MMA Roll Call Of Champions

This is something I did on another site and I’m going to put it here for MMA fans: It’s a somewhat comprehensive listing of the current major MMA World Champions using the most up-to-date info and records I can find (sometimes that’s easier said than done!). Champions are listed by weight class along with how many times they’ve held the belt before, if they have, the date they won the title, and in some cases where info permits the number of successful defenses and next scheduled defense. All weight classes are listed in pounds unless otherwise noted.

This list was last updated on 7/27/10.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Lightweight (146-155): Frank Edgar. 1st reign. Champion since: 4/10/10. Successful defenses: None. Next defense: 8/28/10 vs. BJ Penn.
Note: The winner on 8/28 (a rematch from UFC 112) could next defend against the winner of Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard, also on 8/28.

Welterweight (156-170): Georges St. Pierre. 3rd reign (includes 1 interim championship). Champion since: 4/19/08. Successful defenses: 4. Next defense: 12/11/10 vs. Josh Koscheck.

Middleweight (171-185): Anderson Silva. 1st reign. Champion since: 10/14/06. Successful defenses: 6 with 2 wins in non-title fights. Next defense: 8/7/10 vs. Chael Sonnen.
Note: The winner is expected to defend next/first against Vitor Belfort.

Light Heavyweight (186-205): Mauricio Rua. 1st reign. Champion since: 5/8/10. Successful defenses: None. Next defense: TBA vs. Rashad Evans.
6/11/10 UPDATE: Said defense, which had been planned for hopefully sometime this year, is now on indefinite hold due to a Rua injury.
7/2/10 UPDATE: The fight won’t happen until at least March 2011.

Heavyweight (206-265): Brock Lesnar. 1st reign. Champion since: 11/15/08. Successful defenses: 2. Next defense: 10/23/10 vs. Cain Velasquez.
Note: The winner of Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson on 8/7/10 is next in line for a title shot.

World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

Flyweight (up to 125): VACANT. No champion yet. Division created on 2/3/09 and will be implemented at a later date.
8/7/09 UPDATE: Implementation now appears likely to be in early ’10.
4/7/10 UPDATE: Implementation still remains well in the distance, if ever.

Bantamweight (126-135): Dominick Cruz. 1st reign. Champion since: 3/6/10. Successful defenses: None. Next defense: 8/18/10 vs. Joseph Benavidez.

Featherweight (136-145): Jose Aldo. 1st reign. Champion since: 11/18/09. Successful defenses: 1. Next defense: 9/8/10 vs. Manny Gamburyan.

Lightweight (146-155): Benson (Ben) Henderson. 2nd reign (includes 1 interim championship). Champion since: 1/11/10. Successful defenses: 1. Next defense: TBA, likely in fall ’10.
Note: Henderson won title unification fight on 1/11/10 to become undisputed champion. He had been interim champion since October ’09.

Welterweight (156-170): RETIRED. Title retired after WEC 39 in March 2009 when division integrated into UFC. Carlos Condit, who held the title since winning it on 3/24/07 (3 successful defenses), was the final champion.

Middleweight (171-185): RETIRED. Title retired after WEC 37 in December 2008 when division integrated into UFC. Title vacated after WEC 36 in November 2008 by Paulo Filho after losing a non-title fight against Chael Sonnen, fight changed from title to non-title when Filho missed weight.

Light Heavyweight (186-205): RETIRED. Title retired after WEC 37 in December 2008 when division integrated into UFC. Steve Cantwell, who held the title since winning it on 8/3/08, was the final champion.

Strikeforce

Lightweight (146-155): Gilbert Melendez. 3rd reign (includes 1 interim championship). Champion since: 12/19/09. Successful defenses: 1. Next defense: TBA.

Welterweight (156-170): Nick Diaz. 1st reign. Champion since: 1/30/10. Successful defenses: None. Next defense: TBA.

Middleweight (171-185): VACANT. Previous champion Jake Shields vacated title on 6/30/10 due to signing with UFC. Determination match between Tim Kennedy & Ronaldo Souza set for 8/21/10 to crown new champion.
Note: Determination tournament planned for late 2010 to determine first challenger to new champion.

Light Heavyweight (186-205): Muhammad Lawal. 1st reign. Champion since: 4/17/10. Successful defenses: None. Next defense: 8/21/10 vs. Rafael Cavalcante (Feijao).

Heavyweight (206-265): Alistair Overeem. 1st reign. Champion since: 11/16/07. Successful defenses: 1. Next defense: TBA.

