UFC champions history: Champions in multiple weight divisions

Though many have had the opportunity, only seven fighters in UFC history have won UFC titles in multiple weight classes.

Randy Couture

First title: UFC heavyweight championship

Randy Couture won a majority decision over Maurice Smith at UFC Japan on Dec. 21, 1997, to become the heavyweight champion for the first time. He would win that title three separate times.

Second title: UFC light heavyweight championship

Entering UFC 44 against Tito Ortiz as the interim light heavyweight champion, Couture unified the titles with a unanimous decision on Sept. 26, 2003. He would win the 205-pound title a second time the following year.

BJ Penn

First title: UFC welterweight championship

BJ Penn submitted Matt Hughes in the first round at UFC 46 to win the 170-pound title on Jan. 31, 2004.

Second title: UFC lightweight championship

Four years later, Penn submitted Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to win the 155-pound title on Jan. 19, 2008.

Conor McGregor

First title: UFC featherweight championship

Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194 on Dec. 12, 2015, to win the featherweight title.

Second title: UFC lightweight championship

McGregor, the reigning featherweight champion at the time, took Eddie Alvarez into the second round before stopping him via strikes at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12, 2016, to add the UFC lightweight title to his resume. McGregor became the first fighter to hold UFC titles in multiple divisions at the same time.

Georges St-Pierre

First title: UFC welterweight championship

St-Pierre first won the title on Nov. 18, 2006 against Matt Hughes. He lost it to Matt Serra the following year, then won it back on April 19, 2008. GSP then went on an historic run as welterweight champion, defending the belt nine times before vacating the title in November 2013 to take a break from the sport.

Second title: UFC middleweight championship

St-Pierre returned from a four-year hiatus and submitted Michael Bisping via rear naked choke in the third round to win the middleweight title at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 4, 2017. St-Pierre became the fourth fighter to win title in two UFC weight divisions.

Daniel Cormier

First title: UFC light heavyweight championship

Daniel Cormier claimed the vacant title with a third-round submission of Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 on May 23, 2015.

Second title: UFC heavyweight championship

Late in the first round at UFC 226, Cormier dropped Stipe Miocic with an elbow out of the clinch, then finished the longest-reigning heavyweight champ in UFC history with strikes with 27 seconds left. Cormier became the second fighter in UFC history to hold titles in multiple weight classes at the same time.

Amanda Nunes

First title: UFC women's bantamweight championship: In the main event of UFC 200, Amanda Nunes announced herself with a first-round stoppage of Miesha Tate to take the women's bantamweight title on July 9, 2016. She defended it three times before becoming a double champ.

Second title: UFC women's featherweight championship: Nunes knocked out Cris Cyborg 51 seconds into the first round at UFC 232 on Dec. 29, 2018, ending the featherweight champion's 13-year unbeaten run in spectacular fashion.

Henry Cejudo

First title: UFC flyweight championship

Cejudo ended Demetrious Johnson's six-year reign as king of the flyweights with a split decision victory at UFC 227 on Aug. 4, 2018, in Los Angeles.

Second title: UFC bantamweight championship

Cejudo beat Marlon Moraes for the vacant bantamweight title at UFC 238 on June 8 in Chicago. Moraes put it on Cejudo in the first round, but Cejudo adjusted to return the favor in the next two rounds, earning the TKO with nine seconds left in the third.

Jon Jones

First title: UFC light heavyweight championship

The long reign of Jon Jones as 205-pound king began in Newark, New Jersey, on March 19, 2011, at UFC 128. On this night, Jones hit Mauricio "Shogun" Rua seemingly at will with knees, punches, elbows and leg kicks until Rua finally fell to the canvas in the third round. Jones never lost a title fight in his decade-long run, though he did have one win overturned into a no contest and was stripped of the belt multiple times for various reasons.

Second title: UFC heavyweight championship

After a three-year layoff, Jones debuted in the heavyweight division by submitting Ciryl Gane in just over two minutes at UFC 285 on March 4, 2023, to claim the vacant title.

By Mark La Monica

mark.lamonica@newsday.comLaMonicaMark

Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.