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After months of speculation and weeks of preparation, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is finally going up a weightclass to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
'The Last Stylebender' is not the first UFC fighter to have set their eyes on gold in a higher weight division. It has happened several times in the past and will likely happen in the future too. Jon Jones, with whom Israel Adesanya has a long-standing rivalry that brewed over social media, will probably be the first to do so after him. He is preparing to go up to heavyweight and is likely to challenge the winner of Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou at UFC 260.
Here are some of the other occasions when a UFC champion has moved up a division to win a belt in a higher division.
6. BJ Penn (UFC Lightweight & Welterweight)
During his second stint with UFC, BJ Penn picked up the vacant lightweight belt that was stripped from Sean Sherk at UFC 80. He fought Joe Stevenson and submitted him in the second round with a rear naked choke, becoming only the second man after Randy Couture to win UFC titles in two different weight classes. After his successful first title defense against former champ Sean Sherk, BJ Penn called out Georges St-Pierre amid loud agreement from the crowd.
GSP, on the other hand, became the new welterweight champion by beating Jon Fitch. BJ Penn went back to welterweight, where he had been a champion before, and challenged GSP for the belt. Four rounds of striking and ground-and-pound by GSP proved to be too much for BJ Penn, and he lost the fight via TKO by corner stoppage. Despite the 'Greasegate' controversy, Georges St-Pierre remained the welterweight champion and BJ Penn unfortunately failed to make history.
5. Conor McGregor (UFC Featherweight & Lightweight)
Not only did Conor McGregor go up a weightclass to win a belt, he did so while still holding the title of the lower weightclass. In a historic first ever, the Irishman faced lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 while holding the featherweight title that he had picked up from Jose Aldo with a 13-second knockout.
Between these two fights, Conor McGregor had also fought a dulogy against Nate Diaz at welterweight. When Conor McGregor TKO'd Eddie Alvarez and perched atop the cage at New York's Madison Square Garden with the two belts on his shoulder, it became an image that would go on to change the entire sport overnight.
4. Georges St-Pierre (UFC Welterweight & Middleweight)
Georges St-Pierre himself also went up a weightclass but unlike his former rival BJ Penn, GSP came out of the battle victorious. Post his historic second reign as UFC welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre returned after a four-year hiatus to challenge Michael Bisping for the middleweight title.
The two fought at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden and GSP walked out of the cage with the 185-pounds belt around his waist, becoming the fourth fighter to win UFC titles in two different divisions.
3. Daniel Cormier (UFC Light Heavyweight & Heavyweight)
Daniel Cormier became only the second fighter to simultaneously hold two UFC titles when he went up to heavyweight and dropped Stipe Miocic at UFC 226, finishing the latter's longest-running heavyweight championship reign.
DC had lost his light heavyweight belt to Jon Jones initially but after the latter tested positive for USADA drug violation, the championship was returned to Daniel Cormier, turning the defeat to a No Contest.
2. Amanda Nunes (UFC Bantamweight & Featherweight)
After picking up the UFC women's bantamweight title defeating Miesha Tate and defending it successfully three times, Amanda Nunes went up to featherweight and challenged Cris Cyborg for the gold.
In a stunning display, the 'Lioness' knocked Cyborg out in 51 seconds to become the first (and only so far) woman to hold UFC belts in two divisions at the same time. At UFC 259, Amanda Nunes is putting her featherweight belt on the line against Megan Anderson in her second defense of the title.
1. Henry Cejudo (UFC Flyweight & Bantamweight)
Henry Cejudo ended Demetrious Johnson's six-year flyweight championship reign with a close split decision victory, and then went up to beat Marlon Moraes at bantamweight to pick up the vacant belt. He is also the first Olympic gold medalist to ever win UFC gold.
After spending a few months recovering from a shoulder injury, Henry Cejudo defended his bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz and knocked him out in the second round. Despite the win, Cejudo announced his retirement from professional fighting. Even though the decision was met with some skepticism at first, the bantamweight belt was later vacated by UFC, which Petr Yan picked up by beating Jose Aldo at UFC 251. Yan will be defending it against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259.
