5 UFC titles that have changed hands the most times

#4. UFC middleweight title – 11 champions

Anderson Silva held the middleweight title for nearly seven years

Given that Anderson Silva’s epic reign as middleweight champion lasted for nearly seven years and encompassed 10 successful defenses, it should probably come as a surprise of sorts to see the 185-pound title on this list.

However, for the most part, Silva is the outlier in the division’s history. Ignoring ‘The Spider’ and his epic reign, the middleweight title has moved around from fighter to fighter over the years, with Chris Weidman and current kingpin Israel Adesanya being the only two champions to manage more than two defenses.

The first UFC middleweight champion was Dave Menne, who only held the title for four months and quickly became a footnote in the promotion’s history when he lost it to Murilo Bustamante in his first defense.

In turn, a contract dispute saw Bustamante stripped of the title after his only defense. It took the promotion three years to bring it back, with Evan Tanner winning the vacant championship by defeating David Terrell in early 2005.

Just a little over a year later, Silva claimed the title from Rich Franklin. From there, it didn’t change hands until ‘The Spider’ was upset by Weidman in 2013.

Since that point, though, there have been a further six champions, bringing the middleweight title’s total to 11 overall. Given Adesanya’s current dominance, though, it could be a while before the 12th champion is crowned.

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#3. UFC welterweight title – 12 champions

Current welterweight champ Kamaru Usman has five successful title defenses to his name

The UFC welterweight title has arguably seen the majority of the promotion’s truly dominant reigns, as four of the fighters to hold it – Pat Miletich, Matt Hughes, Georges St-Pierre and Kamaru Usman - were able to put on at least four successful defenses.

Between those dominant reigns, though, the 170-pound title did switch hands on a number of occasions. The likes of B.J. Penn, Carlos Newton and Matt Serra can all count themselves as former UFC welterweight champions, but none of them were able to put on a single successful defense.

Miletich was the first welterweight titleholder, defeating Mikey Burnett for the inaugural title back in 1998. His title reign ended up lasing for nearly three years before Newton unseated him, only for Miletich protégé Hughes to take the gold from the Canadian in late 2001.

From there – Penn’s short reign notwithstanding – Hughes dominated the division until the rise of St-Pierre in 2006. Once ‘GSP’ had regained the title from Serra in 2008, he held it for over five years before vacating in 2013.

Since that point, four more fighters have held the title, with Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley both making a handful of defenses before Usman’s current dominant reign began in 2019.

Only time will tell whether ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ can match St-Pierre’s record of nine defenses – he’s currently on five – but it seems unlikely that anyone will dethrone him any time soon.