Only men who held the undisputed 155-pound belt are counted here, so interim titles don't qualify. Some reigns stacked defense after defense, and others were over within months.
1Khabib NurmagomedovWon the vacant title at UFC 223 in 2018, defended it against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, and retired unbeaten at 29-0.1000pts
2Islam MakhachevDagestani who submitted Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in 2022 and made four defenses, a division record, before vacating in 2025 to move to welterweight.669pts
3Conor McGregorIrishman who knocked out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in New York in 2016, becoming the first fighter to hold UFC titles in two divisions at the same time.579pts
4Eddie AlvarezFormer Bellator champion who stopped Rafael dos Anjos in the first round in July 2016 to win the title, which he lost to Conor McGregor four months later.535pts
5Charles OliveiraBrazilian who stopped Michael Chandler for the vacant title at UFC 262 in 2021 and submitted Dustin Poirier in his one defense before missing weight in 2022.525pts
6Sean SherkWon the vacant title against Kenny Florian at UFC 64 in 2006 and defended it once before being stripped in December 2007 after a positive steroid test.463pts
7Frankie EdgarTook the belt from B.J. Penn at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi in 2010, beat Penn again in a rematch and went 1-0-1 in two title fights with Gray Maynard.392pts
8Jens PulverThe first UFC lightweight champion, who won the title against Caol Uno at UFC 30 in 2001 and defended it against Dennis Hallman and B.J. Penn.392pts
9Justin GaethjeTwo-time interim champion who beat Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House South Lawn in June 2026 to win the undisputed title.392pts
10B.J. PennHawaiian who won the title against Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 in 2008 and made three defenses, against Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez.211pts
11Anthony PettisSubmitted Benson Henderson with an armbar at UFC 164 in Milwaukee in 2013 and defended the belt against Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181.210pts- 12Rafael dos AnjosBrazilian who won the UFC lightweight title from Anthony Pettis at UFC 185 in March 2015 and defended it once, against Donald Cerrone, before losing it to Eddie Alvarez in 2016.210pts
13Ilia TopuriaFormer featherweight champion who knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June 2025 to win the vacant lightweight title.210pts
14Benson HendersonWon the title from Frankie Edgar at UFC 144 in Japan in 2012 and defended it three times, against Edgar, Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez.0pts
Photo credits
- Khabib Nurmagomedov — Airotcivss, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Islam Makhachev — Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY 3.0
- Eddie Alvarez — Kyle Holdsworth, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Frankie Edgar — Jemaleddin Cole, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Jens Pulver — User:Kwallsk1, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Justin Gaethje — K22, CC BY-SA 4.0
