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The UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship, as it is known today, actually originated as the Middleweight title way back in December of 1997 at the inaugural UFC Japan event.
The Championship was the second after the Heavyweight title to be added to UFC cards following outside political pressure on the organisation to add stricter rules and regulations to its events.
Weight classes were a small part of the revolution and the new title was contested for the first time between Frank Shamrock and Kevin Jackson as they vied to become the first ever Light-Heavyweight Champion in the history of UFC.
Shamrock was victorious that night and embarked on a long reign as Champion.
The title was renamed in May 2001 when it ceased to be the Middleweight Championship and became the Light-Heavyweight title. A brand new Middleweight title was added to UFC events the following September with a lighter weight limit. Dave Menne was the very first Middleweight Championship under the new lineage.
There have been 12 different Champions in the 21 year history of the Light-Heavyweight title with only one man, "The Natural" Randy Couture winning the belt more than once.
For a period in the mid 2000's the Light-Heavyweight Championship was actually a much bigger draw than the Heavyweight title, with battles between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, and Liddell and Jeremy Horn all drawing in excess of 100,000 buys on pay per view.
In 2018, the Light-Heavyweight Championship remains a hugely important title in UFC as it continues to main event pay per view events and draw well on pay per view.
The following slideshow sees SK revisit the five finest Light-Heavyweight Champions in UFC history.
#5 Daniel Cormier
One Reign
Three Defences
Current Light-Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Cormier began his long reign as Champion back in 2015 when he defeated Anthony Johnson in a match for the vacant title after Champion Jon Jones was stripped of the belt due to a hit and run controversy.
Cormier forced Johnson to submit to become the new Champion at UFC 187. The Champion has defended his title successfully on three different occasions since then, in a re-match with Johnson, and also versus top contenders Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir.
However, Cormier's reign hasn't all been plain sailing. He competed against former title holder, Jones at UFC 214 with the title on the line, and was knocked out decisively by a head kick and punches.
The decision was later overturned when the troublesome Jones failed a drug test and the result of the bout was made a No Contest and the title was returned to Cormier.
Despite his difficulty beating Jones and his not having found a way to overcome his great Light-Heavyweight rival in two separate fights, Cormier should still be regarded as one of the finest Champions in the history of the title
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#4 Frank Shamrock
One Reign
Four Defences
Frank Shamrock debuted in UFC on December 21, 1997 at UFC Japan and won the Middleweight Championship (which was later rechristened the Light-Heavyweight belt) in his very first UFC encounter.
Shamrock then went on to become the premier fighter in the company as he successfully defended the title four times in impressive defenses versus top contenders Jeremy Horn and future Light-Heavyweight legend, Tito Ortiz.
His bout with Ortiz at UFC 22 was the 1999 fight of the year, as the pair traded blows for four rounds before Shamrock finally earned a submission win after barraging his opponent with punches.
However, despite this fact, Shamrock felt that he did not have sufficient competition in UFC and chose to vacate the title rather than defend it again and left the company.
He retired a year later only to make unspectacular returns in smaller promotions in 2003 and 2006. He would never again return to UFC to reclaim the title he never lost.
Despite his relatively short run in UFC, Shamrock's title reign should be remembered as one of the greatest in the long history of the Championship.
#3 Tito Ortiz
One Reign
Five Defences
Tito Ortiz was the second man to hold the Light-Heavyweight Championship when he he defeated future legend Wanderlei Silva to win the strap that Frank Shamrock had vacated months earlier.
Ortiz contested one of his finest performances ever, winning a Unanimous Decision over the Brazilian. He subsequently embarked on one of the finest Championship reigns in UFC history.
The Champion was one of the first men to utilise take-down and ground and pound technique to such a devastating degree, and he successfully dispatched challenger after challenger with relative ease between April 2000 and June 2003.
His most famous victory came in the main event of UFC 40 opposite UFC original and MMA legend, Ken Shamrock.
Shamrock had mainstream fame from his run in WWE between 1997-1999 and a bout versus the outspoken Ortiz captured the attention of a wider audience as the company drew their largest buyrate in over five years.
Ortiz demonstrated why he was now the best UFC had to offer, dominating the veteran Shamrock for 15 minutes before the legend's corner threw in the towel.
However, Ortiz's joy at putting down a UFC pioneer was short-lived as he came up short in his next defence to another member of the UFC old guard, former Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture, who became the first man to win titles in different weight classes in UFC history.
Ortiz broke down in tears post-fight but rebounded after a subsequent loss to Chuck Liddell to win five consecutive fights and earn another title match versus Liddell at UFC 66.
However, Ortiz would be on the receiving end of a Knockout which began the slow decline of his UFC career.
However, for several years, "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" was the very best the division had to offer.
#2 Chuck Liddell
One Reign
Four Defences
Chuck Liddell had a very long journey to the Light-Heavyweight Championship, having first been named number one contender in 2002 but several factors meant he was never able to receive his shot until 2005, when he challenged Randy Couture at UFC 52.
The Liddell-Couture rematch was a box office sensation and saw Liddell finally claim the gold with a decisive Knockout win in just 126 seconds.
From there, Liddell embarked on a series of defences wherein he displayed his incredible punching power to devastating effect.
Liddell crushed Jeremy Horn, the man who had inflicted his first UFC defeat on him several years earlier, before defeating Couture in a rematch that lasted longer but ended in exactly the same fashion as the UFC 52 fight.
After dispatching of Renato Sobral, Liddell was pitted against friend turned rival, Tito Ortiz for the second time.
Ortiz was competitive but Liddell was by far the superior fighter and once more knocked out his cocky opponent.
Liddell's title defeat was supposed to be a redemption match for him. Liddell had defeated Horn, one of the few men to previously beat him, and UFC planned for him to beat Quinton Jackson too, who had defeated him under the Pride banner.
It wasn't to be as "Rampage" smashed through Liddell in under two minutes to become the new Champion.
Liddell would only win one more MMA fight through the remainder of his career and never returned to title contention.
#1 Jon Jones
One Reign
Eight Defences
One man clearly sits atop the Light-Heavyweight division as the very best fighter the UFC has ever produced at that weight class. However, Jon Jones is a man whose career will forever be shrouded in controversy.
Jones's journey with the Light-Heavyweight Championship began on March 29, 2011 at UFC 128 when he defeated Mauricio Rua to win the title. Stepping in as a replacement for Rashad Evans, who was due to get the shot, Jones took full advantage, winning the fight with brutal strikes.
Jones defended the title against a who's who of Light-Heavyweight legends, vanquishing Quinton Jackson, Lyota Machida, Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira and Daniel Cormier. That reign lasted a whopping 1501 days.
Jones like Frank Shamrock before him, never lost the title in the Octagon either. He was stripped of the belt for his involvement in a hit and run incident wherein he hit two other cars and left the scene, and was subsequently sentenced to 18 months of supervised probation.
Jones won a rematch with new Light-Heavyweight Champion, Cormier at UFC 214 to seemingly become the new Champion. However, failed drug tests caused the result to be overturned. The title win was cancelled and Jones was forced to return the belt to Cormier.
The controversial former Champion is scheduled to return from his drugs ban on December 29, 2018, in a match wherein the Light-Heavyweight Championship is expected to be at stake.
Perhaps Jones can add to his already considerable legacy with the Championship.
