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 200lb, 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 170lb and under.[4] Two years later a fourth weight class, the bantamweight division, arrived at UFC 26 and included all fighters 155lb and under.[5]
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 .[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 .[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.
| width=120 | Division ! | width=200 | Champion ! | width=70 | Since ! | width=45 | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight |  Jon Jones | Mar 4, 2023 | 0 | ||||
| Tom Aspinall (interim) | Nov 11, 2023 | 1 | |||||
| Light Heavyweight |  Alex Pereira | Nov 11, 2023 | 2 | ||||
| Middleweight | Dricus du Plessis | Jan 20, 2024 | 1 | ||||
| Welterweight | Belal Muhammad | Jul 27, 2024 | 0 | ||||
| Lightweight |  Islam Makhachev | Oct 22, 2022 | 3 | ||||
| Featherweight |  Ilia Topuria | Feb 17, 2024 | 0 | ||||
| Bantamweight | Sean O'Malley | Aug 19, 2023 | 1 | ||||
| Flyweight | Alexandre Pantoja | Jul 8, 2023 | 2 |
| width=120 | Division ! | width=200 | Champion ! | width=70 | Since ! | width=45 | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bantamweight | Raquel Pennington | Jan 20, 2024 | align=center | 0 | |||
| Flyweight |  Alexa Grasso | Mar 4, 2023 | 1 | ||||
| Strawweight |  Zhang Weili | Nov 12, 2022 | 2 |
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.[5]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Coleman | UFC 12 | Feb 7, 1997 | 170 days | ||
| 2 | Maurice Smith | UFC 14 | Jul 27, 1997 | 147 days | ||
| 3 | Randy Couture | UFC 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 | UFC 20 | May 7, 1999 | 34 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 | UFC 23 | Nov 19, 1999 | 364 days | ||
| 6 | UFC 28 | Nov 17, 2000 | 490 days (490+ days) | |||
| 7 | Josh Barnett | UFC 36 | 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 | UFC 39 | Sep 27, 2002 | 154 days | ||
| 9 | Tim Sylvia | UFC 41 | Feb 28, 2003 | 229 days | ||
| 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 | UFC 48 | Jun 19, 2004 | 419 days | ||
| — |  Andrei Arlovski | UFC 51 | Feb 5, 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 | — | Aug 12, 2005 | 246 days | ||
| 12 | UFC 59 | Apr 15, 2006 | 322 days (551 days) | |||
| 13 | UFC 68 | Mar 3, 2007 | 623 days (1,113+ days) | |||
| — | Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira | UFC 81 | Feb 2, 2008 | — | ||
| 14 | Brock Lesnar | UFC 91 | Nov 15, 2008 | 707 days | ||
| — | Frank Mir | UFC 92 | Dec 27, 2008 | — | ||
| — | Shane Carwin | UFC 111 | Mar 27, 2010 | — | ||
| 15 | Cain Velasquez | UFC 121 | Oct 23, 2010 | 385 days | ||
| 16 | Junior dos Santos | Nov 12, 2011 | 413 days | |||
| 17 | UFC 155 | Dec 29, 2012 | 896 days (1,281 days) | |||
| — | Fabrício Werdum | UFC 180 | Nov 15, 2014 | — | ||
| 18 | Fabrício Werdum | UFC 188 | Jun 13, 2015 | 336 days | ||
| 19 | Stipe Miocic | UFC 198 | May 14, 2016 | 784 days | ||
| 20 | Daniel Cormier | UFC 226 | Jul 7, 2018 | 406 days | ||
| 21 | UFC 241 | Aug 17, 2019 | 588 days (1,372 days) | |||
| 22 |  Francis Ngannou | UFC 260 | Mar 27, 2021 | 659 days | ||
| — |  Ciryl Gane | UFC 265 | Aug 7, 2021 | — | ||
| Ngannou was stripped of the title on January 14, 2023 when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute.[18] | ||||||
