(This story was updated to add new information.)
The light heavyweight title is on the line in the UFC 313 main event, and dominant champion Alex Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) will look to cement his status as an all-time great when he meets challenger Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC).
Pereira has had the fastest rise to mega-success in UFC history. He won the middleweight title in just his fourth fight in the UFC, then moved to 205 pounds and won the title there. If he beats Ankalaev, he’s talking about a move to heavyweight for an unprecedented third UFC title.
Take a look at a chronological history of the UFC light heavyweight belt.
Frank Shamrock
Frank Shamrock
Date: Dec. 21, 1997 Event: UFC Japan Opponent: Kevin Jackson Total reign: 703 days Title defenses: Igor Zinoviev (UFC 16), Jeremy Horn (UFC 17), John Lober (UFC Brazil), Tito Ortiz (UFC 22) Notes: Fight light heavyweight champion in UFC history. Vacated when he retired in November 1999.
Tito Ortiz
Date: April 14, 2000 Event: UFC 25 Opponent: Wanderlei Silva Total reign: 1,260 days Title defenses: Yuki Kondo (UFC 29), Evan Tanner (UFC 30), Elvis Sinosic (UFC 32), Vladimir Matyushenko (UFC 33), Ken Shamrock (UFC 40) Notes: Most quotable champion in UFC light heavyweight history.
Randy Couture (interim)
Randy Couture
Date: June 6, 2003 Event: UFC 43 Opponent: Chuck Liddell Notes: Couture beat Liddell for an interim belt while Ortiz was out. It was the first of three legendary fights between the two.
Randy Couture
Date: Sept. 26, 2003 Event: UFC 44 Opponent: Tito Ortiz Total reign: 127 days Title defenses: None Notes: Couture, then a former heavyweight champion, became the first fighter to win UFC titles in two divisions.
Vitor Belfort
Vitor Belfort
Date: Jan. 31, 2004 Event: UFC 46 Opponent: Randy Couture Total reign: 203 days Title defenses: None
Randy Couture
Date: Aug. 21, 2004 Event: UFC 49 Opponent: Vitor Belfort Total reign: 238 days Title defenses: None Notes: Couture became a two-time 205-pound champion with a win in a rematch.
Chuck Liddell
May 7, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Former UFC fighter Chuck Liddell in attendance during UFC 274 at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Date: April 16, 2005 Event: UFC 52 Opponent: Randy Couture Total reign: 770 days Title defenses: Jeremy Horn (UFC 54), Randy Couture (UFC 57), Renato Sobral (UFC 62), Tito Ortiz (UFC 66) Notes: Liddell won the title in his second fight in the famed trilogy with Couture, then beat him a third time to close out the rivalry.
Quinton Jackson
Date: May 26, 2007 Event: UFC 71 Opponent: Chuck Liddell Total reign: 406 days Title defenses: Dan Henderson (UFC 75) Notes: The “Rampage” win over Liddell was a rematch of their 2003 PRIDE title fight. When he beat Henderson, it effectively unified the PRIDE and UFC light heavyweight titles.
Forrest Griffin
Forrest Griffin
Date: July 5, 2008 Event: UFC 86 Opponent: Quinton Jackson Total reign: 175 days Title defenses: None Notes: Griffin won a UFC title a little more than three years after he was the “TUF 1” winner at light heavyweight.
Rashad Evans
Date: Dec. 27, 2008 Event: UFC 92 Opponent: Forrest Griffin Total reign: 147 days Title defenses: None Notes: Like Griffin, Evans was an “Ultimate Fighter” winner.”
Lyoto Machida
Lyoto Machida
Date: May 23, 2009 Event: UFC 98 Opponent: Rashad Evans Total reign: 350 days Title defenses: Mauricio Rua (UFC 104) Notes: Machida was unbeaten heading into the title fight at 14-0.
