Lightweight Championship
146 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg) The Lightweight Title was known as the Bantamweight Title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001). The Strikeforce Lightweight Title was unified (perhaps unofficially) with the UFC Lightweight Title on April 20, 2013, when Benson Henderson defeated Gilbert Melendez at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez.[23]
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jens Pulverdef. Caol Uno |
UFC 30 Atlantic City, NJ, USA |
Feb 23, 2001 | 393 days | 1. def. Dennis Hallman at UFC 33 on Sep 28, 2001 2. def. B.J. Penn at UFC 35 on Jan 11, 2002 |
| Pulver was stripped of the title on March 23, 2002, when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute.[1] | |||||
| B.J. Penn and Caol Uno fought to a draw on February 28, 2003, at UFC 41 in Atlantic City, NJ, USA in the finale of a 4-man tournament for the vacant title.[1] | |||||
| 2 | Sean Sherk def. Kenny Florian |
UFC 64 Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Oct 14, 2006 | 420 days | 1. def. Hermes França at UFC 73 on Jul 7, 2007 |
| Sherk was stripped of the title on December 8, 2007 after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.[24] | |||||
| 3 | B.J. Penn def. Joe Stevenson |
UFC 80 Newcastle, England, UK |
Jan 19, 2008 | 812 days | 1. def. Sean Sherk at UFC 84 on May 24, 2008 2. def. Kenny Florian at UFC 101 on Aug 8, 2009 3. def. Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 on Dec 12, 2009 |
| 4 | Frankie Edgar |
UFC 112 Abu Dhabi, UAE |
Apr 10, 2010 | 687 days | 1. def. B.J. Penn at UFC 118 on Aug 28, 2010 2. drew with Gray Maynard at UFC 125 on Jan 1, 2011 3. def. Gray Maynard at UFC 136 on Oct 8, 2011 |
| 5 | Benson Henderson |
UFC 144 Saitama, Japan |
Feb 26, 2012 | 552 days | 1. def. Frankie Edgar at UFC 150 on Aug 11, 2012 2. def. Nate Diaz at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz on Dec 8, 2012 3. def. Gilbert Melendez at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez on Apr 20, 2013 |
| 6 | Anthony Pettis |
UFC 164 Milwaukee, WI, USA |
Aug 31, 2013 | 560 days | 1. def. Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181 on Dec 6, 2014 |
| 7 |  Rafael dos Anjos |
UFC 185 Dallas, TX, USA |
Mar 14, 2015 | 481 days | 1. def. Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs. Cerrone 2 on Dec 19, 2015 |
| 8 | Eddie Alvarez |
UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Alvarez Las Vegas, NV, USA |
Jul 7, 2016 | 128 days | |
| 9 |  Conor McGregor |
UFC 205 New York City, NY, USA |
Nov 12, 2016 | 294 days (incumbent) |
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