UFC Light Heavyweight

Last Modified May 18, 2025 09:42 GMT

The Light Heavyweight Division is a weight class in combat sports. The UFC Light Heavyweight Division limits between 186.1 lbs to 205 lbs (84 to 93 kg).

Current Light Heavyweight Champion

UFC 313: Pereira v Ankalaev
UFC 313: Pereira v Ankalaev

The current UFC Light Heavyweight champion is Magomed Ankalaev. He won the title against former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira via a unanimous decision at UFC 313 on March 8, 2025.

Latest Results from UFC Light Heavyweight

Date FightMethodRound TimeResult
May 10, 2025Modestas Bukauskas vs. Ion CuțelabaDecision (split) (27–30, 30–27, 29–28)35:00
Modestas Bukauskas def. Ion Cuțelaba
May 10, 2025Navajo Stirling vs. Ivan ErslanDecision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–27)35:00
Navajo Stirling def. Ivan Erslan

UFC Light Heavyweight Rankings 2025

RankFighterRecordMWin StreakResultLast fightNext Fight
CMagomed Ankalaev20–1–1 (1 NC) 3(0 def)WinUFC 313 Alex PereiraTBD
1Alex Pereira12–3 0LossUFC 313 Magomed AnkalaevTBD
2Jiří Procházka31–5–1 1WinUFC 311 Jamahal HillTBD
3Carlos Ulberg12–1 8WinUFC Fight Night 255 Jan BłachowiczTBD
4Jamahal Hill12–3(1 NC) 0LossUFC 311 Jiří Procházka
UFC on ABC 8 Khalil Rountree Jr.
5Jan Błachowicz29–11–1 0LossUFC Fight Night 255 Carlos UlbergTBD
6Aleksandar Rakić14–5 0LossUFC 308 Magomed AnkalaevTBD
7Khalil Rountree Jr.13–6(1 NC) 0LossUFC 307 Alex Pereira
UFC on ABC 8 Jamahal Hill
8Dominick Reyes15–4 3WinUFC 314 Nikita KrylovTBD
9Volkan Oezdemir20–8 0LossUFC Fight Night 248 Carlos UlbergTBD
10Nikita Krylov30–10 0LossUFC 314 Dominick Reyes
UFC on ABC 9 Bogdan Guskov
11Johnny Walker21–9(1 NC) 0LossUFC on ABC 6 Volkan OezdemirTBD
12Azamat Murzakanov14–0 14WinUFC on ABC 7 Alonzo Menifield
UFC 316 Brendson Ribeiro
13Zhang Mingyang19–6 12WinUFC on ESPN 66 Anthony SmithTBD
14Bogdan Guskov17–3 3WinUFC 311 Billy Elekana
UFC on ABC 9 Nikita Krylov
15Alonzo Menifield16–5–1 1WinUFC Fight Night 252 Julius Walker
UFC on ESPN 69 Oumar Sy

History of Light Heavyweight Class

The Light Heavyweight Title was known as the Middleweight Title before UFC 31 (May 4, 2001). In 2007, the Pride World Middleweight Championship was unified with the UFC Light Heavyweight Title when Quinton Jackson defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 75.

The UFC Light Heavyweight Title has been held by the likes of Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Vitor Belfort, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Forest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, and Mauricio Rua.

At UFC 128, Jon Jones won the Light Heavyweight Title for the first time in his career after defeating Mauricio Rua. Jones held the title for 1501 days and defended it eight times before being stripped of it due to a hit-and-run issue. Daniel Cormier won the vacant belt by beating Anthony Johnson at UFC 187.

Cormier, who became the second fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously and is the first to defend them in two divisions, vacated his Light Heavyweight Championship 174 days after winning the Heavyweight title. Jon Jones won the vacant belt for the second time in his career after defeating Alexander Gustafsson. He defended it against Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, and Dominick Reyes before vacating it to move up to the Heavyweight division.

In his first title defense as UFC champion, Glover Teixeira lost to Jiri Prochazka via rear-naked choke at UFC 275, making Jiri Prochazka the incumbent light heavyweight champion.

Jamahal Hill was crowned as the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion after defeating Glover Teixeira at UFC 283. Hill is the first fighter in the UFC to become champion after appearing on the Dana White Contender Series.

On July 14th, Jamahal Hill shared a video on his YouTube channel stating that he would be vacating his Light Heavyweight title because of a severe Achilles tendon injury.

Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira squared off for the vacant light heavyweight title at the main event of UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden on November 11, 2023. Pereira became a 2-division champion after defeating Prochazka via a TKO in the closing minutes of the 2nd round.

