In 2001, UFC decided to align its weight divisions with that of the New Jersey State Athletic Commissions. This lead to the birth of the official Welterweight division in the UFC at UFC 31, which held fighters weighing between 156 lbs and 170 lbs.
The Welterweight division has been home to some of the biggest names in UFC history. Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, GSP, Usman, Robbie Lawler, Hendricks, Condit all spent a large part of their career rising through the Welterweight ranks, some of them becoming UFC Champions.
Perhaps the most famous of all, was Georges St-Pierre (GSP). GSP is arguably the greatest Welterweight of all time. He was a 2 time Welterweight Champion who also went up to Middleweight and became the Champion of that division when he defeated Michael Bisping at UFC 217.
Here is a list of every UFC Welterweight Champion:
Table of Contents
UFC Welterweight Champions
| Date Made Champion | UFC Fighter Name | Country Of Origin | |
 | Oct 16, 1998 | Pat Miletich | USA |
 | May 4, 2001 | Carlos Newton | Canada |
 | Nov 2, 2001 | Matt Hughes | USA |
 | Jan 31, 2004 | BJ Penn | USA |
| Oct 22, 2004 | Matt Hughes (2) | USA |
 | Nov 18, 2006 | Georges St-Pierre | Canada |
 | Apr 7, 2007 | Matt Serra | USA |
| Apr 19, 2008 | Georges St-Pierre (2) | Canada |
 | Mar 15, 2014 | Johny Hendricks | USA |
 | Dec 6, 2014 | Robbie Lawler | USA |
 | Jul 30, 2016 | Tyron Woodley | USA |
 | Mar 2, 2019 | Kamaru Usman | Nigeria / USA |