Mauricio Rua
Date: May 8, 2010 Event: UFC 113 Opponent: Lyoto Machida Total reign: 315 days Title defenses: None Notes: “Shogun” Rua needed a second shot at it, but knocked out his fellow Brazilian in their rematch to win the title.
Jon Jones
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 04: Jon Jones looks on during the UFC heavyweight championship fight against Ciryl Gane of France during the UFC 285 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 04, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Date: March 19, 2011 Event: UFC 128 Opponent: Mauricio Rua Total reign: 1,501 days Title defenses: Quinton Jackson (UFC 135), Lyoto Machida (UFC 140), Rashad Evans (UFC 145), Vitor Belfort (UFC 152), Chael Sonnen (UFC 159), Alexander Gustafsson (UFC 165), Glover Teixeira (UFC 172), Daniel Cormier (UFC 182) Notes: Stripped of the title for the first time in April 2015 after a hit-and-run accident.
Daniel Cormier
Daniel Cormier
Date: May 23, 2015 Event: UFC 187 Opponent: Anthony Johnson Total reign: 1,315 days Title defenses: Alexander Gustafsson (UFC 192), Anthony Johnson (UFC 210), Volkan Oezdemir (UFC 220) Notes: Cormier won the vacant title after Jones was stripped of it.
Jon Jones (interim)
Date: April 23, 2016 Event: UFC 197 Opponent: Ovince Saint Preux Notes: Jones won an interim title, then failed a drug test and was suspended and stripped of the interim belt. He then beat Cormier at UFC 214 to unify the titles and was stripped when he failed another drug test. Cormier was reinstated as champion, then vacated the belt when he won the heavyweight title.
Jon Jones
Date: Dec. 29, 1018 Event: UFC 232 Opponent: Alexander Gustafsson Total reign: 2,098 days Title defenses: Anthony Smith (UFC 235), Thiago Santos (UFC 239), Dominick Reyes (UFC 247) Notes: Jones started his second reign as champion, then vacated in August 2020 during a UFC contract dispute.
Jan Blachowicz
Date: Sept. 27, 2020 Event: UFC 253 Opponent: Dominick Reyes Total reign: 398 days Title defenses: Israel Adesanya (UFC 259) Notes: Blachowicz’s win over Reyes was for the vacant belt after Jon Jones announced his intention to move to heavyweight. His lone title defense came against middleweight Adesanya, who moved up in an attempt to win a second title.
Glover Teixeira
Glover Teixeira
Date: Oct. 30, 2021 Event: UFC 267 Opponent: Jan Blachowicz Total reign: 225 Title defenses: None Notes: At 42, Teixeira became the oldest first-time champion in UFC history with the win.
Jiri Prochazka
Date: June 12, 2022 Event: UFC 275 Opponent: Glover Teixeira Total reign: 164 days Title defenses: None Notes: Prochazka vacated the title in November 2022 after he suffered a shoulder injury that he expected would keep him out for a year. After he vacated the title, Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev fought at UFC 282 for the vacant belt, but their bout was a draw.
Jamahal Hill
Date: Jan. 21, 2023 Event: UFC 283 Opponent: Glover Teixeira Total reign: 174 days Title defenses: None Notes: Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev first fought at UFC 282 for the vacant belt, but their bout was a draw. Hill and Teixeira were next to get a crack at it. But Hill vacated the title in July 2023 after he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon playing a pickup basketball game with fighters in Las Vegas.
Alex Pereira
Oct 5, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Alex Pereira (red gloves) reacts after defeating Khalil Rountree Jr. (not pictured) in a light heavyweight title bout during UFC 307 at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Date: Nov. 11, 2023 Event: UFC 295 Opponent: Jiri Prochazka Total reign: Incumbent Title defenses: Jamahal Hill (UFC 300), Jiri Prochazka (UFC 303), Khalil Rountree (UFC 307) Notes: Pereira won a title in a second division quicker than anyone in UFC history.
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