Champs & Rankings
CHAMPIONS ROLL CALL - UFC: Status and Background on title reigns of B.J. Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Brock Lesnar
Feb 4, 2010 - 9:19:13 PM CHAMPIONS ROLL CALL - UFC: Status and Background on title reigns of B.J. Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Brock Lesnar

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By Aidan Leahy, MMATorch contributor

UFC Lightweight Champion: B.J. Penn (15-5-1 MMA, 11-4-1 UFC)

B.J. Penn won the lightweight in January of 2008 when he defeated Joe Stevenson... Since then Penn has successfully defended the title three times while also being unsuccessful in his attempt in challenging GSP for the welterweight title, a title he previously held in 2004... Penn holds notable victories over Kenny Florian, Takanori Gomi, Jens Pulver, Diego Sanchez, Renzo Gracie, Matt Hughes, and Sean Sherk... Current top contenders to his title include Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Takanori Gomi, Tyson Griffin, and Kenny Florian. ..His next defense of the title is scheduled for April at UFC112 against Frankie Edgar.

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UFC Welterweight Champion: George St Pierre (19-2 MMA,13-2 UFC)

George St Pierre defeated Matt Serra in April 2008 to regained the welterweight title he lost a year earlier to Serra... Since then he has gone on to successfully defend the title three times against top contenders Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves as well as current UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn... Pierre also holds notable wins over Matt Hughes (Twice), Jay Hieron, Sean Sherk, Karo Parisyan, and Josh Koscheck... Current top contenders to his title include Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Paul Daley, and Josh Koscheck... His next defense of the title comes at March 27 at UFC111 against UK fighter Dan Hardy...

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UFC Middleweight Champion: Anderson Silva (25-4 MMA,10-0 UFC)

Silva defeated Rich Franklin in October 2006 to win the Middleweight Title after earning the shot by defeating Chris Leben in his UFC debut... Since then Anderson has gone on to defend the title a record equalling five times while also setting a new record for most consecutive UFC wins... Silva holds notable wins over Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin (twice),Forrest Griffin, and Nate Marquardt... Current top contenders to his title include Vitor Belfort, Nate Marquardt, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Michael Bisping, and Damien Maia... His next defence of the title is scheduled in April at UFC112 against Vitor Belfort...

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UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion: Lyoto Machida (16-0 MMA,8-0 UFC)

Machida defeated Rashad Evans at UFC98 to win the title after winning his previous six inside the octagon... Since then he has defended the title once against Mauricio Shogun Rua in a controversial decision... Machida also holds notable wins over B.J. Penn, Rich Franklin, Thiago Silva, Tito Ortiz, and Stephan Bonnar... Current top contenders to his title include Shogun Rua, Rashad Evans, Rampage Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Jon Jones... His next defense of the title is scheduled for May at UFC 113 in a rematch with Shogun Rua...

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UFC Heavyweight Champion: Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA,3-1 UFC)

Lesnar won the Heavyweight Title against Randy Couture at UFC 91 earning the shot with his destruction of Heath Herring. Lesnar has defended the title once against Frank Mir at UFC 100; in doing so, Lesnar avenged his only loss... Current top contenders to his title include Frank Mir, Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez, and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira... Brock is scheduled to face the winner of the March bout between Mir and Carwin possibly in the summer...

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Aidan Leahy is a new MMATorch contributor. He takes part in MMATorch Roundtables and will update the Champions Roll Call feature for all major organizations.