This article tracks the lineage of the original UFC championships. These are not official or recognized championships within the UFC but follow the original titles as they would have been contested in various promotions at the same weight class.
The era of modern mixed martial arts began in Japan in 1989 with the inception of professional Shooto. [1] In the U.S. it was UFC 1 in 1993. The rule set during the sport's infancy was significantly less voluminous than it has currently become. During the first event at UFC 1, there were no weight limits or weight classes. The idea was to determine who was the best fighter regardless of anything besides actual fighting merit. Initially as many fighters lacked legitimate training and relied merely on size and strength, those with technique, such as Royce Gracie, while substantially smaller in size, were able to find great success. As the larger fighters began to train in techniques and an influx of Olympic level wrestlers entered the sport, the technique gap greatly diminished and size and strengthen would often become the asymmetric advantage for the larger fighters. In order to allow smaller fighters to compete more fairly, weight classes were introduced at UFC 12.
This article tracks the lineage of the original UFC championships. If a lineal champion retires before losing at the particular weight, then the lineage ends and a new one is not restarted. The weight class is determined by actual fighter weight requirements, not nominally, such as in the Welterweight title that began as a UFC Lightweight title contested at 170 lbs. In instances where the title is contested in another organization that has dissimilar weight classes, the nearest weight class would be considered a valid defense if contested at that weight. For example, when the reigning lineal welterweight champion, Hayato Sakurai, fought Anderson Silva at Shooto: To The Top 7, the bout was contested at the Shooto welterweight division of 168 lbs. This represents a legitimate contention of the lineal UFC Welterweight title.
Lineal Champions[]
Openweight Championship[]
UFC 1 was the first Openweight tournament and thus the winner would claim the title of Openweight champion.
No.
Name
Event
Date
Reign (Total)
Defenses
1
Royce Gracie def. Gerard Gordeau
UFC 1 Denver, CO, USA
Nov 12, 1993
2362 days
1. def. Minoki Ichihara at UFC 2 on Mar 11, 1994
2. def. Jason DeLucia at UFC 2 on Mar 11, 1994
3. def. Remco Pardoel at UFC 2 on Mar 11, 1994
4. def. Patrick Smith at UFC 2 on Mar 11, 1994
5. def. Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 3 on Sep 9, 1994
6. def. Ron van Clief at UFC 4 on Dec 16, 1994
7. def. Keith Hackney at UFC 4 on Dec 16, 1994
8. def. Dan Severn at UFC 4 on Dec 16, 1994
9. drew with Ken Shamrock at UFC 5 on Apr 7, 1995
10. def. Nobuhiko Takada at Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round on Jan 30, 2000
2
Kazushi Sakuraba
Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals Tokyo, Japan
May 1, 2000
0 days
3
Template:Country data UKRIgor Vovchanchyn
0 days
4
Mark Coleman
511 days
1. def. Allan Goes at Pride 13 on Mar 25, 2001
5
Template:Country data BRAAntônio Rodrigo Nogueira
PRIDE 16 Osaka, Japan
Sep 24, 2001
538 days
1. def. Heath Herring at Pride 17 on Nov 3, 2001
2. def. Enson Inoue at Pride 19 on Feb 24, 2002
3. def. Sanae Kikuta at UFO-Legend on Aug 8, 2002
4. def. Bob Sapp at Pride Shockwave on Aug 28, 2002
5. def. Semmy Schilt at Pride 23 on Nov 24, 2002
6. def. Dan Henderson at Pride 24 on Dec 23, 2002
6
Fedor Emelianenko
PRIDE 25 Yokohama, Japan
Mar 16, 2003
2659 days
1. def. Egidijus Valavicius at RINGS Bushido Rings 7: Adrenalinas on Apr 5, 2003
2. def. Kazuyuki Fujita at Pride 26 on Jun 8, 2003
3. def. Gary Goodridge at Pride Total Elimination 2003 on Aug 10, 2003
4. def. Yuji Nagata at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 on Dec 31, 2003
5. def. Mark Coleman at Pride Total Elimination 2004 on Apr 25, 2004
6. def. Kevin Randleman at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 on Jun 20, 2004
7. def. Naoya Ogawa at Pride Final Conflict 2004 on Aug 15, 2004
8. no contest with Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at Pride Final Conflict 2004 on Aug 15, 2004
9. def. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at Pride Shockwave 2004 on Dec 31, 2004
10. def. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at Pride Bushido 6 on Apr 3, 2005
11. def. Mirko Filipovic at Pride Final Conflict 2005 on Aug 28, 2005
12. def. Zuluzinho at Pride Shockwave 2005 on Dec 31, 2005
13. def. Mark Coleman at Pride 32 on Oct 21, 2006
14. def. Mark Hunt at Pride Shockwave 2006 on Dec 31, 2006
15. def. Matt Lindland at BodogFIGHT: Clash of Nations on Apr 14, 2007
16. def. Choi Hong-man at Yarennoka! on Dec 31, 2007
17. def. Tim Sylvia at Affliction: Banned on Jul 19, 2008
18. def. Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Day of Reckoning on Jan 24, 2009
19. def. Brett Rogers at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers on Nov 7, 2009
7
Fabricio Werdum
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum San Jose, CA, USA
Jun 26, 2010
357 days
8
Template:Country data HollandAlistair Overeem
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Dallas, TX, USA
Jun 18, 2011
Template:Age in days days (incumbent)
1. def. Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 on Dec 30, 2011
Heavyweight Championship[]
The Heavyweight class is defined as 206-265 lbs.
