Current UFC Champions

SI Staff | Sep 17, 2012

Current UFC Champions /

Current UFC Champions

Heavyweight: Junior dos Santos

Since its inception in 1993, the UFC has grown into the premier promotion for mixed martial arts. After starting off with just two weight classes in 2001, the UFC has seen exponential growth, leading to more fighters and more belts. In 2010, the federation added the featherweight and bantamweight divisions, bringing its total of championship belts to eight. Junior dos Santos is one of six Brazilians to currently hold a UFC title, winning the heavyweight belt with a stunning 64-second knockout of Cain Velasquez at UFC on Fox 1.

Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones

At 23, Jon Jones became the youngest UFC champion in history when he downed then-champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128. Since then, Jones (16-1) has successfully defended his belt against Lyoto Machida, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans and made a case to be considered MMA's pound-for-pound king.

Middleweight: Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva holds the record for the longest winning streak (15) and most title defenses (10) in UFC history. He won his middleweight belt with a TKO of Rich Franklin at UFC 64.

Welterweight: Georges St-Pierre

In the UFC's first event in his native Canada, Georges St-Pierre beat Matt Serra at UFC 83 to win the welterweight title. Since then, he's held on to a belt longer than anyone in the UFC outside of Anderson Silva.

Welterweight: Carlos Condit

With Georges St-Pierre sidelined by an ACL injury, Carlos Condit beat Nick Diaz for the interim welterweight title at UFC 143. Condit is scheduled to fight St-Pierre for the undisputed championship at UFC 154.

Lightweight: Benson Henderson

Benson Henderson outlasted Frankie Edgar at UFC 144 to win the lightweight title by unanimous decision. Less than seven months later, Henderson beat Edgar again (this time by split decision) to retain the belt and defend his title.

Featherweight: Jose Aldo

Jose Aldo became the UFC's inaugural featherweight champion when the promotion merged with World Extreme Cagefighting in 2010. He's successfully defended his title against Mark Hominick, Kenny Florian and Chad Mendes.

Bantamweight: Dominick Cruz

Dominick Cruz beat Scott Jorgenson at WEC 53 to win WEC bantamweight tile along with the inaugural UFC bantamweight belt. Seven months later, Cruz defended his title against Urijah Faber at UFC 132 and later beat Demetrious Johnson at UFC on Versus 6 in his second title defense.

Bantamweight: Renan Barao

With Dominick Cruz injured, Renan Barao took down Urijah Faber by unanimous decision at UFC 149 to win the UFC's interim bantamweight championship. Barao and Cruz are slated to fight for the undisputed bantamweight title, but no date has been determined.

Flyweight: TBD

Al Bello and Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

The UFC flyweight division was introduced in 2011, with a four-man tournament created to determine the inaugural champion. The final will pit Demetrious Johnson (left) against Joseph Benavidez in the co-main event of UFC 152 on Sept. 22.

Published Sep 17, 2012

SI STAFF