The UFC Lightweight Title: A Visual History
The belt may say “BMF,” but the title is a celebration of lightweight awesomeness.
On Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira will square off in the main event of UFC 326, with the UFC’s newest piece of championship hardware at stake. It will be the fourth meeting for the symbolic title since Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz more or less willed it into existence a little over five years ago at UFC 244.
It’s worth noting that despite the BMF title being only loosely lineal, it has been contested exclusively by current, former or career lightweights since its inception, including Saturday’s meeting between former champ “do Bronxs” and the “Blessed” featherweight great who moved up to 155 pounds to win, then defend, the silvery strap. It’s only fitting that the BMF belt so closely overlaps a division that for over a decade has been one of the strongest in the sport.
Just as importantly, lightweight over the past seven years or so has been jammed with amazing fighters to the point that it almost needed a second belt to recognize them. We are only just realizing how lucky we were to have the likes of Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson all fighting in the same division at the same time—and completing a near round-robin of dream matchups.
It wasn’t always that way, of course. Lightweight was once so unloved that, thanks to a combination of lukewarm fan interest, a thin roster and an ill-timed draw in a title fight, the title lay vacant from March 2002, when champion Jens Pulver bolted over a contract dispute, until October 2006, when Sean Sherk defeated Kenny Florian to capture the title and rekindle the division.
Fortunately for us, the UFC never did give up on lightweight, and by the time of B.J. Penn’s long-awaited title reign in 2008, it was well on its way to becoming the force it is today. Here is the history of the UFC light heavyweight title and the times it was won, lost or defended. It tells the story of a division once on the verge of extinction, surviving and growing into a breeding ground for the baddest MF’ers in mixed martial arts.
Ben Duffy/Sherdog.com illustration