Prior to UFC 31 in 2001, the UFC Lightweight division was called the Bantamweight division. After an on again, off again relationship with the UFC (where the title, along with the division, were put on hold) the division was officially reinstated, when Benson Henderson defeated Gilbert Melendez in 2013.
The UFC Lightweight division has produced some of the most notorious UFC champions in the history of the promotion, including the ‘Notorious’ one himself, Conor McGregor.
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Current UFC Lightweight Champion
The current UFC Lightweight champion is Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira. He is a Brazilian MMA fighter who holds the record for the most amount of submission wins in the UFC. He won the Lightweight title when he knocked out Michael Chandler at UFC 262.
Here is a full list of UFC Lightweight champions:
UFC Lightweight Champions
| Date Made Champion | UFC Fighter Name | Country Of Origin | |
 | Feb 23, 2001 | Jens Pulver | USA |
 | Oct 14, 2006 | Sean Sherk | USA |
 | Jan 19, 2008 | BJ Penn | USA |
 | Apr 10, 2010 | Frankie Edgar | USA |
 | Feb 26, 2012 | Ben Henderson | USA |
 | Aug 31, 2013 | Anthony Pettis | USA |
 | Mar 14, 2015 | Rafael dos Anjos | Brazil |
 | Jul 7, 2016 | Eddie Alvarez | USA |
 | Nov 12, 2016 | Conor McGregor | Ireland |
 | Apr 7, 2018 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | Russia |
 | May 15, 2021 | Charles Oliviera | Brazil |
