Top 5 UFC Champions With Most Title Defenses

As Althea Gibson stated, ‘’You simply aren’t considered a real champion until you have defended your title successfully.’’ Some UFC champions have secured multiple title wins en route to becoming dominant titleholders in their weight class. 

And title defenses make UFC odds interesting, though MMA betting may not always include championship bouts.

From the record-setting reign of Jon Jones, up to the superior flyweight run of Demetrious Johnson, the middleweight supremacy of Anderson Silva, the welterweight dominance of Georges St-Pierre and the featherweight run of Jose Aldo, we have a list of their past title defenses and future online MMA betting.

Top 5 UFC Champions With Most Title Defenses

1. Jon Jones – 13 title defenses

Before relinquishing the light heavyweight title in March 2020 to move up to the heavyweight division, Jones was an unstoppable force in the 205-pound division. He captured it by defeating Shogun Rua in 2011 in UFC 128 and became the youngest UFC champion in history at age 23. ‘’Bones’’ also holds the record for the most wins, most submission victories and longest win streak in the weight class.

Since then, he never lost a title match and defended the light heavyweight crown 12 times against Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Alexander Gustafsson (two times), Glover Teixeira, Daniel Cormier, Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes.

His most recent successful title defense was against Stipe Miocic in November 2024 at UFC 309, where he won a third-round knockout to secure his 13th title defense.

2. Demetrious Johnson – 11 title defenses

Johnson began his reign as the flyweight title holder in 2012 after beating Joseph Benavidez via split decision at UFC 152. Since then, he has defended his championship 11 times, defeating John Dodson (twice), John Morga, Joseph Benavidez (rematch), Ali Bagautinov, Chris Cariaso, Kyoji Horiguchi, Henry Cejudo, Tim Elliot, Wilson Reis, and Ray Borg.

His dominance was halted by Cejudo in their rematch in August 2018 at UFC 227 via a split decision loss. After absorbing the defeat, he was traded to ONE Championship for Ben Askren and won the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix tournament.

3. Anderson Silva – 10 title defenses

Although Silva only sits at the No. 3 spot in the most number of title defenses in UFC history with 10, he holds the most finishes in title fights with nine and the most fights in the middleweight division with 13. Silva won the middleweight title in October 2006 after stopping Rich Franklin.

The ‘’Spider’’ defended his title against the likes of Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin (rematch), Dan Henderson, Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, Demian Maia, Chael Sonnen (two times), Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami. Chris Weidman ended his rule in the 185-pound division in the championship showdown in July 2013.

4. Georges St-Pierre – 9 title defenses

Despite losing his first-ever title defense to Matt Serra in August 2007, St-Pierre managed to get his belt back in their rematch in April 2008 with a stoppage of his own in just two rounds. The greatest Canadian MMA athlete of all time retained his championship nine times.

He defeated the likes of Jon Fitch, BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Josh Koscheck, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz and Johnny Hendricks during his time as the middleweight champion. GSP renounced his title in 2013 and had a four-year hiatus before coming back to claim the middleweight championship after defeating Michael Bisping in November 2017.

5. Valentina Shevchenko – 9 title defenses

After her latest win against Zhang Weili in November, Valentina Shevchenko officially joined the top five list of UFC champions with the most title defenses. The ‘’Bullet’’ extended her second reign in the women’s flyweight division with a masterful performance against the Chinese MMA superstar. She now has nine successful title defenses.

Shevchenko’s reign in the 125-pound division is nothing short of dominance as she knocked out Jessica Eye in June 2019, lopsidedly defeated Liz Carmouche in August 2019, TKO’ed Katlyn Chookagian in February 2020, dominated Jennifer Maia in November 2020, TKO’ed Jessica Andrade in April 2021 and stopped Lauren Murphy in September 2021.