| 23 | Jon Jones | UFC 285 | Mar 4, 2023 | (incumbent) | ||
| — | Tom Aspinall | UFC 295 | Nov 11, 2023 | (incumbent) |
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.[5]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Shamrock | UFC Japan | Dec 21, 1997 | 703 days | ||
| Shamrock vacated the title on November 24, 1999, when he retired from the UFC, citing a lack of competition. | ||||||
| 2 | Tito Ortiz | UFC 25 | Apr 14, 2000 | 1,260 days | ||
| — | Randy Couture | UFC 43 | Jun 6, 2003 | — | ||
| 3 | Randy Couture | UFC 44 | Sep 26, 2003 | 127 days | ||
| 4 | Vitor Belfort | UFC 46 | Jan 31, 2004 | 203 days | ||
| 5 | UFC 49 | Aug 21, 2004 | 238 days (365 days) | |||
| 6 | Chuck Liddell | UFC 52 | Apr 16, 2005 | 770 days | ||
| 7 | Quinton Jackson | UFC 71 | May 26, 2007 | 406 days | ||
| 8 | Forrest Griffin | UFC 86 | Jul 5, 2008 | 175 days | ||
| 9 | Rashad Evans | UFC 92 | Dec 27, 2008 | 147 days | ||
| 10 | Lyoto Machida | UFC 98 | May 23, 2009 | 350 days | ||
| 11 | Maurício Rua | UFC 113 | May 8, 2010 | 315 days | ||
| 12 | Jon Jones | UFC 128 | Mar 19, 2011 | 1,501 days | ||
| Jones was stripped of the title on April 28, 2015, due to his involvement and arrest in a felony hit-and-run.[19] | ||||||
| 13 | Daniel Cormier | UFC 187 | May 23, 2015 | 1,315 days | ||
| — | Jon Jones | UFC 197 | 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.[20] | ||||||
| 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.[21] | ||||||
| Cormier vacated the title on December 28, 2018, 174 days after winning the heavyweight title.[22] | ||||||
| 14 | Jon Jones | UFC 232 | Dec 29, 2018 | 597 days (2,098 days) | ||
| Jones vacated the belt on August 17, 2020, citing issues with the UFC over salary negotiation and the desire to compete at heavyweight.[23] [24] | ||||||
| 15 |  Jan Błachowicz | UFC 253 | Sep 27, 2020 | 398 days | ||
| 16 | Glover Teixeira | UFC 267 | Oct 30, 2021 | 225 days | ||
| 17 |  Jiří Procházka | UFC 275 | Jun 12, 2022 | 164 days | ||
| Procházka vacated the belt on November 23, 2022, after suffering a severe shoulder injury.[25] [26] | ||||||
| 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.[27] | ||||||
| 18 | Jamahal Hill | UFC 283 | Jan 21, 2023 | 174 days | ||
| Hill vacated the belt on July 14, 2023, after suffering an achilles tendon rupture.[28] | ||||||
| 19 | Alex Pereira | UFC 295 | Nov 11, 2023 | (incumbent) |
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.[29]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Menne | UFC 33 | Sep 28, 2001 | 105 days | ||
| 2 | Murilo Bustamante | UFC 35 | Jan 11, 2002 | 267 days | ||
| Bustamante was stripped of the title on October 5, 2002, when he left the UFC for Pride. | ||||||
| 3 | Evan Tanner | UFC 51 | Feb 5, 2005 | 119 days | ||
| 4 | Rich Franklin | UFC 53 | Jun 4, 2005 | 497 days | ||
| 5 | Anderson Silva | UFC 64 | Oct 14, 2006 | 2,457 days | ||
| 6 | Chris Weidman | UFC 162 | Jul 6, 2013 | 889 days | ||
| 7 | Luke Rockhold | UFC 194 | Dec 12, 2015 | 175 days | ||
| 8 | Michael Bisping | UFC 199 | Jun 4, 2016 | 518 days | ||
| — |  Robert Whittaker | UFC 213 | Jul 8, 2017 | — | ||
| 9 |  Georges St-Pierre | UFC 217 | Nov 4, 2017 | 33 days | ||
| St-Pierre vacated the title on December 7, 2017, due to ulcerative colitis.[30] [31] | ||||||
| 10 | Robert Whittaker | — | Dec 7, 2017 | 660 days | ||
