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 become 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 | Featherweight
Men's bantamweight | Men's flyweight
Women's bantamweight
Women's flyweight
Strawweight
Heavyweight (Up to 265 pounds)
Tom Aspinall
• Won title: June 21, 2025
• Outcome: Inherited from Jon Jones (retirement)
• Defenses: 0
Light heavyweight (205)
Magomed Ankalaev
• Won title: March 8, 2025
• Outcome: UD over Alex Pereira (UFC 313)
• Defenses: 0
Middleweight (185)
Dricus Du Plessis
• Won title: Jan. 20, 2024
• Outcome: SD over Sean Strickland (UFC 297)
• Defenses: 2
Welterweight (170)
Jack Della Maddalena
• Won title: May 10, 2025
• Outcome: UD over Belal Muhammad (UFC 315)
• Defenses: 0
Lightweight (155)
Ilia Topuria
• Won title: June 28, 2025
• Outcome: KO1 over Charles Oliveira (UFC 317)
• Defenses: 0
Featherweight (145)
Alexander Volkanovski
• Won title: April 12, 2025
• Outcome: UD over Diego Lopes (UFC 314)
• Defenses: 0
Men's bantamweight (135)
Merab Dvalishvili
• Won title: Sept. 14, 2024
• Outcome: UD over Sean O'Malley (UFC 306)
• Defenses: 2
Men's flyweight (125)
Alexandre Pantoja
• Won title: July 8, 2023
• Outcome: SD over Brandon Moreno (UFC 290)
• Defenses: 4
Women's bantamweight (135)
Kayla Harrison
• Won title: June 7, 2025
• Outcome: Sub2 over Julianna Peña (UFC 316)
• Defenses: 0
Women's flyweight (125)
Valentina Shevchenko
• Won title: Sept. 14, 2024
• Outcome: UD over Alexa Grasso (UFC 306)
• Defenses: 1
Strawweight (115)
Zhang Weili
• Won title: Nov. 12, 2022
• Outcome: Sub2 over Carla Esparza (UFC 281)
• Defenses: 3