List of UFC champions
Lightweight Championship
146 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg) The Lightweight Title was known as the Bantamweight Title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).

List of UFC champions

Section Title: Lightweight Championship
Table Section Text: 146 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg) The Lightweight Title was known as the Bantamweight Title prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001).

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (Total)	Defenses

1	United States Jens Pulver def. Caol Uno	UFC 30 Atlantic City, NJ, US	Feb 23, 2001	393 days	1. def.

Pulver was stripped of the title on March 23, 2002, when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute.

B.J. Penn and Caol Uno fought to a draw on February 28, 2003, at UFC 41 in Atlantic City, NJ, US in the finale of a 4-man tournament for the vacant title.

2	United States Sean Sherk def. Kenny Florian	UFC 64 Las Vegas, NV, US	Oct 14, 2006	420 days	1. def. Hermes França at UFC 73 on Jul 7, 2007

Sherk was stripped of the title on December 8, 2007, after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.

3	United States B.J. Penn def. Joe Stevenson	UFC 80 Newcastle, England, UK	Jan 19, 2008	812 days	1. def.

4	United States Frankie Edgar	UFC 112 Abu Dhabi, UAE	Apr 10, 2010	687 days	1. def.

5	United States Benson Henderson	UFC 144 Saitama, Japan	Feb 26, 2012	552 days	1. def.

6	United States Anthony Pettis	UFC 164 Milwaukee, WI, US	Aug 31, 2013	560 days	1. def. Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181 on Dec 6, 2014

7	Brazil Rafael dos Anjos	UFC 185 Dallas, TX, US	Mar 14, 2015	481 days	1. def. Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs. Cerrone 2 on Dec 19, 2015

8	United States Eddie Alvarez	UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Alvarez Las Vegas, NV, US	Jul 7, 2016	128 days

9	Republic of Ireland Conor McGregor	UFC 205 New York City, NY, US	Nov 12, 2016	511 days

United States Tony Ferguson def. Kevin Lee for interim title	UFC 216 Las Vegas, NV, US	Oct 7, 2017	—

Both McGregor and Ferguson were stripped of their titles on April 7, 2018 due to inactivity and injury, respectively.

10	Russia Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Al Iaquinta	UFC 223 Brooklyn, NY, US	Apr 7, 2018	375 days (incumbent)	1. def. Conor McGregor at UFC 229 on Oct 6, 2018

United States Dustin Poirier def. Max Holloway for interim title	UFC 236 Atlanta, GA, US	Apr 13, 2019	4 days (incumbent)

Sentence(s)

Henderson was the UFC Lightweight Champion on February 26, 2012, at UFC 144.
On February 26, 2012, at UFC 144, Henderson became the UFC Lightweight Champion.

final_sentence: Henderson was the UFC Lightweight Champion on February 26, 2012, at UFC 144.
final_sentence: On February 26, 2012, at UFC 144, Henderson became the UFC Lightweight Champion.