Current UFC Champions

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a mixed martial art (MMA) organization that produces a series of competitions throughout the year to name champions in each of the 11 weight divisions of fighters accepted by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, which governs competition in fighting sports in the United States.

The first UFC event was held in 1993, and since then the sport has taken the United States by storm, especially because of ESPN and Showtime's offerings of televised fights, with pay-per-view raking in millions a year for viewers to watch the top-rated championship competitions. Even as recently as August of 2017, the UFC fighter Connor McGregor took on boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, selling thousands of pays-per-view.

Below are the champions of the current UFC tournaments as of September 2017, from the Heavyweight winner Stipe Miocic to the Women's Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the following athletes exemplify the best of the sport. Be sure to check out the Official UFC ESPN Website for current and upcoming fights as well as an up-to-date ranking of each fighter.

Heavyweight Champion — Stipe Miocic (205 - 265 lbs.)

UFC 203: Miocic v Overeem
In UFC 203, Miocic beat former champion Alistair Overeem. Rey del Rio/Getty Images/Getty Images Sports

In 2015, Fabricio Werdum was awesome at UFC 188, somehow managing to demonstrate more gas in the tank than a man (Cain Velasquez) who regularly breaks people. Said another way, he outlasted the former champion and claimed the title with a spectacular guillotine move to finish him off.

However, just one year later Stipe Miocic came onto the Heavyweight scene and put Werdum to shame, claiming the official belt and title with a Total Knock Out in round 1 at the UFC 198.

Miocic was born on August 18, 1982, making him 34 when he won his first Heavyweight Championship title. As of September 2017, his current record is 17 wins and 2 losses, with 13-1 on (T)KOs and 1-0 on Submissions.

Light Heavyweight Champion — Daniel Cormier (185 - 205 lbs.)

UFC 182 Jones v Cormier
Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones punches at Daniel Comier during the UFC 182 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on January 3, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jones retained his title by unanimous decision. Steve Marcus / Stringer / Getty Images

With Jon Jones' pending legal troubles mostly out of the way; Daniel Cormier actually lost the most recent title fight for Light Heavyweight Championship at the July 29th UFC 214: Cormier v Jones 2 fight.  The UFC still considers Cormier the official Light Heavyweight champion because Jones failed his second drug test for this fight.

Daniel Cormier, fresh off of impressive victories over Anthony Johnson (twice — once in 2015 and once in 2017) and Alexander Gustafsson on October 3, 2015, still dominates the field despite his recent loss to Jones. Another rematch here would be spectacular but has yet to be scheduled pending a clean drug test for Jones.

It's unfortunate to see such great competitors stricken from the competition for messing around with performance-enhancing substances, but hopefully, Jones will straighten up his act soon. Until then, Cormier still reigns as the Light Heavyweight champion.

Middleweight Champion — Michael Bisping (170 - 185 lbs.)

UFC 199: Rockhold v Bisping 2
Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images

Luke Rockhold said he could defeat the man who had beaten the greatest ever — and that's what he did to Chris Weidman. He beat the New York native up both on his feet, and then to end things, on the ground en-route to a TKO victory.

However, the following year on June 4, 2016, Michael Bisping overtook the champion Rockhold with a KO/TKO in round 1 of UFC 199, earning him the title of Middleweight Champion.

Bisping is currently 38 and hails from England. Also known as "The Count," this middleweight champion broke onto the UFC scene in December of 2006 at the UFC 66 where he beat Eric Shafer right after winning The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale in June of that same year.

Welterweight Champion — Tyron Woodley (155 - 170 lbs.)

Tyron Woodley is the current Welterweight Champion of the UFC. Getty Images

When Robbie Lawler was able to avenge his loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC 182, he also took home the title. He has since been able to keep the strap with consecutive victories over Rory MacDonald and Carlos Condit, even if the latter win was highly controversial.

However, on July 30, 2016, Tyron Woodley beat out Lawler at the UFC 201 to win the title of Welterweight Champion. Nicknamed "The Chosen One," Woodley has an 18-3 career record in the UFC since his start in February of 2006 at Headhunter Productions: The Patriot Act, a tournament of champions and rising stars in the UFC.

In the UFC 201 championship match titled Lawler v Woodley, Woodley won in the first round with a KO/TKO of his opponent just 2:12 into the competition.

Lightweight Champion — Conor McGregor (145 - 155 lbs.)

Conor McGregor
Featherweight turned Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor. David Fitzgerald / Contributor/Getty Images

Rafael dos Anjos absolutely dominated Pettis with power striking and takedowns en-route to taking the title at UFC 185.  He was about to get a shot at doing the same to Conor McGregor when a foot injury got in the way.

