The Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC is a veritable system of the most talented martial art fighters. Since its forming year in 1993 most of the UFC champions have secured their belts by dominating their given weight categories. At the dawn of the UFC there were no weight classes, however in late 1997, weight based championships were established starting with UFC 12.
By UFC 31, the UFC featured five divisions: Feather, Welter, Middle, Light, and Heavy divisions. Weight Classes & Women’s additionIn 2010, the UFC absorbed World Extreme Cagefighting and started the Featherweight and Bantamweight divisions. It took two years, but the promotion that dismantled Strikeforce brought the first female fighters to the UFC in its history.
Current UFC Champions Heavyweight Division
Jon Jones: Surgically knocked out Ciryl Gane to become the new heavyweight champion in the ultimate fighting championship- UFC 285. However, after an injury in 2024, Jon withdrew from title defense held against with Stipe Miocic.
Tom Aspinall: He got the interim heavyweight title after victory at UFC 295 and then successful defended it in UFC 304 with first round Ko against Curtis Blaydes.
Middleweight Division
Dricus du Plessis Debuted for the middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 297 and defended against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.
Lightweight Division
Islam Makhachev Defeated Charles Oliveira in UFC 280 to take the lightweight title. The current rankings also present Makhachev as the No 1 men’s pound-for-pound fighter after winning 14 bouts on the streak.
Featherweight Division
Ilia Topuria dethroned Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 and successfully defended his crowns against Max Holloway, setting the record of KOing the latter.
Light Heavyweight Division
Alex Pereira: Undefeated Kamaru Usman’s record, won lightweight title by defeating Charles Oliveira, And saw Gabriel Benitez Fabricio Garica claimed the light heavyweight belt by defeating Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295. Pereira has successfully defended the title three times including his fight against Khalil Rountree Jr at UFC 307.
Bantamweight Division
Merab Dvalishvili came into this fight with a title that was earned by a victory over Sean O’Malley by unanimous decision. His first title defense may be against Umar Nurmagomedov.
Flyweight Division
Alexandre Pantoja won the belt by striking down Brandon Moreno in the fight of UFC 290. He defended it successfully at the UFC 296.
Women’s Divisions
Women’s Bantamweight
Julianna Peña won the title from, Raquel Pennington during the UFC 307 event.
Women’s Flyweight
Valentina Shevchenko regained her title belt after dispatching of Alexa Grasso at UFC 306.
Women’s Strawweight
Since UFC 281, Zhang Weili is the reigning champion. She reclaimed it twice, and the last time was at UFC 300.
BMF Title
Max Holloway won the BMF title and stunned the world by the way he knocked Justin Gaethje out at UFC 300.The UFC Legacy with the elastic ideas of divisions and outstanding contenders the UFC remains delivering people the best of the best. These champions are the sheer skill, perseverance, and true spirit of the Modern Mixed Martial Arts fighting around the world.
