UFC Champions: Ranking All 60 Fighters to Wear UFC Gold
If there is one question that seems to stand above all others, particularly in the combat sports (and specifically in the UFC, where all combat sports merge under the brightest spotlight), it is simply this: What makes a great champion?
Perhaps a better question would be to ask what makes a champion great, but once again, it usually depends on whom you ask and when. After all, not long ago you could ask that question, and many would cite Junior dos Santos as an example of a great champion. But now that he has been dethroned, it seems his conqueror, Cain Velasquez, is wearing all that luster.
Of course, one criterion might be found in the rule that says a champion isn’t really a champion until he defends his title, and that seems to be accepted—at least by the fighters themselves—as conventional wisdom.
And who am I to argue with the men and women that make it all possible?
When compiling this list, I was forced to weigh different titles in opposition and decide which ones carried more weight: Is a champion with two tournament victories and a heavyweight title (but no defenses) worth more than a champion with no tournament victories but two title defenses?
These are the kinds of questions that hound any such list, and the UFC has seen several kinds of titles as they have evolved, not to mention the renaming and restructuring of weight divisions, etc.
Still, there must be a way to quantify who is the greatest champion in the history of the UFC and who comes in second and so on.
In keeping with that ambition, I present this list that humbly attempts to rank every fighter to ever wear UFC gold, based upon his as champion. The more titles a champion has had, the higher his ranking, and the same goes with title defenses, and, of course, the manner in which he dispatched of his opposition is also considered.
In the case of UFC gold (or any gold, for that matter), less is not always more, and more fights in one night is not always a greater accomplishment than single fights over the course of a champion's career.
No. 60: Josh Barnett
1 of 60Age: 35
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’3”
Record: 31-6 (9 Wins via KO/TKO, 17 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): March 22, 2002 (UFC 36)
Date of Title Loss: July 26, 2002
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
Sitting in a position on this list that is grossly out of proportion to his skills and accomplishments in the sport, Josh Barnett just might have become the greatest heavyweight champion in the history of the UFC were it not for the fact he tested positive for steroid use after defeating Randy Couture for the title and was subsequently stripped of the belt before he ever got a chance to defend it.
As this list is about UFC champions and how they rank among their brethren, Barnett clearly belongs, but as his lone moment as champion is tainted by steroid usage, he is sitting at the very bottom of the ladder.
No. 59: Steve Jennum
2 of 60Age: 51 (Approx.)
Title(s): UFC 3 Tournament Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Open Weight
Height: 5’10”
Record: 2-3 (2 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Sept. 9, 1994 (UFC 3)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
Many scoff at the name of Steve Jennum, but when you really consider it, just to step into the Octagon back in the day when there were no real rules or weight classes took considerable courage, even if you’re an alternate stepping into the finals to replace Ken Shamrock.
It wasn’t so much about the man you were fighting back then but about the Octagon itself and what could happen when that gate slammed shut.
Well, Jennum walked right on in, poised, and walked out as the UFC 3 tournament champion, and that deserves recognition.
No. 58: Ronda Rousey
3 of 60Age: 25
Title(s): Women’s UFC Bantamweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Bantamweight
Height: 5’6”
Record: 6-0 (6 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Dec. 6, 2012 (UFC on Fox 5 Press Conference)
Date of Title Loss: Current Reigning Champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
Before anyone cries foul, it is important to note that Ronda Rousey has yet to fight in the UFC, and that means a great deal on this list.
Should she win her next two fights, her standing will skyrocket based on title defenses alone, and the fact that she is incredibly skilled certainly doesn’t hurt her chances of success.
Rousey has all the makings to be the greatest champion in the history of WMMA, and now that she is on the biggest stage that the sport knows, this is make-or-break time for “Rowdy.”
Of course, anyone who has excelled under the big lights and international pressure that comes with an Olympic berth knows how to handle that kind of spotlight, and most everyone expects big things from Rousey in 2013, which is as it should be.
While talk may continually return to her outside pursuits, it is clear that Rousey is more than just a very pretty face.
No. 57: Kenichi Yamamoto
4 of 60Age: 36
Title(s): UFC 23 Middleweight Tournament Champion
Nationality: Japanese
Division(s): Middleweight
Height: 5’11”
Record: 5-11 (2 Wins via KO/TKO, 2 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Nov. 19, 1999 (UFC 23)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
Many have said that the tournament format doesn’t always reward the best fighter, and the tale of Kenichi Yamamoto may add weight to that belief, as his career entered a fairly drastic downward spiral after he won the UFC 23 middleweight tournament.
But on that night, he was the best man in the Octagon and earned the honor by fighting for it.
No. 56: Jerry Bohlander
5 of 60Age: 38
Title(s): UFC 12 Lightweight Tournament Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Lightweight
Height: 5’11”
Record: 11-4 (10 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 7, 1997 (UFC 12)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
Jerry Bohlander was one of those fighters with a career that—in the early years—spoke to the notion that quality trumps quantity.
He stepped into UFC 8 with only the training he received from the Lions Den, and even when he won the UFC 12 lightweight tournament, he had just six fights under his belt before the event.
He won the tournament in convincing fashion and would go on to get even better, submitting Olympic medalist Kevin Jackson in an exciting fight before his career began to falter.
No. 55: Guy Mezger
6 of 60Age: 45
Title(s): UFC 13 Lightweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Lightweight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 30-14 (11 Wins via KO/TKO, 6 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): May 30, 1997 (UFC 13)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
Guy Mezger was always a much better fighter than the numbers would indicate, but that is not the reason he sits low on this list (although I would argue that anyone who makes such a list is sitting in a pretty great position).
Mezger left the UFC early on to join Pride when it began and spent most of his time fighting in Japan. Had he chosen to stay with the UFC, who knows how far he could have gone?
A very capable striker with underrated submission skills, Mezger was always a game fighter, and he proved that by coming back out to fight after having the holy hell kneed out of his head by Tito Ortiz, who had Mezger locked up in a cradle.
They stopped the fight to assess the cuts on his scalp; restarted; and Mezger stayed poised, catching Ortiz in a guillotine choke and finishing the fight to win the UFC 13 lightweight tournament.
No. 54: Kevin Jackson
7 of 60Age: 47
Title(s): UFC 14 Middleweight Tournament Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Middleweight
Height: 5’10”
Record: 4-2 (4 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): July 27, 1997 (UFC 14)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
When Kevin Jackson burst onto the scene, nearly everyone thought he was simply going to be a monster, and from his early fights, they had every reason to think so.
When Jackson fought, we were finally getting to get a clear look at what elite-level wrestling was, and the way he tossed people around was effortless.
He didn’t just win the UFC 14 middleweight tournament, he made it look easy.
No. 53: Kazushi Sakuraba
8 of 60Age: 44
Title(s): UFC Ultimate Japan Heavyweight Tournament Champion
Nationality: Japanese
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 5’11”
Record: 26-16 (4 Wins via KO/TKO, 19 via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Dec. 21, 1997 (UFC Ultimate Japan)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
Before Kazushi Sakuraba was a legendary figure in the history of combat sport for Japan (fighting under the Pride FC banner), he was the first-ever UFC-heavyweight-tournament champion of Japanese descent, and from there great things followed.
It was an odd night for Sakuraba; he lost his first bout of the tournament to Marcus “Conan” Silveira due to referee stoppage when Sakuraba dropped down low to grab a single leg takedown and was mistakenly believed to be falling from a knockout blow.
Then, after review, Sakuraba was allowed his second crack at Silveira, in the finals, for the tournament championship.
Sakuraba fought brilliantly and ended up submitting Silveira via armbar, making history and finding himself thrust suddenly into the limelight.
