Ranking All The UFC Two Division Champions
Winning titles in two weight classes has become common in modern MMA despite a big gap between the divisions.
In this article, we are going to take a look back in history and rank all these champions in a random order. You will learn more about their stories and how they managed to achieve the double-champ status.
9. Alex Pereira
Titles: middleweight and light heavyweight
When he arrived in MMA from kickboxing in 2021, Pereira needed less than a year to win the UFC middleweight title. He made his debut in November 2021 with the win over Andreas Michailidis and beat Israel Adesanya in November 2022 to win the title. His entire journey was nothing but a roller coaster ride.
However, Pereira failed to defend the belt since he got knocked out in the rematch. Instead of working his way up again, he decided to move a division up and test himself against the light heavyweights. He didn’t lack the size of power to compete against the best, so people expected good results.
This ended up as a wise decision as Pereira managed to beat Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 to secure a shot at the 205 title. Since Jammal Hill vacated the title due to an injury, the UFC matched Pereira against Jiri Prochazka for the belt.
Brazilian’s power was once again at full display as he managed to catch Prochazka in the second round, and finish him with ground and pound to become a double champ.
8. B.J. Penn
Titles: lightweight and welterweight
Despite the terrible losing streak at the end of his career, B.J. Penn remains a UFC legend. He belongs among the most talented fighters the sport has ever seen and is one of the very first mainstream superstars.
Penn came into the sport as a BJJ World Champion. It’s worth noting he earned a Gracie black belt after only 3 years of training. Most people need at least 10 years which shows you how talented Penn was back in the day.
Moreover, he actually made his pro-MMA debut at UFC 31. Yes, his very first MMA bout was in the UFC, which he won by 1st round TKO. Three years later, he would win the 170-pound title by beating Matt Hughes at UFC 46. This was his welterweight debut by the way.
Then 4 years later in 2008, he won the 155 pound title by beating Joe Stevenson at UFC 80. He would defend the belt three times before losing it to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112.
In the end, Penn will go down into the history books as the second multi-divisional UFC champion, and one of the best lightweights ever.
7. Randy Couture
Titles: Light heavyweight and heavyweight
Randy Couture is the first-ever UFC champion in two weight classes. This amazing achievement goes to another level when you realize that Couture actually joined the sport of MMA at 34 years of age.
Most modern fighters are already working on their way out of the sport at that stage. But Couture was different, much different.
Right upon enrolling in MMA, Couture made his pro debut at the UFC 13 tournament in 1997, which he ended up winning. In December the same year, he would beat Maurice Smith to win the heavyweight belt for the first time.
After vacating the title and then winning it for the second time, he would drop down to the light heavyweight division. In his debut in this weight class, he would beat Chuck Liddell at UC 43 to win the interim title. He then unified it with a decision win over his fierce rival, Tito Ortiz, to become the first UFC fighter to win titles in two separate weight classes.
In 2007, he went back to heavyweight to beat Tim Sylvia to win the heavyweight title for the third time. Like that’s not amazing enough, Couture did it at almost 44 years of age.
6. Henry Cejudo
Titles: flyweight and bantamweight
Henry Cejudo is among the most underrated combat sports figures in sports history. No matter what people may think of his personality, his accomplishments are inspiring. In his long career, he was able to win:
- Olympic Gold Medal in Freestyle Wrestling
- UFC Flyweight championship
- UFC Bantamweight champion
On top of that, his road to becoming champion in two separate weight classes was tough. First, he somehow managed to end Demetrious Johnson’s title reign and 13-fight unbeaten streak at UFC 197.
Then after defending the belt against T.J. Dillashaw, he moved up in weight to challenge Marlon Moraes for the bantamweight strap. After surviving an early storm, Cejudo found a way to finish Moraes in the third round to win the 135-pound belt, and become a “champ-champ”.
He was the fourth UFC fighter to simultaneously hold titles in two different divisions.
5. Amanda Nunes
Titles: bantamweight and featherweight
Amanda Nunes is the greatest women UFC fighter of all time, and no one can argue against that. She cleaned the entire generation of fighters and beat all the legends and former champions, and she did it in style. By finishing most of them of course.
