim, California, US | |
16 | Junior dos Santos |
Nov 12, 2011 (UFC on FOX 1) |
Anaheim, California, US | |
17 | Cain Velaquez | |||
18 | Fabricio Werdum |
Light Heavyweight Championship[]
- 186 to 205 lbs (84 to 93 kg)
- The Light Heavyweight title was known as the Middleweight title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
- Quinton Jackson defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 75 to unify the UFC Light Heavyweight title with the Pride Middleweight (204.6 lb) title.
No. | Name | Date | Location | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Frank Shamrock (def. Kevin Jackson) |
December 21, 1997 (UFC Japan) |
Yokohama, Japan |
|
The title was vacated in November 1999 when Shamrock retired, citing a lack of competition, and left the UFC. | ||||
2 | Tito Ortiz (def. Wanderlei Silva) |
April 14, 2000 (UFC 25) |
Tokyo, Japan |
|
Randy Couture (def. Chuck Liddell for interim title) |
June 6, 2003 (UFC 43) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | ||
3 | Randy Couture ((def. Tito Ortiz for undisputed title)) |
September 26, 2003 (UFC 44) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
4 | Vitor Belfort | January 31, 2004 (UFC 46) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
5 | Randy Couture (2) | August 21, 2004 (UFC 49) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
6 | Chuck Liddell | April 16, 2005 (UFC 52) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US |
|
7 | Quinton Jackson | May 26, 2007 (UFC 71) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US |
|
8 | Forrest Griffin | July 5, 2008 (UFC 86) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
9 | Rashad Evans | December 27, 2008 (UFC 92) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
10 | Lyoto Machida | May 23, 2009 (UFC 98) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US |
|
11 |
Mauricio Rua | May 8, 2010 (UFC 113) |
Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |
12 | Jon Jones | March 19, 2011 (UFC 128) | Newark, New Jersey, US | |
13 | Daniel Cormier |
Middleweight Championship[]
- 171 to 185 lbs (77 to 84 kg)
- Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82 to unify the UFC Middleweight title with the Pride Welterweight (183 lb) title.
No. | Name | Date | Location | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dave Menne (def. Gil Castillo) |
September 28, 2001 (UFC 33) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
2 | Murilo Bustamante | January 11, 2002 (UFC 35) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US |
|
Bustamante was stripped of the title on October 5, 2002 after signing with PRIDE. | ||||
3 | Evan Tanner (def. David Terrell) |
February 5, 2005 (UFC 51) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
4 | Rich Franklin |
June 4, 2005 (UFC 53) |
Atlantic City, New Jersey, US |
|
5 | Anderson Silva | October 14, 2006 (UFC 64) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US |
|
6 | Chris Weidman | |||
7 | Luke Rockhold |
Welterweight Championship[]
- 156 to 170 lbs (70 to 77 kg)
- The Welterweight title was known as the Lightweight title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
No. | Name | Date | Location | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pat Miletich (def. Mikey Burnett) |
October 16, 1998 (UFC Brazil) |
São Paulo, Brazil |
|
2 | Carlos Newton | May 4, 2001 (UFC 31) |
Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | |
3 | Matt Hughes | November 2, 2001 (UFC 34) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US |
|
4 | B.J. Penn | January 31, 2004 (UFC 46) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | |
Penn was stripped of the title on May 17, 2004 after signing with K-1. | ||||
5 | Matt Hughes (2) (def. Georges St. Pierre) |
October 22, 2004 (UFC 50) |
Atlantic City, New Jersey, US |
|
6 | Georges St. Pierre | November 18, 2006 UFC 65 |
Sacramento, California, US | |
7 | Matt Serra | April 7, 2007 (UFC 69) |
Houston, Texas, US | |
Georges St. Pierre (def. Matt Hughes for interim title) |
December 29, 2007 (UFC 79) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US | ||
8 | Georges St. Pierre (2) (def. Matt Serra for undisputed title) |
April 19, 2008 (UFC 83) |
Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |
Carlos Condit (def. Nick Diaz for interim title) | Feb 4, 2012 (UFC 143) |
Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Lightweight Championship[]
- 146 to 155 lbs (66 to 70 kg)
- The Lightweight title was known as the Bantamweight title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
No. | Name | Date | Location | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jens Pulver (def. Caol Uno) |
February 23, 2001 (UFC 30) |
Atlantic City, New Jersey, US |
|
Pulver was stripped of the title and left the UFC in March 2002 due to a contract dispute. | ||||
B.J. Penn drew with Caol Uno on February 28, 2003 in Atlantic City, NJ (UFC 41) in the finals of a 4-man tournament for the vacant Lightweight championship. | ||||
2 | Sean Sherk (def. Kenny Florian) |
October 14, 2006 (UFC 64) |
Las Vegas, Nevada, US |
|
Sherk was stripped of the title December 8, 2007 after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test. | ||||
3 | B. J. Penn (def. Joe Stevenson) |
January 19, 2008 (UFC 80) |
Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
|
4 | Frank Edgar | April 10, 2010 (UFC 112) |
Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | |
5 | Ben Henderson | Feb 26, 2012 (UFC 144) |
Saitama, Japan |
|
6 | Anthony Pettis | |||
7 | Rafael dos Anjos |
Featherweight Championship[]
- 136 to 145 lbs (66 to 70 kg)
- The WEC Featherweight title was moved to the UFC as the first step in the UFC-WEC Merger.
