The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company. Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, the company is owned by William Morris Endeavor and run by the president of the company, Dana White. The UFC was created in 1993 as a single-elimination tournament called “War of the Worlds.” This tournament gained some instant traction because of the nature of the fighting and the “no rules” promotion. The UFC was created to showcase a contest that featured different fighting disciplines like boxing, kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sambo, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, and judo. As fighters began to use multiple disciplines in their fighting tactics, the mixed martial arts sport began to grow. Each UFC fight consists of three, five-minute rounds with a one-minute rest period between rounds. All world championship fights consist of five, five-minute rounds with one-minute rest periods between each round.

In the early 2000s, the UFC began adopting more rules to promote a more technical fighting technique instead of just an “all out brawl.” Once The Ultimate Fighter, a reality TV show featuring up-and-coming MMA fighters, began airing on Spike TV in 2005, the sport began to really grow. Fans were able to see not only great fights but also all of the storylines that brought the fighters to where they are today. 

As of 2019, the UFC has held over 500 events and is continuing to grow yearly as a sport. The UFC struck TV deals in Australia, Asia, and Europe and recently struck a deal worth close to $1.5 billion over 5 years with ESPN in the United States. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has given a stage to some of the biggest and best fighters (and overall personalities) in the world. Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, BJ Penn, and Ronda Rousey are some of the 22 fighters currently in the UFC Hall of Fame. 

Rankings:

Flyweight:

Champion: Henry Cejudo

1. Joseph Benavidez
2. Jussier Formiga
3. Deiveson Figueiredo
4. Alexandre Pantoja
5. Brandon Moreno
6. Rogerio Bontorin
7. Tim Elliott
8. Kai Kara France 
9. Matt Schnell
10. Jordan Espinose

Bantamweight:

Champion: Henry Cejudo

1. Marlon Moraes
2. Aljamain Sterling
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Raphael Assuncao
6. Pedro Munhoz
7. Jimmie Rivera
8. Jose Aldo
9. Cody Garbrandt
10. Rob Font

Featherweight:

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Yair Rodriguez
6. Frankie Edgar
7. Renato Moicano
8. Jeremy Stephens
9. Jose Aldo 
10. Josh Emmett

Lightweight:

Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov

1. Tony Ferguson
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Justin Gathje
4. Conor McGregor
5. Donald Cerrone
6. Paul Felder
7. Dan Hooker
8. Kevin Lee
9. Al Iaquinta
10. Edson Barboza

Welterweight:

Champion: Kamaru Usman

1. Tyron Woodley
2. Colby Covington
3. Jorge Masvidal
4. Leon Edwards
5. Rafael Dos Anjos
6. Demian Maia
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Nate Diaz
9. Anthony Pettis
10. Robbie Lawler

Middleweight:

Champion: Israel Adesanya

1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa
3. Yoel Romero
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Darren Till
6. Jack Hermansson
7. Kelvin Gastelum
8. Derek Brunson
9. Edmen Shahbazyan
10. Uriah Hall

Light Heavyweight:

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Thiago Santos
2. Daniel Cormier
3. Anthony Smith
4. Dominick Reyes
5. Corey Anderson
6. Jan Blachowicz
7. Alexander Gustafsson
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Glover Teixeira
10. Aleksandar Rakic

Heavyweight:

Champion: Stipe Miocic

1. Daniel Cormier
2. Francis Ngannou
3. Curtis Blaydes
4. Junior Dos Santos
5. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
6. Derrick LEwis
7. Alexander Volkov
8. Alistair Overeem
9. Walt Harris
10. Shamil Abdurakhimov

Women’s Strawweight:

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Jessica Andrade
2. Rose Namajunas
3. Tatiana Suarez
4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
5. Nina Ansaroff
6. Claudia Gadelha
7. Carla Esparza
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Cynthia Calvillo

Women’s Flyweight:

Champion: Valentina Shevchenko

1. Katlyn Chookagian
2. Jessica Eye
3. Joanne Calderwood
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Viviane Araujo
6. Lauren Murphy
7. Roxanne Modafferi
8. Andre Lee
9. Maycee Barber
10. Alexis Davis

Women’s Bantamweight

Champion: Amanda Nunes

1. Germaine De Randamie
2. Aspen Ladd
3. Holly Holm
4. Julianna Pena
5. Raquel Pennington
6. Irene Aldana
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Yana Kunitskaya
9. Marion Reneau
10. Sara McMann