The interim heavyweight title will be on the line Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 304 when Tom Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) puts the belt on the line in a rematch with Curtis Blaydes (18-4 MMA , 13- 4 CFU).
The heavyweight division is in a stalemate at the top as it waits for champion Jon Jones to finally defend his title against former champion Stipe Miocic. This long delay resulted in the rare occurrence of an interim champion defending the title instead of having a unification fight next. But this is the story of one of the most interesting divisions in the UFC. Take a look at the chronological history of the UFC heavyweight belt.
Mark Coleman
Date: February 7, 1997
Event: UFC 12
Adversary: Dan Severn
Total reign: 170 days
Title defenses: None
Mauricio Smith
Date: July 27, 1997
Event: UFC 14
Adversary: Mark Coleman
Total reign: 147 days
Title defenses: Abbott Tank
Randy Couture
Date: December 21, 1997
Event: UFC Japan
Adversary: Mauricio Smith
Total reign: N/A
Title defenses: None
Grades: Couture lost the title in January 1998 and left the promotion due to a contract dispute.
Bas Rutten
Date: May 7, 1999
Event: UFC 20
Adversary: Kevin Randleman
Total reign: 34 days
Title defenses: None
Grades: Rutten won the title vacated by Randy Couture. But he quickly vacated the belt by dropping to light heavyweight and later retired.
Kevin Randleman
Date: November 19, 1999
Event: UFC 23
Adversary: Peter Williams
Total reign: 364 days
Title defenses: Pedro Rizzo
Randy Couture
Date: November 17, 2000
Event: UFC 28
Adversary: Kevin Randleman
Total reign: 490 days
Title defenses: Pedro Rizzo (twice)
Grades: Couture returned to the promotion after a contract dispute and regained the title he held three years prior. He also entered the history books as the first repeat UFC heavyweight champion.
Josh Barnett
Date: March 22, 2002
Event: UFC 36
Adversary: Randy Couture
Total reign: 126 days
Title defenses: None
Grades: Barnett was stripped of the title in July 2002 after testing positive for steroids.
Rico Rodrigues
Date: September 27, 2002
Event: UFC 39
Adversary: Randy Couture
Total reign: 154 days
Title defenses: None
Grades: Rodriguez won the belt vacated by Josh Barnett when he was stripped due to a positive steroid test.
Tim Sylvia
Date: February 28, 2003
Event: UFC 41
Adversary: Rico Rodrigues
Total reign: 229 days
Title defenses: Gan McGee
Grades: Sylvia was stripped of the title in October 2003 after testing positive for steroids.
Frank Mir
Date: June 19, 2004
Event: UFC 48
Adversary: Tim Sylvia
Total reign: 419 days
Title defenses: None
Grades: Mir’s title win is famous because he broke Sylvia’s arm. But Mir suffered a motorcycle accident after the title and was on the shelf long enough to have his belt removed in August 2005.
Andrei Arlovski (interim, then undisputed)
Date: February 5, 2005
Event: UFC 51
Adversary: Tim Sylvia
Total reign: 246 days
Title defenses: Justin Eilers, Paul Buentello
Grades: Arlovski beat Sylvia, who was previously off steroids, for the interim belt while Frank Mir was injured in a motorcycle accident. After a defense as interim champion, Arlovski was promoted to undisputed starter.
Tim Sylvia
Date: April 15, 2006
Event: UFC 59
Adversary: Andrei Arlovski
Total reign: 322 days
Title defenses: Andrei Arlovski, Jeff Monson
Grades: Sylvia won the title for the second time by beating Arlovski in a rematch. He beat him again three months later, increasing his record to 2-1 in the trilogy.
Randy Couture
Date: March 3, 2007
Event: UFC 68
Adversary: Tim Sylvia
Total reign: 623 days
Title defenses: Gabriel Gonzaga
Grades: In one of the most dramatic moments in UFC history, Couture began his third reign as champion and became the first fighter in UFC history to win titles in two weight classes.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (interim)
Date: February 2, 2008
Event: UFC 81
Adversary: Tim Sylvia
Title defenses: None
Grades: Nogueira won the interim belt while Randy Couture was fighting for a contract with the UFC.
