Sports & Fitness

The Most Title Defenses in UFC History

Successful UFC title defenses over a whole career, with every reign and every division added together, as of October 15, 2026. Jon Jones holds the record with 12, one more than Demetrious Johnson’s run of 11 straight at flyweight, and three of the top 10 are women.

Jon Jones fighting Stipe Miocic at UFC 309

Pictured: Jon Jones against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024, the 12th successful defense of his career; #1 with 12 title defenses.

Rank Fighter Title defenses Defenses by division Main division Gender UFC title-fight wins Title reign years Status
1Jon Jones12Light heavyweight 11, heavyweight 1Light HeavyweightMen162011–2025Active
2Demetrious Johnson11Flyweight 11FlyweightMen122012–2018Retired
3Anderson Silva10Middleweight 10MiddleweightMen112006–2013Retired
4Georges St-Pierre9Welterweight 9WelterweightMen132006–2017Retired
4Valentina Shevchenko9Women’s flyweight 9Women's FlyweightWomen112018–2026Active
6Amanda Nunes8Women’s bantamweight 6, women’s featherweight 2Women's BantamweightWomen112016–2023Active
7Matt Hughes7Welterweight 7WelterweightMen92001–2006Retired
7José Aldo7Featherweight 7FeatherweightMen82010–2017Retired
9Ronda Rousey6Women’s bantamweight 6Women's BantamweightWomen62012–2015Retired
9Alexander Volkanovski6Featherweight 6FeatherweightMen82019–presentActive
11Tito Ortiz5Light heavyweight 5Light HeavyweightMen62000–2003Retired
11Joanna Jędrzejczyk5Women’s strawweight 5Women's StrawweightWomen62015–2017Retired
11Kamaru Usman5Welterweight 5WelterweightMen62019–2022Active
11Israel Adesanya5Middleweight 5MiddleweightMen82019–2023Active
11Islam Makhachev5Lightweight 4, welterweight 1LightweightMen72022–presentActive

As of October 15, 2026. The UFC’s own record book tracks title-fight wins (the “UFC title-fight wins” column), not defenses, so this list counts defenses the way the UFC and ESPN report them in fight coverage: a win in a title fight by the fighter who already held that belt. Fights that won a title (a first capture, a vacant or interim belt, or the interim champion’s unification win) are not defenses, and neither are draws that kept the belt or results later overturned. Defenses are added up across separate reigns and across divisions; the “Defenses by division” column shows the split, and the Main division filter uses the division with the most defenses. Jones is often credited with 11 (light heavyweight only) or 13 (counting his July 2017 win over Daniel Cormier, which was overturned to a no contest after a failed drug test); 12 is his light heavyweight 11 plus one heavyweight defense. Only UFC titles count, so José Aldo’s WEC defenses and Ronda Rousey’s Strikeforce reign are excluded. Fighters tied on defenses share a rank and are listed by the year of their first UFC title; seven more champions have 4 defenses (Frank Shamrock, Pat Miletich, Chuck Liddell, Daniel Cormier, Stipe Miocic, Zhang Weili and Alexandre Pantoja). Title reign years run from a fighter’s first UFC title to the last one they held. “Active” means the fighter has not retired or has come out of retirement; Volkanovski is booked to defend his featherweight title against Movsar Evloev at UFC 333 on October 24, 2026.[1][2][3]

The Top 10

#1

Jon Jones — 12 defenses

Jones won the light heavyweight title in March 2011, aged 23, and defended it eight times in his first reign, breaking Tito Ortiz’s division record, before he was stripped in April 2015 over legal issues.[1][3] He added three more light heavyweight defenses in 2019–20, then moved up, won the vacant heavyweight title from Ciryl Gane in March 2023 and stopped Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024.[3] His 16 title-fight wins are the most in the UFC’s record book.[2] He vacated the heavyweight title and retired in June 2025, then re-entered the UFC’s drug-testing pool, but has not fought since.[3]

#2

Demetrious Johnson — 11 defenses

Johnson was the UFC’s first flyweight champion and defended the title 11 straight times between January 2013 and October 2017, still the record for consecutive UFC title defenses.[4] The 11th, an armbar of Ray Borg in the fifth round of UFC 216, broke the record of 10 he had shared with Anderson Silva.[4] He lost the belt to Henry Cejudo on a split decision in August 2018, later won a ONE Championship title, and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2026.[4]

