List of All UFC Light Heavyweight Champions & Title History

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship is the title for the UFC men’s division which ranges from 185 pounds to 205 pounds or from 83.9 kgs to 93 kgs. We will cover the complete list of UFC Light Heavyweight Champions, current Light Heavyweight Champion, and title history in this article.

Title History

A 205 lbs title was introduced as the Middleweight title in UFC at the UFC Japan event on December 21, 1997. Frank Shamrock defeated Kevin Jackson via armbar submission in 22 seconds to become the inaugural champion. After four successful defenses, Shamrock vacated the title citing a lack of competition. Tito Ortiz defeated Wanderlei Silva at UFC 25 on April 14, 2000, via unanimous decision.

The title was renamed to Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 31 on May 4, 2001. Ortiz was on a layoff for a year after defeating Ken Shamrock at UFC 40. Randy Couture defeated Chuck Liddle for an interim title at UFC 43 in 2003. Couture defeated Ortiz to unify the title at UFC 44 later that year. Vitor Belfort defeated Couture in his first defense at UFC 46. Couture won the title back after beating Belfort in their rematch at UFC 49.

Chuck Liddell defeated Couture in a rematch at UFC 52 to win the Lightweight title. Liddell defeated Couture in their trilogy bout in his second title defense. Liddell also defeated Tito Ortiz in his fourth title defense in December 2006. Quinton Jackson dethroned Liddell at UFC 71. The title then moved from Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida and Maurício Rua between 2007 to 2011.

Jon Jones defeated Maurício Rua at UFC 128 to start his title reign on March 19, 2011. He defeated former champions Quinton Jackson, Rashad Evans, and Vitor Belfort in his 1,501 days long first title reign, which is the longest reign for the light heavyweight title. He was stripped of the title on April 28, 2015, due to his involvement and arrest in a felony hit-and-run.

Daniel Cormier won the vacant title by defeating Anthony Johnson at UFC 187. Cormier was supposed to defend the title against Jones at UFC 197. But Cormier pulled out due to a foot injury. Jones defeated Ovince Saint Preux to become the interim champion. A title unification bout was scheduled for UFC 200, but UFC pulled out Jones due to a failed drug test and stripped him off the interim title.

Jones defeated Cormier at UFC 214 via knockout. However, Jones was tested positive for steroid Oral Turinabol. UFC once again stripped of the title and Cormier was reinstated as the champion. After another successful defense against Volkan Oezdemir, Cormier vacated the title on December 28, 2018, after winning UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Jon Jones defeated Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 to win the title for the second time. He defended it successfully three times before vacating on August 17, 2020, as he looked to jump up to the heavyweight division. Jan Blachowicz defeated Dominik Reyes to win the vacant title at UFC 253. Blachowicz defeated reigning UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya in his first defense at UFC 259. Glover Teixeira defeated Blachowicz at UFC 267 to become the oldest Light Heavyweight Champion. Jiří Procházka dethroned Teixeira in his first defense at UFC 275.

Procházka injured his shoulder before a rematch against Teixeira at UFC 282. UFC then booked a fight between Jan Blachowizc and Magomed Ankalaev for the vacant title at UFC 282 which ended in a split draw at 47-48, 48-47 and 47-47. UFC then announced that new fight between Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill at UFC 283 for the title. Hill defeated Teixeira at UFC 283 via a unanimous decision.

Current Champion

Alex Pereira defeated Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 to win the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Jamahal Hill relinquished it on July 13, 2023, due to an injury.

List of All Champions