The UFC began in 1993 with fighters of all sizes competing against each other. Four years later, UFC 12 introduced weight classes: heavyweight, for fighters 200 pounds and above, and lightweight, for those 199 pounds and under. That night in Dothan, Alabama, Mark Coleman needed less than three minutes to defeat Dan Severn by a neck crank to becomes the promotion's first heavyweight champion -- its first champion, period.
Today, there 12 weight divisions in the UFC -- eight for men, four for women. Below are the current UFC champions in each weight division.
Click here for the current champions in all of the major fight promotions: Bellator MMA, One Championship, PFL, Rizin and Invicta FC, in addition to the UFC.
All-time UFC champions by division:
Heavyweight | Light heavyweight
Middleweight | Welterweight
Lightweight | Men's featherweight
Men's bantamweight | Men's flyweight
Women's featherweight
Women's bantamweight
Women's flyweight
Strawweight
Heavyweight (Up to 265 pounds)
Francis Ngannou
• Won title: March 27, 2021
• Outcome: KO2 over Stipe Miocic (UFC 260)
• Defenses: 1
Light heavyweight (205)
Glover Teixeira
• Won title: Oct. 30, 2021
• Outcome: Sub2 over Jan Blachowicz (UFC 267)
• Defenses: 0
Middleweight (185)
Israel Adesanya
• Won title: Oct. 6, 2019
• Outcome: TKO2 over Robert Whittaker (UFC 243)
• Defenses: 4
Welterweight (170)
Kamaru Usman
• Won title: March 2, 2019
• Outcome: UD over Tyron Woodley (UFC 235)
• Defenses: 5
Lightweight (155)
Title is vacant
Men's featherweight (145)
Alexander Volkanovski
• Won title: Dec. 14, 2019
• Outcome: UD over Max Holloway (UFC 245)
• Defenses: 3
Men's bantamweight (135)
Aljamain Sterling
• Won title: March 6, 2021
• Outcome: DQ4 over Petr Yan (UFC 259)
• Defenses: 1
Men's flyweight (125)
Deiveson Figueiredo
• Won title: Jan. 22, 2022
• Outcome: UD over Brandon Moreno (UFC 270)
• Defenses: 0
Women's featherweight (145)
Amanda Nunes
• Won title: Dec. 29, 2018
• Outcome: TKO1 over Cris Cyborg (UFC 232)
• Defenses: 2
Women's bantamweight (135)
Julianna Peña
• Won title: Dec. 11, 2021
• Outcome: SUB2 over Amanda Nunes (UFC 269)
• Defenses: 0
Women's flyweight (125)
Valentina Shevchenko
• Won title: Dec. 8, 2018
• Outcome: UD over Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 231)
• Defenses: 6
Strawweight (115)
Carla Esparza
• Won title: May 7, 2022
• Outcome: SD over Rose Namajunas (UFC 274)
• Defenses: 0