ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - SEPTEMBER 05: A detail shot of the UFC championship belt during the UFC 242 Ultimate Media Day at the Yas Hotel on September 5, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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A detailed timeline of every UFC champion since the start of the new millennium.

The year 2000 seems like a heartbeat away for a lot of people, but for some young UFC fans, they weren’t even born yet. For others (like me) it was the year they were graduating high school, and well before I ever discovered MMA. So, just for fun, we’re putting together a brief timeline of every UFC champion since the start of the new millennium.

2000

April 14 – Tito Ortiz won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Wanderlei Silva at UFC 25.

Nov. 17 – Randy Couture won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Kevin Randleman at UFC 28.

2001

Feb. 23 – Jens Pulver won the UFC lightweight title when he defeated Caol Uno at UFC 30.

May 4 – Carlos Newton won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Pat Miletich at UFC 31.

Sept. 28 – Dave Menne won the inaugural UFC middleweight title when he defeated Gil Castillo at UFC 33.

Nov. 2 – Matt Hughes won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Carlos Newton at UFC 34.

2002

Jan. 11 – Murilo Bustamante won the UFC middleweight title when he defeated Dave Menne at UFC 35.

March 22 – Josh Barnett won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Randy Couture.

March 23 – Jens Pulver was stripped of the lightweight title when he left the UFC due to contract issues.

July 26 – Barnett was stripped of the title when he tested positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.

Sept. 27 – Ricco Rodriguez won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Randy Couture at UFC 39.

Oct. 5 – Murilo Bustamante was stripped of the UFC middleweight title when he left the promotion for Pride.

2003

Feb. 28 (UFC 41)

Tim Sylvia won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Ricco Rodriguez.

B.J. Penn and Caol Uno fought to a draw in the finale of a 4-man tournament for the vacant title.

June 6 – Randy Couture won the interim UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Chuck Liddell at UFC 43.

Sept. 26 – Randy Couture won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Tito Ortiz at UFC 44

Oct. 15 – Sylvia was stripped of the title after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.

2004

Jan. 31, 2004 (UFC 46)

Vitor Belfor won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Randy Couture.

B.J. Penn won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Matt Hughes.

May 17 – B.J. Penn was stripped of his welterweight title when he left the UFC for K-1

June 19 – Frank Mir won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Tim Sylvia at UFC 48.

Aug. 21 – Randy Couture won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Vitor Belfort at UFC 49.

Oct. 22 – Matt Hughes won the vacant UFC welterweight title when he defeated Georges St-Pierre at UFC 50.

2005

Feb. 5 (UFC 51)

Andrei Arlovski won the interim UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Tim Sylvia.

Evan Tanner won the vacant UFC middleweight title when he defeated David Terrell.

April 16 – Chuck Liddell won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Randy Couture at UFC 52.

June 4 – Rich Franklin won the UFC middleweight title when he defeated Evan Tanner at UFC 53.

Aug. 12 – Mir was stripped of the title for inactivity resulting from injuries he sustained in a road accident. Arlovski was promoted to undisputed champion.

2006

April 15 – Tim Sylvia won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Andrei Arlovski at UFC 59: Reality Check.

Oct. 14 (UFC 64)

Anderson Silva won the UFC middleweight title when he defeated Rich Franklin.

Sean Sherk won the vacant UFC lightweight title when he defeated Kenny Florian.

Nov. 18 – Georges St-Pierre won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Matt Hughes.

2007

March 3 – Randy Couture won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Tim Sylvia at UFC 68

April 7 – Matt Serra won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Georges St-Pierre at UFC 69.

May 26 – Quinton “Rampage” Jackson won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Chuck Liddell at UFC 71.

Dec. 8 – Sean Sherk was stripped of the lightweight title after testing positive for anabolic steroids.

Dec. 29 – Georges St-Pierre won the interim UFC welterweight title when he defeated Matt Hughes at UFC 79.

2008

Jan. 19 – B.J. Penn won the vacant UFC lightweight title when he defeated Joe Stevenson at UFC 80.

Feb. 2 – Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira won the interim UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Tim Sylvia at UFC 81.

March 1 – The Pride World Welterweight Championship was unified with the UFC Middleweight Championship when Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82.

April 19 – Georges St-Pierre won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Matt Serra at UFC 83.

July 5 – Forrest Griffin won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 86

Nov 15 – Brock Lesnar won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Randy Couture at UFC 81.