No. 52: Dan Henderson
9 of 60Age: 42
Title(s): UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Middleweight, Light Heavyweight
Height: 5’ 11”
Record: 29-8 (13 Wins via KO/TKO, 2 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): May 15, 1998 (UFC 17)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
Aside from the legendary Randy Couture, there are very few fighters alive who have enjoyed as much success in their later years as they did in the beginning of their careers, and Dan Henderson is one of the few.
He gained his first and only chunk of UFC gold when he won the UFC 17 middleweight tournament, defeating Allan Goes in a tough fight that went the distance and then winning an even tougher fight against Carlos Newton to eventually claim the tournament title.
Since then, Henderson has contended for the UFC titles twice, at middleweight and light heavyweight, and was turned away by Anderson Silva and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, respectively.
For a short while, Henderson was slated to face current light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones, but now it seems as if “Hendo” will never again get a crack at another UFC title.
Still, having some UFC gold is better than none, and at UFC 17, he had to fight very hard to earn what he got.
No. 51: Mark Kerr
10 of 60Age: 44
Title(s): UFC 14 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, UFC 15 Heavyweight Tournament Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 15-11 (4 Wins via KO/TKO, 7 via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): July 27, 1997 (UFC 14), Oct. 17, 1997 (UFC 15)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
When Americans got their first look at Mark Kerr, it was when he was a monster, wiping the floor with the opposition in two UFC heavyweight tournaments, back to back, making it look so easy it almost seemed like he was fighting children.
He was a true physical specimen who was well spoken in front of a microphone, which was in direct contrast to how he fought; when Kerr stepped into the cage, he was going to maul someone, like an animal.
Given his early appetite for the sport and the way he sought out training to sharpen all aspects of his game, if Kerr had arrived on the MMA scene today, he’d be one tough customer for anyone.
No. 50: Marco Ruas
11 of 60Age: 51
Title(s): UFC 7 Tournament Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Open Weight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 9-4- 2 (1 Win via KO/TKO, 8 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Sept. 8, 1995 (UFC 7)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
When Marco Ruas made his debut at UFC 7, most people, upon hearing another Brazilian was entering the competition, expected another fighter who would take his opponents to the ground and finish them in much the same way Royce Gracie had done.
What they got was a man who, while having a good ground game, preferred to fight his adversaries on the feet, blasting them with leg kicks and driving straight punches into their faces.
In the finals, Ruas squared off against Paul Varelans, who towered over him in the cage.
Ruas circled and battered the legs of Varelans with brutal kicks, exposing the UFC audience to this kind of attack for the first time.
Eventually, Varelans was toppled, and Ruas climbed aboard his fallen foe and finished the fight with punches, earning the victory and the belt of the UFC 7 champion.
No. 49: Oleg Taktarov
12 of 60Age: 45
Title(s): UFC 6 Tournament Champion
Nationality: Russian
Division(s): Open Weight
Height: 6'0"
Record: 17-5-2 (2 Wins via KO/TKO, 14 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): July 14, 1995 (UFC 6)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
The man known in the early days of the UFC as “The Russian Bear,” Oleg Taktarov first entered the big stage at UFC 5 and then was shown the door by Dan Severn via cut stoppage.
It was a quick look at the fighter who would go on to win the UFC 6 tournament, and you could quickly tell that he was one tough customer who did not think a loss of blood should be reason to call a fight off.
Taktarov wanted a UFC title badly, and you could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice when he was interviewed after a win—this was, in many ways, the culmination of the American dream for him, and he was not going to let anyone stop him.
The night he won the title at UFC 6, it was not only his skill and resolve that carried the day; it was the simple fact that he wanted it more than anyone else.
No. 48: Vitor Belfort
13 of 60Age: 35
Title(s): UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’0"
Record: 21-10 (14 Wins via KO/TKO, 3 via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 7, 1997 (UFC 12); Jan. 31, 2004 (UFC 46)
Date of Title Loss: Aug. 21, 2004 (UFC 49)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
If you saw Vitor Belfort enter the UFC back at UFC 12, you would be hard pressed to believe that by 2013, he wouldn’t have been a long-standing champion, because when he won that tournament, he displayed such overwhelming dominance that it was had to imagine anyone defeating him.
His hype trail was derailed by Randy Couture, and from there his career seemed to stagger.
He wound up facing Couture again at UFC 46 and won the light-heavyweight belt due to an unexpected turn of events.
Couture was moving in on Belfort, and as Belfort threw a punch, Couture tried to slip it but gauged the distance wrong and ended up having his eyelid sliced open by the laces on Belfort’s gloves, and the fight was stopped before it really began, and Belfort was awarded the victory.
Couture would regain the title from Belfort at UFC 49, bringing to an end any reign the Brazilian had hoped to achieve.
No. 47: Ricco Rodriguez
14 of 60Age: 35
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’2”
Record: 49-19 (13 Wins via KO/TKO, 25 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Sept. 27, 2002 (UFC 39)
Date of Title Loss: Feb. 28, 2003 (UFC 41)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
I know I am going to catch a great deal of flack about this, but there was always something about Ricco Rodriguez that made me want to watch him fight, and this was before he staged a come-from-behind victory over Randy Couture at UFC 39.
He just seemed like a man who truly appreciated the position he was in and intended to make the most of it, and that made his fights compelling.
He had his fair share of critics, but none of that stopped him from getting a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and it didn’t stop him from training hard and losing a great deal of weight just to get himself in fighting form. Much of his story revolves around people telling him he couldn’t do something only to see him defy them by doing it anyway.
When he finally got his shot at the title, a great many of his detractors were having the time of their lives at his expense as “The Natural” was outworking him and dominating the fight.
Then, Rodriguez poured some more of that liquid defiance into the oil drum, tossed in a match and started a fire that burned down all opposition.
Although he never managed to defend the belt, his career up to and including that night was really something else.
No. 46: Dave Menne
15 of 60Age: 38
Title(s): UFC Middleweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Middleweight
Height: 5’10”
Record: 45-17- 2 (5 Wins via KO/TKO, 19 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Sept. 28, 2001 (UFC 33)
Date of Title Loss: Jan. 11, 2002 (UFC 35)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
Dave Menne may be one of the most unrecognized and unappreciated fighters to ever wear a UFC belt, and had it not been for Murilo Bustamante, he might have enjoyed a good run as UFC middleweight champion.
He won the belt in a hard-fought scarp with Gil Castillo, and he seemed solid enough to fend off Bustamante and retain the title, at least on paper.
Then, Bustamante caught Menne daydreaming with a solid punch that dropped him, and the end came seconds after.
No. 45: Carlos Newton
16 of 60Age: 36
Title(s): UFC Welterweight Champion
Nationality: Canadian
Division(s): Welterweight
Height: 5’ 9”
Record: 16-14 (2 Wins via KO/TKO, 10 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): May 4, 2001 (UFC 31)
Date of Title Loss: Nov. 2, 2001 (UFC 34)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
If you are going to win a title, the best way to do it is by ending the fight before the judges can render a decision that may or may not be fair; to err is human, to win via submission divine, it would seem.
When Carlos Newton became the UFC welterweight champion, he did it by overcoming one of the toughest men in the company to date: the four-time defending champion Pat Miletich.
Miletich was a very savvy, cunning, experienced fighter who was dedicated to training and who loved being champion, and when he fought Newton, it showed.
Anytime Newton got him into a bad position, he was constantly moving, and from there the pair of them played a very fast-paced game of chess that was all over the Octagon, be it standing or on the mat.
Then, out of the blue, in the midst of all of those fast transitions, Newton snatched a choke out of thin air, securing what looked to me more along the lines of a headlock than a submission.
