All-Time UFC Champions Rankings By Weightclass

I made this thread on Sherdog a while ago.  I was just thinking I'd update it over there, but then I thought, "This will be much better at Tapology."

Heavyweight
1. Randy Couture - 3 Time Champion, 3 Defenses
2. Tim Sylvia - 2 Time Champion, 3 Defenses
3. Brock Lesnar - 1 Time Champion, 2 Defenses
4. Andre Arlovski - 1 Time Champion, 2 Defenses
5. Frank Mir - 1 Time Champion, 1 Time Interim Champion, No Defenses
6. Maurice Smith - 1 Time Champion, 1 Defense
7. Kevin Randleman - 1 Time Champion, 1 Defense
8. Cain Velasquez - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
9. Mark Coleman - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
10. Ricco Rodriguez - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
11. Bas Rutten - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
12. Josh Barnett - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
13. Rodrigo Nogueira - 1 Time Interim Champion, No Defenses
14. Shane Carwin - 1 Time Interim Champion, No Defenses

Light Heavyweight
1. Tito Ortiz - 1 Time Champion, 5 Defenses
2. Chuck Liddell - 1 Time Champion, 4 Defenses
3. Frank Shamrock - 1 Time Champion, 4 Defenses
4. Randy Couture - 2 Time Champion, 1 Time Interm Champion, No Defenses
5. Jon Jones - 1 Time Champion, 1 Defense
6. Quinton Jackson - 1 Time Champion, 1 Defense
7. Lyoto Machida - 1 Time Champion, 1 Defense
8. Mauricio Rua - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
9. Rashad Evans - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
10. Forrest Griffin - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
11. Vitor Belfort - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses

Middleweight
1. Anderson Silva - 1 Time Champion, 9 Defenses
2. Rich Franklin - 1 Time Champion, 2 Defenses
3. Murilo Bustamante - 1 Time Champion, 1 Defense
4. Evan Tanner - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
5. Dave Menne - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses

Welterweight (*This one was hard to pick.  What counts more...GSP's interm belt, or Hughes' 1 more defense?)
1. Georges St. Pierre - 2 Time Champion, 1 Time Interim Champion, 6 Defenses
2. Matt Hughes - 2 Time Champion, 7 Defenses
3. Pat Miletich - 1 Time Champion, 4 Defenses
4. B.J. Penn - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
5. Matt Serra - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
6. Carlos Newton - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses

Lightweight
1. Frankie Edgar - 1 Time Champion, 3 Defenses
2. B.J. Penn - 1 Time Champion, 3 Defenses
3. Jens Pulver - 1 Time Champion, 2 Defenses
4. Sean Sherk - 1 Time Champion, 1 Defense

Featherweight (includes WEC)
1. Urijah Faber - 1 Time Champion, 5 Defenses
2. Jose Aldo - 1 Time Champion, 4 Defenses
3. Mike Brown - 1 Time Champion, 2 Defenses
4. Cole Escovedo - 1 Time Champion, 1 Defense

Bantamweight (includes WEC)
1. Dominick Cruz - 1 Time Champion, 4 Defenses
2. Miguel Torres - 1 Time Champion, 3 Defenses
3. Chase Beebe - 1 Time Champion, 1 Defense
4. Brian Bowles - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses
5. Eddie Wineland - 1 Time Champion, No Defenses

Old-school Open Weight
1. Royce Gracie - 3 Time Tournament Champion
2. Dan Severn - 2 Time Tournament Champion, 1 Time Superfight Champion, No Defenses
3. Mark Coleman - 2 Time Tournament Champion
4. Don Frye - 2 Time Tournament Champion
5. Ken Shamrock - 1 Time Superfight Champion, 2 Defenses
6. Oleg Taktarov - 1 Time Tournament Champion
7. Marco Ruas - 1 Time Tournament Champion
8. Steve Jennum - 1 Time Tournament Champion

Nice pretty badass.. Good job.

Awesome.  I think ranking by the total number of defenses is a reasonable way to do it.

Some of the stats are a surprise to read, but the numbers don't lie.  It felt like Rich Franklin had more defenses (really only 2) and that Pat Miletich had fewer (4 is quite impressive).  Also forgot that Tito had more than Chuck.

it does seem like liddell had more than 4. i guess not.  the four would be horn. babalu, v. white and couture?

* Edited at 10.10.2011, 1:55 PM ET *

Chuck won the belt in the 2nd Couture fight, then defended against Horn, Couture, Babalu, and Ortiz. He probably would have had more had they not sheltered Ortiz for so long.

* Edited at 10.10.2011, 1:57 PM ET *

thats why i thought it might be five. ortiz fight. learn something new everday.

yeah ortiz has the most at 5, but its ********

I respect what Tito did inside the cage.  I didn't remember this, but he beat Wandy to get the title... then beat tanner, vlady and shamrock during his run.  Why not give him #1 if he's got more defenses?

Because Chuck was always there, and Chuck was always better. He wasn't defending against the right guy.

Very good job!

Nice list. I agree that Chuck should be ahead of Tito but for pure numbers I can see your reasoning. GSP ahead of Hughes makes sense due to the 2-1 H2H ledger (plus that's another reason Chuck should be ahead of Tito and you could put Aldo ahead of Faber)
The HW list confuses me. Why is Mir ahead of Smith and Randleman? Are you saying winning an interim title is more valuable than defending the actual belt? And why is Barnett at the tail end of those who won and didn't defend? His resume is surely better than all but maybe Cain, especially considering who he beat to win the title.

good rankings. i do agree with mulefloyd though. the hw part is a bit confusing with mir. also, i think chuck should be ahead of tito, despite the 1 less defense, just because he beat ortiz twice which would mean he is (was) the better fighter

The Miletich was a surprise to me. I didn't realize he had 4 defenses. I always wonder how many more times Bustamante would have defended had he not left for Pride.

Awesome list, thanks for making it. 

How right you were OP. haha

I would have loved to see Busta stick around in the UFC and wreck it's MW division, he'd have a much better legacy today. Guy is a legend but is completely overlooked.

Busta was rad.  Sad that most people dont remember him well.  Also really appreciate the list!! and lastly, i am happy that you put it here instead of on sherdog.  I feel like their forums are just a waste.

I'd put Cain right below Frank Mir for heavyweights.
I'd swap Tito and Chuck at light heavyweight despite the number of defences.  Hard to ignore the difference in quality when it came to their opponents.  Not to mention Chuck demolished Tito twice.
Featherweight is really tough to choose between Aldo and Faber, but I'd pick Aldo simply because he wrecked Faber and knocked out the only guy to beat Faber twice.

I get why you did your rankings the way you did though, sweet stuff.