The first Heavyweight Championship was contested at UFC 12.
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. Tank Abbott at UFC 15 on Oct 17, 1997
3
Randy Couture
UFC Japan Yokohama, Japan
Dec 21, 1997
308 days
4
Enson Inoue
Vale Tudo Japan 1998 Tokyo, Japan
Oct 25, 1998
462 days
1. def. Soichi Nishida at Pride 5 on Apr 29, 1999
5
Mark Kerr
Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round Tokyo, Japan
Jan 30, 2000
92 days
6
Kazuyuki Fujita
Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals Tokyo, Japan
May 1, 2000
0 days
7
Mark Coleman (2)
511 days (681 days)
1. def. Igor Vovchanchyn at Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals on May 1, 2000
8
Template:Country data BRAAntônio Rodrigo Nogueira
PRIDE 16 Osaka, Japan
Sep 24, 2001
538 days
1. def. Heath Herring at Pride 17 on Nov 3, 2001
2. def. Enson Inoue at Pride 19 on Feb 24, 2002
3. def. Semmy Schilt at Pride 23 on Nov 24, 2002
9
Fedor Emelianenko
PRIDE 25 Yokohama, Japan
Mar 16, 2003
2659 days
1. def. Egidijus Valavicius at RINGS Bushido Rings 7: Adrenalinas on Apr 5, 2003
2. def. Kazuyuki Fujita at Pride 26 on Jun 8, 2003
3. def. Gary Goodridge at Pride Total Elimination 2003 on Aug 10, 2003
4. def. Yuji Nagata at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 on Dec 31, 2003
5. def. Mark Coleman at Pride Total Elimination 2004 on Apr 25, 2004
6. def. Kevin Randleman at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 on Jun 20, 2004
7. def. Naoya Ogawa at Pride Final Conflict 2004 on Aug 15, 2004
8. no contest Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at Pride Final Conflict 2004 on Aug 15, 2004
9. def. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at Pride Shockwave 2004 on Dec 31, 2004
10. def. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at Pride Bushido 6 on Apr 3, 2005
11. def. Mirko Filipovic at Pride Final Conflict 2005 on Aug 28, 2005
12. def. Mark Coleman at Pride 32 on Oct 21, 2006
13. def. Mark Hunt at Pride Shockwave 2006 on Dec 31, 2006
14. def. Matt Lindland at BodogFIGHT: Clash of Nations on Apr 14, 2007
15. def. Tim Sylvia at Affliction: Banned on Jul 19, 2008
16. def. Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Day of Reckoning on Jan 24, 2009
17. def. Brett Rogers at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers on Nov 7, 2009
10
Fabricio Werdum
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum San Jose, CA, USA
Jun 26, 2010
357 days
11
Template:Country data HollandAlistair Overeem
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Dallas, TX, USA
Jun 18, 2011
Template:Age in days days (incumbent)
1. def. Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 on Dec 30, 2011
Light Heavyweight Championship[]
The Light Heavyweight class is defined as 186-205 lbs.
The first Light Heavyweight Championship was contested at UFC Japan.
The Light Heavyweight Title was contested in the UFC as the UFC Middleweight Title during Shamrock's reign.
No.