Dec 27 (UFC 92)

Frank Mir won the interim UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Rashad Evans won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Forrest Griffin.

2009

May 23 – Lyoto Machida won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Rashad Evans at UFC 98.

2010

March 27 – Shane Carwin won the interim UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Frank Mir at UFC 111.

April 10 – Frankie Edgar won the UFC lightweight title when he defeated B.J. Penn at UFC 112.

May 8 – Maurício “Shogun” Rua won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Lyoto Machida at UFC 113.

Oct. 23 – Cain Velasquez won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Brock Lesnar at UFC 121.

Nov. 20 – Jose Aldo was awarded the inaugural UFC featherweight title at UFC 123 in a ceremony prior to the event.

Dec. 16 – Dominick Cruz defeated Scott Jorgensen at WEC 52 to retain his WEC bantamweight title and was awarded the inaugural UFC bantamweight title.

2011

March 19 – Jon Jones won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Maurício “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128.

July 21 – Renan Barão won the interim UFC bantamweight title when he defeated Urijah Faber at UFC 149.

Nov. 12 – Junior dos Santos won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Cain Velasquez at UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. dos Santos.

2012

Feb. 4 – Carlos Condit won the interim UFC welterweight title when he defeated Nick Diaz at UFC 143.

Feb. 26 – Benson Henderson won the UFC lightweight title when he defeated Frankie Edgar at UFC 144.

Sept. 22 – Demetrious Johnson defeated Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152 in the finale of a 4-man tournament for the inaugural title.

Dec. 6 – Ronda Rousey was given the UFC women’s bantamweight title at the UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz pre-event press conference.

Dec. 29 – Cain Velasquez won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Junior dos Santos at UFC 155.

2013

July 6, 2013 – Chris Weidman won the UFC middleweight title when he defeated Anderson Silva at UFC 162.

Aug. 31 – Anthony Pettis won the UFC lightweight title when he defeated Benson Henderson at UFC 164.

Dec. 13 – Georges St-Pierre vacated the welterweight title to take time off from the sport.

2014

Jan. 6 – Renan Barão promoted to UFC bantamweight champion.

March 15 – Johny Hendricks won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Robbie Lawler

May 24 – T.J. Dillashaw won the UFC bantamweight title when he defeated Renan Barao at UFC 173.

Nov. 15 – Fabrício Werdum won the interim UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Mark Hunt at UFC 180.

Dec. 6 – Robbie Lawler won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Johny Hendricks.

Dec. 12 – Carla Esparza defeated Rose Namajunas for the inaugural women’s strawweight title in the tournament finale of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned.

2015

March 14 (UFC 185)

Rafael dos Anjos won the UFC lightweight title when he defeated Anthony Pettis at UFC 185.

Joanna Jędrzejczyk won the UFC women’s strawweight title when she defeated Carla Esparza.

April 28 – Jon Jones was stripped of the UFC light heavyweight title due to his involvement and arrest in a felony hit-and-run.

May 23 – Daniel Cormier won the interim UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Anthony Johnson at UFC 187.

June 13 – Fabrício Werdum won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Cain Velasquez at UFC 188.

July 11 – Conor McGregor won the interim UFC featherweight title when he defeated Chad Mendes at UFC 189.

Nov. 15 – Holly Holm won the UFC women’s bantamweight title when she defeated Ronda Rousey at UFC 193.

Dec. 12 (UFC 194)

Luke Rockhold won the UFC middleweight title when he defeated Chris Weidman.

Conor McGregor won the UFC featherweight title when he defeated Jose Aldo.

2016

Jan. 17 – Dominick Cruz won the UFC bantamweight title when he defeated T.J. Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz

March 5 – Miesha Tate won the UFC women’s bantamweight title when she defeated Holly Holm at UFC 196.

April 23 – Jon Jones won the interim UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 197.

May 14 – Stipe Miocic won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Fabrício Werdum at UFC 198.

June 4 – Michael Bisping won the UFC middleweight title when he defeated Luke Rockhold at UFC 199.

July 7 – Eddie Alvarez won the UFC lightweight title when he defeated Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Alvarez.

July 9 (UFC 200)

Jose Aldo won the interim UFC featherweight title when he defeated Frankie Edgar.

Amanda Nunes won the UFC women’s bantamweight title when she defeated Miesha Tate.

