Anthony Ruiz after winning the PureCombat Middleweight Championship belt

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a form of competitive combat sport, akin to boxing, muay thai, or kick boxing. MMA titles, or championship belts, are given to those fighters deemed by a promotional organization to have met a certain standard of athletic accomplishment in a specific weight class (most often by means of a championship fight). Championship belts are fought for at each weight class under a promotion, with only one belt awarded per class. Each belt is usually contested every time the belt holder fights, and passed to the victor of that fight (see the List of UFC champions for a chronology of UFC title belts). A belt may be vacated when a fighter leaves a promotion, or is suspended. At such times an interim champion may be crowned, or the belt may be awarded to the winner of a fight between top contenders.

This list displays all title holders for the major, certified MMA promoting and sanctioning bodies. There is no clear industry definition within the MMA community to determine which organizations are considered major promoting bodies.^[1] Due to a lack of clear guidelines, this list is limited to those organizations that are either highly regarded (such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Strikeforce), long standing (such as King of the Cage (KOTC) and Pancrase), or the dominant organizations of a country or region of the world (such as England's Ultimate Challenge MMA (UCMMA) and Canada's Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC)).

Because there is no international unified MMA weight class system in use,^[2] the Nevada State Athletic Commission's (NSAC) weight classes have been adopted for this article as they are most common across major promotions. Some organizations have created titles in weight classes outside the NSAC guidelines. Those titles have been and will be recognized as subdivisions under their common weight class.^[3]

Though unofficial, Fight Matrix considered the first MMA lineal champions as follows:^[4]

• Heavyweight – Ken Shamrock beginning October 14, 1993 at Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 2
• Light heavyweight – Frank Shamrock beginning December 21, 1997 at UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan.
• Middleweight – Kenji Kawaguchi beginning May 18, 1989 at Shooto: Shooto.
• Welterweight – Yasuto Sekishima beginning January 13, 1990 at Shooto: Shooto.
• Lightweight – Yuichi Watanabe beginning January 13, 1990 at Shooto: Shooto.
• Featherweight – Noboru Asahi beginning March 27, 1992 at Shooto: Shooto.
• Bantamweight – Kazuhiro Sakamoto beginning October 19, 1989 at Shooto: Shooto.
• Flyweight – Kenji Ogusu beginning March 27, 1992 at Shooto: Shooto.

Although the inaugural lineal champions are sometimes contested, especially at heavyweight; the consensus view, is that all the lineal titles have been unified with their respective weight class UFC titles.

Organizations are listed by a combination of their size (number of fighters, events per year, etc.) and their history (years in existence, title lineage, etc.). Title holders from other organizations, who are now fighting in the UFC, are not included in this list as the UFC does not cross promote and these belts are often vacated.^[5]

Men

Heavyweight (265 lb, 120 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
American	Jon Jones	UFC	March 4, 2023	0
American	Ryan Bader	Bellator	January 26, 2019	2
Russian	Anatoly Malykhin	One	June 23, 2023	0
Russian	Evgeniy Goncharov	ACA	March 17, 2023	0
English	Phil De Fries	KSW	April 14, 2018	9
N/A	Vacant	CWFC	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	N/A	N/A	0
Brazilian	Hugo Cunha	LFA	November 3, 2023	0
Guam	Roque Martinez (Known as Megatonweight / over 205 lb, 93 kg)	Deep	July 15, 2017	2
N/A	Vacant	Jungle Fight	N/A	N/A
American	Greg Velasco	CFFC	October 8, 2022	1
Congolese	Matunga Djikasa	EFC	October 6, 2022	0
N/A	Vacant	Road FC	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	Titan	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	Eagle FC	N/A	N/A
Cape Verdean	Domingos Barros	CES	May 12, 2023	0

Cruiserweight (225 lb, 102 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Russian	Anatoly Malykhin (Known as Light Heavyweight)	One	December 3, 2022	0

Light Heavyweight (205 lb, 93 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Brazilian	Alex Pereira	UFC	November 11, 2023	0
Russian	Vadim Nemkov	Bellator	August 21, 2020	4
Dutch	Reinier de Ridder (Known as Middleweight)	One	October 30, 2020	0
N/A	Vacant	ACA	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	Rizin FF	N/A	N/A
Turkish	Ibragim Chuzhigaev	KSW	January 15, 2022	2
N/A	Vacant	CWFC	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	Brave CF	N/A	N/A
Russian	Vagab Vagabov	FNG	October 16, 2021	1
Brazilian	Bruno Lopes	LFA	September 30, 2022	0
N/A	Vacant	Pancrase	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	Deep	N/A	N/A
American	Luke Fernandez	CFFC	December 15, 2023	0
South African	JC Lamprecht	EFC	August 10, 2023	0
South Korean	Kim Tae-in	Road FC	December 18, 2022	0
N/A	Vacant	Titan FC	N/A	N/A
Kazakhstani	Diyar Nurgozhay	Eagle FC	August 21, 2022	0
Syrian	Tarek Suleiman	UAE Warriors	May 3, 2019	0

