List of UFC champions
This is a list of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions in each weight division.[1]
At the time of the UFC'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.[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.[3]
The original codification for weight classes introduced only two divisions: heavyweight, which grouped competitors above 200 pounds (91 kg), and lightweight, which encompassed all other competitors. The UFC would later rename its lightweight division to middleweight and add lightweight 170 pounds (77 kg) and bantamweight 155 pounds (70 kg) 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.[4] The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with the new regulations in 2001.[5]
Contents |
[edit] Current Champions
| Division | Champion | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | Nov 12, 2011 | 0 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Mar 19, 2011 | 2 | |
| Middleweight | Oct 14, 2006 | 9 | |
| Welterweight | Apr 19, 2008 | 6 | |
| Lightweight | Feb 26, 2012 | 0 | |
| Featherweight | Nov 20, 2010 | 3 | |
| Bantamweight | Dec 16, 2010 | 2 | |
| Flyweight | TBD |
[edit] Championship history
[edit] Heavyweight Championship
206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)
| # | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) |
Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | def. Dan Severn |
UFC 12 Dothan, AL, USA |
Feb 7, 1997 | 170 days | |
| 2 | UFC 14 Birmingham, AL, USA |
Jul 27, 1997 | 147 days |
1. def. David Abbott at UFC 15 on Oct 17, 1997 |
|
| 3 | 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.[1] | |||||
| 4 | def. Kevin Randleman |
UFC 20 Birmingham, AL, USA |
May 7, 1999 | ? days | |
| Rutten relinquished the title in June 1999 in order to drop down to Light heavyweight. He retired soon after due to training injuries.[6] | |||||
| 5 | def. Pete Williams |
UFC 23 Tokyo, Japan |
Nov 19, 1999 | 364 days |
1. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 26 on Jun 9, 2000 |
| 6 | UFC 28 Atlantic City, NJ, USA |
Nov 17, 2000 | 490 days (490+ days) |
1. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 31 on May 4, 2001 |
|
| 7 | UFC 36 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
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.[7] | |||||
| 8 | def. Randy Couture |
UFC 39 Uncasville, CT, USA |
Sep 27, 2002 | 154 days | |
| 9 | UFC 41 Atlantic City, NJ, USA |
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.[8] | |||||
| 10 | def. Tim Sylvia |
UFC 48 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jun 19, 2004 | 419 days | |
| - | def. Tim Sylvia for interim title |
UFC 51 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Feb 5, 2005 | — |
1. def. Justin Eilers at UFC 53 on Jun 4, 2005 |
| Mir relinquished the title on August 12, 2005 due to injuries sustained in a road accident.[9] | |||||
| 11 | promoted to undisputed champion |
— | Aug 12, 2005 | 246 days |
1. def. Paul Buentello at UFC 55 on Oct 7, 2005 |
| 12 | UFC 59 Anaheim, CA, USA |
Apr 15, 2006 | 322 days (551 days) |
1. def. Andrei Arlovski at UFC 61 on Jul 8, 2006 |
|
| 13 | UFC 68 Columbus, OH, USA |
Mar 3, 2007 | 623 days (1,113+ days) |
1. def. Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 on Aug 25, 2007 |
|
| - | def. Tim Sylvia for interim title |
UFC 81 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Feb 2, 2008 | — | |
| 14 | def. Randy Couture |
UFC 91 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Nov 15, 2008 | 707 days |
1. def. Frank Mir at UFC 100 on Jul 11, 2009 |
| - | def. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira for interim title |
UFC 92 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Dec 27, 2008 | — | |
| - | def. Frank Mir for interim title |
UFC 100 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
July 11, 2009 | — | |
| 15 | def. Brock Lesnar |
UFC 121 Anaheim, CA, USA |
Oct 23, 2010 | 385 days | |
| 16 | UFC on Fox 1 Anaheim, CA, USA |
Nov 12, 2011 | 120 days |
||
[edit] Light Heavyweight Championship
- 186 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg)
- The Light Heavyweight Title was known as the Middleweight Title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
- The Pride World Middleweight Title (204.6 lb) was unified with the UFC Light Heavyweight Title on September 8, 2007 when Quinton Jackson defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 75.
| # | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) |
Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | def. Kevin Jackson |
UFC Japan Yokohama, Japan |
Dec 21, 1997 | 703 days |
1. def. Igor Zinoviev at UFC 16 on Mar 13, 1998 |
| Shamrock relinquished the title on November 24, 1999 when he retired from the UFC, citing a lack of competition.[1] | |||||
| 2 | def. Wanderlei Silva |
UFC 25 Tokyo, Japan |
Apr 14, 2000 | 1,260 days |
1. def. Yuki Kondo at UFC 29 on Dec 16, 2000 |
| - | def. Chuck Liddell for interim title |
UFC 43 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jun 6, 2003 | — | |
| 3 | def. Tito Ortiz |
UFC 44 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Sep 26, 2003 | 127 days | |
| 4 | UFC 46 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jan 31, 2004 | 203 days | ||
| 5 | UFC 49 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Aug 21, 2004 | 238 days (365 days) |
||
| 6 | UFC 52 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Apr 16, 2005 | 770 days |
1. def. Jeremy Horn at UFC 54 on Aug 20, 2005 |
|
| 7 | UFC 71 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
May 26, 2007 | 406 days |
1. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 75 on Sep 8, 2007 |
|
| 8 | UFC 86 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jul 5, 2008 | 175 days | ||
| 9 | UFC 92 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Dec 27, 2008 | 147 days | ||
| 10 | UFC 98 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
May 23, 2009 | 350 days |
1. def. Mauricio Rua at UFC 104 on Oct 24, 2009 |
|
| 11 | UFC 113 Montreal, QC, Canada |
May 8, 2010 | 315 days | ||
| 12 | UFC 128 Newark, NJ, USA |
Mar 19, 2011 | 358 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Quinton Jackson at UFC 135 on Sept 24, 2011 |
|
[edit] Middleweight Championship
- 171 to 185 lb (77 to 84 kg)
- The Pride World Welterweight Title (183 lb) was unified with the UFC Middleweight Title on March 1, 2008 when Dan Henderson was defeated by Anderson Silva at UFC 82.
| # | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | def. Gil Castillo |
UFC 33 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Sep 28, 2001 | 105 days | |
| 2 | UFC 35 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
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 | def. David Terrell |
UFC 51 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Feb 5, 2005 | 119 days | |
| 4 | UFC 53 Atlantic City, NJ, USA |
Jun 4, 2005 | 497 days |
1. def. Nate Quarry at UFC 56 on Nov 19, 2005 |
|
| 5 | UFC 64 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Oct 14, 2006 | 1975 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Nate Marquardt at UFC 73 on Jul 7, 2007 |
|
[edit] Welterweight Championship
- 156 to 170 lb (70 to 77 kg)
- The Welterweight Title was known as the Lightweight Title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
| # | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) |
Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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 | UFC 31 Atlantic City, NJ, USA |
May 4, 2001 | 182 days | ||
| 3 | UFC 34 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Nov 2, 2001 | 820 days |
1. def. Hayato Sakurai at UFC 36 on Mar 22, 2002 |
|
| 4 | UFC 46 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jan 31, 2004 | 107 days | ||
| Penn was stripped of the title on May 17, 2004 when he left the UFC for K-1.[10] | |||||
| 5 | def. Georges St. Pierre |
UFC 50 Atlantic City, NJ, USA |
Oct 22, 2004 | 757 days (1,577 days) |
1. def. Frank Trigg at UFC 52 on Apr 16, 2005 |
| 6 | UFC 65 Sacramento, CA, USA |
Nov 18, 2006 | 140 days | ||
| 7 | UFC 69 Houston, TX, USA |
Apr 7, 2007 | 378 days | ||
| - | def. Matt Hughes for interim title |
UFC 79 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Dec 29, 2007 | — | |
| 8 | def. Matt Serra |
UFC 83 Montreal, QC, Canada |
Apr 19, 2008 | 1,386 days (1,526 days) (incumbent) |
1. def. Jon Fitch at UFC 87 on Aug 9, 2008 |
| - | def. Nick Diaz for interim title |
UFC 143 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Feb 4, 2012 | 36 days (incumbent) |
|
[edit] Lightweight Championship
- 146 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg)
- The Lightweight Title was known as the Bantamweight Title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).
| # | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | def. Caol Uno |
UFC 30 Atlantic City, NJ, USA |
Feb 23, 2001 | 393 days |
1. def. Dennis Hallman at UFC 33 on Sep 28, 2001 |
| 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, USA in the finale of a 4-man tournament for the vacant title.[1] | |||||
| 2 | def. Kenny Florian |
UFC 64 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Oct 14, 2006 | 420 days |
1. def. Hermes Franca 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.[11] | |||||
| 3 | def. Joe Stevenson |
UFC 80 Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
Jan 19, 2008 | 812 days |
1. def. Sean Sherk at UFC 84 on May 24, 2008 |
| 4 | UFC 112 Abu Dhabi, UAE |
Apr 10, 2010 | 687 days |
1. def. B.J. Penn at UFC 118 on Aug 28, 2010 |
|
| 5 | UFC 144 Saitama, Japan |
Feb 26, 2012 | 14 days (incumbent) |
||
[edit] Featherweight Championship
- 136 to 145 lb (61 to 66 kg)
- Prior to November 20, 2010 José Aldo was the WEC Featherweight Champion. Following the UFC-WEC merger, he became the first UFC Featherweight Champion.[12]
| # | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | promoted to undisputed champion |
UFC 123 Auburn Hills, MI, USA |
Nov 20, 2010 | 477 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Mark Hominick at UFC 129 on Apr 30, 2011 |
[edit] Bantamweight Championship
- 126 to 135 lb (57 to 61 kg)
- Prior to December 16, 2010 Dominick Cruz was the WEC Bantamweight Champion. Following the UFC-WEC merger, he became the first UFC Bantamweight Champion.
| # | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | def. Scott Jorgensen |
WEC 53 Glendale, AZ, USA |
Dec 16, 2010 | 451 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Jul 2, 2011 |
[edit] Superfight Championship
- Openweight fights featuring previous UFC tournament winners.
| # | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie fought to a draw on April 7, 1995 at UFC 5 in Charlotte, NC, USA for the inaugural Superfight title.[1] | |||||
| 1 | def. Dan Severn |
UFC 6 Casper, WY, USA |
Jul 14, 1995 | 308 days |
1. drew with Oleg Taktarov at UFC 7 on Sep 8, 1995 |
| 2 | UFC 9 Detroit, MI, USA |
May 17, 1996 | 266 days | ||
| Mark Coleman defeated Severn on February 7, 1997 at UFC 12 in Dothan, AL, USA for the inaugural UFC Heavyweight title. | |||||
[edit] UFC Tournaments
[edit] The Ultimate Fighter
[edit] By Nationality
The following includes championship title holders, interim title holders, UFC tournament winners and Ultimate Fighter tournament winners.
|
|
The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. The dispute is about Titles by Nationality.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page before making changes.(December 2011) |
| Country | Titles |
|---|---|
| 72 | |
| 14 | |
| 3 | |
| 3 | |
| 2 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 |
[edit] See also
- List of current mixed martial arts champions
- List of current UFC fighters
- List of UFC events
- Mixed martial arts weight classes
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g "UFC Championship Lineage". The Orange County Register. July 2, 2007. http://www.ocregister.com/sports/ufc-def-title-1751549-round-heavyweight. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
- ^ Plotz, David (November 7, 1999). "Fight Clubbed". Slate.com. http://www.slate.com/id/46344. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
- ^ Gentry III, Clyde (2003). No Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting and the Martial Arts Revolution (Paperback Edition ed.). Milo Books. pp. 106, 123. ISBN ISBN 0-903854-90-X.
- ^ "Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules of Conduct". New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. 2000. http://www.state.nj.us/lps/sacb/docs/martial.html. Retrieved September 8, 2007.
- ^ Trembow, Ivan (2000). "New Jersey Commission Corrects Mainstream UFC Stories" (Reprint). MMAWeekly.com. http://www.ivansblog.com/2006/07/mixed-martial-arts-new-jersey.html. Retrieved September 8, 2007.
- ^ Rutten, Bas. "Bas Rutten Biography". Archived from the original on May 20, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070520191724/http://www.basrutten.tv/biography.html. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Tom (November 26, 2006). "UFC fighter flunks drug test". SFgate.com: the San Francisco Chronicle website. http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Aug-14-Sat-2004/sports/24534514.html. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Tom (November 26, 2006). "Fighting outside the box". SFgate.com: the San Francisco Chronicle website. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/26/SPG19MJT8O1.DTL. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
- ^ "UFC Strips Mir of Heavyweight Belt, Arlovski New Champion". Sherdog.com. August 13, 2005. http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=3249. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
- ^ "B.J. Penn Stripped of Title". MMARingReport.com. May 17, 2004. http://www.mmaringreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=476&Itemid=37. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave (December 9, 2007). "Sherk stripped of lightweight title". Yahoo! Sports. http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/mma_experts/post/Sherk-stripped-of-lightweight-title?urn=mma,56811. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
- ^ "New UFC Champion Jose Aldo officially awarded title belt". mmajunkie.com. November 20, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/21481/new-ufc-champion-jose-aldo-officially-awarded-title-belt.mma.
[edit] External links
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