List of UFC champions: Difference between revisions
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'''Source''':<ref name=Fighters>{{cite web|title=Fighters|url=http://www.ufc.ca/fighter|publisher=Ultimate Fighting Championship|accessdate=April 24, 2012}}</ref> |
'''Source''':<ref name=Fighters>{{cite web|title=Fighters|url=http://www.ufc.ca/fighter|publisher=Ultimate Fighting Championship|accessdate=April 24, 2012}}</ref> |
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==Championship history== |
==Mens Championship history== |
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===Heavyweight Championship=== |
===Heavyweight Championship=== |
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''206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)'' |
''206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)'' |
Revision as of 02:24, 9 November 2012
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 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.[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. The lightweight moniker would later return at UFC 16 with a new division consisting of those competitors 170 pounds (77 kg) and under. A fourth weight class, the bantamweight division, then arrived at UFC 26 to include all fighters 155 pounds (70 kg) and under.
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.[4] The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with the new regulations in 2001, beginning with UFC 31.[5] At the time, this brought the total number of active divisions in the UFC to five: lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
In late 2010, the UFC merged with their sister organization, World Extreme Cagefighting. Due to the WEC's focus on lighter weight classes, this merger of talent necessitated the addition of both the featherweight and bantamweight divisions to the UFC, starting with the TUF 12 finale.[6] Finally, in early 2012, the UFC announced the introduction of the flyweight division to their ranks, beginning with UFC on FX 2.[7]
Current champions
Division | Champion | Since | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|
Heavyweight | Junior dos Santos | Nov 12, 2011 | 1 |
Light Heavyweight | Jon Jones | Mar 19, 2011 | 4 |
Middleweight | Anderson Silva | Oct 14, 2006 | 10 |
Welterweight | Georges St-Pierre | Apr 19, 2008 | 6 |
Carlos Condit Interim champion |
Feb 4, 2012 | 0 | |
Lightweight | Benson Henderson | Feb 26, 2012 | 1 |
Featherweight | José Aldo | Nov 20, 2010 | 3 |
Bantamweight | Dominick Cruz | Dec 16, 2010 | 2 |
Renan Barão Interim champion |
July 21, 2012 | 0 | |
Flyweight | Demetrious Johnson | Sep 22, 2012 | 0 |
Source:[8]
Mens Championship history
Heavyweight Championship
206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) |
Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mark Coleman def. Dan Severn |
UFC 12 Dothan, AL, USA |
Feb 7, 1997 | 170 days | |
2 | Maurice Smith | UFC 14 Birmingham, AL, USA |
Jul 27, 1997 | 147 days |
1. def. David 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.[1] | |||||
4 | Bas Rutten def. Kevin Randleman |
UFC 20 Birmingham, AL, USA |
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.[9] | |||||
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, USA |
Nov 17, 2000 | 490 days (490+ days) |
1. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 31 on May 4, 2001 |
7 | Josh Barnett | 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.[10] | |||||
8 | Ricco Rodriguez def. Randy Couture |
UFC 39 Uncasville, CT, USA |
Sep 27, 2002 | 154 days | |
9 | Tim Sylvia | 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.[11] | |||||
10 | Frank Mir def. Tim Sylvia |
UFC 48 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jun 19, 2004 | 419 days | |
- | Andrei Arlovski 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 was stripped of the title on August 12, 2005 for inactivity resulting from injuries he sustained in a road accident.[12] | |||||
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, USA |
Apr 15, 2006 | 322 days (551 days) |
1. def. Andrei Arlovski at UFC 61 on Jul 8, 2006 |
13 | Randy Couture (3) | UFC 68 Columbus, OH, USA |
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, USA |
Feb 2, 2008 | — | |
14 | Brock Lesnar | UFC 91 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Nov 15, 2008 | 707 days |
1. def. interim champion Frank Mir at UFC 100 on Jul 11, 2009 |
- | Frank Mir def. interim champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira |
UFC 92 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Dec 27, 2008 | — | |
- | Shane Carwin def. Frank Mir for interim title |
UFC 111 Newark, NJ, USA |
Mar 27, 2010 | — | |
15 | Cain Velasquez | UFC 121 Anaheim, CA, USA |
Oct 23, 2010 | 385 days | |
16 | Junior dos Santos | UFC on Fox 1 Anaheim, CA, USA |
Nov 12, 2011 | 4746 days (incumbent) |
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.