Middleweight (185 lb, 84 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
American	Sean Strickland	UFC	September 9, 2023	0
American	Johnny Eblen	Bellator	June 24, 2022	2
American	Christian Lee (Known as Welterweight)	One	November 19, 2022	0
Russian	Magomedrasul Gasanov	ACA	April 9, 2021	3
Polish	Paweł Pawlak	KSW	June 3, 2023	1
Italian	Dario Bellandi	CWFC	November 25, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant	Brave CF	N/A	N/A
Russian	Vladimir Mineev	FNG	September 9, 2020	1
Russian	Azamat Bekoev	LFA	December 15, 2023	0
Japanese	Yura Naito	Pancrase	March 21, 2022	0
Brazilian	João Batista Yoshimura	Deep	July 4, 2021	0
N/A	Vacant	Shooto	N/A	N/A
Brazilian	Vitor Costa	Jungle Fight	September 30, 2023	0
American	Kyle Daukaus	CFFC	September 2, 2023	0
South African	Luke Michael	EFC	March 5, 2022	0
South Korean	In Su Hwang	Road FC	July 3, 2021	0
Brazilian	Bruno Assis	Titan	July 2, 2021	0
N/A	Vacant	Eagle FC	N/A	N/A
American	Gary Balletto Jr.	CES	July 29, 2023	0
Iranian	Amir Fazli	UAE Warriors	May 20, 2023	0

Welterweight (170 lb, 77 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
English	Leon Edwards	UFC	August 20, 2022	2
Jamaican	Jason Jackson	Bellator	November 17, 2023	0
American	Christian Lee (Known as Lightweight)	One	August 26, 2022	2
Russian	Albert Tumenov	ACA	December 24, 2023	0
Polish	Adrian Bartosiński	KSW	April 22, 2023	1
Greek	Giannis Bachar	CWFC	November 11, 2023	0'
Russian	Kamal Magomedov (175 lb, 79 kg)	Brave CF	December 5, 2023	0
Russian	Dmitry Bikrev	FNG	April 6, 2019	4
Brazilian	Geraldo Neto	LFA	September 2, 2023	0
Japanese	Ryuichiro Sumimura	Pancrase	December 24, 2023	0
Japanese	Shingo Suzuki	Deep	February 11, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant (Known as Middleweight)	Shooto	N/A	N/A
Brazilian	Arcangelo Oliveira	Jungle Fight	May 27, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant	CFFC	N/A	N/A
South African	Mark Hulme	EFC	April 13, 2023	1
American	Will Brooks	Titan	June 2, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant (175 lb, 79 kg)	Eagle FC	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	CES	N/A	N/A
Australian	Josh Togo	UAE Warriors	September 17, 2022	0
Kyrgyz	Darkhanbek Ergeshev	Matrix Fight Night	March 31, 2023	1

Super Lightweight (165 lb, 75 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Bahraini	Eldar Eldarov	Brave CF	April 19, 2019	1

Lightweight (155 lb, 70 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Russian	Islam Makhachev	UFC	October 22, 2022	2
Russian	Usman Nurmagomedov	Bellator	November 18, 2022	2
Chinese	Tang Kai (Known as Featherweight)	One	August 26, 2022	0
Russian	Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov	ACA	September 19, 2020	2
Brazilian	Roberto Satoshi Souza	Rizin FF	June 13, 2021	2
French	Salahdine Parnasse	KSW	June 3, 2023	0
English	George Hardwick	CWFC	July 22, 2022	2
Kyrgyzstani	Abdisalam Kubanychbek	Brave CF	February 18, 2023	1
Russian	Magomed Sulumov	FNG	July 14, 2023	0
American	Kegan Gennrich	LFA	January 12, 2024	0
Japanese	Akira Okada	Pancrase	April 30, 2023	0
South Korean	Lee Song-ha	Deep	September 18, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant (Known as Welterweight)	Shooto	N/A	N/A
Brazilian	Arcangelo Oliveira	Jungle Fight	August 26, 2023	0
American	Robert Watley	CFFC	July 20, 2023	1
N/A	Vacant	EFC	N/A	N/A
Korean	Park Si-won	Road FC	July 23, 2022	1
N/A	Vacant	Combate Global	N/A	N/A
American	Richie Lewis	Titan	July 21, 2023	0
Azerbaijani	Ramin Sultanov	Eagle FC	November 11, 2023	0'
American	Nathan Ghareeb	CES	November 17, 2021	0
Russian	Amru Magomedov	UAE Warriors	October 17, 2023	0

