"Where's the upheaval? Only one of the four year-opening titlists, women's flyweight Valentina Shevchenko, held the belt for the entire year. Alex Pereira lost his light heavyweight belt in March and recaptured it in October. Islam Makhachev ended the year as welterweight champion after entering 2025 with the lightweight belt. Ilia Topuria grabbed the 155-pound title Makhachev vacated after vacating his featherweight gold."
"None of those champions was as active as Merab Dvalishvili, who made his first men's bantamweight title defense in January, his second in June and his third in October. He attempted an unprecedented fourth defense in a calendar year at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 but produced a bitter ending to the final pay-per-view event of 2025, losing the belt to former champion Petr Yan."
"Not only is Shevchenko the longest-reigning current champion -- she regained the 125-pound title in September 2024 -- but she's also the only one who has made a title defense. The last time the UFC had a single champion with a title defense was May 26, 2007, according to ESPN Research. That night, Chuck Liddell lost the light heavyweight belt to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, leaving the UFC with zero champions with title defenses for over a month."
Eleven current UFC champions include four who began the year as titleholders, two who began as former champions, and one in the second year of an interim reign. Valentina Shevchenko was the sole year-long titleholder and the only champion to record a defense. Alex Pereira lost the light heavyweight belt in March and recaptured it in October. Islam Makhachev moved from lightweight to end the year as welterweight champion while Ilia Topuria claimed the 155-pound title vacated by Makhachev. Merab Dvalishvili made three bantamweight defenses and lost a fourth title attempt at UFC 323 to Petr Yan. The year featured 21 UFC title bouts, with champions retaining in 10.
Read at ESPN.com
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