5 shortest championship reigns in UFC history

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An elite group of fighters have held UFC gold at one time or another

The one major difference between the UFC and the WWE is that the length of championship reigns tend to differentiate. For example, you'll never see a Money in the Bank cash-in after a UFC fight meaning that someone's time with the title only lasts a few minutes.

Then again now that we've thought it through, that would actually be pretty awesome.

Yet whilst we're much more accustomed to longer reigns in the mixed martial arts world, there have been a few occasions in which the champion has been forced to defend their title not long after winning it.

Some may retain due to the momentum they've carried over from their previous fight but more often than not we've seen UFC champions crumble under the pressure.

All of the entrants on this list should be proud of the fact that they were able to call themselves a champion, and nobody can take that away from them - but that doesn't change the fact that they're a part of an unfortunate piece of history. One thing is for sure, they won't be recommending this article to their loved ones.

With that being said, it's time to take a look at the five shortest championship reigns in UFC history.


#5 Evan Tanner - 119 days (Middleweight Champion)

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People need to remember Tanner’s legacy

Ah, the calm before the Anderson Silva storm.

Evan Tanner was a solid fighter back in the early days of the UFC and fully deserved his championship victory. It came at UFC 51 back in February 2005 against David Terrell, and it will forever be remembered as the greatest achievement of Tanner's professional career.

Unfortunately, the fairytale didn't last long as the unpredictable Rich Franklin was able to capture the belt not long after Tanner had claimed it.

Whilst the record books will have him down as a transitional champion, the road that led to the title for Tanner was a long and arduous one and more people within the world of mixed martial arts should hear about his story.

Onto a much more recent champion.

#4 Holly Holm - 111 days (Women's Bantamweight Champion)

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Nobody saw Holm’s win coming

On one fateful night back in November 2015, Holly Holm defeated Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 to become the Women's Bantamweight Champion.

To this day it is still one of the biggest shocks in the history of the sport, with Ronda being known as one of the most unstoppable fighters that the UFC had ever seen up until that point.

So essentially - it was a big deal, which is what made her eventual loss just a few months later even worse. Holm lost the belt to veteran Miesha Tate in one of the most entertaining finishes to a title fight in a long time.

Unfortunately, it set Holm on something of a downward spiral, as she has since gone on to lose yet another two fights since then. Hopefully, she'll be back to her best in due course of time.

We rewind a few years now to one of the biggest names to ever step foot inside the octagon.

#3 BJ Penn - 107 days (Welterweight Champion)

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Penn is a UFC legend by definition

For a long time now, people have regarded BJ Penn as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history. In truth, they're not too far off at all as the guy has shown over and over throughout the course of his career that he is able to reinvent his game in ways that nobody had ever seen before.

So in short, he was one of the most loved champions in all of MMA.

The title win came at UFC 46 against Matt Hughes back in January 2004, however, the party wouldn't last all too long.

Penn was stripped of the Welterweight Championship upon deciding to leave for K-1. It was an interesting decision at the time, to say the least, but most people knew in their hearts that he'd be back in the UFC one day - which thankfully he was.

Onto a man that few would've heard of.

#2 Dave Menne - 105 days (Middleweight Champion)

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Poor old Menne

With an astonishing 64 professional fights across a 15-year career, Dave Menne certainly kept himself busy when it came to mixed martial arts. The guy has been all over the world fighting for a living, and in the process, he became the first ever UFC Middleweight Champion.

So in the grand scheme of things, he's done pretty well for himself.

The victory came at UFC 33 back in September 2001 when he defeated Gil Castillo to claim the title. But alas, as you'll know by now, the honeymoon period was over before it even got started as Murilo Bustamante won the championship from him in January.

Ironically, the two met once again over a decade later, with the result ending in the same way.

To conclude, we look at a woman who was the closest thing to a placeholder champion you're ever likely to see in the UFC.

#1 Carla Esparza - 92 days (Women's Strawweight Champion)

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At least she had the belt for a bit

We'll start off by saying that Carla Esparza is a perfectly capable fighter, as is proven by the fact she's even included in this list to begin with. Her victory over Rose Namajunas at The Ultimate Fighter Finale: A Champion Will Be Crowned cemented her legacy as she became the first ever Women's Strawweight Champion in the UFC.

Unfortunately, after that wonderful night in December 2014, lurking around the corner was the beast known as Joanna Jdrzejczyk.

The Polish star, also known as Joanna Violence (and more recently, by her self-given nickname Joanna Champion), has already successfully defended the belt four times and shows no signs of slowing down with a perfect record of 13-0.


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Edited by Staff Editor