Double belt, double champion (or simultaneous champion in cases where the belts are won without abandoning or losing the other) is an achievement made by mixed martial artists in several categories.
Controversies Some sports experts argue that a double championship could be detrimental to the divisions that the champion competes in. The progression of the divisions may be blocked, which can be considered unfair to other challengers. This can be due to the fact that MMA athletes cannot compete in short periods of time (except for rare circumstances, such as fights that end quickly and/or without injury) and must have adequate time for recovery and training camp. Furthermore, athletes need time to adjust their weight, which can further delay title fights.Will Adesanya become champions? The four fighters who became twice UFC
Historical double-champions of the main associations NºNameDivisionTitleDefensesOrganizationSimultaneous 1 Randy Couture Heavyweight 1997 0 UFC rowspan="6" No 2000 2 2007 1 Light heavyweight 2003 0 2003 0 2004 0 2 Antônio Silva Heavyweight 2005 0 Cage Rage/Cage Warriors rowspan="2" Yes Super heavyweight 2005 1 3 Dan Henderson Welterweight 2007 0 PRIDE rowspan="2" YesMiddleweight 2005 0 4 B.J. Penn Welterweight 2004 0 UFC rowspan="2" No Lightweight 2008 3 5 Gegard Mousasi Middleweight 2008 0 DREAM rowspan="2" No Light heavyweight 2010 1 6 Bibiano Fernandes Featherweight 2009 1 DREAM rowspan="2" No Bantamweight 2011 0 7 Joe Warren Featherweight 2010 0 Bellator rowspan="3" No Bantamweight 2014 0 2014 0 8 David BranchLight heavyweight 2015 1 WSOF rowspan="2" YesMiddleweight 2014 2 9 Mamed Khalidov Middleweight 2015 1 KSW rowspan="2" No Light heavyweight 2009 1 10 Conor McGregor Lightweight 2016 0 UFC rowspan="3" Yes Featherweight 2015 0 2015 0 11 Georges St-Pierre Middleweight 2017 0 UFC rowspan="4" NoWelterweight 2006 0 2007 0 2008 9 12 Martin Nguyen Lightweight 2017 0 ONE rowspan="2" Yes Featherweight 2017 3 13 Aung La Nsang Light heavyweight 2018 1 ONE rowspan="2" YesMiddleweight 2017 3 14 Mateusz Gamrot Featherweight 2018 0 KSW rowspan="2" Yes Lightweight 2016 4 15 Daniel Cormier Heavyweight 2018 1 UFC rowspan="2" Yes Light heavyweight 2015 3 16 Amanda Nunes Featherweight 2018 2 UFC rowspan="2" Yes Bantamweight 2016 5 17 Ryan Bader Heavyweight 2019 0 Bellator rowspan="2" YesLight heavyweight 2017 1 18 Henry Cejudo Bantamweight 2019 1 UFC rowspan="2" Yes Flyweight 2018 1 19Patricio Freire Lightweight 2019 0 Bellator rowspan="3" Yes Featherweight 2014 2 2017 5 20Roberto Soldić Middleweight 2021 0 KSW rowspan="3" Yes Welterweight 2017 0 2018 2 21 Reinier de Ridder Middleweight 2020 2 ONE rowspan="2" Yes Light heavyweight 2021 0 22 Karlos Vémola Middleweight 2020 0 Oktagon MMA rowspan="2" No Light heavyweight 2022 2 23 Christian Lee Welterweight 2022 0 ONE rowspan="3" Yes Lightweight 2019 3 2022 1 24 Salahdine Parnasse Lightweight 2023 4 KSW rowspan="2" Yes Featherweight 20212 25 Jon Jones Heavyweight 2023 1 UFC rowspan="4" NoLight heavyweight 2011 8 2016 0 2018 3 26Kyoji Horiguchi Flyweight 2023 1 RIZIN FF rowspan="3" No Bantamweight 2018 0 2020 0 27 Anatoly Malykhin Light Heavyweight 2022 0 ONE rowspan="3" Yes Heavyweight 2023 0 Middleweight 2024 0 28 Alex Pereira Middleweight 2022 0 UFC rowspan="2" No Light heavyweight 20233 29 Ilia Topuria Featherweight 2024 1 UFC rowspan="2" No Lightweight 2025 0 30 Will Fleury Light heavyweight 2024 0 Oktagon MMA rowspan="2" Yes Heavyweight 2025 1 31 Islam Makhachev Lightweight 2022 4 UFC rowspan="2" No Welterweight 2025 1
Max Holloway of UFC, who won the featherweight and BMF titles, is not considered as a double champion, as the BMF title is not an official "weight class title". As well as Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje from the same promotion, who won the lightweight and BMF titles, are also not considered as double champions for same reason.
List of double champions by country and organization
NºCountryChampions 1º 9 2º 4 3º 3 3º 3 4º 2 5º 2 5º 1 5º 1 5º 1 5º 1 5º 1 5º 1
NºOrg.ChampionsNationalities 1º UFC 11 2° ONE 5 3º KSW 4 4º Bellator 3 5º PFL 1 5º PRIDE 1 5º WSOF 1 5º RIZIN FF 1
References