| — |  Israel Adesanya | UFC 236 | Apr 13, 2019 | — | ||
| 11 | Israel Adesanya | UFC 243 | Oct 6, 2019 | 1,134 days | ||
| 12 | Alex Pereira | UFC 281 | Nov 12, 2022 | 147 days | ||
| 13 | UFC 287 | Apr 8, 2023 | 155 days (1,289 days) | |||
| 14 | Sean Strickland | UFC 293 | Sep 10, 2023 | 132 days | ||
| 15 | Dricus du Plessis | UFC 297 | Jan 20, 2024 | (incumbent) |
156 to 170 lb (71 to 77 kg)
The Welterweight Championship was known as the Lightweight Championship prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pat Miletich | UFC Brazil | Oct 16, 1998 | 931 days | ||
| 2 | Carlos Newton | UFC 31 | May 4, 2001 | 183 days | ||
| 3 | Matt Hughes | UFC 34 | Nov 2, 2001 | 820 days | ||
| 4 | B.J. Penn | UFC 46 | Jan 31, 2004 | 107 days | ||
| Penn was stripped of the title on May 17, 2004, when he left the UFC for K-1.[32] | ||||||
| 5 | Matt Hughes | UFC 50 | Oct 22, 2004 | 757 days (1,577 days) | ||
| 6 | Georges St-Pierre | UFC 65 | Nov 18, 2006 | 140 days | ||
| 7 | Matt Serra | UFC 69 | Apr 7, 2007 | 378 days | ||
| — | Georges St-Pierre | UFC 79 | Dec 29, 2007 | — | ||
| 8 | UFC 83 | Apr 19, 2008 | 2,064 days (2,204 days) | |||
| — | Carlos Condit | UFC 143 | Feb 4, 2012 | — | ||
| St-Pierre vacated the title on December 13, 2013, when he decided to take time off.[33] | ||||||
| 9 | Johny Hendricks | UFC 171 | Mar 15, 2014 | 266 days | ||
| 10 | Robbie Lawler | UFC 181 | Dec 6, 2014 | 602 days | ||
| 11 | Tyron Woodley | UFC 201 | Jul 30, 2016 | 945 days | ||
| — | Colby Covington | UFC 225 | Jun 9, 2018 | — | ||
| Covington was stripped of the interim title on September 8, 2018, due to injury.[34] | ||||||
| 12 | Kamaru Usman | UFC 235 | Mar 2, 2019 | 1,267 days | ||
| 13 | Leon Edwards | UFC 278 | Aug 20, 2022 | 707 days | ||
| 14 | Belal Muhammad | UFC 304 | Jul 27, 2024 | (incumbent) |
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 .[35]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jens Pulver | UFC 30 | Feb 23, 2001 | 393 days | ||
| Pulver was stripped of the title on March 23, 2002, when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute. | ||||||
| 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 | Sean Sherk | UFC 64 | Oct 14, 2006 | 420 days | ||
| Sherk was stripped of the title on December 8, 2007, after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.[36] | ||||||
| 3 | B.J. Penn | UFC 80 | Jan 19, 2008 | 812 days | ||
| 4 | Frankie Edgar | UFC 112 | Apr 10, 2010 | 687 days | ||
| 5 | Benson Henderson | UFC 144 | Feb 26, 2012 | 552 days | ||
| 6 | Anthony Pettis | UFC 164 | Aug 31, 2013 | 560 days | ||
| 7 | Rafael dos Anjos | UFC 185 | Mar 14, 2015 | 481 days | ||
| 8 | Eddie Alvarez | Jul 7, 2016 | 128 days | |||
| 9 |  Conor McGregor | UFC 205 | Nov 12, 2016 | 511 days | ||
| — | Tony Ferguson | UFC 216 | Oct 7, 2017 | — | ||
| Both McGregor and Ferguson were stripped of their titles on April 7, 2018, due to inactivity and injury, respectively.[37] | ||||||
| 10 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | UFC 223 | Apr 7, 2018 | 1,077 days | ||
| — | Dustin Poirier | UFC 236 | Apr 13, 2019 | — | ||
| — | Justin Gaethje | UFC 249 | May 9, 2020 | — | ||
| Nurmagomedov announced his retirement on October 24, 2020.[38] The title was officially vacated on March 19, 2021.[39] | ||||||
