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)
Stipe Miocic
• Won title: August 17, 2019
• Outcome: TKO4 over Daniel Cormier (UFC 241)
• Defenses: 1
Light heavyweight (205)
Jan Blachowicz
• Won title: Sept. 26, 2020
• Outcome: TKO2 over Dominick Reyes (UFC 253)
• Defenses: 1
Middleweight (185)
Israel Adesanya
• Won title: Oct. 6, 2019
• Outcome: TKO2 over Robert Whittaker (UFC 243)
• Defenses: 2
Welterweight (170)
Kamaru Usman
• Won title: March 2, 2019
• Outcome: UD over Tyron Woodley (UFC 235)
• Defenses: 3
Lightweight (155)
Khabib Nurmagomedov
• Won title: April 7, 2018
• Outcome: UD over Al Iaquinta (UFC 223)
• Defenses: 3
Men's featherweight (145)
Alexander Volkanovski
• Won title: Dec. 14, 2019
• Outcome: UD over Max Holloway (UFC 245)
• Defenses: 1
Men's bantamweight (135)
Aljamain Sterling
• Won title: March 6, 2021
• Outcome: DQ4 over Petr Yan (UFC 259)
• Defenses: 0
Men's flyweight (125)
Deiveson Figueiredo
• Won title: July 18, 2020
• Outcome: SUB1 over Joseph Benavidez (UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2)
• Defenses: 2
Women's featherweight (145)
Amanda Nunes
• Won title: Dec. 29, 2018
• Outcome: TKO1 over Cris Cyborg (UFC 232)
• Defenses: 2
Women's bantamweight (135)
Amanda Nunes
• Won title: July 9, 2016
• Outcome: SUB1 over Miesha Tate (UFC 200)
• Defenses: 5
Women's flyweight (125)
Valentina Shevchenko
• Won title: Dec. 8, 2018
• Outcome: UD over Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 231)
• Defenses: 4
Strawweight (115)
Zhang Weili
• Won title: Aug. 31, 2019
• Outcome: TKO1 over Jessica Andrade (UFC Shenzhen)
• Defenses: 1