UFC double champions. An elite group of just 11 fighters to hold a belt in two different weight classes, some of which were simultaneous. The first fighter to achieve the feat was Randy Couture in 2003, and the latest was Islam Makhachev‘s dominant performance at UFC 322.
We take a look at all of the UFC double champions in UFC history and rank them from best to worst. We take a number of things into consideration, including title defences, quality of performances and quality of opposition.
UFC Double Champions – Ranking the Legends
11 – Islam Makhachev
Unfortunately, Islam Makhachev is, on paper, the 11th on the list. The only reason behind this is due to the fact that he has only held his ‘second’ belt for just a few days. It’s biased against Makhachev mainly as he’s yet to begin his title reign at welterweight. Beating Jack Della Maddalena in a dull fight which saw him land just 26 significant strikes to wrestle the belt away from the Aussie, Makhachev hasn’t had a great welterweight run… yet.
There’s no denying his lightweight credentials; he holds the record for the most title defences in 155lbs history. He’s defeated some of the best in the division and done so in dominant fashion. There is little doubt that Makhachev will rise up this list. He’s the P4P #1, he’s dominant and seemingly has no flaws in his game. There’s a good chance we could see him top the list of UFC double champions if he continues to be dominant!
10 – Conor McGregor
The reason Conor McGregor is so low on this list is due to the fact that he never made a defence of any of his two titles. The reason that he isn’t bottom of this list is because he changed the game with regards to double champions. He was the first of only a small number simultaneous UFC double champions and, without a doubt, put on the greatest performance when it comes to winning a second belt. The lack of title defences plays against McGregor in this one.
9 – BJ Penn
BJ Penn’s two weight championship reign certainly came to a disappointing end. He captured the welterweight title with an emphatic win over Matt Hughes, however, was stripped of the belt four months later after contract disputes. He’d go on to capture the lightweight title in a vacant title bout. Although he made three defences of his title, he never held the titles simultaneously, which is why he’s further down on the list.
8 – Randy Couture
We have to give Randy Couture his props. He was the first person to ever win belts in two different divisions and not only this, but he did so at heavyweight. Across his long career, The Natural would win the heavyweight title, light heavyweight title and then go back up in weight, back to heavyweight to recapture his old belt.
There is no doubt that he’s one of the most recognisable faces in UFC history and there’s a reason that he’s a hall of famer.
7 – Henry Cejudo
Triple C, Henry Cejudo is one of the more recognisable names as a UFC double champion, especially as a simultaneous champion. Everyone can recognise the image of Cejudo with both the flyweight and bantamweight belts, along with his Olympic gold medal.
He captured the flyweight belt in amazing fashion when he ended Demetrious Johnson’s longtime title reign, albeit via split decision. His only defence of the flyweight title came against a juiced-up, weight-drained TJ Dillashaw.
He then moved up to compete for the vacant belt against Marlon Morales.
Cejudo beat Morales to become a two-weight world champion, however, after this loss, Morales went 1-7 in his career, questionning how good he was at the time. His only defence of the bantamweight title came against Dominick Cruz, who had been out of action for three and a half years. Cejudo finished Cruz and then relinquished his belt after announcing his retirement.
6 – George St Pierre
George St Pierre, like many UFC double champions, dominated a division before eventually moving up in weight and winning another belt. GSP dominated the welterweight division throughout his time at 170lbs, making nine successful title defences and retired without ever losing his belt at welterweight. Not only did he win these fights, he dominated. He beat a who’s who in the welterweight division and is widely considered the best welterweight of all time.
He would return after a four-year hiatus, jumping up in weight to middleweight and clashing with Michael Bisping for the belt. He would go on to finish Bisping via third round submission, however, he would retire without making a defence of the belt. This isn’t his fault as he only retired due to injuries, however, it’s a shame that he never had a run at 185lbs.
5 – Ilia Topuria
Ilia Topuira is quite high on this list and that’s due to the potential that he has. At just 28 years old, he’s an undefeated UFC double champion. Not only this, but his level of competition is scarily good for someone who has only been in the UFC for five years. He’s got the potential to be a megastar and is currently putting in the performances of someone who is going to make it big in the company.
He captured the featherweight belt in devastating fashion with a brutal knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in 2024, becoming the first person to beat Volkanovski at featherweight. He would make a single defence of his 145lbs title, however, would do so in stunning fashion. He became the first person to knock out Max Holloway, the former champion.
