Blog Archives

Anderson Silva, Current UFC Middleweight Champion and Longest Reigning UFC Champion Ever (Getty)

The UFC has officially arrived.  That’s not to say the MMA organization hasn’t grown wildly popular over the past decade, but now it has cemented a place on network television for the next seven years.

The UFC and FOX Sports have inked a seven-year deal that will televise UFC events on FOX’s main network channel, as well as FX and Fuel TV. See the press conference here.

According to Bleacher Report,

“The deal plans to bring four major events to the main FOX network, as well as 32 live fights and two runs of “The Ultimate Fighter” a year to the FX network.  Plans also include to bring pre- and post-fight coverage, as well as other UFC programming, to Fuel TV.

One of the biggest changes, however, is to the format of the promotion’s reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter”.

“‘The Ultimate Fighter’ will be live on FX,” says White, with plans to rebrand the show as “The Ultimate Fighter Live”.”

For Matt Juul‘s full article on the agreement, click this must-read.

Now a lot of fans are in the know on UFC champion history, but now that the UFC is hitting the mainstream airwaves, here’s a primer for the muggles: the current and longest reigning champions from all seven weight divisions.

Heavyweight (206 – 265 lbs.)

Current: Cain Velasquez – 300 days +

Longest: Brock Lesnar – 707 days

Light Heavyweight (186 – 205 lbs.)

Current: Jon Jones – 150 days +

Longest: Tito Ortiz – 1,260 days

Middleweight (171 – 185 lbs.)

Current: Anderson Silva – 1,750 days +

Longest: Anderson Silva – 1,750 days +

Welterweight (156 – 170 lbs.)

Current: Georges St. Pierre – 1,200 days +

Longest: Georges St. Pierre – 1,200 days +

Lightweight (146 – 155 lbs.)

Current: Frankie Edgar – 500 days +

Longest: B.J. Penn – 812 days

Featherweight (136 – 145 lbs.)

Current: Jose Aldo – 250 days +

Longest: Jose Aldo – 250 days +

Bantamweight (126-135 lbs.)

Current: Dominick Cruz – 250 days +

Longest: Dominick Cruz – 250 days +