| 11 | Charles Oliveira | UFC 262 | May 15, 2021 | 357 days | ||
| 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.[40] | ||||||
| 12 | Islam Makhachev | UFC 280 | Oct 22, 2022 | (incumbent) |
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.[41]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | José Aldo | UFC 123 | Nov 20, 2010 | 1,848 days | ||
| — | Conor McGregor | UFC 189 | Jul 11, 2015 | — | ||
| 2 | Conor McGregor | UFC 194 | Dec 12, 2015 | 350 days | ||
| — | José Aldo | UFC 200 | Jul 9, 2016 | — | ||
| McGregor was stripped of the title on November 26, 2016, 14 days after winning the lightweight title.[42] [43] | ||||||
| 3 | José Aldo | — | Nov 26, 2016 | 189 days (2,037 days) | ||
| — | Max Holloway | UFC 206 | Dec 10, 2016 | — | ||
| 4 | Max Holloway | UFC 212 | Jun 3, 2017 | 925 days | ||
| 5 | Alexander Volkanovski | UFC 245 | Dec 14, 2019 | 1,526 days | ||
| — | Yair Rodríguez | UFC 284 | Feb 12, 2023 | — | ||
| 6 | Ilia Topuria | UFC 298 | Feb 17, 2024 | (incumbent) |
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.[44]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominick Cruz | WEC 53 | Dec 16, 2010 | 1,117 days | ||
| — | Renan Barão | UFC 149 | Jul 21, 2012 | — | ||
| Cruz vacated the title on January 6, 2014, after repeated injuries prevented him from returning to competition to defend his title.[45] | ||||||
| 2 | Renan Barão | — | Jan 6, 2014 | 138 days | ||
| 3 | T.J. Dillashaw | UFC 173 | May 24, 2014 | 603 days | ||
| 4 | Jan 17, 2016 | 348 days (1,465 days) | ||||
| 5 | Cody Garbrandt | UFC 207 | Dec 30, 2016 | 309 days | ||
| 6 | UFC 217 | Nov 4, 2017 | 501 days (1,104 days) | |||
| Dillashaw vacated the title on March 20, 2019, due to a failed drug test.[46] | ||||||
| 7 | Henry Cejudo | UFC 238 | Jun 8, 2019 | 352 days | ||
| Cejudo announced his retirement on May 9, 2020. The title was officially vacated on May 24, 2020.[47] | ||||||
| 8 | Petr Yan | UFC 251 | Jul 12, 2020 | 237 days | ||
| 9 | Aljamain Sterling | UFC 259 | Mar 6, 2021 | 896 days | ||
| — | Petr Yan | UFC 267 | Oct 30, 2021 | — | ||
| 10 | UFC 292 | Aug 19, 2023 | (incumbent) |
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.[48]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UFC 152 | Sep 22, 2012 | 2,142 days | |||
| 2 | Henry Cejudo | UFC 227 | Aug 4, 2018 | 574 days | ||
| 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.[49] | ||||||
| 3 | Deiveson Figueiredo | Jul 19, 2020 | 328 days | |||
| 4 | Brandon Moreno | UFC 263 | Jun 12, 2021 | 223 days | ||
| 5 | UFC 270 | Jan 22, 2022 | 364 days (692 days) | |||
| — | Brandon Moreno | UFC 277 | Jul 30, 2022 | — | ||
| 6 | UFC 283 | Jan 21, 2023 | 168 days (391 days) | |||
| 7 | Alexandre Pantoja | UFC 290 | Jul 8, 2023 | (incumbent) |
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 pre-event press conference.[50]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ronda Rousey | Dec 6, 2012 | 1,074 days | |||
| 2 | Holly Holm | UFC 193 | Nov 15, 2015 | 111 days | ||
| 3 | Miesha Tate | UFC 196 | Mar 5, 2016 | 126 days | ||
| 4 | Amanda Nunes | UFC 200 | Jul 9, 2016 | 1,981 days | ||
| 5 | Julianna Peña | UFC 269 | Dec 11, 2021 | 232 days | ||
| 6 | UFC 277 | Jul 30, 2022 | 325 days (2,306 days) | |||
| Nunes announced her retirement on June 10, 2023. The title was officially vacated on June 20, 2023. | ||||||
