List of UFC champions
Light Heavyweight Championship
186 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg) The Light Heavyweight Title was known as the Middleweight Title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).

List of UFC champions

Section Title: Light Heavyweight Championship
Table Section Text: 186 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg) The Light Heavyweight Title was known as the Middleweight Title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (Total)	Defenses

1	United States Frank Shamrock def. Kevin Jackson	UFC Japan Yokohama, Japan	Dec 21, 1997	703 days	1. def.

Shamrock vacated the title on November 24, 1999, when he retired from the UFC, citing a lack of competition.

2	United States Tito Ortiz def. Wanderlei Silva	UFC 25 Tokyo, Japan	Apr 14, 2000	1,260 days	1. def.

United States Randy Couture def. Chuck Liddell for interim title	UFC 43 Las Vegas, NV, US	Jun 6, 2003	—

3	United States Randy Couture	UFC 44 Las Vegas, NV, US	Sep 26, 2003	127 days

4	Brazil Vitor Belfort	UFC 46 Las Vegas, NV, US	Jan 31, 2004	203 days

5	United States Randy Couture (2)	UFC 49 Las Vegas, NV, US	Aug 21, 2004	238 days (365 days)

6	United States Chuck Liddell	UFC 52 Las Vegas, NV, US	Apr 16, 2005	770 days	1. def.

7	United States Quinton Jackson	UFC 71 Las Vegas, NV, US	May 26, 2007	406 days	1. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 75 on Sep 8, 2007

8	United States Forrest Griffin	UFC 86 Las Vegas, NV, US	Jul 5, 2008	175 days

9	United States Rashad Evans	UFC 92 Las Vegas, NV, US	Dec 27, 2008	147 days

10	Brazil Lyoto Machida	UFC 98 Las Vegas, NV, US	May 23, 2009	350 days	1. def. Maurício Rua at UFC 104 on Oct 24, 2009

11	Brazil Maurício Rua	UFC 113 Montreal, QC, Canada	May 8, 2010	315 days

12	United States Jon Jones	UFC 128 Newark, NJ, US	Mar 19, 2011	1,501 days	1. def.

Jones was stripped of the title on April 28, 2015, due to his involvement and arrest in a felony hit-and-run.

13	United States Daniel Cormier def. Anthony Johnson	UFC 187 Las Vegas, NV, US	May 23, 2015	1,315 days	1. def.

United States Jon Jones def. Ovince Saint Preux for interim title	UFC 197 Las Vegas, NV, US	Apr 23, 2016	—

Jones was stripped of the interim title on November 9, 2016, due to his 1-year suspension related to a failed pre-fight drug test.

Jones won the undisputed title at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017, but was stripped on September 13, 2017, after his win was overturned to a no-contest due to a failed pre-fight drug test.

Cormier vacated the title on December 28, 2018, 174 days after winning the heavyweight title.

14	United States Jon Jones (2) def. Alexander Gustafsson	UFC 232 Inglewood, CA, US	Dec 29, 2018	109 days (incumbent)	1. def. Anthony Smith at UFC 235 on Mar 2, 2019

Sentence(s)

A UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout was held between two-time champion Jon Jones and Anthony Smith.

final_sentence: A UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout was held between two-time champion Jon Jones and Anthony Smith.