Name
Event
Date
Reign (Total)
Defenses
1
Frank Shamrock def. Kevin Jackson
UFC Japan Tokyo, Japan
Dec 21, 1997
4131 days
1. def. Igor Zinoviev at UFC 16 on Mar 13, 1998
2. def. Jeremy Horn at UFC 17 on May 15, 1998
3. def. John Lober at UFC Brazil on Oct 16, 1998
4. def. Tito Ortiz at UFC 22 on Sep 24, 1999
5. def. Elvis Sinosic at K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 on Dec 10, 2000
6. def. Brian Pardoe at WEC 6 on Mar 27, 2003
Shamrock dropped to middleweight in 2003 and ultimately retired with the title in April, 2009
Middleweight Championship[]
The Middleweight class is defined as 171-185 lbs.
The first Middleweight Championship was contested at UFC 33.
The Middleweight Title was contested in Pride as the Pride Welterweight Title.
No.
Name
Event
Date
Reign (Total)
Defenses
1
Dave Menne def. Gil Castillo
UFC 33 Las Vegas, NV, USA
Sep 28, 2001
105 days
2
Template:Country data BRAMurilo Bustamante
UFC 35 Las Vegas, NV, USA
Jan 11, 2002
1450 days
1. def. Matt Lindland at UFC 37 on May 10, 2002
2. def. Ryuta Sakurai at Pride Bushido 6 on Apr 3, 2005
3. def. Masanori Suda at Pride Bushido 9 on Sep 25, 2005
4. def Ikuhisa Minowa at Pride Bushido 9 on Sep 25, 2005
3
Dan Henderson
Pride Shockwave 2005 Saitama, Japan
Dec 31, 2005
238 days
1. def. Kazuo Misaki at Pride Bushido 10 on Apr 2, 2006
4
Kazuo Misaki
Pride Bushido 12 Nagoya, Japan
Aug 26, 2006
71 days
5
Template:Country data BRAPaulo Filho
Pride Bushido 13 Yokohama, Japan
Nov 5, 2006
1657 days
1. def. Joe Doerksen at WEC 29 on Aug 5, 2007
2. def. Chael Sonnen at WEC 31 on Dec 12, 2007
3. def. Melvin Manhoef at Dream 10 on Jul 20, 2009
4. drew with Denis Kang at Impact FC 2 on Jul 18, 2010
5. def. Yuki Sasaki at Bitetti Combat MMA 8 on Dec 4, 2010
6. def. Jackson Mora at World Fighting Combat: Pretorian on Mar 19, 2011
6
Norman Paraisy
X-Combat Ultra: International Grand Prix Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
May 20, 2011
301 days
1. def. Jack Mason at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 43 on Jul 9, 2011
7
Template:Country data BRAMaiquel Falcão
Bellator 61 Bossier City, LA, United States
Mar 16, 2012
Template:Age in days days (incumbent)
1. def. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky at Bellator 66 on Apr 20, 2012
2. def. Andreas Spang at Bellator 69 on May 18, 2012
Welterweight Championship[]
The Welterweight class is defined as 156-170 lbs.
The first Welterweight Championship was contested at UFC Brazil
The Welterweight Title was known as the UFC Lightweight Title in the UFC 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
109 days
1. def. Jorge Patino at UFC 18 on Jan 8, 1999
2
Jutaro Nakao
SuperBrawl 11 Honolulu, HI, United States
Feb 2, 1999
109 days
3
Tetsuji Kato
Shooto: 10th Anniversary Event Yokohama, Japan
May 29, 2000
293 days
1. def. Rhett Anthony at SuperBrawl 14 on Nov 5, 1999
2. def. Angelo Sergio at Vale Tudo Japan 1999 on Dec 11, 1999
4
Hayato Sakurai
Shooto – R.E.A.D. 2 Tokyo, Japan
Mar 17, 2000
527 days
1. def. Luiz Azeredo at Shooto – R.E.A.D. 8 on Aug 4, 2000
2. def. Frank Trigg at Shooto – R.E.A.D. Final on Dec 17, 2000
3. def. Jean Louis Alberch at GT – Golden Trophy 2001 on Mar 1, 2001
5
Anderson Silva
Shooto: To The Top 7 Osaka, Japan
Aug 26, 2001
651 days
1. def. Roan Carneiro at Mecca: World Vale Tudo 6 on Jan 31, 2002
2. def. Alex Stiebling at Pride 21 on Jun 23, 2002
3. def. Alexander Otsuka at Pride 22 on Sep 29, 2002
4. def. Carlos Newton at Pride 25 on Mar 16, 2003