| 7 | Raquel Pennington | UFC 297 | Jan 20, 2024 | (incumbent) |
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. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicco Montaño | The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion Finale | 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.[51] | ||||||
| 2 | UFC 231 | Dec 8, 2018 | 1,547 days | |||
| 3 | Alexa Grasso | UFC 285 | Mar 4, 2023 | (incumbent) |
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 .[11]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carla Esparza | The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned Finale | Dec 12, 2014 | 92 days | ||
| 2 | UFC 185 | Mar 14, 2015 | 966 days | |||
| 3 | UFC 217 | Nov 4, 2017 | 554 days | |||
| 4 | UFC 237 | May 11, 2019 | 112 days | |||
| 5 | Aug 31, 2019 | 603 days | ||||
| 6 | UFC 261 | Apr 24, 2021 | 378 days (932 days) | |||
| 7 | UFC 274 | May 7, 2022 | 190 days (282 days) | |||
| 8 | UFC 281 | Nov 12, 2022 | (incumbent) |
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.[52]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | UFC 6 | Jul 14, 1995 | 308 days | ||
| 2 | Dan Severn | UFC 9 | 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 11 Tournament Championship to determine the inaugural UFC Heavyweight Champion. |
136 to 145 lb (62 to 66 kg)
The inaugural title was contested on February 11, 2017, in Brooklyn, NY, US at UFC 208.[53]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UFC 208 | 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.[54] | |||||
| 2 | Cris Cyborg | UFC 214 | Jul 29, 2017 | 517 days | |
| 3 | Amanda Nunes | UFC 232 | Dec 29, 2018 | 1,634 days | |
| Nunes announced her retirement on June 10, 2023.[55] The title was officially vacated on June 20, 2023. |
| Event | Date | Division | Winner | Runner-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UFC 1 | Nov 12, 1993 | Openweight | Royce Gracie | Gerard Gordeau | |
| UFC 2 | Mar 11, 1994 | Openweight | Patrick Smith | ||
| UFC 3 | Sep 9, 1994 | Openweight | Steve Jennum | Harold Howard | |
| UFC 4 | Dec 16, 1994 | Openweight | Dan Severn | ||
| UFC 5 | Apr 7, 1995 | Openweight | Dan Severn | Dave Beneteau | |
| UFC 6 | Jul 14, 1995 | Openweight | Oleg Taktarov | Tank Abbott | |
| UFC 7 | Sep 8, 1995 | Openweight | Marco Ruas | Paul Varelans | |
| The Ultimate Ultimate | Dec 16, 1995 | Openweight | Oleg Taktarov | ||
| UFC 8 | Feb 16, 1996 | Openweight | Don Frye |  Gary Goodridge | |
| UFC 10 | Jul 12, 1996 | Openweight | Mark Coleman | Don Frye | |
| UFC 11 | Sep 20, 1996 | Openweight | Scott Ferrozzo | ||
| The Ultimate Ultimate 2 | Dec 7, 1996 | Openweight | Tank Abbott | ||
| UFC 12 | Feb 7, 1997 | Heavyweight | Vitor Belfort | Scott Ferrozzo | |
| Light Heavyweight | Jerry Bohlander | Nick Sanzo | |||
| UFC 13 | May 30, 1997 | Heavyweight | Randy Couture | Steven Graham | |
| LightHeavyweight | Guy Mezger | Tito Ortiz | |||
| UFC 14 | Jul 27, 1997 | Heavyweight | Mark Kerr | Dan Bobish | |
| LightHeavyweight | Kevin Jackson | Tony Fryklund | |||
| UFC 15 | Oct 17, 1997 | Heavyweight | Dwayne Cason | ||
| Ultimate Japan | Dec 21, 1997 | Heavyweight |  Kazushi Sakuraba | Marcus Silveira | |
| UFC 16 | Mar 13, 1998 | Welterweight | 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 (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.
