The start of the decade featured the great Anderson Silva leading the UFC’s middleweight division.
Since, though, numerous others have vaulted to the top spot, including Silva’s nemesis, Chris Weidman.
Georges St-Pierre, Michael Bisping and others have also held the middleweight belt, with Israel Adesanya currently in the midst of his title reign.
Make sure to check out FightLine at The Mix for recaps from the other divisions.
Israel Adesanya
For the first time in his UFC career, Israel Adesanya became a champion when he topped Kelvin Gastelum for the interim belt at UFC 236 on April 13, 2019.
A few months later, Adesanya would become the undisputed champion after Robert Whittaker was forced out of action.
Adesanya scored his first title defense vs. Yoel Romero at UFC 248 on May 7, 2020.
Robert Whittaker
For Robert Whittaker, the opportunity to become champion was just like Israel Adesanya. He won the interim belt over Yoel Romero in 2017.
Along the way, Georges St-Pierre won the title and later vacated it, clearing the way for Whittaker to become undisputed champion on December 7, 2017. However, his title reign was also interesting because of issues outside the Octagon.
In all, Whittaker held the belt for 660 days before vacating it himself.
Georges St-Pierre
The welterweight legend, Georges St-Pierre, returned in 2017 and won the title with a victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 217.
St-Pierre, though, admitted health issues with the move to middleweight and dropped the title 33 days later without defending it.
Michael Bisping
On December 12, 2015, Michael Bisping shocked Luke Rockhold and the MMA world with a devastating victory.
Bisping, always right in the thick of the middleweight division, finally became a champion for the first and only time.
He would defend the belt once, besting Dan Henderson in a classic at UFC 204 in 2016, before losing it to Georges St-Pierre.
Luke Rockhold
For Luke Rockhold, his time atop the middleweight ranks as the highlight of his career.
Rockhold, also a former Strikeforce champion, won the belt at UFC 194 in 2015 when he topped Chris Weidman. He would not make a successful defense, falling to Michael Bisping after 175 days.
Chris Weidman
For nearly 900 days, Chris Weidman ruled at middleweight.
Weidman pulled one of the biggest surprises in the sport when he knocked out Anderson Silva at UFC 162 in Las Vegas in 2013.
Along the way, Weidman defended the title over Silva in a rematch, Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort.
Anderson Silva
A legend in the sport, Anderson Silva held the middleweight title for 2,457 days and 10 defenses.
For that time, there was no one better in MMA than “The Spider.”
Silva earned wins over Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, Demian Maia, Chael Sonnen (twice), Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami before losing to Chris Weidman.