6
Daiju Takase
Pride 26 Yokohama, Japan
Jun 8, 2003
58 days
7
Rodrigo Gracie
Pride Bushido 1 Saitama, Japan
Oct 5, 2003
412 days
1. def. Hayato Sakurai at Pride Bushido 2 on Feb 15, 2004
8
BJ Penn
Rumble on the Rock 6 Honolulu, HI, United States
Nov 20, 2004
530 days
1. def. Renzo Gracie at K-1: World Grand Prix Hawaii on Jul 29, 2005
9
Template:Country data CANGeorges St-Pierre
UFC 58 Las Vegas, NV, United States
Mar 4, 2006
399 days
1. def. Matt Hughes at UFC 65 on Nov 18, 2006
10
Matt Serra
UFC 69 Houston, TX, United States
Apr 7, 2007
378 days
11
Template:Country data CANGeorges St-Pierre (2)
UFC 83 Montreal, QC, Canada
Apr 19, 2008
Template:Age in days days (Template:Age in days days) (incumbent)
1. def. Jon Fitch at UFC 87 on Aug 9, 2008
2. def. B.J. Penn at UFC 94 on Jan 31, 2009
3. def. Thiago Alves at UFC 100 on Jul 11, 2009
4. def. Dan Hardy at UFC 111 on Mar 27, 2010
5. def. Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 on Dec 11, 2010
6. def. Jake Shields at UFC 129 on Apr 30, 2011
7. def. Carlos Condit at UFC 154 on Nov 17, 2012
Lightweight Championship[]
The Lightweight class is defined as 146-155 lbs.
The first Lightweight Championship was contested at UFC 30.
No.
Name
Event
Date
Reign (Total)
Defenses
1
Jens Pulver def. Caol Uno
UFC 30 Atlantic City, NJ, USA
Feb 23, 2001
701 days
1. def. Dennis Hallman at UFC 33 on Sep 28, 2001
2. def. B.J. Penn at UFC 35 on Jan 11, 2002
3. def. Rob Emerson at UW: Ultimate Wrestling on Jun 29, 2002
4. def. Takehiro Murahama at UFO: Legend on Aug 8, 2002
2
Duane Ludwig
UCC 12: Adrenaline Montreal, QC, Canada
Jan 25, 2003
483 days
1. def. Genki Sudo at UFC 42 on Apr 25, 2003
3
B.J. Penn
K-1 MMA - Romanex Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan, Japan
May 22, 2004
308 days
1. def. Rodrigo Gracie at ROTR 6 on Nov 20, 2004
4
Lyoto Machida
K-1 - Hero's 1 Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan, Japan
Mar 26, 2005
1869 days
1. def. Dimitri Wanderley at JF 6 on Apr 29, 2006
2. def. Vernon White at WFA 4 on Jul 22, 2006
5
Gray Maynard
UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon Broomfield, CO, USA
Apr 2, 2008
1284 days
1. def. Rich Clementi at UFC 90 on Oct 25, 2008
2. def. Jim Miller at UFC 96 on Mar 7, 2009
3. def. Roger Huerta at UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Guillard on Sep 16, 2009
4. def. Nate Diaz at UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Diaz on Jan 11, 2010
5. def. Kenny Florian at UFC 118 on Aug 28, 2010
6. drew with Frankie Edgar at UFC 125 on Jan 1, 2011
6
Frankie Edgar (2)
UFC 136 Houston, TX, USA
Oct 8, 2011
424 days (565 days)
7
Benson Henderson
UFC 144 Saitama, Japan
Feb 26, 2012
Template:Age in days days (incumbent)
1. def. Frankie Edgar at UFC 150 on Aug 11, 2012
2. def. Nate Diaz at UFC on Fox 5 on Dec 8, 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.[1]
No.
Name
Event
Date
Reign
Defenses
1
Template:Country data BRAJosé Aldo promoted to undisputed champion
UFC 123 Auburn Hills, MI, USA
Nov 20, 2010
Template:Age in days days (incumbent)
1. def. Mark Hominick at UFC 129 on Apr 30, 2011
2. def. Kenny Florian at UFC 136 on Oct 8, 2011
3. def. Chad Mendes at UFC 142 on Jan 14, 2012
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]
No.
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. def. Demetrious Johnson at UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson on Oct 1, 2011
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.