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. 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.
| Country | Division championships | Tournament championships | Total championships | Individual champions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 81 | 16 | 97 | 71 | |
| Brazil | 24 | 5 | 29 | 21 | |
| Russia | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | |
| Canada | 4 | - | 4 | 2 | |
| Mexico | 4 | - | 4 | 3 | |
| England | 3 | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nigeria | 3 | - | 3 | 2 | |
| Australia | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Netherlands | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Poland | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | |
| China | 2 | - | 2 | 1 | |
| Ireland | 2 | - | 2 | 1 | |
| Belarus | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | |
 Kyrgyzstan | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cameroon | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | |
| France | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Czech Republic | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | |
| South Africa | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Georgia | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Japan | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Country | TUF winners | |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 35 | |
| Brazil | 8 | |
| Mexico | 5 | |
| Canada | 4 | |
| England | 3 | |
| China | 2 | |
| Nigeria | 2 | |
| Australia | 1 | |
 Jamaica | 1 | |
| Northern Ireland | 1 | |
 Peru | 1 | |
 Spain | 1 |
Fighters with four or more championship and/or interim championship title wins.[56] 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 wins | Champion | Division | W | L | D | NC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Heavyweight Light Heavyweight | 1 14 | 0 0 | 0 1 | ||
| 13 | Middleweight Welterweight | 1 12 | 0 2 | |||
| 12 | Bantamweight Flyweight | 0 12 | 1 1 | |||
| 11 | Middleweight | 11 | 2 | |||
| Women's Featherweight Women's Bantamweight | 3 8 | 0 1 | ||||
| 9 | Heavyweight Light Heavyweight | 6 3 | 3 3 | |||
| Welterweight | 9 | 3 | ||||
| 8 | Featherweight Bantamweight | 8 0 | 3 1 | |||
| Light Heavyweight Middleweight | 0 8 | 1 3 | ||||
| Women's Bantamweight Women's Flyweight | 0 8 | 1 1 | 0 1 | |||
| 6 | Women's Flyweight Women's Strawweight | 0 6 | 1 3 | |||
| Heavyweight Light Heavyweight | 2 4 | 2 1 | 0 1 | |||
| Light Heavyweight | 6 | 3 | ||||
| Lightweight Featherweight | 0 6 | 2 1 | ||||
| Women's Bantamweight | 6 | 2 | ||||
| Heavyweight | 6 | 2 | ||||
| Welterweight | 6 | 2 | ||||
| 5 | Welterweight Lightweight | 1 4 | 2 3 | 0 1 | ||
| Heavyweight | 5 | 4 | ||||
| Lightweight Featherweight | 0 5 | 1 3 | ||||
| Bantamweight Flyweight | 5 0 | 2 1 | ||||
| Light Heavyweight | 5 | 2 | ||||
| Bantamweight | 5 | 2 | ||||
| Women's Strawweight | 5 | 2 | ||||
| Welterweight | 5 | 1 | ||||
| Light Heavyweight | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 4 | Women's Strawweight | 4 | 3 | |||
| Heavyweight | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Bantamweight | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Welterweight | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Bantamweight Flyweight | 2 2 | 1 1 | ||||
| Lightweight | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Middleweight | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Bantamweight | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Light Heavyweight Middleweight | 3 1 | 0 1 | ||||
| Lightweight | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Lightweight | 4 | 0 |