At UFC 313, Magomed Ankalaev was crowned the new champion of the light heavyweight division by beating Alex Pereira via a unanimous decision on March 8, 2025.

UFC Weight Divisions

Men

  1. Heavyweight
  2. Light Heavyweight
  3. Middleweight
  4. Welterweight
  5. Lightweight
  6. Featherweight
  7. Bantamweight
  8. Flyweight

Women

  1. Featherweight
  2. Bantamweight
  3. Flyweight
  4. Strawweight

Click to learn about UFC Rankings.

FAQ's On UFC light heavyweight

A. Magomed Ankalaev is the current UFC Light Heavyweight champion.

A. Alex Pereira is the No.1 contender in the UFC light heavyweight division.

A. The UFC light heavyweight division weighs 186.1 lbs to 205 lbs (84 to 93 kg).

A. Yes, Alex Pereira now competes in the light heavyweight division.

Related Stories

[Watch] Nina Marie-Daniele sets the dance floor on fire at Alex Pereira's party in Brazil [Watch] Nina Marie-Daniele sets the dance floor on fire at Alex Pereira's party in Brazil
[Watch] Nina Marie-Daniele sets the dance floor on fire at Alex Pereira's party in Brazil
34m
"I have to do more, I have to work harder" - Jamahal Hill breaks silence on Khalil Rountree Jr. loss, opens up on injury struggles "I have to do more, I have to work harder" - Jamahal Hill breaks silence on Khalil Rountree Jr. loss, opens up on injury struggles
"I have to do more, I have to work harder" - Jamahal Hill breaks silence on Khalil Rountree Jr. loss, opens up on injury struggles
Jiri Prochazka roasts Magomed Ankalaev over Alex Pereira callout drama and teases opponent for UFC return: "Hey clown, I finished university" Jiri Prochazka roasts Magomed Ankalaev over Alex Pereira callout drama and teases opponent for UFC return: "Hey clown, I finished university"
Jiri Prochazka roasts Magomed Ankalaev over Alex Pereira callout drama and teases opponent for UFC return: "Hey clown, I finished university"
"I think he's more dangerous than all of them" - Magomed Ankalaev claims Alex Pereira wants to fight him during Ramadan, takes shot at Jiří Procházka "I think he's more dangerous than all of them" - Magomed Ankalaev claims Alex Pereira wants to fight him during Ramadan, takes shot at Jiří Procházka
"I think he's more dangerous than all of them" - Magomed Ankalaev claims Alex Pereira wants to fight him during Ramadan, takes shot at Jiří Procházka
"Ain’t no party like a Jiří party" - Fans react as Jiří Procházka parties after his university graduation "Ain’t no party like a Jiří party" - Fans react as Jiří Procházka parties after his university graduation
"Ain’t no party like a Jiří party" - Fans react as Jiří Procházka parties after his university graduation 
Khalil Rountree Jr. opens up about suffering serious knee injury weeks before Jamahal Hill fight, fans react: "Btw he schooled Jamahal" Khalil Rountree Jr. opens up about suffering serious knee injury weeks before Jamahal Hill fight, fans react: "Btw he schooled Jamahal"
Khalil Rountree Jr. opens up about suffering serious knee injury weeks before Jamahal Hill fight, fans react: "Btw he schooled Jamahal"
"It was just really hard for me to walk and even stand" - Khalil Rountree says he entered Jamahal Hill fight injured, couldn’t spar for weeks "It was just really hard for me to walk and even stand" - Khalil Rountree says he entered Jamahal Hill fight injured, couldn’t spar for weeks
"It was just really hard for me to walk and even stand" - Khalil Rountree says he entered Jamahal Hill fight injured, couldn’t spar for weeks
Alex Pereira teases his UFC return timeline Alex Pereira teases his UFC return timeline
Alex Pereira teases his UFC return timeline 
Alex Pereira answers whether Magomed Ankalaev is the toughest opponent he's ever faced Alex Pereira answers whether Magomed Ankalaev is the toughest opponent he's ever faced
Alex Pereira answers whether Magomed Ankalaev is the toughest opponent he's ever faced
Was Jon Jones a true UFC pay-per-view superstar? Revisiting 'Bones's' legacy amid retirement Was Jon Jones a true UFC pay-per-view superstar? Revisiting 'Bones's' legacy amid retirement
Was Jon Jones a true UFC pay-per-view superstar? Revisiting 'Bones's' legacy amid retirement
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications