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Current and all-time UFC champions

Amanda Nunes owns two of the UFC's 12 championship belts. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

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 becomes 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 | Men's featherweight
Men's bantamweight | Men's flyweight
Women's featherweight
Women's bantamweight
Women's flyweight
Strawweight

Heavyweight (Up to 265 pounds)

Jon Jones
Won title: March 4, 2023
Outcome: Sub1 over Ciryl Gane (UFC 285)
Defenses: 0


Light heavyweight (205)

Jamahal Hill
Won title: Jan. 21, 2023
Outcome: UD over Glover Teixeira (UFC 283)
Defenses: 0


Middleweight (185)

Israel Adesanya
Won title: April 8, 2023
Outcome: TKO2 over Alex Pereira (UFC 287)
Defenses: 0


Welterweight (170)

Leon Edwards
Won title: Aug. 20, 2022
Outcome: KO5 over Kamaru Usman (UFC 278)
Defenses: 1


Lightweight (155)

Islam Makhachev
Won title: Oct. 22, 2022
Outcome: Sub2 over Charles Oliveira (UFC 280)
Defenses: 1


Men's featherweight (145)

Alexander Volkanovski
Won title: Dec. 14, 2019
Outcome: UD over Max Holloway (UFC 245)
Defenses: 3


Men's bantamweight (135)

Aljamain Sterling
Won title: March 6, 2021
Outcome: DQ4 over Petr Yan (UFC 259)
Defenses: 3


Men's flyweight (125)

Brandon Moreno
Won title: Jan. 21, 2023
Outcome: TKO3 over Deiveson Figueiredo (UFC 283)
Defenses: 0


Women's featherweight (145)

Amanda Nunes
Won title: Dec. 29, 2018
Outcome: TKO1 over Cris Cyborg (UFC 232)
Defenses: 2


Women's bantamweight (135)

Amanda Nunes
Won title: July 30, 2022
Outcome: UD over Julianna Peña (UFC 277)
Defenses: 0


Women's flyweight (125)

Alexa Grasso
Won title: March 4, 2023
Outcome: Sub4 over Valentina Shevchenko (UFC 285)
Defenses: 0


Strawweight (115)

Zhang Weili
Won title: Nov. 12, 2022
Outcome: Sub2 over Carla Esparza (UFC 281)
Defenses: 0