Women’s Welterweight (126-135): Sarah Kaufman. 1st reign. Champion since: 2/26/10 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: 1. Next defense: TBA vs. Marloes Coenen.
Note 2: Determination tournament set for 8/13/10 to determine next challenger after Coenen.

Women’s Middleweight (136-145): Cristiane Santos. 1st reign. Champion since: 8/15/09 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: 2. Next defense: TBA.
Note: SF says that Erin Toughill likely will get the next shot, but Toughill must first win a “tune-up fight”.
7/27/10 UPDATE: Said “tune-up fight” that was planned for 8/21 is now off. Toughill reportedly wanted a catch weight fight at 150. SF said no.

Bellator Fighting Championships

Note: Bellator is a new made-for-TV promotion created in Spring ’09 in partnership with ESPN. They ran weekly events featuring tournaments to determine division champions and non-tournament fights during their first season which ran 12 weeks. The 3rd season begins in August ’10. The inaugural champion in each weight class will first defend against the winner of a tournament held during the promotion’s second season. While the inaugural champions will not defend their titles until sometime in season 3, their contracts allow them some flexibility to fight outside the promotion until then.

Bantamweight (126-135): VACANT. No champion yet. Division to be implemented in season 3.

Featherweight (136-145): Joe Soto. 1st reign. Champion since: 6/5/09 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: None with 1 win in non-title fights. Next defense: 9/2/10 vs. Joe Warren.

Lightweight (146-155): Eddie Alvarez. 1st reign. Champion since: 6/19/09 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: None with 1 win in non-title fights. Next defense: TBA vs. Pat Curran.

Welterweight (156-170): Lyman Good. 1st reign. Champion since: 6/12/09 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: None. Next defense: TBA vs. Ben Askren.

Middleweight (171-185): Hector Lombard. 1st reign. Champion since: 6/19/09 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: None with 1 win in non-title fights. Next defense: TBA vs. Alexander Shlemenko.

Light Heavyweight (186-205): VACANT. No champion yet. Division to be implemented in season 3.

Heavyweight (206-265): VACANT. No champion yet. Division to be implemented in season 3.

Women (115): VACANT. No champion yet. Division to be implemented in season 3.

DREAM (Japan)

Featherweight (up to 139): Bibiano Fernandes. 1st reign. Champion since: 10/6/09 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: 1. Next defense: TBA.

Lightweight (140-154): Shinya Aoki. 1st reign. Champion since: 10/6/09. Successful defenses: 1 with 1 win & 1 loss in  non-title matches. Next defense: 9/25/10 vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (again).

Welterweight (155-168): Marius Zaromskis. 1st reign. Champion since: 7/20/09 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: None with 1 win and 2 losses in non-title matches. Next defense: TBA.

Middleweight (169-185): VACANT. Previous champion Gegard Mousasi vacated title on 4/14/09 due to moving to Light Heavyweight. Determination fight between Jason Miller and Ronaldo Souza on 5/26/09 to crown a new champion ended in a No Contest. Therefore the title remains vacant. Planned rematch for 10/6/09 was ultimately cancelled due to both signing with Strikeforce and Miller having a title fight on 11/7/09.
1/28/10 UPDATE: Determination fight or tournament to crown new champion scheduled for sometime in ’10.

Light Heavyweight (186-205): VACANT. No champion yet. Determination match between Gegard Mousasi and Tatsuya Mizuno tentatively set for 9/25/10 to determine inaugural champion.

Heavyweight (206+): VACANT. No champion yet. Determination match planned for sometime in ’10 to crown inaugural champion.

World Victory Road (Sengoku) (Japan)

Featherweight: Marlon Sandro. 1st reign. Champion since: 6/20/10. Successful defenses: None. Next defense: TBA.

Lightweight: VACANT. Previous champion Mizuto Hirota vacated title on 3/7/10 due to injury.

Welterweight: VACANT. No champion yet. Determination tournament underway to crown inaugural champion.

Middleweight: Jorge Santiago. 1st reign. Champion since: 1/4/09 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: 1 with 1 loss in a non-title fight. Next defense: 8/22/10 vs. Kazuo Misaki.
6/18/10 UPDATE: The fight, originally scheduled for 6/20/10, has been pushed back to Sengoku 14 on TBA.
7/8/10 UPDATE: TBA will be 8/22.

Heavyweight: VACANT. No champion yet.

Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling (Pancrase) (Japan)

Note: The promotion refers to each division champion as “King Of Pancrase”.

Flyweight (up to 127.9): Kiyotaka Shimizu. 1st reign. Champion since: 2/7/10. Successful defenses: 1.

Bantamweight (128-134.9): Manabu Inoue. 1st reign. Champion since: 12/7/08 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: None with 2 wins in non-title matches.

