UFC Heavyweight Champions: Complete Historical List

The UFC heavyweight championship has changed hands more than a dozen times since Mark Coleman became the division's first titleholder in 1997, per ESPN's historical records.

Coleman won a tournament at UFC 10 to claim the inaugural belt, launching a lineage that would eventually include dominant champions like Randy Couture, who captured the title three separate times across two different decades, and Stipe Miocic, who set the record for most consecutive defenses with three.

Longest-Reigning UFC Heavyweight Champions

Cain Velasquez held the strap for 798 days across two reigns, though his second run included extended injury layoffs between defenses. Brock Lesnar brought mainstream crossover attention during his 707-day reign from 2008 to 2010, defending twice before succumbing to diverticulitis and retirement.

Francis Ngannou unified the title with a knockout of Miocic in 2021 and defended once before departing the promotion in a contract dispute. Jon Jones moved up from light heavyweight in 2023 to claim the vacant belt with a submission win over Ciryl Gane, then defended against Miocic at UFC 309.

Tom Aspinall currently holds the interim championship after stopping Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295, then defending the interim strap with a first-round finish of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. The promotion has yet to book a unification bout between Jones and Aspinall.

Reported via:

• ESPN MMA — All-time UFC heavyweight champions