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While the past couple of years have seen the UFC’s world titles devalue somewhat thanks to the introduction of so many ‘interim’ championships, only a fool would try to claim that they’re not the most valuable and prized titles in the sport of MMA right now.
Recently we’ve seen controversy over a handful of title reigns – Nicco Montano’s reign as Women’s Flyweight champion, for instance – that hasn’t always been the case and over the years the UFC has seen some truly legendary title reigns from dominant champions.
Here are the 5 best title reigns in UFC history – with a couple of honorable mentions for good measure.
Honorable MENTIONS
Jose Aldo – UFC Featherweight title – 04/30/2011 to 12/12/2015
Technically speaking, Jose Aldo was actually awarded the inaugural UFC Featherweight title at the end of 2010 when it was announced that the UFC was absorbing the WEC promotion – where Aldo had held the Featherweight crown since late 2009. But for this article I’ve dated the beginning of his UFC reign as being the date of his first title defense, against Mark Hominick at UFC 129.
Aldo held the Featherweight title for the best part of 5 years and made 7 successful defences during that time, largely against the best 145lbers the world had to offer. So why doesn’t he make the top 5? For me there’s a simple reason.
Essentially, it’s down to the fact that Aldo had long periods on the shelf and missed out on making more defences – he fought just once in 2012, for instance, and was also out of action between October 2014 and December 2015. In the same breath, he also had to withdraw from a total of 5 title defences with various injuries.
This lack of activity considering the length of his title reign just about rules him out – but I’d consider him a strong 6th place.
Tito Ortiz – UFC Light-Heavyweight title – 04/14/2000 to 09/26/2003
At one point Ortiz’s title reign – which encompassed the best part of 4 years and saw him make 5 successful title defences – was seen as the gold standard for UFC champions to aim at. At 205lbs for instance it took until Jon Jones’s title reign – over a decade later – for a fighter to break his number of successful defences.
Time hasn’t exactly been kind to Tito’s run, though, largely in how his opposition is now viewed. With the power of hindsight, Yuki Kondo and Evan Tanner were natural 185lbers; Elvis Sinosic should never have gained a title shot, and Ken Shamrock was miles past his prime when he challenged Ortiz. That means the lone impressive defence Tito made was against Vladimir Matyushenko.
Ortiz’s accomplishment still remains impressive, but in 2018 it just isn’t as great as some of the reigns that have come since.
Tyron Woodley – UFC Welterweight title – 07/30/2016 to present
The current UFC Welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley’s title reign has been eventful but has largely split the opinions of fans and analysts alike. Thus far he’s made 4 successful title defences, all against the top contender in the division or thereabouts, and that’s impressive for modern-day UFC.
Unfortunately, 2 of those defences weren’t exactly thrilling viewing, with his second fight against Stephen Thompson in particular being up there with the worst title fights in UFC history. If Woodley can make more defences like his recent one against Darren Till then he could definitely climb the list, but for now he’s an honourable mention.
Stipe Miocic – UFC Heavyweight title – 05/14/2016 to 07/07/2018
Stipe Miocic is generally considered the greatest UFC Heavyweight champion of all time – not so much because of his dominance or his fighting style, but more because with 3 successful title defences, he actually holds the division’s record. Basically, the Heavyweight crown is usually somewhat of a hot potato and yet Miocic changed that briefly.
But despite this, he still never felt as invulnerable as the 5 champions on the list – he was in trouble during his title defences against both Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou, for instance – and the fact that he lost his title to a man moving up from 205lbs – no matter how great Daniel Cormier is – keeps him on the honourable mentions list.
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#5: Matt Hughes – UFC Welterweight title – 11/02/2001 to 01/31/2004
Like Tito Ortiz, at one stage in the UFC’s development, the gold standard for any UFC champion to aim towards was Welterweight kingpin Matt Hughes. The powerful wrestler from Hillsboro, Illinois first won his title in controversial fashion – he slammed Carlos Newton unconscious while passing out due to a triangle choke, and as he woke up first, he was declared the victor.
There was nothing controversial about his reign from there, though – just a path of destruction cut through the world’s best 170lbers at the time. Hughes made a total of 5 successful title defences in just over two years as champion, defeating Hayato Sakurai, Newton in a rematch, Gil Castillo, Sean Sherk, and Frank Trigg.
The most impressive things about Hughes’s reign were his willingness to take on all comers – Sakurai and Trigg, for instance, were making their UFC debuts entering from rival promotions – and the strength of his schedule compared to later champions; 2002 alone saw him make 3 defenses, a phenomenal accomplishment.
Hughes’s reputation as the greatest Welterweight of all time might’ve been surpassed a little later, but his title reign still stands as one of the all-time greats in MMA history.
#4: Jon Jones – UFC Light-Heavyweight title – 03/19/2011 to 05/23/2015
Despite all of his out-of-cage issues – legal problems, failed drug tests, and so forth – it’s hard to call Jon Jones anything but the greatest 205lber in the history of the UFC. Before Jones won the Light-Heavyweight title in 2011, the record for most successful title defences was Tito Ortiz’s 5.