But he squeezed for all he was worth, eventually Miletich was forced to tap, and Newton was the new champion.
The reign of Newton would never really get started, however. As soon as he got the belt, he had to defend it against another member of the Miletich squad, Matt Hughes, and lost said fight via KO slam in a finish that is still talked about to this day.
No. 44: Evan Tanner
17 of 60Age: Died in 2008
Title(s): UFC Middleweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Middleweight
Height: 6’0"
Record: 32-8 (8 Wins via KO/TKO, 21 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 5, 2005 (UFC 51)
Date of Title Loss: June 4, 2005 (UFC 53)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
It’s an amazing thing when someone wins a UFC title, but it becomes even more so when he does it at a time when he was so conflicted by doubt and physically unprepared that he nearly turned down the opportunity to begin with.
With so much attention paid to the recent events of UFC 151 (the show that never was), it is important to note that all fighters suffer periods of uncertainty when circumstances are far from ideal. Evan Tanner took a chance, accepted the title bout on short notice and ended up winning the UFC middleweight throne in grand fashion.
Perhaps defending the title would have given his life more direction, but he was quickly replaced by Rich Franklin.
No. 43: Matt Serra
18 of 60Age: 38
Title(s): UFC Welterweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Welterweight
Height: 5’6”
Record: 11-7 (2 Wins via KO/TKO, 5 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): April 7, 2007 (UFC 69)
Date of Title Loss: April 19, 2008 (UFC 83)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
The fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter always seemed a little strange, at least to me. It was odd to see all those veterans of the sport—men who had paid their dues and fought in the Octagon—going through the same program as the unproven and unknown fighters of the three previous seasons.
It was like asking grown men to sit and eat at the little kids table during Thanksgiving.
But if that feeling was common among the fighters, you really couldn’t tell, because the winner of each division would be rewarded with an instant title shot, and you can’t ask for more than that.
Matt Serra made the most of that situation, won the plaque for season four and then went into the title fight with Georges St-Pierre as a happy but serious underdog.
Then, inside of a single round, Serra won the title and by proxy validated that season of the show, in spades.
Serra knocked St-Pierre all over the Octagon, showing a veteran's poise along the way as he picked his shots and continued to blast the champion—many others would have rushed in blindly, desperate for the finish, only to end up falling into a takedown that would have allowed St-Pierre to recover.
Not Matt Serra, who avoided any desperation takedowns thrown at him by the champ and continued to deliver punishing punch after punch, finally blasting St-Pierre off his feet, and then Serra finished him.
Serra would go on to lose the belt back to St-Pierre, as the man known as GSP would end any hopes Serra had for a title reign, just as Serra had done to him in their first meeting.
No. 42: Carlos Condit
19 of 60Age: 28
Title(s): Interim UFC Welterweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Welterweight
Height: 6’ 2”
Record: 28-6 (13 Wins via KO/TKO, 13 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 4, 2012 (UFC 143)
Date of Title Loss: Nov. 17, 2012 (UFC 154)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
Some may be wondering why Carlos Condit sits above men like Matt Serra and others, especially given that he won the interim title in a less-than-inspiring performance against Nick Diaz.
The reason is simple and twofold: He wasn’t gifted the title shot due to a reality show, and when he finally fought GSP, he did better than anyone has in recent years.
Again, placing Condit at No. 42, above so many others who had won the belt by submission or knockout, was a very tough thing to reckon, especially given the “tactical avoidance” he employed in his hit-and-move strategy that saw him defeat Nick Diaz.
Once again, I go to the quality of his opposition (Nick Diaz) and how well he contended with GSP when they fought. Men like Evan Tanner and Dave Menne were not really facing proven commodities when they battled David Terrell and Gil Castillo, while Condit was facing a proven (and perhaps spoon fed) champion in Nick Diaz, who reigned in Strikeforce.
As far as Carlos Newton goes, I ranked Condit above him simply because I think he was the better champion, even coming from an interim capacity.
Condit didn’t go into any of his title bouts with any hubris, and he represented the title well—with a high degree of skill and a serious attitude that was on clear display when he finally faced GSP.
No. 41: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
20 of 60Age: 36
Title(s): Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’3”
Record: 34-7-1-1 (3 Wins via KO/TKO, 21 Wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 2, 2008 (UFC 81)
Date of Title Loss: Dec. 27, 2008 (UFC 92)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
The man known to many as “Big Nog,” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would be much higher on this list if it pertained to MMA champions in general, but as this is focused on UFC champions, he comes in at No. 41, which is a respectful ranking for an interim champion.
In order to get that title he had to conquer two-time legitimate heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia—no easy task considering the reach advantage and punching power of the latter.
After being battered by Sylvia on the feet, Nogueira finally got his opponent on the mat and made short work of him, ending the bout via guillotine choke.
Nogueira would never be able to solidify himself as the undisputed champion, as he was knocked out by Frank Mir in his next bout.
No. 40: Shane Carwin
21 of 60Age: 37
Title(s): Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’2”
Record: 12-2 (7 Wins via KO/TKO, 5 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): March 27, 2010 (UFC 111)
Date of Title Loss: July 3, 2010 (UFC 116)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
Although he doesn’t have all that much time and experience in the sport, Shane Carwin ranks above Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for simply one reason: He annihilated the man who defeated Nogueira twice, Frank Mir.
Carwin was (and probably still is) a KO machine, and at the time he fought Mir for the interim UFC heavyweight title, he was undefeated and had won every single bout by first-round stoppage, giving him a true perfect record.
When he faced Mir, many thought he had finally met a man who could deal with his power, but Carwin caught Mir against the cage and began unloading short punches to his face. From there Mir fell, and Carwin was all over him.
He came close to delivering the same fate to undisputed champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 116.
Carwin caught Lesnar early and spent most of the first round beating him bloody—a shocking sight for so many who were used to seeing Lesnar as the monster in the cage.
Carwin came out for Round 2 utterly exhausted and was quickly taken down and from there submitted via arm-triangle choke.
No. 39: Sean Sherk
22 of 60Age: 39
Title(s): UFC Lightweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Lightweight
Height: 5’ 6”
Record: 36-4-1 (8 Wins via KO/TKO, 13 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Oct. 14, 2006 (UFC 64)
Date of Title Loss: Dec. 8, 2007
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0*
Total Title Defenses: 0*
This is a bit of a unique situation, given the circumstances surrounding the lone title defense of then-reigning champion Sean Sherk.
He gets credit for being the champion, he doesn’t get credit for the title defense (he tested positive for steroids and had the title stripped from him), but he still gets credit for defeating Hermes Franca since Sherk fought the fight. Given that he has never tested dirty since that time and that we are not 100 percent sure the results of said test weren’t due to a contaminated sample, he sits on this list lower than he could be and higher than some will think he deserves.
Sherk won the belt against Kenny Florian in a bloody and surprisingly exciting battle that was at times hard to watch given that it seemed they were swimming in scarlet.
In his next fight against Franca, Sherk dominated and showed shocking powers of recovery after he was rocked by brutal knees to the face.
Then, the results of the drug test came back and Sherk was put on suspension for one year, although that was reduced to six months after an appeal.
No. 38: Bas Rutten
23 of 60Age: 47
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: Dutch
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 28-4-1 (12 Wins via KO/TKO, 13 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): May 7, 1999 (UFC 20)
Date of Title Loss: June, 1999
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
Many may be wondering why “The Flying Dutchman,” Bas Rutten, sits above others on this list, and the main reason is that he overcame a great deal of adversity in his bout with Kevin Randleman, who threw a fairly nasty beating on Rutten, breaking his nose and bloodying him up.