Featherweight (135-144.9): Marlon Sandro. 1st reign. Champion since: 10/26/08. Successful defenses: None with 5 wins and 1 loss in non-title matches.

Lightweight (145-154.9): Maximo Blanco. 1st reign. Champion since: 8/8/09. Successful defenses: None with 3 wins in non-title fights. Next defense: TBA vs. Koji Oishi.

Welterweight (155-169.9): Kengo Ura. 1st reign. Champion since: 6/5/10. Successful defenses: None.

Middleweight (170-184.9): Yuki Kondo. 3rd reign (includes 1 interim reign). Champion since: 4/29/10. Successful defenses: None with 1 Draw. (Note: Most recent defense on 7/4/10 was ruled a Draw. Kondo retained title as a result)
Note: Kondo won title unification fight on 4/29/10 to become undisputed champion. He previously was interim champion.

Light Heavyweight (185-204.9): Ryo Kawamura. 1st reign. Champion since: 10/1/08. Successful defenses: 1 with 2 wins and 2 losses in non-title fights.

Heavyweight (205-265): VACANT. Previous champion Assuerio Silva vacated title in January 2008 due to signing an exclusive contract with Hardcore Championship Fighting. Class weight limits were then changed from 196-221 to 206-265 when the promotion adopted the Unified MMA Rules weight classes.

Super Heavyweight (221+): RETIRED. Title retired in January 2008 due to Pancrase adopting the Unified MMA Rules weight classes and expanding Heavyweight class. Tsuyoshi Kosaka was the only champion, reigning from 11/7/04 until vacating title in ’06.

Openweight (No limit): Josh Barnett. 1st reign. Champion since: 8/31/03. Successful defenses: 2.

DEEP (Japan)

Megaton (206+): Yusuke Kawaguchi. Champion since: 8/2/08 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: 2 with 1 win & 1 loss in non-title matches.

Light Heavyweight: Yoshiyuki Nakanishi. Champion since: 4/17/10 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: None.

Middleweight: Riki Fukuda. Champion since: 6/30/09. Successful defenses: None with 1 win in a non-title match. Next defense: 8/27/10.

Welterweight: Yuya Shirai. 1st reign. Champion since: 1/24/10. Successful defenses: None.

Lightweight:  Katsunori Kikuno. Champion since: 4/16/09. Successful defenses: None with 2 wins and 1 loss in non-title matches.

Featherweight: Koichiro Matsumoto. Champion since: 7/4/10. Successful defenses: None.

Bantamweight: Masakazu Imanari. Champion since: 8/17/08 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: 2 with 2 wins and 1 loss in non-title matches. Next defense: 8/27/10.

Women’s Lightweight: VACANT. Previous champion Miku Matsumoto vacated title on 4/17/10 due to retiring.

Women’s Flyweight: Satoko Shinashi. Champion since: 2/22/08 (inaugural champion). Successful defenses: 1 with 1 loss in a non-title match.
Note: The title has been inactive since early 2009 and will remain inactive for now due to Shinashi being inactive for “maternal leave”.

Shooto (Japan)

Note: Shooto has 4 different fighter classes. The champions listed are the World Champions of Class-A, Shooto’s most elite class.

Flyweight (up to 114.6): Rambaa Somdet. 1st reign. Champion since: 11/23/09. Successful defenses: 1.

Bantamweight (115-123): Yasuhiro Urushitani. 1st reign. Champion since: 5/30/10. Successful defenses: None.
Note: Previous champion Shinichi Kojima, who vacated the title in March ’10 due to injury, is likely to get a title shot when he returns.

Featherweight (124-132): Shuichiro Katsumura. 1st reign. Champion since: 3/22/10. Successful defenses: None.

Lightweight (133-143): Hatsu Hioki. 1st reign. Champion since: 5/30/10. Successful defenses: None.

Welterweight (144-154): VACANT. Previous champion Willamy Friere (Chequerim) vacated title immediately after 5/30/10 defense due to signing an exclusive contract with UFC that would prevent him from defending title.

Middleweight (155-167): VACANT. Previous champion Shinya Aoki vacated title on 5/21/10 due to wanting to focus on fighting at lighter weights and in other promotions.

Light Heavyweight (168-183): Siyar Bahadurzada. 1st reign. Champion since: 7/15/07. Successful defenses: None.

Jewels (Japan)

Note: Jewels is an all-female promotion.

Lightweight (114.6): VACANT. No champion yet. Determination tournament set to begin 7/31/10 and continue (and possibly conclude) 12/12/10 to crown inaugural champion.