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (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 |
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 |
- | Randy Couture def. Chuck Liddell for interim title |
UFC 43 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jun 6, 2003 | — | |
3 | Randy Couture | UFC 44 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Sep 26, 2003 | 127 days | |
4 | Vitor Belfort | UFC 46 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jan 31, 2004 | 203 days | |
5 | Randy Couture (2) | UFC 49 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Aug 21, 2004 | 238 days (365 days) |
|
6 | Chuck Liddell | UFC 52 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Apr 16, 2005 | 770 days |
1. def. Jeremy Horn at UFC 54 on Aug 20, 2005 |
7 | Quinton Jackson | UFC 71 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
May 26, 2007 | 406 days |
1. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 75 on Sep 8, 2007 |
8 | Forrest Griffin | UFC 86 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jul 5, 2008 | 175 days | |
9 | Rashad Evans | UFC 92 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Dec 27, 2008 | 147 days | |
10 | Lyoto Machida | UFC 98 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
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, USA |
Mar 19, 2011 | 4984 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Quinton Jackson at UFC 135 on Sep 24, 2011 |
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 Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82.
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dave Menne def. Gil Castillo |
UFC 33 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Sep 28, 2001 | 105 days | |
2 | Murilo Bustamante | 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 | Evan Tanner def. David Terrell |
UFC 51 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Feb 5, 2005 | 119 days | |
4 | Rich Franklin | UFC 53 Atlantic City, NJ, USA |
Jun 4, 2005 | 497 days |
1. def. Nate Quarry at UFC 56 on Nov 19, 2005 |
5 | Anderson Silva | UFC 64 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Oct 14, 2006 | 6601 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Nate Marquardt at UFC 73 on Jul 7, 2007 |
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).
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (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 | Carlos Newton | UFC 31 Atlantic City, NJ, USA |
May 04, 2001 | 239 days | |
3 | Matt Hughes | UFC 34 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Nov 2, 2001 | 820 days |
1. def. Hayato Sakurai at UFC 36 on Mar 22, 2002 |
4 | B.J. Penn | 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.[13] | |||||
5 | Matt Hughes (2) 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 | Georges St-Pierre | UFC 65 Sacramento, CA, USA |
Nov 18, 2006 | 140 days | |
7 | Matt Serra | UFC 69 Houston, TX, USA |
Apr 7, 2007 | 378 days | |
- | Georges St-Pierre def. Matt Hughes for interim title |
UFC 79 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Dec 29, 2007 | — | |
8 | Georges St-Pierre (2) | UFC 83 Montreal, QC, Canada |
Apr 19, 2008 | 6,048 days (6,188 days) (incumbent) |
1. def. Jon Fitch at UFC 87 on Aug 9, 2008 |
- | Carlos Condit def. Nick Diaz for interim title |
UFC 143 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Feb 4, 2012 | 4,662 days (incumbent) |
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).
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jens Pulver 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 | Sean Sherk 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.[14] | |||||
3 | B.J. Penn def. Joe Stevenson |
UFC 80 Newcastle, England |
Jan 19, 2008 | 812 days |
1. def. Sean Sherk at UFC 84 on May 24, 2008 |
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 |
5 | Benson Henderson | UFC 144 Saitama, Japan |
Feb 26, 2012 | 4640 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Frankie Edgar at UFC 150 on Aug 11, 2012 |
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 Nov 20, 2010 at UFC 123 in a ceremony prior to the event.[15]
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | José Aldo promoted to undisputed champion |
UFC 123 Auburn Hills, MI, USA |
Nov 20, 2010 | 5103 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Mark Hominick at UFC 129 on Apr 30, 2011 |
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.[16]
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dominick Cruz def. Scott Jorgensen |
WEC 53 Glendale, AZ, USA |
Dec 16, 2010 | 5077 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Jul 2, 2011 |
- | Renan Barão def. Urijah Faber for interim title |
UFC 149 Calgary, AB, Canada |
Jul 21, 2012 | 4,494 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, ON, Canada in the finale of a 4-man tournament for the inaugural title.
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Demetrious Johnson def. Joseph Benavidez |
UFC 152 Toronto, ON, Canada |
Sep 22, 2012 | 4431 days (incumbent) |
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.
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, USA for the inaugural Superfight title.[1] | |||||
1 | Ken Shamrock 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 | Dan Severn | 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. This bout unified the UFC Superfight Championship with the UFC Tournament Championship to determine the inaugural Heavyweight Champion. |
Tournament Champions
The Ultimate Fighter
By nationality
The following includes championship title holders, interim title holders, UFC tournament winners and Ultimate Fighter tournament winners.
Most consecutive title defensesThe following includes all UFC champions who were able to consecutively defended their title three times or more.
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