List of UFC champions
This is a list of all UFC champions.
Historical notes
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. 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.The original codification for weight classes introduced only two divisions: heavyweight, which grouped together all competitors above, and lightweight, which encompassed all competitors 199 pounds and under. At UFC 14 the lightweight division would be renamed to middleweight, though it would still encompass all fighters 199 pounds and under. The lightweight moniker would later return at UFC 16 with a new division consisting of those competitors and under. Two years later a fourth weight class, the bantamweight division, arrived at UFC 26 and included all fighters 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. The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with these new regulations in 2001, beginning with UFC 31. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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, the first bout took place at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Miller.
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
Men
Women
Men's championship history
Heavyweight Championship
206 to 265 lbThe 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.
Light Heavyweight Championship
186 to 205 lbThe Light Heavyweight Championship was known as the Middleweight Championship prior to UFC 31.
The Pride World Middleweight Championship was unified with the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on September 8, 2007, when Quinton Jackson defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 75.
Middleweight Championship
171 to 185 lbThe Pride World Welterweight Championship was unified with the UFC Middleweight Championship on March 1, 2008, when Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82.
Welterweight Championship
156 to 170 lbThe Welterweight Championship was known as the Lightweight Championship prior to UFC 31.
Lightweight Championship
146 to 155 lbThe Lightweight Championship was known as the Bantamweight Championship prior to UFC 31.
The Strikeforce Lightweight Championship was unified with the UFC Lightweight Championship on April 20, 2013, when Benson Henderson defeated Gilbert Melendez at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez.
Featherweight Championship
136 to 145 lbPrior 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.
Bantamweight Championship
126 to 135 lbPrior 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.
Flyweight Championship
116 to 125 lbDemetrious 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.
Women's championship history
Women's Bantamweight Championship
126 to 135 lbPrior 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.
Women's Flyweight Championship
116 to 125 lbThe 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.
Women's Strawweight Championship
106 to 115 lbPreviously 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.
Symbolic titles
BMF Title
After UFC 241, Nate Diaz proclaimed himself as the “baddest motherfucker in the game”. Shortly after, Dana White announced a welterweight matchup between Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. Leading up to this fight, Dana White informed media outlets that the Diaz–Masvidal matchup would be for the title of “Baddest Motherfucker”, and a symbolic UFC title belt was created to be awarded to the winner of this matchup. The title belt, embossed with “BMF”, has since been on the line a number of times across multiple weight divisions and competitors should have "a willingness to go out on ones shield, be equipped with elite skill sets who enjoy, or even prefer, getting into an old-fashioned brawl, rarely if ever play it safe".Jorge Masvidal defeated Nate Diaz for the inaugural title of Baddest Mother Fucker "BMF", on November 2, 2019 in Madison Square Garden, New York City at UFC 244.
Defunct titles
Superfight Championship
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.Women's Featherweight Championship
136 to 145 lbThe inaugural title was contested on February 11, 2017, in Brooklyn, NY, US at UFC 208.
Tournament winners
''The Ultimate Fighter''
The Ultimate Fighter 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.| Season | Finale | Division | Winner | Runner-up | ||||||||||||||||||||
| TUF 1: Team Couture vs. Team Liddell | Apr 9, 2005 | Light Heavyweight |  Championship wins by nationalityThe 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. Countries that are tied are separated by number of individual champions. 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.
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