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: PFL, One Championship, 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)
Carlos Ulberg
• Won title: April 11, 2026
• Outcome: KO1 over Jiřà Procházka (UFC 327)
• Defenses: 0
Middleweight (185)
Sean Strickland
• Won title: May 9, 2026
• Outcome: SD over Khamzat Chimaev (UFC 328)
• Defenses: 0
Welterweight (170)
Islam Makhachev
• Won title: Nov. 15, 2025
• Outcome: UD over Jack Della Maddalena (UFC 322)
• 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: 1
Men's bantamweight (135)
Petr Yan
• Won title: Dec. 6, 2025
• Outcome: UD over Merab Dvalishvili (UFC 323)
• Defenses: 0
Men's flyweight (125)
Joshua Van
• Won title: Dec. 6, 2025
• Outcome: TKO1 over Alexandre Pantoja (UFC 323)
• Defenses: 0
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: 2
Strawweight (115)
Mackenzie Dern
• Won title: Oct. 25, 2025
• Outcome: UD over Virna Jandiroba (UFC 321)
• Defenses: 0