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.[57]
| Defenses | Champion | Division | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Flyweight | Sep 22, 2012 — Aug 4, 2018 | |
| 10 | Middleweight | Oct 14, 2006 — Jul 6, 2013 | |
| 9 | Welterweight | Apr 19, 2008 — Dec 13, 2013 | |
| 8 | Light Heavyweight | Mar 19, 2011 — Apr 28, 2015 | |
| 7 | Featherweight | Nov 20, 2010 — Dec 12, 2015 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Dec 8, 2018 — Mar 4, 2023 | ||
| 6 | Women's Bantamweight | Dec 6, 2012 — Nov 15, 2015 | |
| 5 | Light Heavyweight | Apr 14, 2000 — Sep 26, 2003 | |
| Welterweight | Nov 2, 2001 — Jan 31, 2004 | ||
| Women's Strawweight | Mar 14, 2015 — Nov 4, 2017 | ||
| Women's Bantamweight | Jul 9, 2016 — Dec 11, 2021 | ||
| Welterweight | Mar 2, 2019 — Aug 20, 2022 | ||
| Middleweight | Oct 6, 2019 — Nov 12, 2022 | ||
| Featherweight | Dec 14, 2019 — Feb 17, 2024 | ||
| 4 | Light Heavyweight | Dec 21, 1997 — Nov 24, 1999 | |
| Welterweight | Oct 16, 1998 — May 4, 2001 | ||
| Light Heavyweight | Apr 16, 2005 — May 26, 2007 | ||
| Tyron Woodley | Welterweight | Jul 30, 2016 — Mar 2, 2019 | |
| 3 | Lightweight | Jan 19, 2008 — Apr 10, 2010 | |
| Frankie Edgar | Lightweight | Apr 10, 2010 — Feb 26, 2012 | |
| Lightweight | Feb 26, 2012 — Aug 31, 2013 | ||
| Bantamweight | Jul 21, 2012 — May 24, 2014 | ||
| Middleweight | Jul 6, 2013 — Dec 12, 2015 | ||
| Light Heavyweight | May 23, 2015 — Dec 28, 2018 | ||
| Heavyweight | May 14, 2016 — Jul 7, 2018 | ||
| Featherweight | Jun 3, 2017 — Dec 14, 2019 | ||
| Light Heavyweight | Dec 29, 2018 — Aug 17, 2020 | ||
| Lightweight | Apr 7, 2018 — Mar 19, 2021 | ||
| Bantamweight | Mar 6, 2021 — Aug 19, 2023 | ||
| Lightweight | Oct 22, 2022 — Present |
The following is a list of the ten longest reigning UFC champions.
| Name | Title Reign | Weight class | Successful defenses | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,457 days | 10 | |||
| 2 | 2,142 days | 11 | |||
| 3 | 2,064 days | 9 | |||
| 4 | 1,981 days | 5 | |||
| 5 | 1,848 days | 7 | |||
| 6 | 1,634 days | 2 | |||
| 7 | 1,547 days | 7 | |||
| 8 | 1,526 days | 5 | |||
| 9 | 1,501 days | 8 | |||
| 10 | 1,315 days | 3 |
| Name | Days as champion | Reigns | Weight class | Cumulative title defenses | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3,940 days | 3 | 8 | |||
| 2 | Jon Jones | days | 3 | 11 | ||
| 3 | 2,457 days | 1 | 10 | |||
| 4 | 2,237 days | 3 | 9 | |||
| 5 | 2,142 days | 1 | 11 | |||
| 6 | 2,037 days | 2 | 7 | |||
| 7 | 1,722 days | 2 | 4 | |||
| 8 | 1,577 days | 2 | 7 | |||
| 9 | 1,547 days | 1 | 7 | |||
| 10 | 1,526 days | 1 | 5 |
Fighters who have won championships in multiple weight classes.[58] 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.
| Interim |
| Champion | Division | Won | Lost | Defenses | Reign | Total reign | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Couture | Heavyweight | Dec 21, 1997 (UFC Japan) | Jan ?, 1998 (stripped) | 0 | ? days | 1,478 + ? days | ||||
| Nov 17, 2000 (UFC 28) | Mar 22, 2002 (UFC 36) | 2 | 490 days | ||||||||
| Mar 3, 2007 (UFC 68) | Nov 15, 2008 (UFC 91) | 1 | 623 days | ||||||||
| 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) | 0 | 127 days | ||||||||
| Aug 21, 2004 (UFC 49) | Apr 16, 2005 (UFC 52) | 0 | 238 days | ||||||||
| 2 | B.J. Penn | Welterweight | Jan 31, 2004 (UFC 46) | May 17, 2004 (stripped) | 0 | 107 days | 919 days | ||||
| Lightweight | Jan 19, 2008 (UFC 80) | Apr 10, 2010 (UFC 112) | 3 | 812 days | |||||||
