Current UFC light heavyweight champion

Some of the most iconic fighters in UFC history have plied their trade in the light heavyweight division since its inception in 1997.

Originally named the middleweight championship, the belt became associated with some of the most popular fighters in the UFC's first golden era, with the likes of Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson trading the belt throughout the 2000s.

In the 2010s the title was dominated by Jon Jones, as he emerged from obscurity to embark on a legendary UFC run, recording an unprecedented 11 title defences across his two reigns at 205lbs.

Current UFC light heavyweight champion

Carlos Ulberg became just the fifth Oceanian fighter to hold UFC gold when he defeated Jiri Prochazka via first-round knockout in the main event of UFC 327.

A former rugby league player in his native New Zealand, Ulberg signed with the UFC in 2020 after securing a first-round KO of Bruno Oliveira on Dana White's Contender Series.

After losing his first fight in the Octagon, Ulberg reeled off an impressive nine-fight win streak topped with a KO of former title challenger Dominick Reyes to earn a shot at the gold.

Against Prochazka Ulberg appeared to suffer a serious knee injury early in the fight but remained dangerous on the back foot and took advantage of the ex-champion's aggression and landed an inch-perfect left hook to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Title Won	Defeated Jiri Prochazka at UFC 327 (KO) - April 2026
Title Defences (current reign)	0

Previous UFC light heavyweight champions

• Frank Shamrock (December 1997 - November 1999; four defences)

• Tito Ortiz (April 2000 - September 2003; five defences)

• Randy Couture (June 2003 - September 2003; interim)

• Randy Couture (September 2003 - January 2004)

• Vitor Belfort (January 2004 - August 2004)

• Randy Couture (August 2004 - April 2005)

• Chuck Liddell (April 2005 - May 2007; four defences)

• Rampage Jackson (May 2007 - July 2008; one defence)

• Forrest Griffin (July 2008 - December 2008)

• Rashad Evans (December 2008 - May 2009)

• Lyoto Machida (May 2009 - May 2010; one defence)

• Shogun Rua (May 2010 - March 2011)

• Jon Jones (March 2011 - April 2015; eight defences, stripped)

• Daniel Cormier (April 2015 - December 2018; three defences)

• Jon Jones (April 2016 - November 2016; interim, stripped)

• Jon Jones (December 2018 - August 2020; three defences, vacated)

• Jan Blachowicz (September 2020 - October 2021; one defence)

• Glover Teixeira (October 2021 - June 2022)

• Jiri Prochazka (June 2022 - November 2022; vacated)

• Jamahal Hill (January 2023 - July 2023; vacated)

• Alex Pereira (November 2023 - March 2025; three defences)

• Magomed Ankalaev (March 2025 - October 2025)

• Alex Pereira (October 2025 - February 2026; vacated)