#3

Anderson Silva — 10 defenses

Silva won the middleweight title in October 2006 and defended it 10 times in a row, a UFC record at the time, before Chris Weidman knocked him out in July 2013.[1][5] His reign lasted 2,457 days, the longest in UFC history.[5] His 11 title-fight wins are tied for fourth in the UFC’s record book.[2]

#4 (tie)

Georges St-Pierre — 9 defenses

All nine of St-Pierre’s defenses came in his second welterweight reign, from Jon Fitch in August 2008 to Johny Hendricks in November 2013, after which he gave up the belt and stepped away.[1] He came back to win the middleweight title from Michael Bisping at UFC 217 in November 2017, vacated it a month later for health reasons, and retired in February 2019.[6] His 13 title-fight wins are second only to Jones.[2]

#4 (tie)

Valentina Shevchenko — 9 defenses

Shevchenko holds the record for a woman: seven straight women’s flyweight defenses from June 2019 to June 2022, then two more after she won the title back from Alexa Grasso in September 2024, against Manon Fiorot in May 2025 and Zhang Weili in November 2025.[1][7] She vacated the title on September 5, 2026 because of shoulder and back injuries expected to keep her out for up to a year; the UFC has said she will get a title fight when she returns.[7]

#6

Amanda Nunes — 8 defenses

Nunes made five women’s bantamweight defenses in her first reign (2016–21), starting with a first-round stoppage of Ronda Rousey, plus two at women’s featherweight while she held both belts.[1][8] She lost the bantamweight title to Julianna Peña in December 2021, won it back in July 2022 and defended it once more before retiring in June 2023.[1] She came out of retirement in 2025, but her UFC 324 title fight with Kayla Harrison in January 2026 was postponed when Harrison needed neck surgery.[8]

#7 (tie)

Matt Hughes — 7 defenses

Hughes won the welterweight title from Carlos Newton in November 2001 and defended it five times before losing to B.J. Penn at UFC 46 in January 2004.[1][9] He won the vacant title against Georges St-Pierre later that year and defended it twice more, against Frank Trigg and Penn, until St-Pierre beat him in November 2006.[1][9] He entered the UFC Hall of Fame in 2010.[9]

#7 (tie)

José Aldo — 7 defenses

Aldo became the UFC’s first featherweight champion in November 2010, when his WEC title was folded into the UFC, and defended it seven straight times, including two wins over Chad Mendes, until Conor McGregor knocked him out in December 2015.[1][10] He later held the title again from 2016 to 2017 without a defense.[1] He retired for a second time after a loss at UFC 315 in May 2025.[10]

#9 (tie)

Ronda Rousey — 6 defenses

Rousey was named the first UFC women’s bantamweight champion in December 2012 and defended the belt six times, from Liz Carmouche in the first women’s fight in UFC history in February 2013 to Bethe Correia in August 2015.[1][12] Holly Holm took the title from her in November 2015.[1] In May 2026 she returned for one fight outside the UFC, submitting Gina Carano in 17 seconds, and then retired again.[12]

#9 (tie)

Alexander Volkanovski — 6 defenses

Volkanovski defended the featherweight title five times after taking it from Max Holloway in December 2019, then lost it to Ilia Topuria in February 2024.[1] He won the vacant title from Diego Lopes in April 2025 and beat Lopes again at UFC 325 in Sydney on January 31, 2026, his sixth defense across the two reigns.[11] He is the only reigning champion in the top 10, and he defends the title next against Movsar Evloev at UFC 333 on October 24, 2026.[11]

