UFC Champions 2023

Division	Champion	Date Since	Defenses
Heavyweight	Jon Jones	4-March-2023	-
Light Heavyweight	Jamahal Hill	21-January-2023	-
Middleweight	Israel Adesanya	8-April-2023	0
Welterweight	Leon Edwards	20-August-2022	1
Lightweight	Islam Makhachev	21-October -2022	1
Featherweight	Alexander Volkanovski	14-December-2019	3
Bantamweight	Aljamain Sterling	6-March-2021	3
Flyweight	Brandon Moreno	21-January-2023	0
Women's Featherweight	Amanda Nunes	29-December-2018	2
Women's Bantamweight	Amanda Nunes	30-July-2022	0
Women's Flyweight	Alexa Grasso	4-March-2023	0
Women's Strawweight	Zhang Weili	12-November-2022	0

Above is the list of all current UFC Champions concerning their weight classes.

Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) champions are fighters who have won and held UFC Championships concerning their weight classes and divisions. At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, MMA was unsanctioned in the US and did not include any weight classes. However, in 1997, UFC introduced weight-specific titles, starting with UFC 12.

By UFC 31, the Ultimate Fighting Championship had had five active weight divisions: Lightweight, Welterweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight, and Heavyweight.

In 2010, the UFC would expand its lower weight classes, and the first addition came in late 2010 when the UFC merged with its sister organization World Extreme Cagefighting and the Featherweight and Bantamweight Divisions were introduced in the UFC.

In 2012, the dissolution of UFC's sister promotion Strikeforce allowed the UFC to add female fighters to their roster for the first time in the promotion's history.

There are currently 12 UFC weight classes—eight divisions for men and four for women.

See here: Latest UFC Schedule from 2022

UFC Heavyweight Champion 2023

Jon Jones

Since	March 4, 2023
Defenses	-

Jon Jones became the UFC heavyweight champion by defeating the No.1 contender Ciryl Gane at UFC 285: Jones vs. Gane on March 4, 2023.

UFC Middleweight Champion 2023

Israel Adesanya

Since	April 8, 2023
Defenses	0

Israel Adesanya became the new UFC middleweight champion by knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC 287 on April 8, 2023.

UFC Lightweight Champion 2023

Islam Makhachev

Since	May 21, 2022
Defenses	1

Islam Makhachev defeated Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi and became the new UFC lightweight champion of the world. Makhachev submitted Oliveira in the second round with a triangle arm choke.

Makhachev is currently on an eleven-win streak in UFC. And his win over Oliveira made him the No. 2 contender in the men's pound-for-pound rankings.

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UFC Welterweight Champion 2023

Leon Edwards

Since	August 20, 2022
Defenses	1

At UFC 278, former champion Kamaru Usman faced old rival Leon Edwards for a rematch, where the British fighter dethroned 'The Nigerian Nightmare' via a fifth-round KO. Leon Edwards became the new UFC welterweight champion.

On March 18, 2023, Leon Edwards successfully defended the title against Kamaru Usman for their trilogy fight at UFC 283.

UFC Featherweight Champion 2023

Alexander Volkanovski

Since	December 14, 2019
Defenses	4

At UFC 245, Alexander Volkanovski dethroned Max Holloway and became the first Australian-born UFC featherweight champion.

Volkanovski then defeated Max Holloway again via a split decision at UFC 251. Alexander Volkanovski remains the current UFC featherweight champion.

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion 2023

Jamahal Hill

Since	January 21, 2023
Defenses	-

Jamahal Hill became the new UFC light heavyweight champion at UFC 283, fighting against Glover Teixeira in Brazil. Hill won the fight via unanimous decision.

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UFC Bantamweight Champion 2023

Aljamain Sterling

Since	March 06, 2021
Defenses	3

Henry Cejudo defeated Marlon Moraes to win the vacant UFC bantamweight championship. He defended it against former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, later vacating the title on May 24, 2020, after announcing his retirement.

Petr Yan faced former featherweight champion Jose Aldo for the vacant UFC bantamweight championship. Yan knocked out Aldo and became the UFC bantamweight champion.

In his first title defense, Yan faced Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259 on March 06, 2021, and lost the title by disqualification due to an intentional illegal knee landed by him in the fourth round to Sterling.

Sterling couldn't continue the fight any further due to a concussion, and the doctor recommended stopping the fight, thus making him the new UFC Bantamweight champion. This is the first-ever title change caused by disqualification in UFC history.

UFC Flyweight Champion 2023

Brandon Moreno

Since	January 21, 2023
Defenses	0

Brandon Moreno won the UFC flyweight championship at UFC 283 against the former champion Deiveson Figueiredo on January 21, 2023. Moreno won the fight via TKO (doctors stoppage).

UFC Women's Featherweight Champion 2023

Amanda Nunes

Since	December 29, 2018
Defenses	2

Amanda Nunes defeated Cris Cyborg via KO for the Women's UFC featherweight championship at UFC 232 and became the first woman to become a two-division UFC champion. She is also the third fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes (bantamweight and featherweight).

She defended her title against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 and became the first and only fighter in UFC history to defend two titles while actively holding them. Amanda Nunes remains the current UFC Women's featherweight champion.

UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion 2023

Amanda Nunes

Since	July 30, 2022
Defenses	0

Julianna Peña defeated Amanda Nunes through submission and became the UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion at UFC 269.

Previous champion Amanda Nunes had defeated Miesha Tate with a submission via a rear-naked choke at UFC 200 to win the UFC bantamweight championship.

Amanda had defended the title against Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, Raquel Pennington, Holly Holm, and Germaine De Randamie. However, at UFC 277, in their rematch, Nunes defeated Pena via unanimous decision and reclaimed her position as the two-division female champion in the UFC.

UFC Women's Flyweight Champion 2023

Alexa Grasso

Since	March 4, 2023
Defenses

Alexa Grasso won the UFC women's flyweight championship by defeating Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285: Jones vs. Gane via submission.

UFC Strawweight Champion 2023

Zhang Weili

Since	November 12, 2022
Defenses	0

Zhang Weili became the UFC strawweight champion by defeating the former champion Carla Esparza at UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira on November 12, 2022, at Madison Square Garden, New York, United States.

FAQ

Q1. Who are the current UFC Champions?

A. The current UFC Champions are- Jon Jones (Heavyweight), Jamahal Hill (Light Heavyweight), Israel Adesanya (Middleweight), Leon Edwards (Welterweight), Islam Makhachev (Lightweight), Alexander Volkanovski (Featherweight), Aljamain Sterling (Bantamweight), Deiveson Figueiredo (Flyweight), Amanda Nunes (Women's Bantamweight) Amanda Nunes (Women's Featherweight), Alexa Grasso (Women's Flyweight) and Zhang Weili (Women's Strawweight).

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Last Updated on April 9, 2023.