The UFC has grown recently into one of the most known sporting organizations in the world, but it hasn’t always been that way.
When the Ultimate Fighting Championship first started, it was only known to diehard fans who really went out of there way to find out more about the sport.
While most fans these days think of guys like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, and Dan Severn from the early days or guys like Chuck Liddell, B.J. Penn, and Forrest Griffin when they think of the legends of the sport, none of these men held a UFC belt first.
Now, a key note to remember in this article is that the list doesn’t officially start until post-UFC 31 due to the fact that UFC 31 was the first event to feature the same weight classes that we have today. Also, the recently included featherweight and bantamweight divisions will be listed as well.
So, who were the first UFC champions in the weight class era of the UFC? Here they are, power ranked from the worse to the best first champions in UFC history.