Rutten never stopped fighting, especially from the bottom, and even though the decision that gave him the victory was disputed (and still is in many circles), it proved just how badly he wanted that title.
Although he soon gave up the title (he had plans on moving down to the next division, if only to allow training partner Pedro Rizzo a shot at the heavyweight belt), Rutten was perhaps one of the more well-rounded fighters to ever wear the belt.
No. 37: Renan Barao
24 of 60Age: 25
Title(s): Interim UFC Bantamweight Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Bantamweight
Height: 5’7”
Record: 29-1-1 (6 Wins via KO/TKO, 13 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): July 21, 2012
Date of Title Loss: Current Interim Champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
So, the obvious question: “Why is an interim champion ridding so high in the saddle?”
Because he is also the current reigning champion, and that means much for now, as it is hard to discount such a position just as it hard to give it too much acclaim, at least until he faces Dominick Cruz to determine who is undisputed.
He’s got an excellent record (including a 19-fight win streak), and he owns wins over Urijah Faber; Scott Jorgensen; Brad Pickett; and Rony Mariano Bezerra, who won The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil for the featherweight division.
As Cruz continues to sit on the sidelines, Barao will most likely defend his interim title against Michael McDonald in February.
No. 36: Forrest Griffin
25 of 60Age: 33
Title(s): UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’3”
Record: 19-7 (3 Wins via KO/TKO, 7 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): July 5, 2008 (UFC 86)
Date of Title Loss: Dec. 27, 2008 (UFC 92)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
As the first superstar ever produced by The Ultimate Fighter, Forrest Griffin has exceeded everyone’s expectations, including perhaps his own, as it seems he never expected much out of the fight game except to make a decent living and to make sure no one got a free lunch at his expense.
The tale of Griffin as champion is linked back to The Ultimate Fighter, where Griffin returned in the show's seventh season to coach opposite then-reigning champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Griffin outcoached Jackson all season long and then simply outfought him to claim the title and show the world that the men of TUF were more than just reality-television stars.
No. 35: Rashad Evans
26 of 60Age: 33
Title(s): UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Light Heavyweight
Height: 5’11”
Record: 17 - 2 - 1 (6 Wins via KO/TKO, 2 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Dec. 27, 2008 (UFC 92)
Date of Title Loss: May 23, 2009 (UFC 98)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
Perhaps the only reason of note as to why Rashad Evans ranks above Forrest Griffin is that he beat him in order to win the title, but up until Evans caught that kick, Griffin was winning the bout.
Evans, like Griffin, is a veteran of The Ultimate Fighter, winning the heavyweight division for the second season.
Also like Griffin, Evans was defeated before he could actually make a successful title defense, as he was blasted out of his shoes by Lyoto Machida.
As a fighter, he is far better than a list like this would lead one to believe. He still has all the tools to be a champion, but for now, he comes in at No. 35, which isn’t such a bad place to be.
No. 34: Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua
27 of 60Age: 31
Title(s): UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 21-7 (18 Wins via KO/TKO, 1 Win via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): May 8, 2010 (UFC 113)
Date of Title Loss: March 19, 2011(UFC 128)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
As I write this slide, I find myself shocked at just how quickly things can change in the sport of MMA.
Right now, Jon Jones is seen by nearly all as the wunderkind, but before Jones, the same could have been said of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who blazed his way through Pride and left countless great fighters broken in his wake.
When news spread that he had signed with the UFC, I didn’t think anyone would be able to stop him.
Then, “anyone” was proven to be a very special someone—Forrest Griffin—Shogun was defeated, and I thought that perhaps there was some unidentifiable turbulence that struck fighters transitioning from Japan to the UFC, something that took hold of them when they seemed great and left them looking lackluster at best.
But Shogun bounced back from all of this and eventually claimed the UFC light-heavyweight title, via knockout, over one of the most elusive and skilled fighters in the division, Lyoto Machida.
Sadly for Shogun, he never got to embark upon a title reign of his own: Jon Jones dismantled him so effectively that I honestly wonder if there is any point in those two men ever fighting again.
But even if he never wears the belt again, he will be remembered as one of the few fighters alive to hold championship belts in both Pride and the UFC.
No. 33: Demetrious Johnson
28 of 60Age: 26
Title(s): UFC Flyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Flyweight
Height: 5’3”
Record: 16-2-1 (3 Wins via KO/TKO, 6 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Sept. 22, 2012 (UFC 152)
Date of Title Loss: Current Reigning Champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
As the current reigning champion of the UFC flyweight division, Demetrious Johnson is newly placed upon the throne, and it is too soon to judge him as of yet.
But he did beat a very game fighter in Joseph Benavidez to earn the strap, and his first defense, against John Dodson, should tell us much more about how “Mighty Mouse” ranks as a UFC champion.
No. 32: Frank Mir
29 of 60Age: 33
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion, Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’3”
Record: 16-6 (3 Wins via KO/TKO, 9 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): June 19, 2004 (UFC 48); Dec. 27, 2008 (UFC 92)
Date of Title Loss: Aug. 12, 2005; March 27, 2010 (UFC 111)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
The story of Frank Mir as UFC heavyweight champion was short and unfortunate. He suffered a bad motorcycle accident that did significant damage to his leg before he ever got a chance to defend his title, and while he was out of the sport trying to recover, the interim title was created and won by Andrei Arlovski.
To make matters worse, Mir’s recovery took longer than most expected, Arlovski was promoted to the legitimate champion, and thus Mir lost the belt without ever having been defeated.
His first attempt at a comeback saw him falter, and many wondered if he would ever get back to form.
Eventually he did and became the heavyweight champion again, but in an interim capacity. He tried to become the undisputed champion at UFC 100 but was defeated by Brock Lesnar.
Had that motorcycle accident never occurred, he might have gone on to defend the belt many times, but in retrospect, no doubt the ability to walk and compete is a victory unto itself given how bad that wreck really was.
No. 31: Cain Velasquez
30 of 60Name: Cain Velasquez
Age: 30
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion (2-Time)
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’ 1”
Record: 11-1 (9 Wins via KO/TKO)
Date of Title Capture(s): Oct. 23, 2010; Dec. 29, 2012
Date of Title Loss: Nov. 12, 2011; Current Reigning Champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0, N/A
Total Title Defenses: 0
Most would expect Cain Velasquez to be enjoying a much higher position on this list, especially given the fashion in which he beat Junior dos Santos to claim the UFC heavyweight title for the second time.
Still, he has yet to defend the belt, and thus he comes in at No. 31.
But if his last performance is any indication of things to come, Velasquez is going to be climbing the rankings in lists like this very quickly.
No. 30: Dan Severn
31 of 60Name: Dan Severn
Age: 54
Title(s): UFC 5 Tournament Champion, UFC Ultimate Ultimate Champion, UFC Superfight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Open Weight
Height: 6’2”
Record: 101-19-7 (17 Wins via KO/TKO, 60 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): April 7, 1995 (UFC 5); Dec. 16, 1995 (UFC Ultimate Ultimate); May 17, 1996 (UFC 9)
Date of Title Loss: Feb. 7, 1997 (UFC 12)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
It is no shock that Dan Severn, a man who has won two UFC tournaments and a superfight, is on this list, although some may scoff at his position.
He’s a three-time UFC champion, and to be plain, the man has more than earned his stripes. Having just announced his retirement, Severn can look back on his career with no small amount of pride.
And as a UFC champion, he served the sport well, which will never be forgotten.
