List of UFC Bantamweight Champions & Title History

UFC-Bantamweight-champions-list

UFC Bantamweight Championship is the title for the Flyweight division which ranges from 125 to 135 lbs or 56.7 to 61.2 kgs.

Title History

The Bantamweight title was introduced in UFC after its merger with World Extreme Cagefighting. Dominic Cruz, the reigning WEC Bantamweight Champion, was crowned the first UFC Bantamweight Champion as he retained the title against Scott Jorgensen at WEC 53 on 16 December 2010.

After two title defenses, Cruz got sidelined after suffering a torn ACL injury. UFC announced a bout between Renan Barão and Urijah Faber for the interim Bantamweight title. Renan Barão became the interim champion at UFC 149. He defended twice while Cruz continued to suffer from multiple injuries. Cruz finally vacated the title on 6 January 2014, and Barão was promoted as the undisputed champion. Barão later retained the title in his rematch with Faber.

TJ Dillashaw won the title from Barao at UFC 173. Cruz was supposed to challenge Dillashaw for the title in 2014 but he tore ACL in the other knee. Cruz got his title shot against Dillashaw in the fight night event on 17 January 2016 and won that bout to become the Bantamweight title for the second time.

Later that year, Cody Garbrandt defeated Cruz to become 5th UFC Bantamweight Champion. Cody was supposed to defend the title against Dillashaw on 23 May 2017, but that match was postponed after Cody suffered a back injury. Dillashaw defeated Cody at UFC 217 to become the second fighter to hold the Bantamweight title twice. Dillashaw also retained the title in their second bout at UFC 227.

Dillashaw relinquished the title after an “adverse finding” came out of a test taken ahead of his fight against UFC Flyweight Champion Henry Cejudo. Dillashaw was banned for one year and was also fined $10000. Henry Cejudo became the next Bantamweight Champion by defeating Marlon Moraes at UFC 238. Cejudo became just the fourth fighter to hold two different UFC titles at the same time as he was also the Flyweight Champion at the time. Cejudo successfully defended the title against Cruz at UFC 249 on 9 May 2020. After this bout, Cejudo announced his retirement from MMA and relinquished the title.

Petr Yan defeated Jose Aldo at UFC 251 to become the new champion. Yan lost the title in his first defense to Aljamain Sterling after an illegal knee strike in the fourth round. With this win, Sterling became the first UFC fighter to win a championship by disqualification. Petr Yan became the interim champion at UFC 267 by beating Cory Sandhagen. Sterling unified the title at UFC 273 by beating Yan. Sean O’Malley defeated Sterling in his fourth title defense at UFC 292.

Current Champion

sean o'malley ufc

Sean O’Malley is the current UFC Bantamweight Champion. He won the title from Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 on August 19, 2023.

Title Reigns

Sean O'Malley Champions

10. Sean O’Malley

  • Date Won: August 19, 2023
  • Event: UFC 292
  • Defenses: 0
  • Reign Days: 220+
  • Notes: ended Aljamain Sterling’s record-breaking reign
Petr Yan UFC Champions

Interim – Petr Yan

  • Title Won Date: October 30, 2021
  • Defenses: 0
  • Reigns Day: – days
  • Event: UFC 267
  • Notes: Petr Yan won the interim title in the fight against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267. He lost to Sterling in a title unification bout at UFC 273.

9. Aljamain Sterling

  • Title Won Date: Mar 6, 2021
  • Defenses: 3
  • Reigns Day: 896 days
  • Event: UFC 259
  • Notes: Sterling won the title fight against Petr Yan via disqualification after Yan him with an illegal knee strike.

8. Petr Yan

  • Title Won Date: Jul 12, 2020
  • Defenses: 0
  • Reigns Day: 237 days
  • Event: UFC 251
  • Notes: Yan defeated Jose Aldo to win the title.

7. Henry Cejudo

  • Title Won Date: Jun 8, 2019
  • Defenses: 1
  • Reigns Day: 352 days
  • Event: UFC 238
  • Notes: Cejudo defeated Marlon Moraes to win the vacant Bantamweight title. He relinquished the title on 9 May 2020 after announcing his retirement.

6. T.J. Dillashaw

  • Title Won Date: Nov 4, 2017
  • Defenses: 1
  • Reigns Day: 501 days
  • Event: UFC 217
  • Notes: Dillashaw won the title for the second time by defeating Cody Garbrandt. He vacated the title after failing a drug test.

5. Cody Garbrandt

  • Title Won Date: Dec 30, 2016
  • Defenses: 0
  • Reigns Day: 309 days
  • Event: UFC 207
  • Notes: Garbrandt defeated Dominick Cruz to win the title.

4. Dominick Cruz

  • Title Won Date: Jan 17, 2016
  • Defenses: 1
  • Reigns Day: 348 days
  • Event: UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz
  • Notes: Cruz won the Bantamweight title for the second time by defeating Dillashaw.

3. T.J. Dillashaw

  • Title Won Date: May 24, 2014
  • Defenses: 2
  • Reigns Day: 603 days
  • Event: UFC 173
  • Notes: Dillashaw unseated Barão to become the third Bantamweight titleholder in UFC.

2. Renan Barão

  • Title Won Date: Jan 6, 2014
  • Defenses: 1
  • Reigns Day: 138 days
  • Event:
  • Notes: Barão was promoted as the undisputed champion after Cruz vacated the title.

Interim – Renan Barão

  • Title Won Date: Jul 21, 2012
  • Defenses: 2
  • Reigns Day:
  • Event: UFC 149
  • Notes: Barão became the interim champion as Cruz became inactive due to multiple injuries.

1. Dominick Cruz

  • Title Won Date: Dec 16, 2010
  • Defenses: 2
  • Reigns Day: 1117 Days
  • Event: WEC 53
  • Notes: Cruz was crowned as the first UFC Bantamweight Champion after the merger of WEC with UFC. He vacated the title due to injuries.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *