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. 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 ONE Championship), 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, 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.
Though unofficial, Fight Matrix considered the first MMA lineal champions as follows: 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.
Men Super Heavyweight (over 265 lb, 120 kg, No Limit) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesRonny MarkesKOTCFebruary 4, 20170
Heavyweight (265 lb, 120 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesCiryl GaneUFCSeptember 14, 20260Vadim NemkovPFLDecember 13, 20250N/AVacantONEN/AN/A Evgeniy GoncharovACAMarch 17, 20231 Phil De FriesKSWApril 14, 201814N/AVacantCWFCN/AN/A Pavel DailidkoBrave CFSeptember 28, 20242 Will FleuryOktagonMarch 8, 20251 Arslan BilalovLFAJanuary 16, 20260N/AVacantFNGN/AN/A Roque Martinez DeepJuly 15, 20173N/AVacantJungle FightN/AN/A Bailey SchoenfelderCFFCApril 12, 20240 Matunga Djikasa EFCOctober 6, 20220N/AVacantRoad FCN/AN/AN/AVacantTitanN/AN/AN/AVacantEagle FCN/AN/A Yorgan De CastroCESMay 3, 20240 Eduardo NevesCenturion FCMay 18, 20240
Cruiserweight (225 lb, 102 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defenses N/AVacantONEN/AN/A
Light Heavyweight (205 lb, 93 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defenses Carlos UlbergUFCApril 11, 20260Corey AndersonPFLOctober 3, 20250N/AVacantONEN/AN/AAdlan IbragimovACADecember 15, 20240Bartosz LeśkoKSWJuly 18, 20260N/AVacantRizin FFN/AN/AAndy ClampCWFCMarch 16, 2024 0Erko JunBrave CFSeptember 28, 20240Will FleuryOktagonDecember 29, 20240 Bruno LopesLFASeptember 30, 20221Vagab VagabovFNGOctober 16, 20211N/AVacantPancraseN/AN/AN/AVacantDeepN/AN/ALuke FernandezCFFCDecember 15, 20230JC LamprechtEFCAugust 10, 20230Kim Tae-in Road FCDecember 18, 20220N/AVacantTitan FCN/AN/A Diyar NurgozhayEagle FCAugust 21, 20220 Tarek Suleiman UAE WarriorsMay 3, 20190 Mohamed Said Maalem MMA GP Sep 16, 2023 0 Rafael CarvalhoCenturion FCNov 15, 20230
Middleweight (185 lb, 84 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesSean StricklandUFCMay 9, 20260Costello van SteenisPFLJuly 19, 20251Christian Lee ONENovember 19, 20220Magomedrasul GasanovACAApril 9, 20214Paweł PawlakKSWJune 3, 20232Dario BellandiCWFCNovember 25, 20230N/AVacantBrave CFN/AN/APatrick KinclOktagonFebruary 26, 20223N/AVacantLFAN/AN/AVladimir MineevFNGSeptember 9, 20201Yura NaitoPancraseMarch 21, 20220 João Batista YoshimuraDeepJuly 4, 20210N/AVacantShootoN/AN/A Vitor CostaJungle FightSeptember 30, 20231Nick GalantiCFFCMarch 27, 20260Luke MichaelEFCMarch 5, 20220N/AVacantLUXN/AN/AIn Su HwangRoad FCJuly 3, 20210 Bruno Assis TitanJuly 2, 20210N/AVacantEagle FCN/AN/AGary Balletto Jr.CESJuly 29, 20230 Amir Fazli UAE WarriorsMay 20, 20230 Daniel EmekaAKOAug 19, 20230
