The undefeated UFC champions
Israel Adesanya of New Zealand celebrates after defeating Robert Whittaker of Australia during the middleweight title bout at UFC 243 in Melbourne on October 6, 2019. Credit: AFP via Getty Images/ASANKA BRENDON RATNAYAKE
The list of men and women to win UFC championships, while growing each year, remains a relatively small group when compared with the amount of people who have competed for the mixed martial arts promotion.
But there's an even more elite group within this group -- those who won a UFC title before ever suffering their first defeat. Those men and women to reign as undefeated champions are listed below in chronological order.
Mark Coleman
Mark Coleman became the first UFC heavyweight champion when he submitted Dan Severn at UFC 12 in 1997. The win kept Coleman undefeated at 6-0, with all of his fights taking place in the UFC. He previously had won the tournaments at UFC 10 and 11. Coleman lost his next four fights.
Randy Couture
Randy Couture, who had won the UFC 13 heavyweight tournament, won a decision over Maurice Smith at UFC Japan (sometimes called UFC 15.5) in 1997 to win the heavyweight title and go to 4-0. He was stripped of his championship title the following month after a contract dispute. Couture lost his next two fights in different promotions.
Tim Sylvia
Tim Sylvia was the lesser regarded B-side of his title fight against champion Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 41 in 2003. After nearly being submitted, Sylvia stopped Rodriguez in the first round to win the UFC heavyweight title with a 15-0 record (2-0 in the UFC). Sylvia won his next fight against Gan McGee but would relinquish his title a short time later after a positive test for steroids.
Rashad Evans
Rashad Evans became the third “Ultimate Fighter” winner to win a UFC title when he beat another “TUF” winner in Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 for the light heavyweight title in 2008. That put Evans at 13-0-1 (8-0-1 in the UFC), the one draw coming in his 11th career fight against Tito Ortiz in 2007. After winning the title, Evans lost his next fight by second-round knockout to Lyoto Machida.
Lyoto Machida
Lyoto Machida celebrates his second-round knockout victory over Rashad Evans during their UFC light heavyweight title fight at UFC 98 on May 23, 2009 in Las Vegas. Credit: AP/Eric Jamison
When Lyoto Machida won the light heavyweight title from Rashad Evans at UFC 98 in 2009, the “Lyoto Machida Era” was set to begin. It lasted two fights. Machida won the title to go to 15-0, made it to 16-0 (8-0 in the UFC) with a unanimous-decision win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 104, then lost to Rua in the rematch at UFC 113.
Cain Velasquez
Nine fights into his career, Cain Velasquez became the undefeated UFC heavyweight champion in 2010. He stopped Brock Lesnar in the first round at UFC 121 to go 7-0 in the UFC. He lost his next fight to Junior dos Santos, then won four in a row, including getting his title back from dos Santos.
Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey was installed as the UFC champion when the promotion launched its women’s bantamweight division at the end of 2012. She was 6-0 and the last Strikeforce women’s champion. Rousey won the first female fight in UFC history against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 in 2013, then won five more in a row, with only one lasting beyond the first round. Her first loss came against Holly Holm at UFC 193.
Chris Weidman
Chris Weidman became the new UFC middleweight champion after knocking out Anderson Silva at UFC 162 in Las Vegas on July 6, 2013. Credit: Mario Gonzalez
Chris Weidman became the first UFC fighter to defeat Anderson Silva and the only MMA fighter ever to knock out Anderson Silva when the Long Islander won the middleweight title at UFC 162 in 2013. That win made Weidman 10-0 in his career (6-0 in the UFC), and he would defend his title successfully three times – the second longest streak in UFC middleweight history behind Silva – before his first loss in December 2015.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Joanna Jedrzejczyk defeated champion Carla Esparza via second-round knockout for the women’s strawweight title at UFC 185 in 2015. Jedrzejczyk improved to 9-0 (3-0 in the UFC) and went on to make five successful title defenses before losing to Rose Namajunas via first-round KO at UFC 217.
Holly Holm
Holly Holm knocked out Ronda Rousey to win the women's bantamweight title at UFC 193 on Nov. 15, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. Credit: Getty Images/Quinn Rooney
Holly Holm was a world champion boxer and kickboxer before transitioning to MMA in 2011. She won her first 10 fights, the last of which being the shocking knockout victory over Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in 2015. Holm’s win over Rousey made her 3-0 in the UFC. She then lost her next three bouts.
Cody Garbrandt
Cody Garbrandt became the bantamweight champion when he beat Dominick Cruz at UFC 207 in 2016 to move to 11-0 in his career, 6-0 in the UFC. Garbrandt lost his next two fights: a title defense against T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 217 and the rematch at UFC 227.
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov won the lightweight title at UFC 223 in Brooklyn's Barclays Center on April 7, 2018. Credit: Mario Gonzalez
UFC 223 fight week in April 2018 had its share of drama, but when it came time for the fights, Khabib Nurmagomedov did what he always had done: win. The Russian beat Wantagh’s Al Iaquinta for the lightweight title to go 26-0 as a pro fighter (10-0 in the UFC). He won his next fight, a fourth-round submission of Conor McGregor at UFC 229, which ended with more drama than their previous encounter six months earlier.
Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya entered UFC 243 on Oct. 5, 2019, as the interim middleweight champion. He left Australia as the undisputed, and undefeated, UFC middleweight champion by knocking out Robert Whittaker in the second round. The Nigerian-born, New Zealand-based Adesanya landed dropped Whittaker in the final seconds of the first round with a right hook, then ended the fight in the second round with a left hook.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