Jones blew that away during his time as champion – managing a total of 8 – before a suspension due to a hit-and-run incident saw him stripped of the gold in 2015. He also turned back the challenges of some truly great fighters, too – it could be argued that Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida were past their best, but the same can’t be said for Rashad Evans, Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira, and Daniel Cormier.
The best thing about Jones’s title reign was his absolute dominance – only one foe, Gustafsson, ever gave him something resembling a close fight. His other opponents – the afore-mentioned 6 plus Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort – were simply blown away in one-sided fashion.
So what prevents Jones from cracking the top 3? In my opinion, despite the greatness of men like Cormier and Gustafsson, 205lbs, in general, has been a thinner division in terms of talent than some of the others during Jones’s era. And due to his subsequent failed drug tests, you’ve got to question his run in the pre-USADA era.
With that said though, his reign is by far the UFC’s greatest in a heavier weight class.
#3: Anderson Silva – UFC Middleweight title – 10/14/2006 to 07/06/2013
The longest title reign in UFC history, Anderson Silva’s run as Middleweight champion was truly epic. The Brazilian made a total of 10 successful title defences during his near-7 year run, and could’ve had more – his first challenger Travis Lutter missed weight, turning their fight into a non-title affair, and he also took 3 non-title fights at 205lbs during his reign too.
‘The Spider’ first captured the title from Rich Franklin in October 2006, and by the time his reign ended in 2013, he was considered by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter alive. Silva’s finish rate as champion was also fantastic – of his 10 defences, only two men – Thales Leites and Demian Maia – lasted the distance, and the others were finished in usually spectacular fashion.
Silva did come under criticism for the Leites and Maia fights, with the overriding feeling being that he was toying with overmatched opponents. And that’s what keeps him in 3rd place for me – while Franklin, Nate Marquardt, Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen were hugely tough opponents, none of Leites, Maia, Patrick Cote or Yushin Okami were considered the best challengers at the time Silva defeated them.
Throw in a chequered history with failed drug tests – Silva has two on his resume, both after his title reign – and like with Jones, you have to question his pre-USADA run. Silva is undoubtedly one of the greatest champions in UFC history and his epic reign was definitely impressive – but it’s not quite the best ever.
#2: Demetrious Johnson – UFC Flyweight title – 09/22/2012 to 08/04/2018
While he was never the most popular UFC champion in terms of his ability to draw in ratings and pay-per-view buyrates, it’s hard to call Demetrious Johnson anything but phenomenal in terms of the quality of his title reign.
‘Mighty Mouse’ won the inaugural Flyweight title in September 2012 and held it for almost 6 years before losing it to Henry Cejudo this August. And even that was under controversial circumstances. Johnson cleaned out his division like few other fighters did before him – essentially, he beat everyone there was to beat.
With 11 successful title defences to his name, Johnson is statistically the most impressive UFC champion of all time. It’s hard to argue that he wasn’t a finisher, either – of those 11 fights, 7 of them were finished before the final buzzer, with a healthy mix of submissions and knockouts, too.
Literally the only thing keeping him off the top spot here is the fact that in comparison to some of the other divisions, Flyweight has always been relatively thin in terms of talent – wins over John Dodson and Joseph Benavidez were impressive, for instance, but victories over journeymen like Chris Cariaso and Tim Elliott were much less so.
Still, for the fact that he holds the record for most successful title defences in a row – and the fact that with different judges, he might still be the champ – Johnson has more than earned his spot as 2nd in this countdown.
#1: Georges St-Pierre – UFC Welterweight title – 04/19/2008 to 12/13/2013
Georges St-Pierre’s first reign as UFC Welterweight champion couldn’t have gone much worse – after defeating the legendary Matt Hughes for the title, he was upset by underdog Matt Serra and knocked out in his first title defence.
Thankfully, his second reign as Welterweight king remains the greatest title reign in UFC history, bar none. Over a period of 5-and-a-half years, GSP made a total of 9 successful defences – practically averaging 2 per year despite spending time on the shelf with a serious knee injury – and turned back the challenge of some incredible challengers.
After defeating Serra in a rematch in April 2008, the Canadian simply faced a murderer’s row of opponents. There were Jon Fitch – undefeated in the UFC with 8 wins; former champ and pound-for-pound great BJ Penn; former WEC champ Carlos Condit; and former StrikeForce champions Jake Shields and Nick Diaz.
All were turned back in largely one-sided fashion. St-Pierre did come under some criticism for his lack of finishes – his 4th round victory over Penn was the only stoppage he achieved during his reign – but the one-sided nature in which he systematically broke all of his opponents more than made up for that.
As did the way his reign came to an end. After a tight victory over challenger Johny Hendricks, St-Pierre stepped away from the sport for a 4-year period, relinquishing his title in the process.
Essentially, he’s the only champion in modern UFC history to voluntarily hand his title back – others have been stripped, but usually due to refusals to fight or moves to different weight classes. Only GSP fully cleaned out his division and had no more to prove.
Simply put, GSP’s level of competition as champion was better than any other champion’s in the history of the UFC. And he never lost his title. That’s why his title reign is the greatest in UFC history.