Nunes won the 135-pound title by beating Miesha Tate at the historic UFC 200 event. She then defended it three times by beating the best of the best like Ronda Rousey and Valentina Shevchenko. But then the news came that the UFC is opening a new, 145-pound division.
Nunes quickly jumped on the opportunity to win another belt, this time by knocking out the most feared challenger Cris Cyborg at UFC 232. From then on, Nunes would simultaneously hold and defend her belts multiple times in the following years, and clean both divisions.
Among many of her records, one that stands out is that she beat 7 former UFC champions.
4. Georges St. Pierre
Titles: welterweight and middleweight
GSP is widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. Although this remains debatable, he is almost certainly THE best welterweight fighter fans have ever seen compete.
He elevated the technical aspect of the fighting game to a whole new level and was much ahead of his time. For instance, he was known for his offensive wrestling game and top control. But many people forget that GSP didn’t have any wrestling background before MMA. Yet he managed to outwrestle the best grapplers with ease.
The Canadian failed in his first attempt to win the 170-pound title against Matt Hughes. However, he came back to beat Hughes in a rematch at UFC 65 to finally capture the belt. From then on, he went on to rule a division for many years and defended his title an amazing nine times.
At the peak of his prime, he decided to retire in 2013 while being on top of the game. However, he came back four years later to face Michael Bisping, the middleweight champion at the time at UFC 217. After two competitive rounds, GSP managed to break Bisping in the third and submit him in the last minute to win the second belt.
It’s amazing how he was able to get back into the title fight and win it after being so many years away from the sport.
3. Daniel Cormier
Titles: light heavyweight and heavyweight
Cormier never really received enough credit for his accomplishments inside the octagon. He fought at the top of the food chain in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, when these two weight classes were among the strongest in the UFC.
He won the vacant light heavyweight title by submitting Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 and he defended it three times. However, fans never considered him a “legitimate” champion simply because he never beat Jon Jones. It was sad watching DC being in the shadow of his rival.
But things took a dramatic turn in 2018 when he got the chance to fight Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title. Despite being heavily undersized, DC found a way to knock Miocic out at the end of the first round at UFC 226 to become a “champ-champ”. Witnessing DC winning the belt and silencing even the biggest haters of amazing.
2. Jon Jones
Titles: light heavyweight and heavyweight
Even without winning the second belt, Jones would have still been considered the greatest UFC fighter of all time. This on its own says a lot about his dominance inside the octagon. He has that aura of invisibility around him only the best fighters have, and his secrets are yet to be revealed.
Jones won the light heavyweight title way back in 2011 by finishing Mauricio Rua to become the youngest UFC champion in history. Over the next decade, he would go on to defend his title eleven times in total and clean two generations of contenders. The final result of this run was a 19-unbeaten streak, the longest in history.
Like that’s not amazing enough, Jones decided to move up in weight and fight for the heavyweight belt. In 2023, he faced Ciryl Gane for the vacant belt at UFC 285, and he managed to beat him within the first two minutes of the fight.
1. Conor McGregor
Titles: featherweight and lightweight
Conor Mcgregor revolutionized the game in many aspects. Yet, one of his biggest accomplishments was becoming the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two weight divisions, simultaneously. In other words, he pioneered the champ-champ status.
It all started when he won the 145-pound belt by beating Chad Mendes. Then, he famously unified it by knocking out the real king of the division, Jose Aldo, in just 13 seconds to secure an undisputed champ status. After that, Mcgregor was so famous that the UFC was there only to fulfil his wishes.
One of his biggest dreams was to move a division up and challenge for the 155-pound belt. He had a really good chance of winning it because lightweight was suited for his size.
Initially, the UFC matched him to face the reigning champ at the time, Rafael Dos Anjos. However, the Brazilian had to pull out due to the injury so Nate Diaz jumped in as a late replacement. Mcgregor would gamble and lose, but after avenging the loss in the rematch, the stage was finally set for him to fight for the second belt.
Bear in mind that while all of this was happening, he was the reigning 145-pound champ. At UFC 205, he went on top put on his best MMA performance to completely dismantle Alvarez and win the second belt. It truly was once in a lifetime moment.