No. 29: Ken Shamrock
32 of 60Age: 48
Title(s): UFC Superfight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Open Weight
Height: 6’0"
Record: 28-15-2 (2 Wins via KO/TKO, 23 Wins via Decision)
Date of Title Capture(s): July 14, 1995 (UFC 6)
Date of Title Loss: May 17, 1996 (UFC 9)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 2
Total Title Defenses: 2
Back in the early days of the UFC, there were no decisions once the time limit had been reached. Were that not the case, Shamrock would be sitting higher in the rankings, as he probably would have defeated Royce Gracie via decision and been given the superfight title at UFC 5 and he probably also would have been granted a decision victory over Oleg Taktarov—and rightfully so.
But as that is not the case, Shamrock comes in at No. 27, ranking above Dan Severn due to the decisive manner in which he defeated “The Beast” at UFC 6.
Ironically, Shamrock lost the superfight belt back to Severn at UFC 9, a fight that has the dubious distinction of being perhaps one of the worst fights in UFC history; Shamrock took the center of the Octagon and Severn circled him, and circled him, and circled him, until late in the fight, when there was finally a bit of action that seemed equal on both sides.
But by UFC 9, decisions came into play, and Severn was awarded the victory, probably because he managed to cut Shamrock.
Still, Shamrock sits above him simply because he finished Severn in their first meeting.
No. 28: Murilo Bustamante
33 of 60Name: Murilo Bustamante
Age: 46
Title(s): UFC Middleweight Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Middleweight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 15-8-1 (6 Wins via KO/TKO, 5 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Jan. 11, 2002 (UFC 35)
Date of Title Loss: Oct. 5, 2002
Consecutive Title Defenses: 1
Total Title Defenses: 1
In a sport in which it’s hard enough to win a belt as significant as a UFC title, it becomes even harder to defend it, and you need look no further than the case of Murilo Bustamante, who in his fight with No. 1 contender Matt Lindland had to defeat the Team Quest fighter not once but twice in the same night.
Never mind that he won the title against a tough scrapper like Dave Menne, in order for Bustamante to get any rest, he would have to submit Lindland with an armbar first and then a guillotine choke second, all in the same fight.
When the champion is so far above the No. 1 contender that he can beat him twice in the same night, that’s what you call dominance.
Phil Baroni is lucky he never got his wish and ended up in the cage with such a fighter as Bustamante.
No. 27: Don Frye
34 of 60Age: 47
Title(s): UFC 8 Tournament Champion, UFC Ultimate Ultimate 96 Tournament Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Open Weight
Height: 6’ 1”
Record: 20-9-1-1 (7 Wins via KO/TKO, 11 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 16, 1996 (UFC 8); Dec. 7, 1996 (UFC Ultimate Ultimate 96)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
Don Frye is, and always will be, one of the true men of the sport, and to say he is to MMA what John Wayne was to acting and the cowboy genre is apropos.
Every contest Frye entered into, especially in the Octagon, you could take one look at him and tell the situation was of dire importance to him and perhaps just plain dire for his opponent.
He took a brutal, prolonged beating from Mark Coleman and kept on coming; he took on powerhouse Gary Goodridge (when the notion of doing so was terrifying) and simply outmanned him; and then he went toe to toe against one of the biggest punchers in the history of the sport, Tank Abbott, because that’s how you do it if you’re Don Frye.
And if none of that sinks in for you, then just take a look at that mustache, just one look, and tell me that doesn’t belong to a man who was born to wear a championship belt in one of the most unforgiving sports in the world.
I dare you.
No. 26: Kevin Randleman
35 of 60Age: 41
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 5’10”
Record: 17-16 (5 Wins via KO/TKO, 4 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Nov. 19, 1999 (UFC 23)
Date of Title Loss: Nov. 17, 2000 (UFC 28)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 1
Total Title Defenses: 1
While Kevin Randleman has spent most of his career among the light heavyweights, there was a period of time when he was one of the smallest heavyweights fighting in the division, and amid all of that, he was still good enough not only to win the UFC heavyweight title in a tough fight against Pete Williams, but also to defend the belt against Pedro Rizzo.
And that is no easy feat—just ask Randy Couture.
Ironically, Randleman would lose the belt to Couture at UFC 28, but no one can deny that, while Randleman may have been small for a heavyweight, he had the heart and desire equal to, if not greater than, any big man he fought.
Had his discipline and training philosophies been on the same level, he might have been the greatest heavyweight champion ever.
No. 25: Royce Gracie
36 of 60Name: Royce Gracie
Age: 46
Title(s): UFC 1 Tournament Champion, UFC 2 Tournament Champion, UFC 4 Tournament Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Open Weight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 14-2-3 (12 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Nov. 12, 1993 (UFC 1); March 11, 1994 (UFC 2); Dec. 16, 1994 (UFC 4)
Date of Title Loss: N/A
Consecutive Title Defenses: N/A
Total Title Defenses: N/A
This is a bit of a bitter pill to swallow, at least for me.
Don’t get me wrong: I have the utmost respect for Royce Gracie and the fire he started so long ago, because it still burns and keeps me and many other fans warm.
But as a champion, when the going got tough, Gracie hit the road. He left after he took a pretty good beating at UFC 5, only to finally be wooed back by Zuffa to fight at UFC 60, where he was quickly trounced by Matt Hughes.
Back at the time of his original departure, he suggested he was leaving because time limits and other modest rules (very modest) were not in keeping with his family's style of fighting and thus continuing to fight in the UFC was akin to muddying up the pure stream of Gracie jiu-jitsu.
But the simple fact is, as soon as the other fighters became savvy to the ground game, then, well, victory was no longer a thing assured, and he bailed.
Still, when he left, he took three tournament victories with him and an undefeated record that held such names as Ken Shamrock, Pat Smith, Kimo and Dan Severn—the big names of his time.
Not bad for a little guy of 178 pounds.
No. 24: Mark Coleman
37 of 60Age: 48
Title(s): UFC 10 Tournament Champion, UFC 11 Tournament Champion, UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Open Weight, Heavyweight
Height: 6’ 1”
Record: 16-10 (4 Wins via KO/TKO, 8 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): July 12, 1996 (UFC 10); Sept. 20, 1996 (UFC 11); Feb. 7, 1997 (UFC 12)
Date of Title Loss: July 27, 1997 (UFC 14)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 0
Total Title Defenses: 0
Although he never managed to defend the heavyweight title, Mark Coleman is still a three-time UFC champion (and the recognized godfather of ground-and-pound), and those titles count for a great deal.
Coleman was a monster on the ground, running over just about any opposition the UFC could throw at him, until he met one cool, well-trained customer in Maurice Smith, who pulled off the upset and snatched the heavyweight belt from around Coleman’s waist before he could ever defend it.
Overall, Coleman’s resume is still pretty impressive for one of the old-guard greats.
No. 23: Maurice Smith
38 of 60Age: 51
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’2”
Record: 13-13 (7 Wins via KO/TKO, 3 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): July 27, 1997 (UFC 14)
Date of Title Loss: Dec. 21, 1997 (UFC Japan)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 1
Total Title Defenses: 1
Standing alongside men such as Kevin Randleman and other fighters who managed to defend belts at least once, Maurice Smith will probably always be remembered by the fight in which he won said belt and the monster he had to beat to get it.
When Smith climbed into the Octagon against reigning champion Mark Coleman at UFC 14, to say he was an underdog is putting it mildly. Conventional wisdom had it that Coleman would take him down and then pound him through the canvas, and from there they could recover the body.
Well, it didn’t go the way any of us expected, as Smith survived every Coleman onslaught and then attacked the exhausted champion when they were on there feet, beating on him long enough so that it was the lasting impression of the judges.
And suddenly the UFC had a new heavyweight champion. Smith defended the title a single time, against David “Tank” Abbott.