As a result, Conor McGregor took on Eddie Alverez on November 12, 2016, in the UFC 205: Alverez v McGregor, winning in the second round with a TKO.

McGregor recently re-entered the spotlight by challenging multi-weight-class-winning boxer Floyd Mayweather to a tournament of the strongest fighters in both fighting competitions (boxing and MMA). The match of a century sold over 5 million pay-per-view tickets, but the 40-year-old Mayweather beat out McGregor in the 8th round.

UFC Featherweight Champion — Max Holloway (135 - 145 lbs.)

Max Holloway is the current reigning champion of the Featherweight class.

Conor McGregor hit home with a left hand that ended former champion Jose Aldo's night after only 13 seconds had gone by in the UFC 194 on December 12, 2015, but after this match, McGregor moved up a weight class to Lightweight, where he took the championship title the following year.

Max "Blessed" Holloway took the Featherweight Championship title at the UFC 212 by taking out former champion Jose Aldo in the third round with a KO/TKO. He is expected to compete against Frankie Edgar at UFC 218 for another title match in December of 2017.

Holloway started competing in UFC fights back in 2010 at the young age of 18. On September 11, 2010, Holloway entered and won against Duke Saragosa at X-1: Heroes. His first UFC fight, UFC 143 in February of 2012 resulted in a loss to Dustin Poirier, but since then Holloway has maintained an 18 - 3 record in his career matches.

Bantamweight Champion — Dominick Cruz (125 - 135 lbs.)

Cody Garbrandt is the current Bantamweight champion of the UFC. Bleacher Report

TJ Dillashaw had looked great in defeating Renan Barao twice, but when he got the shot to make his title truly undisputed against Dominick Cruz, a man who had never actually lost the bantamweight strap to anything other than injury, he barely fell short at the UFC Fight Night on January 17, 2016.

However, in December of that year at UFC 207, Cody Garbrandt unseated Cruz as the reigning champion with a unanimous decision in his favor after five full rounds. Garbrandt, unlike Cruz, currently remains undefeated with a career total of 11 fights, 9 of which were (T)KOs.

The fight against Cruz was Garbrandt's first UFC championship match, but fans of the sport expect the 26-year-old star to go far and to continue dominating the ring for years to come.

Flyweight Champion — Demetrious Johnson (115 - 125 lbs.)

UFC Fight Night: Johnson v Reis
Jamie Squire / Getty Images

Demetrious Johnson is the first and only flyweight champion in the organization's history. The bottom line is that he's defeated every valid contender on his way to becoming not only the first flyweight champion but also one whose streak of dominance will be hard to match.

Johnson took home the inaugural title on September 22, 2012, at the UFC 152 tournament, and has since won 10 other title fights, including his most recent win against Wilson Reis at UFC Fight Night: Johnson v Reis.

Johnson is scheduled to fight against Ray Borg to defend his title in mid-September of 2017.

Women's Featherweight Champion — Germaine de Randamie (135 - 145 lbs.)

Germaine de Randamie is the current Women's Featherweight Champion.

Let's face it, Ronda Rousey has been the face of Women's MMA for a very, very long time. The person most thought had a shot at taking her belt was Cris Justino, but then Holly Holm entered the conversation, who wrested the title away at the November 2015 UFC 193.

However, Holm lost her four following matches, including the February 2017 title match against newcomer Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208.

Randamie has no scheduled matches for the remainder of the 2017 season, so chances are she'll maintain that title for the next year or more, especially considering her powerhouse performance in her last match.

Women's Bantamweight Champion — Amanda Nunes (125 - 135 lbs.)

Valentina Shevchenko (right) is set to take on reigning Buntamweight Champion Amanda Nunes (left) September 9, 2017.

On July 6, 2016, Amanda Nunes defeated defending Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate at UFC 200 and went on to defeat another Bantamweight champion Rhonda Rousey to defend her title in December of that year.

She is currently scheduled to take on Valentina Shevchenko on September 9, 2017, as part of the UFC 215: Johnson v Borg event.

Women's Strawweight Champion — Joanna Jedrzejczyk (115 - 125 lbs.)

UFC 205: Weigh-ins
Michael Reaves / Getty Images

When we talk about Joanna Jedrzejczyk, we're talking about a striking machine that former champion Carla Esparza literally seemed to have no chance against on their March 2015 UFC 185 match.

This 30-year-old fighter from Portland, Oregon broke onto the scene in May of 2012 and has an undefeated record, winning 14 matches including six title fights.

Her latest fight against Jessica Andrade at the 2017 UFC 211 resulted in a unanimous decision after five full rounds of fighting, leaving Jedrzejczyk as one of the toughest women competitors in the field.