Brock Lesnar
Date: November 15, 2008
Event: UFC 91
Adversary: Randy Couture
Total reign: 707 days
Title defenses: Frank Mir, Shane Carwin
Grades: At the time, Lesnar became the fastest fighter to win the UFC title.
Frank Mir (interim)
Date: December 27, 2008
Event: UFC 92
Adversary: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Title defenses: None
Grades: Mir became interim champion by defeating an interim champion. He then lost a unification fight to Brock Lesmar.
Shane Carwin (interim)
Date: March 27, 2010
Event: UFC 111
Adversary: Frank Mir
Title defenses: None
Grades: Carwin became interim champion by defeating an interim champion. He then lost a unification fight to Brock Lesmar.
Cain Velasquez
Date: October 13, 2010
Event: UFC 121
Adversary: Brock Lesnar
Total reign: 385 days
Title defenses: None
Grades: Velasquez lost the belt on his first defense attempt.
Junior Dos Santos
Date: November 12, 2011
Event: UFC on FOX 1
Adversary: Cain Velasquez
Total reign: 413 days
Title defenses: Frank Mir
Grades: JDS needed just 64 seconds to defeat Velasquez and win the title.
Cain Velasquez
Date: December 29, 2012
Event: UFC 155
Adversary: Junior Dos Santos
Total reign: 896 days
Title defenses: Antonio Silva, Junior Dos Santos
Grades: Velasquez became two-time champion and avenged his previous defeat to JDS.
Fabricio Werdum (interim, then undisputed)
Date: November 15, 2014
Event: UFC 180
Adversary: Mark Hunt, Cain Velasquez
Total reign: 336 days
Title defenses: None
Grades: Werdum beat Hunt for the interim title while Velasquez stayed away, then beat Velasquez to unify the belts at UFC 188.
Stipe Miocic
Date: May 14, 2016
Event: UFC 198
Adversary: Fabricio Werdum
Total reign: 784 days
Title defenses: Alistair Overeem, Junior Dos Santos, Francis Ngannou
Grades: Considered the greatest heavyweight of all time due to having more successive UFC title defenses than anyone else.
Daniel Cormier
Date: July 7, 2018
Event: UFC 226
Adversary: Stipe Miocic
Total reign: 406 days
Title defenses: Derrick Lewis
Grades: Light heavyweight champion Cormier became the second UFC fighter to hold two titles simultaneously.
Stipe Miocic
Date: August 17, 2019
Event: UFC 241
Adversary: Daniel Cormier
Total reign: 588 days
Title defenses: Daniel Cormier
Grades: Miocic regained the title from Cormier in a rematch and beat him in a trilogy fight a year later.
Francisco Ngannou
Date: March 27, 2021
Event: UFC 260
Adversary: Stipe Miocic
Total reign: 659 days
Title defenses: Ciryl Gane
Grades: Ngannou became the first African fighter to win the UFC heavyweight title. His victory over Gane was a fight for title unification. He was stripped of the title in January 2023 after a contract dispute.
Ciryl Gane (acting)
Date: August 7, 2021
Event: UFC 265
Adversary: Derrick Lewis
Title defenses: None
Grades: He lost to Francis Ngannou in the title unification fight.
Jon Jones
Date: March 4, 2023
Event: UFC 285
Adversary: Ciryl Gane
Total reign: Holder
Title defenses: None
Grades: He beat Gane for the vacant title when Ngannou left in a contract dispute.
Tom Aspinall (interim)
Date: November 11, 2023
Event: UFC 295
Adversary: Sergei Pavlovich
Total reign: Holder
Title defenses: None
Grades: Earned an interim title after Jones went on the shelf with surgery.
This article was originally published on MMA Junkie: UFC Heavyweight Title History: Mark Coleman, Stipe Miocic, Daniel Cormier and More
