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)
Jon Jones
• Won title: March 4, 2023
• Outcome: Sub1 over Ciryl Gane (UFC 285)
• Defenses: 0
Light heavyweight (205)
Jamahal Hill
• Won title: Jan. 21, 2023
• Outcome: UD over Glover Teixeira (UFC 283)
• Defenses: 0
Middleweight (185)
Israel Adesanya
• Won title: April 8, 2023
• Outcome: TKO2 over Alex Pereira (UFC 287)
• Defenses: 0
Welterweight (170)
Leon Edwards
• Won title: Aug. 20, 2022
• Outcome: KO5 over Kamaru Usman (UFC 278)
• Defenses: 1
Lightweight (155)
Islam Makhachev
• Won title: Oct. 22, 2022
• Outcome: Sub2 over Charles Oliveira (UFC 280)
• Defenses: 1
Men's featherweight (145)
Alexander Volkanovski
• Won title: Dec. 14, 2019
• Outcome: UD over Max Holloway (UFC 245)
• Defenses: 5
Men's bantamweight (135)
Aljamain Sterling
• Won title: March 6, 2021
• Outcome: DQ4 over Petr Yan (UFC 259)
• Defenses: 3
Men's flyweight (125)
Alexandre Pantoja
• Won title: July 8, 2023
• Outcome: SD over Brandon Moreno (UFC 290)
• Defenses: 0
Women's featherweight (145)
Title is vacant
Women's bantamweight (135)
Title is vacant
Women's flyweight (125)
Alexa Grasso
• Won title: March 4, 2023
• Outcome: Sub4 over Valentina Shevchenko (UFC 285)
• Defenses: 0
Strawweight (115)
Zhang Weili
• Won title: Nov. 12, 2022
• Outcome: Sub2 over Carla Esparza (UFC 281)
• Defenses: 0