Featherweight (145 lb, 66 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Australian	Alexander Volkanovski	UFC	December 14, 2019	5
Brazilian	Patrício Pitbull	Bellator	April 15, 2022	1
Brazilian	Fabrício Andrade (Known as Bantamweight)	ONE	February 25, 2023	0
Russian	Islam Omarov	ACA	July 21, 2023	0
Japanese	Chihiro Suzuki	Rizin FF	November 4, 2023	0
French	Salahdine Parnasse	KSW	December 18, 2021	2
Irish	Paul Hughes	CWFC	November 4, 2022	0
Kyrgyzstani	Nemat Abdrashitov	Brave CF	June 23, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant	FNG	N/A	N/A
American	Javier Garcia	LFA	July 21, 2023	0
Japanese	Suguru Nii	Pancrase	September 24, 2023	0
Japanese	Koya Kanda	Deep	December 21, 2023	0
Japanese	Keisuke Sasu (Known as Lightweight)	Shooto	July 25, 2021	1
Brazilian	Willian Souza	Jungle Fight	July 29, 2023	0
American	Jose Perez	CFFC	August 26, 2022	1
Congolese	Igeu Kabesa	EFC	November 3, 2022	3
Jordanian	Ali AlQaisi	Titan	August 6, 2021	0
N/A	Vacant	Combate Global	N/A	N/A
South Korean	Hae Jin Park	Road FC	December 18, 2022	0
N/A	Vacant	Eagle FC	N/A	N/A
American	Dan Dubuque	CES	September 9, 2022	0
Jordanian	Ali AlQaisi	UAE Warriors	September 17, 2022	1
Indian	Sanjeet Budhwar	Matrix Fight Night	November 18, 2022	1

Bantamweight (135 lb, 61 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
American	Sean O'Malley	UFC	August 19, 2023	0
American	Patchy Mix	Bellator	November 17, 2023	0
American	Demetrious Johnson (Known as Flyweight)	One	August 27, 2022	1
Russian	Oleg Borisov	ACA	March 26, 2022	1
Japanese	Kai Asakura	Rizin FF	December 31, 2023	0
Polish	Jakub Wikłacz	KSW	December 17, 2022	0
English	Liam Gittins	CWFC	November 25, 2023	0
South African	Nkosi Ndebele	Brave CF	December 15, 2023	0
Kazakhstani	Sabit Zhusupov	FNG	October 14, 2022	1
American	John Sweeney	LFA	June 16, 2023	0
Japanese	Tokitaka Nakanishi	Pancrase	December 24, 2023	0
South Korean	Yoo Soo-young	Deep	September 18, 2023	0
Japanese	Tatsuya Ando (Known as Featherweight)	Shooto	March 21, 2022	0
Brazilian	Tiago Pereira	Jungle Fight	June 24, 2023	1
Albanian	Vilson Ndregjoni	CFFC	April 1, 2023	1
South African	Nkazimulo Zulu	EFC	July 13, 2023	0
Dominican	Tommy Garcia	Titan	April 14, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant	Road FC	N/A	N/A
Mexican	David Martinez	Combate Global	May 29, 2021	2
Russian	Renat Khavalov	Eagle FC	March 19, 2021	3
American	Ashiek Ajim	CES	June 17, 2022	0
Pakistani	Uloomi Karim	Matrix Fight Night	November 18, 2022	0