Welterweight (170 lb, 77 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesIslam MakhachevUFCNovember 15, 20251Thad JeanPFLJuly 25, 20260Christian LeeONEAugust 26, 20221 Albert TumenovACADecember 24, 20230Adrian BartosińskiKSWApril 22, 20233James SheehanCWFCApril 6, 20240'Luiz Cado Brave CFOctober 19, 20240Ion SurduOktagonJune 8, 20240Vanilto AntunesLFAMarch 23, 20240Dmitry BikrevFNGApril 6, 20194Ryuichiro Sumimura PancraseDecember 24, 20230Yoichiro SatoDeepJuly 14, 20240N/AVacant (Known as Middleweight)ShootoN/AN/AAnderson NascimentoJungle FightMarch 16, 20240N/AVacantCFFCN/AN/A Mark HulmeEFCApril 13, 20231 Martín GonzálezLUXFebruary 13, 20260Will BrooksTitanJune 2, 20230N/AVacant Eagle FCN/AN/AN/AVacant CESN/AN/ATahir AbdullaevUAE WarriorsMay 18, 20240Darkhanbek ErgeshevMatrix Fight NightMarch 31, 20231 Rodrigo LídioCenturion FCAug 24, 20240
Super Lightweight (165 lb, 75 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defenses Eldar EldarovBrave CFApril 19, 20191
Lightweight (155 lb, 70 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesJustin GaethjeUFCJune 14, 20260Usman NurmagomedovPFLOctober 3, 20252Tang KaiONEAugust 26, 20222Abdul-Aziz AbdulvakhabovACASeptember 19, 20203Luiz GustavoRizin FFMay 10, 20260Salahdine ParnasseKSWJune 3, 20233George HardwickCWFCJuly 22, 20222Abdisalam KubanychbekBrave CFFebruary 18, 20232Mateusz LegierskiOktagonNovember 22, 20250Kegan GennrichLFAJanuary 12, 20240Alexander SarnavskiyFNGFebruary 23, 20240Tatsuya SaikaPancraseMarch 31, 20240Kimihiro EtoDeepMarch 9, 20240N/AVacant ShootoN/AN/A Arcangelo Oliveira Jungle FightAugust 26, 20231Robert WatleyCFFCJuly 20, 20231N/AVacantEFCN/AN/A Alejandro Flores GarcíaLUXAugust 14, 20260Park Si-wonRoad FCJuly 23, 20221N/AVacantCombate GlobalN/AN/ARichie LewisTitanJuly 21, 20230Ramin SultanovEagle FCNovember 11, 20230Charles RosaCESMay 3, 20240Amru MagomedovUAE WarriorsOctober 17, 20231 Keweney Lopes MMA GP Jan 27, 2024 0 João OliveiraCenturion FCMar 8, 20240
Featherweight (145 lb, 66 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesAlexander VolkanovskiUFCApril 12, 2025 1Razhabali ShaydullaevPFLSeptember 10, 20260Enkh-Orgil BaatarkhuuONEDecember 6, 20250Islam OmarovACAJuly 21, 20232Razhabali ShaydullaevRizin FFMay 4, 20254Salahdine ParnasseKSWDecember 18, 20212Harry HardwickCWFCMay 25, 20240Nemat AbdrashitovBrave CFJune 23, 20230N/AVacantOktagonN/AN/AElijah JohnsLFAFebruary 9, 20240N/AVacantFNGN/AN/ASuguru NiiPancraseSeptember 24, 20230Jin AoiDeepMarch 9, 20240Keisuke Sasu ShootoJuly 25, 20211Willian SouzaJungle FightJuly 29, 20231Jose PerezCFFCAugust 26, 20221 Igeu KabesaEFCNovember 3, 20223 Irvin AmayaLUXNovember 21, 20250 Ali AlQaisiTitanAugust 6, 20210N/AVacantCombate GlobalN/AN/AHae Jin ParkRoad FCDecember 18, 20220N/AVacantEagle FCN/AN/ADan DubuqueCESSeptember 9, 20220 Samuel BarkUAE WarriorsMay 18, 20240N/AVacantMatrix Fight NightN/AN/AN/AVacantMMA GPN/AN/A
Bantamweight (135 lb, 61 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesPetr YanUFCDecember 6, 20250N/AVacantPFLN/AN/AAvazbek KholmirzaevONEApril 29, 20260Pavel Vitruk ACAApril 19, 20240Danny SabatelloRizin FFDecember 31, 20252Vitalii YakymenkoKSWFebruary 21, 20260Liam GittinsCWFCNovember 25, 2023 1Nicholas HwendeBrave CFDecember 13, 20240N/AVacantOktagonN/A N/AJohn SweeneyLFAJune 16, 20230 Sabit ZhusupovFNGOctober 14, 20221Tokitaka NakanishiPancraseDecember 24, 20230Yoo Soo-youngDeepSeptember 18, 20230Tatsuya AndoShootoMarch 21, 20220Tiago PereiraJungle FightJune 24, 20231Vilson NdregjoniCFFCApril 1, 20231Nkazimulo ZuluEFCJuly 13, 20230N/AVacantLUXN/AN/ATommy GarciaTitanApril 14, 20230N/AVacantRoad FCN/A N/AN/AVacantCombate GlobalN/A N/A Renat KhavalovEagle FCMarch 19, 20213Ashiek AjimCESJune 17, 20220Rabindra DhantMatrix Fight NightAugust 02, 20250 Alfan Rocher-Labes MMA GP Sep 16, 2023 0
