The current champions in fights without rules. The best mma fighters

The history of the emergence and transformation of UFC weight categories

Looking back at the history of development mixed martial arts, you can see that initially MMA fights had practically no rules, and the first UFC show was started by the organizers as a kind of tournament designed to determine the best fighter and the best technique. That is, there were no established norms for fighting, no UFC weight categories, and the competitions themselves had little to do with sports and looked more like a bloodbath of gladiators destroying each other. In 1993, the debut UFC fight night in Denver took place, after which Nevada state officials urged the organizers to give such tournaments more sports content and, above all, limit violence.

This applies not only to the UFC, but also to mixed martial arts in general. Previously, this discipline of fighting sports was called fights without rules. As part of such competitions, a sumo wrestler weighing 120 kilograms could end up in a cage with a karate master who weighed 75 or even 70 kilograms. Gradually this species sport became more loyal to human body, the first rules appeared, and with them the divisions. Separate states of America opposed the legalization of mixed martial arts even when they acquired a modern form. The latest such example was the New York MMA ban, which only legalized MMA in 2016.

It is important to know! In the fall of 2016, the long-awaited UFC 205 tournament was held in New York, in which the promotion received the first champion of two weight categories - featherweight and lightweight. They were the phenomenal Irishman Conor McGregor, who knocked out Eddie Alvarez in the central fight of the show and took possession of his 155-pound championship belt.

True, later the featherweight title. In order not to derail the headless UFC 206 event, the organization's leaders announced that the 145-pound weight class belt, obtained by McGregor in a 13-second fight with Jose Aldo, returns to the Brazilian, who at that time owned the interim title in the same category. The remaining vacant interim title was played between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis in the central fight of the UFC 206 tournament already mentioned above.

The only "one-time" featherweight and lightweight champion in UFC history UFC Conor McGregor

A lot has changed in the UFC's 20+ year history. It should be noted right away that it was this organization that became the locomotive that pulled all other promotions involved in organizing fights according to mixed rules. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the divisions that were introduced into the UFC are currently used by less status organizations. In this case, we are talking about Bellator, WSOF, regional American and Asian promotions.

IN this moment The planet's leading promotion has eight men's weight classes and three women's.

UFC men's weight classes

Heavy weight
light heavyweight
Average weight
Welterweight
A light weight
Feather-weight
Bantamweight
Flyweight

UFC weight classes for women

Feather-weight
Bantamweight
Minimum weight

Below you can find a table detailing each UFC weight class.

Prerequisites for the development of UFC weight categories?

The need to divide fighters into weight categories was due to the global process of universalization of athletes, when each of them began to improve himself in all styles. Weight classes in the UFC initially had a completely different look than they do today. Back in 1997, the UFC 12 tournament was held, where only two weight echelons were presented - heavy and light. The first included all athletes whose weight exceeded 200 pounds, the second - those athletes who weighed less than 199 pounds.

The most dominant champion in UFC history Anderson Silva

Before the UFC 14 show, it was decided to call the lightweight middleweight, and the new lightweight division was already introduced as part of UFC 16. At that time, any fighter whose body weight did not exceed 170 pounds could call himself a lightweight, that is, today he would be a welterweight. A couple more years passed, and the bantamweight division appeared in the UFC, which included athletes with a body weight of up to 155 pounds.

By the time of the UFC 31 tournament, the promotion has changed its weight classes in accordance with the requirements of the New Jersey Athletic Commission. At the indicated tournament, the fighters already competed in five echelons: light, welterweight, medium, light heavy and heavy.

The next stage of expansion had to wait about ten years. In 2010, the promotion announced the creation of the UFC featherweight and bantamweight divisions. Two years later, the lightest weight class appeared, and a little later, women's divisions were also introduced - first the lightest, and then the minimum. The weight categories have acquired their final form, which you can accurately and in detail see in the table below.

Table of modern men's and women's UFC categories

Weight category name (Russian)	Weight class name	weight in pounds	weight in kilograms
Heavy weight	heavyweight	206-265	93-120
light heavyweight	Lightweight	186-205	84-93
Average weight	Middleweight	171-185	77-84
Welterweight	Welterweight	156-170	70-77
A light weight	light weight	146-155	66-70
Feather-weight	Featherweight	136-145	61-66
Bantamweight	bantamweight	126-135	57-61
Flyweight	Flyweight	116-125	53-57
Women's Bantamweight	bantamweight	126-135	57-61
Women's minimum weight	Strawweight	106-115	48-52
Women's Featherweight	bantamweight	136-145	61-66

Recently champions of weight categories change regularly. So, in 2016, TJ Dillashaw, Fabricio Werdum, Holly Holm, Misha Tate, Luke Rockhold, Robbie Lawler, Rafael dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez, Dominic Cruz resigned royal powers. The most interesting and long-awaited confrontation of the end of the year was the bantamweight clash, where former division queen Ronda Ruosi acted as a contender. Unfortunately, there was no intrigue in this clash: Rhodey limply lost to the Brazilian Lioness at the very beginning of the first round. This year, two division champions have changed in the UFC. So, the featherweight title was again given to Jose Aldo, but as part of the show, the Brazilian lost it to Max Holloway. In addition, the promotion bosses took away the belt from the women's featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie, citing the fact that the Dutch athlete refuses to sign a contract to fight Christiana Justino.

