UFC Middleweight - 2025

Last Modified Jan 19, 2025 11:03 GMT

The Middleweight Division in Mixed Martial Arts refers to different weight classes. The UFC Middleweight Fighters are complete within 171 to 185 lb (77.5 to 84 kg).

UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis Returns Home
UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis Returns Home

Current Middleweight Champion

The current UFC Middleweight Champion is Dricus du Plessis.

Du Plessis became the UFC middleweight champion by defeating Sean Strickland at UFC 297 on January 20, 2024, via a controversial split decision. He defended the title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 on August 18, 2024.

Latest Results from UFC Middleweight

Date Fight MethodRoundResult
January 18, 2025Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de RidderSubmission (rear-naked choke)13:31
Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland
January 18, 2025Zachary Reese vs. Azamat BekoevKO (punches)13:04
Azamat Bekoev def. Zachary Reese

UFC Middleweight Rankings 2025

RankFighterRecordMWin StreakResultLast fightNext fight
CDricus du Plessis22–2 10 (1 def)WinUFC 305 Israel Adesanya
UFC 312 Sean Strickland
1Sean Strickland29–6 1WinUFC 302 Paulo Costa
UFC 312 Dricus du Plessis
2Israel Adesanya24–4 0LossUFC 305 Dricus du Plessis
UFC Fight Night 250 Nassourdine Imavov
3Khamzat Chimaev14–0 14WinUFC 308 Robert WhittakerTBD
4Robert Whittaker26–8 0LossUFC 308 Khamzat ChimaevTBD
5Nassourdine Imavov15–4(1 NC) 3WinUFC Fight Night 243 Brendan Allen
UFC Fight Night 250 Israel Adesanya
6Caio Borralho17–1(1 NC) 14WinUFC on ESPN 62 Jared CannonierTBD
7Marvin Vettori19–7–1 0LossUFC on ESPN 47 Jared CannonierTBD
8Jared Cannonier17–8 0LossUFC on ESPN 62 Caio Borralho
UFC Fight Night 251 Gregory Rodrigues
9Brendan Allen24–6 0LossUFC Fight Night 243 Nassourdine Imavov
UFC Fight Night 252 Anthony Hernandez
10Roman Dolidze14–3 2WinUFC 307 Kevin HollandTBD
11Paulo Costa14–4 0LossUFC 302 Sean StricklandTBD
12Anthony Hernandez13–2(1 NC)16WinUFC Fight Night 245 Michel Pereira
UFC Fight Night 252 Brendan Allen
13Jack Hermansson24–8−11WinUFC Fight Night 236 Joe PyferTBD
14Sharabutdin Magomedov15–0 15WinUFC 308 Armen Petrosyan
UFC Fight Night 250 Michael Page
15Michel Pereira31–12(2 NC) 0LossUFC Fight Night 245 Anthony HernandezTBD
Read More About: UFC Champions

History of the Middleweight Class

On March 1, 2008, the Pride World Welterweight Championship was unified with the UFC Middleweight Title on March 1, 2008, when Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82.

Dave Menne and Rich Franklin have held the Middleweight Title, and at UFC 64, Anderson Silva won the title. Silva defended his title against the likes of Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, Demian Maia, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, and Yushin Okami while holding onto the belt for a total of 2,457 days, a record for the longest title reign in UFC history. At UFC 162, Chris Weidman defeated Silva to win the Middleweight Title. Weidman's reign ended when Luke Rockhold beat him at UFC 194.

At UFC 199, Michael Bisping won the Middleweight Title and eventually lost it to the returning GSP at UFC 217. As GSP vacated the title due to complications with ulcerative colitis, on December 7, 2017, Robert Whittaker was promoted as the Middleweight Champion, having won the Interim Title at UFC 213.

At UFC 243, the interim Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya defeated Robert Whittaker to win the undisputed UFC Middleweight Championship.

Adesanya defended his title against Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa at UFC 248 and UFC 253, respectively.

Sean Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 and became the new UFC middleweight champion. Unfortunately, Strickland's reign didn't last long, as he lost his first title defense against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297 via a split decision, making du Plessis the new champion.

UFC Weight Divisions

Men

  1. Heavyweight
  2. Light Heavyweight
  3. Middleweight
  4. Welterweight
  5. Lightweight
  6. Featherweight
  7. Bantamweight
  8. Flyweight

Women

  1. Featherweight
  2. Bantamweight
  3. Flyweight
  4. Strawweight

FAQs On UFC Middleweight Champion

A. Dricus du Plessis is the UFC middleweight champion. 

A. Sean Strickland is the No.1 ranked contender in the UFC middleweight division. 

A. The UFC middleweight division weighs 171 to 185 lb (77.5 to 84 kg). 

A. Select members of the MMA media vote on the official UFC rankings. Their voices are averaged, and the rankings are determined every week.

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