In June, two new UFC champions were crowned in a single night.
Justin Gaethje beat Ilia Topuria to win the lightweight title, and Ciryl Gane stopped Alex Pereira to take the interim heavyweight title. Both fights took place at UFC Freedom 250, on the White House lawn. This UFC champions list breaks down every current UFC champion, division by division, and you can also check the official ESPN divisional rankings for a running update.
Complete UFC Champions List At A Glance
The UFC has twelve divisions, eight for men and four for women.
One division is currently empty. Here’s the full UFC champions list before we go into more detail.
| Division | Champion | Title Won |
|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight (265) | Tom Aspinall (undisputed) | June 21, 2025 |
| Heavyweight (265) | Ciryl Gane (interim) | June 14, 2026 |
| Light Heavyweight (205) | Carlos Ulberg | April 11, 2026 |
| Middleweight (185) | Khamzat Chimaev | August 16, 2025 |
| Welterweight (170) | Islam Makhachev | November 15, 2025 |
| Lightweight (155) | Justin Gaethje | June 14, 2026 |
| Featherweight (145) | Alexander Volkanovski | April 12, 2025 |
| Bantamweight (135) | Petr Yan | December 6, 2025 |
| Flyweight (125) | Joshua Van | December 6, 2025 |
| Women’s Bantamweight (135) | Kayla Harrison | June 7, 2025 |
| Women’s Flyweight (125) | Valentina Shevchenko | September 14, 2024 |
| Women’s Strawweight (115) | Mackenzie Dern | October 25, 2025 |
| Women’s Featherweight (145) | Vacant | — |
Men’s UFC Champions List By Division
Heavyweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Tom Aspinall (Undisputed) And Ciryl Gane (Interim)
Tom Aspinall became the undisputed heavyweight champion when Jon Jones retired in June 2025.
He has not competed since. He got hurt in an accidental poke from Ciryl Gane last October, and he’s been out of action for over a year now.
The injury left the UFC with a heavyweight title problem.
Gane stepped in against Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 in June 2026 and won with a second-round TKO. He wants to face Aspinall once he comes back, and he’s suggested Paris as a possible location for that fight.
Light Heavyweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Carlos Ulberg
Carlos Ulberg won the vacant 205-pound title in one of the most dramatic finishes of the year.
In April 2026, he tore his knee during a fight against Jiří Procházka at UFC 327. Despite the injury, he hit Procházka with a left hook that knocked him out. The title opened up after Pereira left to chase heavyweight gold.
Middleweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev remains undefeated at 15-0.
He won the middleweight title from Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 in August 2025 by unanimous decision. His wrestling style has made him the most avoided fighter in the division. No title defence has been booked yet.
Welterweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev moved up from lightweight and beat Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 in November 2025.
That win made him the pound-for-pound top fighter in the sport, according to most rankings. His 16-fight winning streak matches Anderson Silva’s record. He stepped down from lightweight before moving up, and welterweight fans can also read our breakdown of Conor McGregor’s return to the 170-pound division at UFC 329.
Lightweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Justin Gaethje
Justin Gaethje finally won the undisputed lightweight title at UFC Freedom 250.
He first took the interim title by beating Paddy Pimblett in January 2026 and then ended Ilia Topuria’s undefeated streak in June by stopping him in the fourth round. It was Gaethje’s first undisputed title in his long UFC career.
Featherweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Alexander Volkanovski
Alexander Volkanovski defended his belt against Diego Lopes at UFC 325 in February 2026.
The judges scored it a clean unanimous decision, a rare clean scorecard in a year where officiating has become its own storyline (our report on Henry Cejudo’s call for Herb Dean’s suspension over UFC officiating covers the controversy in detail). He is tied for the most featherweight title wins in UFC history. Volkanovski remains the most active champion on this UFC champions list right now.
Bantamweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Petr Yan
Petr Yan reclaimed the bantamweight title from Merab Dvalishvili in December 2025.
It marked his second reign as champion, following an earlier title loss years before. He enters this stretch of 2026 looking to avoid the mistakes that cost him the belt the first time. No defense has followed yet.
Bantamweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Petr Yan
Joshua Van knocked out Alexandre Pantoja in the first round at UFC 323 in December 2025.
At 24, he became one of the youngest champions in UFC history. A knee injury forced him to withdraw from a planned title defense against Tatsuro Taira, pushing that fight to UFC 328.
Women’s UFC Champions List By Division
Women’s Bantamweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Kayla Harrison
Kayla Harrison, a two-time Olympic judo gold medalist, submitted Julianna Peña at UFC 316 in June 2025.
She took over a division that had been searching for direction. Her judo-based grappling gives her a different look than most bantamweight contenders have faced before.
Women’s Flyweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Valentina Shevchenko
Valentina Shevchenko defended her title against Alexa Grasso in September 2024, then beat Zhang Weili by unanimous decision in November 2025.
That win denied Zhang a bid to become a two-division champion. Shevchenko remains one of the most technically complete strikers in women’s MMA.
Women’s Strawweight Champion In The UFC Champions List: Mackenzie Dern
Mackenzie Dern won the vacant strawweight title at UFC 320 in October 2025, after Zhang Weili gave up the belt to chase the flyweight crown.
Dern’s jiu-jitsu background makes her a submission threat against anyone in the division. Zhang is expected to return and challenge for her old title later this year.
Women’s Featherweight: Vacant On The UFC Champions List
The women’s featherweight division has sat empty since Amanda Nunes retired in 2023.
The UFC has not rushed to crown a new champion, since the weight class has never had deep contender numbers. Talent is slowly developing, and a title fight could return before the end of 2026.
The Real Story Behind The UFC Champions List
Most articles just list the names and move on. Here is the detail they miss.
Of the eleven active champions on this UFC champions list right now, only two have defended their title even once: Volkanovski and Shevchenko. Nine champions are sitting on zero defenses.
That is not normal for the UFC. Historic reigns from Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, and Georges St-Pierre were built on ten or more defenses each. What we are watching in 2026 is closer to a changing of the guard across nearly every division at once.
This matters for fans trying to predict what happens next. A champion with zero defenses has not been tested yet. Betting on a long reign right now is riskier than it would have been five years ago.
How Interim Titles Work On The UFC Champions List
An interim title gets created when an undisputed champion cannot defend the belt, usually due to injury. Ciryl Gane’s heavyweight belt is a current example.
Aspinall holds the real title, but he has been out for over a year with an eye injury. Interim champions are not considered lesser titleholders inside the UFC. The only requirement is that the interim champion eventually fights the undisputed titleholder to unify the belts.
What’s Next For The UFC Champions List
Gane and Aspinall are expected to unify the heavyweight title later in 2026, possibly in Paris. Gaethje will look for his first defense as an undisputed champion, with Topuria reportedly eyeing a rematch or a jump to welterweight.
Zhang Weili is expected to challenge Mackenzie Dern for the strawweight belt she once held twice. Carlos Ulberg’s knee injury will decide his light heavyweight timeline. None of these matchups are locked in yet, but each one carries real stakes.
Final Takeaway On The UFC Champions List
The UFC champions list for 2026 looks different from any recent year. Nearly every belt has changed hands within the past twelve months, and most champions have not been tested with a single defense.
If you are tracking the sport right now, treat every current title as provisional. The next twelve months will decide which of these champions builds a real reign, and which ones turn out to be one-fight wonders.