No. | Name | Date | Location | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jose Aldo (Title moved from WEC to UFC) |
|||
2 | Conor McGregor
(def. Chad Mendes for interim title) |
July 11, 2015
(UFC 189) |
||
3 | Conor McGregor
(def. Jose Aldo for undisputed title) |
Dec 12, 2015
(UFC 194) |
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 become the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Champion.[2]
# | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dominick Cruz def. Scott Jorgensen |
WEC 53 Glendale, AZ, USA |
Dec 16, 2010 | Template:Age in days days (incumbent) |
1. def. Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Jul 2, 2011 |
2 | Renan Barão def. Urijah Faber for interim title |
UFC 149 Calgary, AB, Canada |
Jul 21, 2012 | Template:Age in days nts days (incumbent) |
|
3 | TJ Dillashaw |
Flyweight Championship[]
- 116 to 125 lb (53 to 57 kg)
- Champion to be determined on September 22, 2012 at UFC 152 in Toronto, ON, Canada in the finale of a 4-man tournament for the inaugural title.
# | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Demetrious Johnson def. TBD |
UFC 152 Toronto, ON, Canada |
Sept 22, 2012 | Template:Age in days days (incumbent) |
Women's Bantamweight[]
# | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ronda Rousey | ||||
2 | Holly Holm |
Superfight Championship[]
- Openweight fights featuring previous tournament fighters.
No. | Name | Date | Location | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ken Shamrock drew with Royce Gracie on April 7, 1995 in Charlotte, NC (UFC 5) in a title fight for the vacant superfight championship. | ||||
1 | Ken Shamrock (def. Dan Severn) |
July 14, 1995 (UFC 6) |
Casper, Wyoming, US |
|
2 | Dan Severn | May 17, 1996 (UFC 9) |
Detroit, Michigan, US | |
The Superfight championship was unified with Mark Coleman's Heavyweight championship on February 7, 1997 in Dothan, AL (at UFC 12) when Coleman defeated Severn. |
Tournament Champions[]
Event | Date | Weight class | Winner | Runner-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 | David 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) | David 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 | July 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 |
Ultimate Japan 2 | 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 |
Sept 22, 2012 | Flyweight |
The Ultimate Fighter[]
Event | Date | Weight class | Winner | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Ultimate Fighter 1 | April 9, 2005 | Light Heavyweight | Forrest Griffin | Stephan Bonnar |
Middleweight | Diego Sanchez | Kenny Florian | ||
The Ultimate Fighter 2 | November 5, 2005 | Heavyweight | Rashad Evans | Brad Imes |
Welterweight | Joe Stevenson | Luke Cummo | ||
The Ultimate Fighter 3 | June 24, 2006 | Middleweight | Kendall Grove | Ed Herman |
Light Heavyweight | Michael Bisping | Josh Haynes | ||
The Ultimate Fighter 4 | November 11, 2006 | Middleweight | Travis Lutter | Patrick Côté |
Welterweight | Matt Serra | Chris Lytle | ||
The Ultimate Fighter 5 | June 23, 2007 | Lightweight | Nate Diaz | Manvel Gamburyan |
The Ultimate Fighter 6 | December 8, 2007 | Welterweight | Mac Danzig | Tommy Speer |
The Ultimate Fighter 7 | June 21, 2008 | Middleweight | Amir Sadollah | C.B. Dollaway |
The Ultimate Fighter 8 | December 13, 2008 | Light Heavyweight | Ryan Bader | Vinicius Magalhães |
Lightweight | Efrain Escudero | Phillipe Nover | ||
The Ultimate Fighter 9 | June 20, 2009 | Lightweight | Ross Pearson | Andre Winner |
Welterweight | James Wilks | DaMarques Johnson | ||
The Ultimate Fighter 10 | December 5, 2009 | Heavyweight | Roy Nelson | Brendan Schaub |
The Ultimate Fighter 11 | June 19, 2010 | Middleweight | Court McGee | Kris McCray |
The Ultimate Fighter 12 | December 4, 2010 | Lightweight | Jonathan Brookins | Michael Johnson |
The Ultimate Fighter 13 | June 4, 2011 | Welterweight | Tony Ferguson | Ramsey Nijem |
The Ultimate Fighter 14 | December 3, 2011 | Bantamweight | John Dodson | T.J. Dillashaw |
Featherweight | Diego Brandao | Dennis Bermudez | ||
The Ultimate Fighter: Live | June 1, 2012 | Lightweight | Michael Chiesa | Al Iaquinta |
The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil | June 23,2012 | Featherweight | Rony Mariano Bezerra | Godofredo Pepey |
Middleweight | Cezar Ferreira | Sergio Moraes |
By nationality[]
The following includes championship title holders, interim title holders, UFC tournament winners and Ultimate Fighter tournament winners.
Most consecutive title defenses[]
See also[]
References[]
External links[] |