Flyweight (125 lb, 57 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesJoshua VanUFCDecember 6, 20252Joshua PacioOneMarch 1, 20240Kurban GadzhievACAFebruary 25, 20231Makoto TakahashiRizin FFJune 6, 20260Shajidul HaqueCWFCDecember 31, 20221Sam CreaseyOktagonApril 20, 20240Eduardo HenriqueLFANovember 17, 20230Vartan AsatryanFNGFebruary 23, 20220Makoto TakahashiDeepMarch 1, 20201Seiichiro ItoPancraseApril 3, 20241Jo AraiShootoNovember 19, 20230Wagner ReisJungle FightNovember 25, 20231Israel GalvanCFFCMarch 8, 20240Nkazimulo ZuluEFCMarch 7, 20240 Paulino SillerLUXFebruary 13, 20260 Victor DiasTitanMarch 26, 20211N/AVacantRoad FCN/AN/AIrgit OveenchiEagle FCAugust 10, 20220Mitch Raposo CESNovember 17, 20200 Iago RibeiroUAE WarriorsMay 18, 20240Angad BishtMatrix Fight NightNovember 18, 20220 Michael Aljarouj MMA GP Mar 4, 2023 1
Strawweight (115 lb, 52 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesYuta MiyazawaPancraseMarch 14, 20260Sukai ChinaDeepMay 4, 20260Koyuru Tanoue ShootoDecember 29, 20242
Women Women athletes are generally smaller than, and compete at lower weights than their male counterparts.
Featherweight (145 lb, 66 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesCris CyborgPFLDecember 10, 20251N/AVacantInvicta FCN/AN/AYoko HigashiDeep JewelsMay 8, 20220
Bantamweight (135 lb, 61 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesKayla HarrisonUFCJune 7, 20250Talita BernardoInvicta FCJanuary 18, 20231N/AVacantFNGN/AN/AN/AVacantLFAN/AN/AN/AVacantDeep JewelsN/AN/AN/AVacantPancraseN/AN/AKelly OttoniJungle FightJuly 31, 20220N/AVacantCFFCN/AN/AN/AVacantEFCN/AN/A
Flyweight (125 lb, 57 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesNatália SilvaUFCOctober 3, 20260N/AVacant PFLN/AN/AN/AVacantInvicta FCN/AN/AShannon ClarkLFAFebruary 23, 20240Rin NakaiDeep JewelsMay 8, 20220Fumika WatanabePancraseMarch 9, 20250Elora DanaJungle FightMarch 26, 20232Fatima KlineCFFCNovember 3, 20230N/AVacantEFCN/AN/AN/AVacantLUXN/AN/ACorinne LaframboiseUAE WarriorsMarch 26, 20220
Strawweight (115 lb, 52 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesMackenzie DernUFCOctober 25, 20251N/AVacantOne June 23, 20260N/AVacantInvicta FCJuly 16, 20240 Mallory MartinOktagonOctober 10, 20241Rose ConceiçãoLFAJuly 7, 20230Machi Fukuda Deep JewelsSeptember 7, 2025 0Miki MotonoPancraseDecember 21, 20250Emi Fujino ShootoMay 18, 20240Laura VasconcelosJungle FightJuly 20, 20240Fatima KlineCFFCFebruary 9, 20240N/AVacantEFCJuly 15, 20240Melany GómezLUXMay 29, 20260N/AVacantCombate GlobalN/AN/AN/AVacantMatrix Fight NightN/AN/A
Super Atomweight (108 lb, 49 kg or 110 lb, 50 kg) NameOrganizationDateNo. of title defensesN/AVacantRizin FFN/AN/AAyaka Watanabe ShootoMay 21, 20230