UFC MMA Champions Records All-time

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, “List of UFC champions” (read October 15, 2026): per-reign defense lists for every division, the “Most consecutive title defenses” and “Most wins in title bouts” tables (both based on Fightmatrix), and the current champions table. Career totals here were added up from the per-reign lists; the draws that kept a belt (Tyron Woodley, Frankie Edgar) and Jones’s overturned 2017 result are not counted.
  2. UFC Stats, career stat leaders, “Title Fight Wins” (statleaders.ufc.com): Jon Jones 16, Georges St-Pierre 13, Demetrious Johnson 12, Anderson Silva, Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko 11, Matt Hughes 9, José Aldo, Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya 8. The UFC publishes no title-defense category.
  3. UFC.com, Jon Jones athlete page (eight defenses in his first reign; UFC 214 overturned; UFC 285 and UFC 309; vacated title June 2025); ESPN, “Jon Jones to defend title vs. Stipe Miocic at UFC 309” (11 light heavyweight defenses; Miocic’s four heavyweight defenses); Sportskeeda, “How many title defenses does Jon Jones have?” (11 on record after the no contest); BetMGM, “Top 5 UFC champions with most title defenses” (the 13 count); Sports Illustrated, “Jon Jones officially ends retirement as he returns to UFC testing pool”; video: UFC, “Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic | FULL FIGHT”.
  4. Guinness World Records, “Most consecutive UFC title defences”; Fox Sports, “Demetrious Johnson mauls Wilson Reis to tie all-time record for UFC title defenses”; Fightful, “Demetrious Johnson retains title, gets all-time classic finish at UFC 216”; UFC.com, “Demetrious Johnson named to UFC Hall of Fame class of 2026”; Hypebeast (July 9, 2026 induction); video: UFC, “Demetrious Johnson Named To 2026 UFC Hall of Fame Class”.
  5. Sportskeeda, “10 most dominant UFC champions of all time” (2,457-day reign, 10 defenses, 2006–2013); Wikipedia, “List of UFC champions”; video: UFC, “Greatest Striker In UFC History?? | Anderson Silva Marathon”.
  6. Sports Illustrated, “Georges St-Pierre will retire from MMA” (February 2019); MMASucka, “Georges St-Pierre vacates middleweight title” (December 2017); video: UFC, “Georges St-Pierre vs Nick Diaz | FULL FIGHT | UFC Classics”.
  7. Bleacher Report and theScore, “Shevchenko to vacate title; Silva-Wang set for UFC 332” (September 5, 2026); Low Kick MMA, “Why did Valentina Shevchenko vacate the UFC title?”; MMASucka, “Valentina Shevchenko vacates UFC title despite 9 defenses”; Cageside Press, UFC 332 result (Natália Silva def. Wang Cong for the vacant title, October 3, 2026); video: UFC, “Valentina Shevchenko’s DOMINANT Title Reign”.
  8. Sportskeeda, “How many title defenses does Amanda Nunes have?” (five at bantamweight and two at featherweight, written before her 2023 defense against Irene Aldana); ESPN, “Amanda Nunes to unretire, calls out winner of Peña-Harrison”; ESPN, “Report: Harrison has neck surgery; title bout vs. Nunes postponed”; video: UFC, “Amanda Nunes vs Ronda Rousey | FULL FIGHT”.
  9. Sherdog, “UFC inducts Hughes into Hall of Fame” (seven successful title defenses; five, then two); BetMGM, “Top 5 UFC champions with most title defenses”; video: UFC Eurasia (the UFC’s Russian-language channel), Matt Hughes vs Frank Trigg 2.
  10. CBS Sports, “UFC 315 results: Jose Aldo announces second retirement after loss to Aiemann Zahabi”; Wikipedia, “List of UFC champions” (seven consecutive defenses, November 2010–December 2015); video: UFC, “UFC Classic: José Aldo vs Chad Mendes 2 | FULL FIGHT”.
  11. UFC.com, “UFC 325 scorecards: Volkanovski vs Lopes 2”; theScore, UFC 325 report (first defense of his second reign, sixth overall); PostWrestling, “UFC 325: Alexander Volkanovski beats Diego Lopes in rematch to retain featherweight title”; The National, “Volkanovski vs Evloev and Yan vs Dvalishvili trilogy bout set for UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi” (October 24, 2026); video: UFC, “Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes 2 | FULL FIGHT”.
  12. Al Jazeera, “Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano fight: Rousey wins with a 17-second submission” (May 17, 2026); ESPN, “Ronda Rousey submits Gina Carano by armbar in 17 seconds”; video: UFC, “Ronda Rousey Secures Sixth Title Defense With First-Round KO | UFC 190, 2015”.
  13. Ranks 11–15: Wikipedia, “List of UFC champions” (Tito Ortiz, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya, five consecutive defenses each; Islam Makhachev, four at lightweight); UFC.com, “UFC 330: Islam Makhachev vs Ian Machado Garry results” (first welterweight defense, August 15, 2026); ESPN, “Pyfer finishes Adesanya in career-best win” (March 28, 2026), and Sky Sports, Adesanya “in no mind to retire”; AllAfrica, “Kamaru Usman loses title rematch to Du Plessis” (July 2026).