July 30 – Tyron Woodley won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Robbie Lawler at UFC 201.

Nov. 9 – Jon Jones was stripped of the title again, this time for a failed pre-fight drug test.

Nov. 12 – Conor McGregor won the UFC lightweight title when he defeated Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. With this win, he became the first-ever UFC two-division champion, and the champ-champ era was born.

Nov. 26 – Conor McGregor relinquished his featherweight title, Jose Aldo promoted to undisputed champion.

Dec. 10 – Max Holloway won the interim UFC featherweight title when he defeated Anthony Pettis at UFC 206.

Dec. 30 – Cody Garbrandt won the UFC bantamweight title when he defeated Dominick Cruz at UFC 207.

2017

Feb. 11 – Germaine de Randamie won the inaugural women’s featherweight title when she defeated Holly Holm at UFC 208.

June 3 – Max Holloway won the interim UFC featherweight title when he defeated Jose Aldo at UFC 212.

June 8 – Robert Whittaker won the interim UFC middleweight title when he defeated Yoel Romero at UFC 213.

June 19 – Germaine de Randamie was stripped of the featherweight title after she refused to defend the title against Cris “Cyborg” Justino.

July 29 (UFC 214)

Jon Jones won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Daniel Cormier.

Cris “Cyborg” Justino won the UFC featherweight title when she defeated Tonya Evinger.

Sept. 13– Jon Jones’s UFC 241 win was overturned and he was stripped of the title after a failed pre-fight drug test. Daniel Cormier was reinstated as UFC light heavyweight champion.

Oct. 7 – Tony Ferguson won the interim UFC lightweight title when he defeated Kevin Lee at UFC 216.

Nov. 4 (UFC 217)

Georges St-Pierre won the UFC middleweight title when he defeated Michael Bisping.

T.J. Dillashaw won the UFC bantamweight title when he defeated Cody Garbrandt.

Rose Namaunas won the UFC women’s strawweight title when she defeated Joanna Jędrzejczyk.

Dec. 1 – Nicco Montaño won the inaugural UFC women’s flyweight title when she defeated Roxanne Modafferi at The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale.

Dec. 7 – Georges St-Pierre vacated the UFC middleweight title due to ulcerative colitis. Robert Whittaker promoted to the undisputed champion.

2018

April 7 –

Khabib Nurmagomedov won the vacant UFC lightweight title when he defeated Al Iaquinta at UFC 223.

Conor McGregor was stripped of his lightweight title due to inactivity.

Tony Ferguson was stripped of his interim lightweight title due to injury.

June 9 – Colby Covington won the interim UFC welterweight title when he defeated Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225.

July 7 – Daniel Cormier won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Stipe Miocic at UFC 226. With this win, Cormier becomes a double champion, holding both the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles.

Aug. 4 – Henry Cejudo won the UFC flyweight title when he defeated Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227.

Sept. 7 – Nicco Montaño was stripped of her UFC flyweight title after she was forced to withdraw from UFC 228 due to weight issues.

Sept. 8 ( UFC 231)

Colby Covington stripped of his interim welterweight title.

Valentina Shevchenko won the vacant UFC women’s flyweight title when she defeated Joanna Jędrzejczyk.

Dec. 28 – Daniel Cormier vacated his light heavyweight title.

Dec 29 (UFC 232)

Jon Jones won the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232.

Amanda Nunes won the UFC featherweight title when she defeated Cris “Cyborg” Justino to become the first women’s double champion.

2019

March 2 – Kamaru Usman won the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Tyron Woodley at UFC 235.

March 20 – T.J. Dillashaw vacated the bantamweight title due to a failed drug test.

April 13 (UFC 236)

Israel Adesanya won the interim UFC middleweight title after defeating Kelvin Gastelum.

Dustin Poirier won the interim UFC lightweight title when he defeated Max Holloway.

May 11 – Jéssica Andrade won the UFC women’s strawweight title when she defeated Rose Namajunas at UFC 237.

June 8 – Henry Cejudo won the UFC bantamweight title when he defeated Marlon Moraes to become a two-division champion.

Aug. 17 – Stipe Miocic won the UFC heavyweight title when he defeated Daniel Cormier at UFC 241.

Aug. 31 – Zhang Weili won the UFC women’s strawweight title when she defeated Jéssica Andrade at UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang. She became the first Chinese born UFC champion.

Who do you think will be the next to hold the title?