| 3 | Conor McGregor | Featherweight | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 | Jul 11, 2015 (UFC 189) | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 | Dec 12, 2015 (UFC 194) | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | 0 | bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align=center | - | 861 days |
| Dec 12, 2015 (UFC 194) | Nov 26, 2016 (stripped) | 0 | 350 days | ||||||||
| Lightweight | Nov 12, 2016 (UFC 205) | Apr 7, 2018 (stripped) | 0 | 511 days | |||||||
| 4 | Georges St-Pierre | Welterweight | Nov 18, 2006 (UFC 65) | Apr 7, 2007 (UFC 69) | 0 | 140 days | 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) | 9 | 2,064 days | ||||||||
| Middleweight | Nov 4, 2017 (UFC 217) | Dec 7, 2017 (vacated) | 0 | 33 days | |||||||
| 5 | Daniel Cormier | Light Heavyweight | May 23, 2015 (UFC 187) | Dec 28, 2018 (vacated) | 3 | 1,315 days | 1,722 days | ||||
| Heavyweight | Jul 7, 2018 (UFC 226) | Aug 17, 2019 (UFC 241) | 1 | 407 days | |||||||
| 6 | Amanda Nunes | Women's Bantamweight | Jul 9, 2016 (UFC 200) | Dec 11, 2021 (UFC 269) | 5 | 1,981 days | 3,940 days | ||||
| Jul 30, 2022 (UFC 277) | Jun 20, 2023 (vacated) | 1 | 325 days | ||||||||
| Women's Featherweight | Dec 29, 2018 (UFC 232) | Jun 20, 2023 (vacated) | 2 | 1,634 days | |||||||
| 7 | Henry Cejudo | Flyweight | Aug 4, 2018 (UFC 227) | Feb 29, 2020 (vacated) | 1 | 574 days | 926 days | ||||
| Bantamweight | Jun 8, 2019 (UFC 238) | May 24, 2020 (vacated) | 1 | 352 days | |||||||
| 8 | Jon Jones | Light Heavyweight | Mar 19, 2011 (UFC 128) | Apr 28, 2015 (stripped) | 8 | 1,501 days | 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) | 3 | 597 days | ||||||||
| Heavyweight | Mar 4, 2023 (UFC 285) | Incumbent | 0 | ||||||||
| 9 | Alex Pereira | Middleweight | Nov 12, 2022 (UFC 281) | Apr 8, 2023 (UFC 287) | 0 | 147 days | days | ||||
| Light Heavyweight | Nov 11, 2023 (UFC 295) | Incumbent | 2 |
| Champion | Division | Period | Defenses | Reign | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left rowspan=2 | Conor McGregor | Featherweight | Nov 12, 2016 – Nov 26, 2016 | 0 | align=center rowspan=2 | 14 days |
| Lightweight | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | align=left rowspan=2 | Daniel Cormier | Light Heavyweight | Jul 7, 2018 – Dec 28, 2018 | 0 | align=center rowspan=2 | 174 days |
| Heavyweight | 1 | ||||||
| 3 | align=left rowspan=2 | Amanda Nunes | Women's Bantamweight | Dec 29, 2018 – Dec 11, 2021 | 2 | align=center rowspan=2 | 1,078 days |
| Women's Featherweight | 2 | ||||||
| 4 | align=left rowspan=2 | Henry Cejudo | Flyweight | Jun 8, 2019 – Feb 29, 2020 | 0 | align=center rowspan=2 | 266 days |
| 1 | |||||||
| 5 | align=left rowspan=2 | Women's Featherweight | Jul 30, 2022 – Jun 20, 2023 | 0 | align=center rowspan=2 | 325 days | |
| Women's Bantamweight | 1 |
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.
| Event | Date | Championship | Result | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UFC 56 | Nov 19, 2005 | Welterweight | Matt Hughes (c) (170 lb) | def. | Joe Riggs (172.5 lb) | Fight changed to non-title contest | |
| UFC 67 | Feb 3, 2007 | Middleweight | 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 | Middleweight | Robert Whittaker (c) (185 lb) | def. | Yoel Romero (185.2 lb) | Fight changed to non-title contest | |
| Feb 29, 2020 | Flyweight | Deiveson Figueiredo (127.5 lb) | def. | Joseph Benavidez (124.5 lb) | Only Benavidez was eligible to win title | ||
| UFC 274 | May 7, 2022 | Lightweight | Charles Oliveira | def. | Justin Gaethje (155 lb) | Oliveira was stripped of the title, only Gaethje was eligible to win title | |
Leonardo Morales