No. 22: Lyoto Machida
39 of 60Age: 34
Title(s): UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 18-3 (7 Wins via KO/TKO, 2 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): May 23, 2009
Date of Title Loss: May 8, 2010
Consecutive Title Defenses: 1
Total Title Defenses: 1
When Lyoto Machida defeated Rashad Evans by knockout, I was firmly on board the bandwagon.
He was undefeated, he possessed a very elusive counterstriking style that looked nearly impossible to deal with, and he was humble—it didn’t look like he was reading his own press clippings.
I thought: “This is going to be the guy to get six or seven title defenses before someone figures him out.”
One title defense later, and we got a new champion, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who figured out the riddle of Machida far sooner than I had expected, and now, while he is firmly in the top 10, it doesn’t look like Machida will be wearing the belt anytime soon.
Still, as a champion, he was a good one. He took the belt by storm, and he defended it the best he could.
As you have seen, many others great fighters can’t say the same thing.
No. 21: Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson
40 of 60Age: 34
Title(s): UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 32-10 (14 Wins via KO/TKO, 7 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): May 26, 2007 (UFC 71)
Date of Title Loss: July 5, 2008 (UFC 86)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 1
Total Title Defenses: 1
Much could be said about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, but in truth, as a champion, he fought hard but prepared little, and if he would have taken the sport as seriously as his peers, he could have been one of those men with a title reign five defenses long, or longer.
But after defending his title a single time—in a tough battle against Dan Henderson—Jackson seemed to get soft, assuming victory would come instead of working hard to find it in the gym, and he was quickly dethroned by Forrest Griffin.
Now, Jackson seems to be de-evolving—eliminating nearly every offensive weapon from his arsenal save his boxing—and when that happens, there is no shame in finding greener fields.
No. 20: Junior dos Santos
41 of 60Age: 28
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’4”
Record: 15-2 (11 Wins via KO/TKO, 2 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Nov. 12, 2011 (UFC on Fox 1)
Date of Title Loss: Dec. 29, 2012 (UFC 155)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 1
Total Title Defenses: 1
After Junior dos Santos defeated Cain Velasquez and claimed the UFC heavyweight title, many a fan and critic predicted that he would become the greatest champion of the division that the company had ever known.
After his first successful title defense, against Frank Mir, that talk escalated, and then, low and behold, the curse of the UFC title seemed to strike again, as he was beaten pillar-to-post by the man he had so quickly vanquished in order to claim the title in the first place.
Now, dos Santos stands among other great champions, and with youth on his side, he will be looking to climb the ladder again to get another shot at the title.
Until he wins the belt back, and defends it in a second title reign, he stands among other champions, deserving recognition and respect, but not the title of greatest heavyweight champion in UFC history.
Still, he does have time and ability on his side. Thus, recapturing the title is hardly a daydream.
If he succeeds in this, he could have another chance at writing his name into the championship ledger, at a much higher position.
No. 19: Andrei Arlovski
42 of 60Age: 33
Title(s): Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion, UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: Belarusian
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’4”
Record: 19-9-1 (14 Wins via KO/TKO, 3 Wins via Submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 5, 2005 (UFC 51)
Date of Title Loss: April 15, 2006 (UFC 59)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 2
Total Title Defenses: 2
Say what you will about Andrei Arlovski and his lettuce chin, but he defended the title of UFC interim heavyweight champion successfully and then did so as the legitimate champion, which is something few other title holders of the division have been able to do.
Granted, his opposition wasn’t as stiff as others have had to contend with, but the results are the results, and Arlovski was the top dog among the heavyweights for the UFC for over a year.
And that pulls him in out of the cold at No. 19.
No. 18: Rich Franklin
43 of 60Name: Rich Franklin
Age: 38
Title(s): UFC Middleweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Middleweight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 29-7-1 (15 wins via KO/TKO, 10 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): June 4, 2005 (UFC 53)
Date of Title Loss: Oct. 14, 2006 (UFC 64)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 2
Total Title Defenses: 2
With all the attention given Anderson Silva, it’s hard to believe that at one time in the not-too-distant past, Rich Franklin was not only the two-time defending UFC middleweight champion, but he was considered by many as the man to hold the belt for a very long time.
Franklin is a well-rounded fighter who is savvy, wise, tough as they come and he fights with passion—even if he comes across rather subdued and humorous.
Were it not for Anderson Silva, Franklin might be sitting in a much higher spot on this list thanks to many title defenses, but this is not a hypothetical, and two title defenses are good enough to place him in at No. 18.
No. 17: Dominick Cruz
44 of 60Name: Dominick Cruz
Age: 27
Title(s): UFC Bantamweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Bantamweight
Height: 5’8”
Record: 19-1 (6 wins via KO/TKO, 1 win via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Dec. 16, 2010 (WEC 53)
Date of Title Loss: Current reigning champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: 2
Total Title Defenses: 2
While stuck on the sidelines during the prime of his career, Dominick Cruz is still, for now, recognized as the legitimate UFC champion of the bantamweight division. With two successful title defenses under his belt, against good competition, he’s firmly placed at No. 17.
If he can bounce back from his injuries and defeat interim champion Renan Barao, he will be back in the game and moving up the ranks.
Possessing a defense-first style that utilizes footwork and angles, Cruz is a hard man to deal with in the cage, and if he can return to the same form as before, he could indeed be the next champion to post four or more title defenses onto his record.
No. 16: Tim Sylvia
45 of 60Name: Tim Sylvia
Age: 36
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion (X 2)
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’8”
Record: 31-8-1 (20 wins via KO/TKO, 4 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 28, 2003 (UFC 41)/April 15, 2006 (UFC 59)
Date of Title Loss: Oct. 15, 2003/March 3, 2007 (UFC 68)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 2
Total Title Defenses: 2
Tim Sylvia gets a lot of flack, and at this time in his career, it doesn’t look like that is going to change anytime soon.
Be it his weight problems or his fluctuating level of performance against subpar competition, Sylvia cannot seem to catch a break, and still he sits at No. 16 on this list based on his performances.
He’s a two-time UFC heavyweight champion, and during his second run, he defended the title twice—alongside such men as Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar, and ahead of such men as Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
No matter what people may think of him, he fought anyone the UFC threw at him and he loved being champion.
No. 15: Jens Pulver
46 of 60Name: Jens Pulver
Age: 38
Title(s): UFC Lightweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Lightweight
Height: 5’7”
Record: 27-17-1 (14 wins via KO/TKO, 4 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 23, 2001 (UFC 30)
Date of Title Loss: March 23, 2002
Consecutive Title Defenses: 2
Total Title Defenses: 2
Although it was called the Bantamweight title for a short period of time, Jens Pulver was the first ever UFC lightweight champion and he never lost the belt in defeat; when you consider that he defended the strap against B.J. Penn when the latter was to that time period what Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey are for today, that means a great deal.
Pulver was one of those champions who seemed to go through an entire life’s worth of grief in preparation for every fight, and after the bout was over, you could see how much it meant to him.
Had he not left the UFC (on March 23, 2002) over failed contract negotiations, who knows just how far Pulver would have gone as champion?
No. 14: Brock Lesnar
47 of 60Name: Brock Lesnar
Age: 35
Title(s): UFC Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight
Height: 6’3”
Record: 5-3 (2 wins via KO/TKO, 2 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Nov. 15, 2008 (UFC 91)
Date of Title Loss: Oct. 23, 2010 (UFC 121)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 2
Total Title Defenses: 2
Brock Lesnar weighs in on this list heavy, just like he did for his fights, and there are some obvious reasons why.
Lesnar defeated the legendary Randy Couture to capture the belt; avenged a loss to Frank Mir by pummeling him bloody and senseless at UFC 100; and then managed to haul himself to his feet after suffering a one-round beating at the business end of Shane Carwin’s nuclear fists and came out in the second frame to score title defense No. 2, via submission.