Flyweight (125 lb, 57 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Brazilian	Alexandre Pantoja	UFC	July 8, 2023	1
N/A	Vacant	Bellator	N/A	N/A
American	Jarred Brooks (Known as Strawweight)	One	December 3, 2022	0
Russian	Kurban Gadzhiev	ACA	February 25, 2023	0
Japanese	Kyoji Horiguchi	Rizin FF	December 31, 2023	0
Bangladeshi	Shajidul Haque	CWFC	December 31, 2022	1
Russian	Vartan Asatryan	FNG	February 23, 2022	0
Brazilian	Eduardo Henrique	LFA	November 17, 2023	0
Japanese	Makoto Takahashi	Deep	March 1, 2020	1
Japanese	Rei Tsuruya	Pancrase	December 25, 2022	0
Japanese	Jo Arai (Known as Bantamweight)	Shooto	November 19, 2023	0
Brazilian	Wagner Reis	Jungle Fight	November 25, 2023	0
Russian	Badmatsyren Dorzhiev	CFFC	July 20, 2023	0
South African	Gift Walker	EFC	September 7, 2023	0
Brazilian	Victor Dias	Titan	March 26, 2021	1
N/A	Vacant	Road FC	N/A	N/A
Russian	Irgit Oveenchi	Eagle FC	August 10, 2022	0
American	Mitch Raposo	CES	November 17, 2020	0
Indian	Angad Bisht	Matrix Fight Night	November 18, 2022	0

Strawweight (115 lb, 52 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Japanese	Keito Yamakita	Pancrase	July 18, 2022	0
Japanese	Namiki Kawahara	Deep	August 23, 2020	0
Japanese	Jo Arai (Known as Flyweight)	Shooto	September 19, 2022	1

Women

Women athletes are generally smaller than, and compete at lower weights than their male counterparts.^[6]

Featherweight (145 lb, 66 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
N/A	Vacant	UFC	N/A	N/A
Brazilian	Cris Cyborg	Bellator	January 25, 2020	5
N/A	Vacant	Invicta FC	N/A	N/A
Japanese	Yoko Higashi	Deep Jewels	May 8, 2022	0

Bantamweight (135 lb, 61 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
N/A	Vacant	UFC	N/A	N/A
Brazilian	Talita Bernardo	Invicta FC	January 18, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant	FNG	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	LFA	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	Deep Jewels	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	Pancrase	N/A	N/A
Brazilian	Kelly Ottoni	Jungle Fight	July 31, 2022	0
N/A	Vacant	CFFC	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	EFC	N/A	N/A

Flyweight (125 lb, 57 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Mexican	Alexa Grasso	UFC	March 4, 2023	1
American	Liz Carmouche	Bellator	April 22, 2022	3
Chinese	Xiong Jing Nan (Known as Strawweight)	One	January 20, 2018	7
N/A	Vacant	Invicta FC	January 18, 2023	N/A
N/A	Vacant	LFA	N/A	N/A
Japanese	Rin Nakai	Deep Jewels	May 8, 2022	0
Japanese	Takayo Hashi	Pancrase	October 16, 2021	1
Brazilian	Brena Cardozo	Jungle Fight	October 28, 2023	0
American	Fatima Kline	CFFC	November 3, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant	EFC	N/A	N/A
Canadian	Corinne Laframboise	UAE Warriors	March 26, 2022	0

Strawweight (115 lb, 52 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Chinese	Zhang Weili	UFC	November 12, 2022	1
Thai	Stamp Fairtex (Known as Atomweight)	One	September 30, 2023	0
Irish	Danni McCormack	Invicta FC	March 15, 2023	1
Brazilian	Rose Conceição	LFA	July 7, 2023	0
Japanese	Haruka Hasegawa	Pancrase	April 30, 2023	0
Japanese	Seika Izawa	Deep Jewels	March 15, 2022	0
Brazilian	Faelly Vitória	Jungle Fight	August 26, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant	CFFC	N/A	N/A
Romanian	Alice Ardelean	EFC	March 2, 2023	0
N/A	Vacant	Combate Global	N/A	N/A
N/A	Vacant	Matrix Fight Night	N/A	N/A

Super Atomweight (108 lb, 49 kg or 110 lb, 50 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Japanese	Seika Izawa	Rizin FF	April 17, 2022	1
Japanese	Ayaka Watanabe (110 lb, 50 kg)	Shooto	May 21, 2023	0

Atomweight (105 lb, 47,5 kg)

Name		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
N/A	Vacant	Invicta FC	N/A	N/A
South Korean	Park Si-yoon	Deep Jewels	September 18, 2023	0
Japanese	Chihiro Sawada	Shooto	November 27, 2022	1
South Korean	Shim Yu-ri	Road FC	September 4, 2021	0

Microweight (95 lb, 43 kg)

riaz		Organization	Date	No. of title defenses
Japanese	Saori Oshima	Deep	September 20, 2020	1
Japanese	Aya Murakami	Deep Jewels	September 10, 2023	0

See also

• List of current world boxing champions
• List of current female boxing champions
• List of undefeated mixed martial artists
• Double champions in MMA

References