Longest UFC title reign: A look into dominating championship runs in the promotion

Many fighters have reached the top of the MMA world and held the UFC titles since the promotion adopted the divisional format. Some of these champions made a huge impact on the sport's history.

In this article, we’ll explore the longest UFC title reign based on criteria like the length of title reign and the number of title defenses.

Inaugural UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson holds the record for most consecutive title defenses (11) in UFC history and ruled the division from September 2012 up to August 2018, when he lost the belt to Henry Cejudo.

‘Mighty Mouse’ broke former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s record of 10 consecutive title defenses to occupy the top spot. However, Silva still holds the record for the longest UFC title reign by duration. He guarded the UFC middleweight title from Oct. 14, 2006, to July 6, 2013, for 2457 days / seven years and nine months.

When it comes to most title fight victories, two-division UFC champion Jon Jones leads the pack with 15 title fight wins under his belt. Welterweight great Georges St-Pierre is the close second with 13 title fight victories to his credit.

‘Bones’ was the undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion from Mar. 9, 2011, to Apr. 28, 2015, and defended the title eight consecutive times. In his second tenure as the 205-pound champion, the MMA great secured three title defenses before relinquishing the belt.

The 36-year-old won the UFC heavyweight title in March 2023, and the length of his title reign is increasing with each passing day. At the time of this article’s publishing, Jon Jones has been a UFC champion for 2422 days with three separate championship reigns in two divisions.

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Longest UFC title reign: Jose Aldo, Valentina Shevchenko and Amanda Nunes’ storied careers

UFC’s inaugural featherweight champion, Jose Aldo Jr., was considered among the pound-for-pound best fighters of his generation and secured nine consecutive title defenses in UFC and WEC before losing to Conor McGregor.

The first female two-division UFC champion, Amanda Nunes, has cemented her position as one of the greatest fighters of all time with 11 title fight victories to her record in two weight classes. Barring the loss to Juliana Pena in their UFC 269 meeting, Nunes dominated the bantamweight and featherweight divisions for seven years.

Meanwhile, her archrival, Valentina Shevchenko, controlled the flyweight division with a firm grip, defending the title seven consecutive times.

While the current generation of UFC fighters has not held the title for long durations, particularly when compared to their predecessors like Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, or Georges St-Pierre, they have achieved several unique feats.