Yes, his record is far from great, but he was fighting some great competition, and he surpassed all expectations with passion and violence—which is really something else when you consider that he was also trying to bounce back from a career-threatening illness most of his title reign.
He won the belt via stoppage and all of his title defenses ended the same way. That is living the motto: “Go big or go home,” which was perfect for the division.
In fact, some could argue that he’s been just about the best heavyweight champion the UFC has seen to date, and they just might be right.
No. 13: Frankie Edgar
48 of 60Name: Frankie Edgar
Age: 31
Title(s): UFC Lightweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Lightweight
Height: 5’6”
Record: 14-3-1 (3 wins via KO/TKO, 3 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): April 10, 2010 (UFC 112)
Date of Title Loss: Feb. 26, 2012 (UFC 144)
Consecutive Title Defenses: *2
Total Title Defenses: *2
One might argue that if you consider a champion retaining his belt in a bout considered a draw an honest title defense, then Frankie Edgar should be a few pegs higher.
But for the sake of this list, Edgar is noted as having two title defenses; the draw with Gray Maynard not counted on his resume in that category, nor really held against him.
Edgar won the title by beating perhaps the best lightweight in the history of the UFC—B.J. Penn—and then he beat him again in his first title defense.
Then, he went toe-to-toe with Gray Maynard and showed the true definition of heart as he came back from being badly battered in the first round to pile up enough points to keep the belt around his waist as the result of a draw.
As Maynard was granted an immediate rematch, Edgar was battered badly in the first round yet again, but came back like before and in the fourth round he laid enough heavy leather on the chin of Maynard to win the bout via KO, gaining some sweet revenge on the side.
He lost the belt in his next bout with Benson Henderson, and while the results of his fights with Henderson are heavily debated, Edgar is still among the best champions to ever hold the belt at lightweight.
No. 12: Benson Henderson
49 of 60Name: Benson Henderson
Age: 29
Title(s): UFC Lightweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Lightweight
Height: 5’9”
Record: 18-2 (2 wins via KO/TKO, 8 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Feb. 26, 2012 (UFC 144)
Date of Title Loss: Current reigning champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: 2
Total Title Defenses: 2
To deal with the obvious first; Benson Henderson sits above Frankie Edgar because he is the reigning champion and because he defeated Edgar twice—no matter how you view those decision victories.
The system the sport uses employs judges, and when they render a decision, it counts—no matter if it is right (and hopefully it is) or wrong.
Henderson cemented his position as champion by laying a thorough and convincing beating on Nate Diaz that was far more one-sided that many thought possible, and it looks like he has no intentions of slowing down.
When you look at the man wearing the title, you hope that fighting at the championship level brings out the best in him and that is clearly the case with Benson Henderson.
No. 11: Jose Aldo
50 of 60Name: Jose Aldo
Age: 26
Title(s): UFC Featherweight Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Featherweight
Height: 5’7”
Record: 21-1 (13 wins via KO/TKO, 2 wins via submission)
Date of Title Loss: Current reigning champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: 3
Total Title Defenses: 3
With three title defenses and his reign of terror stretching into the foreseeable future, Jose Aldo is a champion on the rise.
When he is on point, he can end a fight almost anytime he wants, and the more MMA fans see, the more they want.
If Aldo does indeed move up, with his skills and youth, he could become a two- or three-division champion, and that would put him near the top of any list like this in the future.
Simply put: He could be as great as Anderson Silva, or greater.
No. 10: B.J. Penn
51 of 60Name: B.J. Penn
Age: 34
Title(s): UFC Welterweight Champion, UFC Lightweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Welterweight, Lightweight
Height: 5’9”
Record: 16-9-2 (7 wins via KO/TKO, 6 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Jan. 31, 2004 (UFC 46)/Jan. 19, 2008 (UFC 80)
Date of Title Loss: May 17, 2004/April 10, 2010 (UFC 112)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 3
Total Title Defenses: 3
As one of only two men in UFC history to become champion in two divisions, B.J. Penn has earned many accolades that make him deserving of a spot in the top 10, but one can only wonder just how much higher he would rank if he had really applied himself.
Still, in addition to becoming the UFC welterweight champion, he won the lightweight title and defended it three times, winning all by stoppage. When you consider just how rarely men like Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez have been stopped, you can see just how much of an animal he was.
Should Penn come to his senses and abandon his puzzling quest to make a name for himself at welterweight, he could return to lightweight and with the help of some new training partners and camps (Tri-Star, anyone?), he could make another run, but only as long as he is invested in serving something bigger than himself.
No. 9: Pat Miletich
52 of 60Name: Pat Miletich
Age: 46
Title(s): UFC 16 Lightweight Tournament Champion, UFC Welterweight Champion
Nationality: Croatian - American
Division(s): Lightweight, Welterweight
Height: 5’10”
Record: 29-7-2 (5 wins via KO/TKO, 18 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): March 13, 1998 (UFC 16)/Oct. 16, 1998 (UFC Brazil)
Date of Title Loss: May 4, 2001 (UFC 31)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 4
Total Title Defenses: 4
When looking at such fighters as Jens Pulver, Tim Sylvia and Matt Hughes, you would expect that their mentor and trainer would be a man who learned by doing and taught the same way, and such is the case with Pat Miletich.
Miletich owns four title defenses, and he was an excellent champion simply because he took it so seriously and always came ready to fight, for the duration, no matter what.
Consistency is a hard thing for fighters to achieve, especially in a sport that is constantly changing and evolving, but Miletich juggled the roles of coach and lightweight champion perfectly, and that is why he sits at No. 9.
No. 8: Frank Shamrock
53 of 60Name: Frank Shamrock
Age: 40
Title(s): UFC Middleweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Middleweight
Height: 5’10”
Record: 23-10-2 (6 wins via KO/TKO, 10 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Dec. 21, 1997 (UFC Japan)
Date of Title Loss: Nov. 24, 1999
Consecutive Title Defenses: 4
Total Title Defenses: 4
As the first middleweight champion the UFC ever had, Frank Shamrock was so far above the competition that he captured the title and defended for the first time in less than a single minute, combined.
He never let a fight go to the judges, and the last fight of his UFC career—against the much larger Tito Ortiz—was one of the greatest title fights the division had ever seen.
Every time Shamrock stepped into the Octagon, he wasn’t going out to just win the fight or defend his title; he was going out there to prove he was the best in the world.
And during his reign, he was.
No. 7: Chuck Liddell
54 of 60Name: Chuck Liddell
Age: 43
Title(s): UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’2”
Record: 21-8 (13 wins via KO/TKO, 1 win via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): April 16, 2005 (UFC 52)
Date of Title Loss: May 26, 2007 (UFC 71)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 4
Total Title Defenses: 4
There is not a lot that needs to be said about Chuck Liddell; he’s so well known and respected that his career is a body of work that speaks for itself, and that is especially true when considering his reign as UFC light heavyweight champion.
When Liddell got the belt he took it by storm; and he didn’t just defend his title—he annihilated anyone who tried to take it from him, until Quinton “Rampage” Jackson proved he had a style that was just too much for “The Ice Man.”
When you take the fact that he defended the title four times, and all of his defenses were finishes, it becomes very clear why Liddell ranks so high on this list.
No. 6: Jon Jones
55 of 60Name: Jon Jones
Age: 25
Title(s): UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’4”
Record: 17-1 (8 wins via KO/TKO, 6 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): March 19, 2011 (UFC 128)
Date of Title Loss: Current reigning champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: 4
Total Title Defenses: 4
As the current reigning light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones is among the top four pound-for-pound fighters in the world and has four title defenses under his belt.