Topuria would move up in weight and challenge for the vacant lightweight title and win again, doing so in his typical brutal fashion. El Matador blitzed through former champion, Charles Oliveira in just 2:27, knocking him out.
He has the ambition to be a three-weight world champion, however, must prove himself at lightweight before doing so. The thought of a Topuria vs Makhachev grudge match is certainly exciting…
4 – Alex Pereira
Chama! Alex Pereira takes the #4 spot on our list, maybe controversially. Although he is a UFC double champion, Pereira never made a defence of the middleweight belt he emphatically won from Israel Adesanya. In fact, he was brutally knocked out when he tried to defend it against Adesanya in their rematch.
However, he then moved up 20lbs to 205lbs and began his best work. He debuted in the division against the former champion, Jan Blachowicz, winning via split decision. He would then win the vacant belt against Jiri Prochazka with a second round finish. He would go on to headline UFC 300 along with two further PPVs in 2024, winning both via finish. Although he lost the belt in a lacklustre performance against Magomed Ankalaev, he would rebound in convincing fashion, silence his doubters and finish the Russian in just 1:20.
He has ambitions to move up to heavyweight which could see him compete for a third title, however, as of yet, nothing is confirmed.
3 – Jon Jones
Too high on the list? Maybe.
Jon Jones’ light heavyweight run was, without a doubt, emphatic. Not only is he the youngest ever UFC champion, but he beat a who’s who of light heavyweight legends. He’s never been beaten in the octagon, only losing one fight to a DQ. He notched eight straight title defences, including ‘that’ fight with Alexander Gustafsson, before being stripped of his belt.
His second light heavyweight title reign was unimpressive to say the least, squeezing out decisions against Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes. He would relinquish the belt to move up to heavyweight, however, would take over three years to do so.
A favourable match-up against Ciryl Gane would see him capture the heavyweight strap, however, instead of then defending the belt against the interim champion, Tom Aspinall, he would meet Stipe Miocic. A lacklustre fight for everyone involved. He’d then retire and never actually face Aspinall.
He’s so high on the list due to his light heavyweight run. He was a great light heavyweight champion and now sits third on our list of the best UFC double champions.
2 – Daniel Cormier
DC, Daniel Cormier, takes the #2 position of our greatest UFC double champions list. Cormier captured the belt when Jones relinquished it and won the belt in a dominant performance against Anthony Johnson. He would go on to make two further defences, having a war with Gustafsson, similarly to Jones.
He would lose to Jones in a rematch, however, due to a failed drug test, the bout was deemed a no-contest and Cormier would hang on to his belt. A further dominant performance over Volkan Oezdemir would see him move up to heavyweight and challenge Stipe Miocic.
At 39 years old, Cormier would show that his power transferred to the heavyweight division by knocking out Miocic in the first round.
🏆 On this day 7 years ago 39 y.o. Daniel Cormier knocked out Stipe Miocic and became the two-division champion.
📊 He is one of the few fighters to have resumes in both weight classes and to defend both belts.
DC is truly one of the 🐐
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) July 7, 2025
Although he would go on to lose two straight to Miocic after this fight, Cormier will go down as one of the best to ever do it, especially at the age which he achieved his career highlights.
1 – Amanda Nunes
Amanda Nunes. The only fighter to win two belts in two separate divisions, hold them at the same time and still compete in both divisions. Without a doubt one of the best UFC double champions in history.
For context, Makhachev made his last lightweight title defence, sat out for 10 months (was stripped of his 155lbs belt) and then won a welterweight title. Nunes, on the other hand, made three title defences of her 135lbs belt, moved up to featherweight, smashed Cris Cyborg in the first round to grab a second belt, then went back down to bantamweight seven months later to defend her bantamweight belt again. She would then make another defence of her bantamweight strap before moving back up and defending her 145lbs belt again.
She would lose to Julianna Pena but win her belt back in a dominant fashion, showing that the title loss was simply a blip in her career and would retire on top.
What makes her reign so exciting is that it’s rumoured that she’ll be making a comeback to clash with Kayla Harrison.
The only fighter on our list of UFC double champions to switch between weight classes and defend both of her belts. Amazing work from the Lionness.
Agree with our list of UFC double champions? Let us know in the comments below!