Soon, the world will get to see a new side of Jones as he coaches on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite middleweight refuge Chael Sonnen. Then, the two are scheduled to fight for the title, although it is hard to imagine Sonnen succeeding in anything other than collecting a paycheck after getting tossed around like a ragdoll.
Should the probable pass into history, Jones will have tied the record for the division, set by Tito Ortiz, and from there will either continue to knock over light heavyweights or move up to the heavyweight division and attempt to prove that his greatness is based on more than his uncommon wingspan.
Either way, when next this list is revisited, he will probably be much higher in the standings, especially given that what Anderson Silva is to MMA striking, Jones is to MMA grappling.
The next year should be very exciting for Jon Jones.
No. 5: Tito Ortiz
56 of 60Name: Tito Ortiz
Age: 37
Title(s): UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Nationality: American
Division(s): Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’2”
Record: 16-11-1 (9 wins via KO/TKO, 2 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): April 14, 2000 (UFC 25)
Date of Title Loss: Sept. 26, 2003 (UFC 44)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 5
Total Title Defenses: 5
When he was the champion, he was on top of the world, and everyone was screaming his name and calling him unbeatable.
Then came Randy Couture, and suddenly Tito Ortiz wasn’t the champion anymore, and never would be again.
While many mock him now, the simple fact is, during his time he was one of the most dominant champions the sport had ever seen.
He had great takedowns, brutal ground-and-pound, he was well conditioned and a very big man for the division. With that size advantage came a strength advantage as well, and Ortiz used it like a hammer.
Eventually, everyone who spends time as the hammer ends up doing time as the nail, but during his reign, Ortiz was the man making the coffins.
No. 4: Randy Couture
57 of 60Name: Randy Couture
Age: 49
Title(s): UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, UFC Heavyweight Champion (X 3), Interim UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion (X 2)
Nationality: American
Division(s): Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’1”
Record: 19-11 (7 wins via KO/TKO, 4 wins via submission)
Date of Title Captures: May 30, 1997 (UFC 13)/Dec. 21, 1997 (UFC Japan)/Nov. 17, 2000 (UFC 28)/June 6, 2003 (UFC 43)/Sept. 26, 2003 (UFC 44)/Aug. 21, 2004 (UFC 49)/March 3, 2007 (UFC 68)
Date of Title Losses: Jan. 1998/March 22, 2002 (UFC 36)/Jan. 31, 2004 (UFC 46)/April 16, 2005 (UFC 52)/Nov. 15, 2008 (UFC 91)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 2
Total Title Defenses: 3
Even though he many not have an impressive string of title defenses to his credit, Randy Couture has stood on the championship dais so many times that he’s forgotten more about title fights than most are likely to learn, and that is because he never stopped learning himself.
A dedicated student of the game, Couture proved a harsh tutor to many up-and-coming fighters who thought they could take out the old man, and there have been none that performed in their later years as “The Natural,” especially during his mid-to-late 40s.
Easily the greatest Methuselah the sport has ever known, Couture continually defied the odds, and that is something we are never likely to forget.
Fans and pundits of the sport are going to be talking about Randy Couture for a very long time.
No. 3: Matt Hughes
58 of 60Name: Matt Hughes
Age: 39
Title(s): UFC Welterweight Champion (2x)
Nationality: American
Division(s): Welterweight
Height: 5’9”
Record: 45-9 (17 wins via KO/TKO, 18 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Nov. 2, 2001 (UFC 34)/Oct. 22, 2004 (UFC 50)
Date of Title Loss: Jan. 31, 2004 (UFC 46)/Nov. 18, 2006 (UFC 65)
Consecutive Title Defenses: 5
Total Title Defenses: 7
While Georges St. Pierre may be the current face of the UFC welterweight division, for a very long time it was Matt Hughes, who was widely acknowledged as the greatest welterweight champion the sport had ever seen and certainly he was the best the UFC had ever known.
Hughes had two title reigns, defending the belt the first time a record five times, then two more times during his second stint as champion; it would have been three times had Joe Riggs made weight, and four times had Royce Gracie been interested in anything other than a glorified superfight.
Hughes was an incredibly dominant fighter; so much so that when Sean Sherk, who was undefeated when he challenged Hughes, made it to the judges' decision, it was deemed a serious accomplishment.
Had B.J. Penn not dethroned Hughes at UFC 46, he could be retiring with seven or more consecutive title defenses, rivaling Anderson Silva as the greatest UFC champion ever.
But as it stands now, he comes in at No. 3, and given the company, that is a very good place to be.
No. 2: Georges St-Pierre
59 of 60Name: Georges St-Pierre
Age: 31
Title(s): UFC Welterweight Champion (2x), Interim UFC Welterweight Champion
Nationality: Canadian
Division(s): Welterweight
Height: 5’11”
Record: 23-2 (8 wins via KO/TKO, 5 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Nov. 18, 2006 (UFC 65)/Dec. 29, 2007 (UFC 79)/April 19, 2008 (UFC 83)
Date of Title Loss: April 7, 2007/current reigning champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: 7
Total Title Defenses: 7
When Georges St-Pierre won the title for the first time, nearly everyone thought he would embark on the kind of title reign he enjoys now, but in his first attempt to defend his title, he was blown out of the water by Matt Serra in one of the biggest upsets in MMA history.
After, talk began about how the man known as GSP would bounce back, or if he could at all. Questions about his mental fortitude and desire quickly came to light, and suddenly St. Pierre was an unknown commodity.
He gave everyone the answers they were looking for when he trounced Serra in their rematch, claimed the title once again and then embarked on a reign that has seen him defend the belt seven times against good competition, hardly losing a round in the process.
While many criticize what seems to be a diminished desire to finish outmatched opponents (myself included), St-Pierre has redefined the word “dominant,” given that many of his challengers have had nearly a full 25 minutes to stop him and nearly all of them left the cage looking like they really never had a chance to begin with.
When a fighter can so utterly shut down the games of men like Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Josh Koscheck, Jake Shields and Carlos Condit, he is a serious force to be reckoned with.
If he manages to defeat Nick Diaz in his next fight, he will be, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the greatest welterweight in UFC history—an accomplishment that seemed beyond him as Serra paraded around the ring in victory at UFC 69.
He answered all of his critics then, and has in turn had the answer to how to defeat any challenger the UFC has placed in front of him. That is why he comes in so strong at No. 2.
No. 1: Anderson Silva
60 of 60Name: Anderson Silva
Age: 37
Title(s): UFC Middleweight Champion
Nationality: Brazilian
Division(s): Middleweight
Height: 6’2”
Record: 33-4 (20 wins via KO/TKO, 6 wins via submission)
Date of Title Capture(s): Oct. 14, 2006 (UFC 64)
Date of Title Loss: Reigning champion
Consecutive Title Defenses: 10
Total Title Defenses: 10
What more needs to be said about perhaps the greatest champion in UFC history?
His record of title defenses and his brilliance in said defenses speaks volumes for Anderson Silva, the man known as the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the sport today.
Granted, when the mood takes him, he’s been known to play with his food instead of killing it outright, but when the time comes and he is possessed of the need to perform, none do it quite as well as “The Spider.”
While fighters like Jon Jones and other are looking to tie records based on five title defenses, Silva has already doubled that, and in doing so has made a deep division look terribly shallow.
As the public grows anxious for superfights between Silva and Jon Jones or GSP—bouts that could see him seriously tested and even defeated—if he were to lose his next 10 fights, he is still apt to be known as the greatest champion in the company's history; as it stands now, he is still the greatest champion to ever wear UFC gold.