List of current UFC champions and champions by category

heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic;
light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier;
middleweight champion Michael Bisping;
welterweight champion Tyron Woodley;
lightweight champion Conor McGregor;
featherweight champion Max Holloway;
bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt;
flyweight champion Demetrius Johnson;
the champion of the women's featherweight category will be determined by the result of the meeting between Christiane Justino and Megan Anderson at UFC 214 (07/29/2017).
women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunez;
champion of the women's minimum category Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

UFC women's featherweight division. Cyborg name category

UFC leaders can't create divisions just like that: in order for a weight class to exist, you need stars who can compete in it and make good money on PPV sales. The company's latest experience has shown that fighters filling the division are not even needed to make money.

The success of Ronda Rousey inspired the owners of the promotion to search for new celebrities in women's mixed martial arts. After all, in fact, we can say that due to its popularity, Rowdy kept many other fighters not only of the female, but also of the male roster.

In 2016, his famous Brazilian Cristiana Justino, nicknamed Cyborg. She is still considered the featherweight queen of the all-female fighting organization Invicta FC, where the 145-pound class is available. However, due to the too large dimensions of Christian, she never competed in the largest UFC 135-pound echelon at that time. On the contrary, athletes who wanted to fight her gained weight and fought in the intermediate 140 pounds, and invariably lost.

The popularity of Justino and her financial potential prompted the bosses of the organization to establish a new weight category. As part of the UFC 208 tournament in February of this year (see the full results of the tournament), the corresponding belt was played by the Dutch striker Germaine de Randamie and the former champion of the 135-pound division Holly Holm. Ironically, Cristina Justino didn't fight in the first title fight the category that was actually created specifically for her. The reasons are called different. Representatives of the promotion claim that they offered such a fight to the Brazilian, and the latter says that her body could not recover from weight loss in preparation for the previous fight. If we add to the above the fact that Justino, then this whole story becomes even more confusing.

One way or another, the result of the main UFC fight 208 was the victory of Germaine de Randamie by unanimous decision. It was the Dutch athlete who became the first title holder in the women's 145-pound weight class. However, there are no women's featherweights in the official rankings, because, with the exception of two or three girls, there are no fighters in it.

Later, the promotion bosses took away the belt from Randami due to the latter's unwillingness to defend in the battle with Christiana Justino. The new champion of the category will be determined in the fight between Justino and Megan Anderson on July 29, 2017 at the UFC 214 tournament.

Mixed style fighting is gaining more and more popularity, and the ratings of the fights of the best fighters are gathering a huge audience of viewers. There are many different promotional organizations, each with their own rules and their own stars. However, today most of the strongest athletes compete under the auspices of the UFC, which has absorbed its most serious competitors and has great financial resources.

Ukrainian kickboxer in MMA

Igor Vovchanchin started his big sports career before the heyday of the UFC and was marked by fights in the Pride promotion. As a child, he was involved in athletics, boxing, then he seriously took up kickboxing, having managed to become a world champion by the age of twenty. Not tall for this sport, Igor Vovchanchin compensated for this lack of speed and sharpness, crushing his competitors. In 1995, he first began participating in mixed martial arts.

In 1998, the Ukrainian signed a contract with Pride, and in two years of playing in the cage he became one of the best MMA fighters.

In 2000, he was invited to participate in the Grand Prix, where he managed to reach the final. Here the strongest American Mark Coleman was waiting for him. Vovchanchyn was exhausted after a tough semi-final fight, while Coleman finished off his opponent in the first seconds of the fight, so he lost in a close fight.

The following years, the Ukrainian alternated successful fights with failures. The fight with the legendary Mirko Filippovich stands apart. The meeting of two kickboxers ended with the strongest blow of the Croat with his left foot, which knocked out Vovchanchyn. Having completed his career, Igor did not leave MMA and opened his own fight club.

In mixed style fights people come from completely different types sports. For example, the former Greco-Roman wrestler can be safely attributed to the best MMA fighters of the zero years.

Dan Henderson successfully competed as a classic wrestler and even represented the United States on two occasions. Olympic Games. Having improved his boxing training, he began to compete in mixed style fights.

The American was one of the first star fighters in the UFC, winning the UFC 17 tournament in 1998, then he performed extensively in other promotions. He achieved particular success in Pride and Strikeforce, repeatedly collecting the world titles of these organizations.

However, Dan had his main career fight in 2011 at the age of 40, when he knocked out the previously undefeated Fedor Emelianenko, becoming one of the best mixed martial artists of all time.

Few people are capable of becoming a world champion at the age of 43. Randy Couture was born back in 1963, and during his youth, no one had heard of mixed martial arts. At this time, he was engaged in Greco-Roman wrestling, achieving excellent results in international tournaments. In the mid-nineties, the already aged athlete made a daring decision to take up MMA and quickly broke into the ranks of the best fighters, becoming the champion of UFC 13 in 1997.

The star fighter has repeatedly clashed with the leadership of the promotion, now and then moving to other organizations. Despite this, he managed to win the UFC world title five times by the age of 43 and entered the hall of fame as the oldest champion.

On account of Randy Couture, victories over such strong fighters as Kevin Randleman, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Lidel. He fought his last fight at the age of 46 in 2009.

Connor McGregor

Among the best fighters in the world, the magnificent Irish athlete stands apart. Connor McGregor performs in the lightweight category, but many authoritative publications are included in the top five UFC fighters, regardless of weight.

The Irishman holds the world title, and another star athlete, Khabib Nurmagomedov, is eager to meet him.

Connor McGregor has a very spectacular and non-standard manner of fighting. Specialist in martial arts, he has excellent footwork, crushing many opponents with his "turntables". At the same time, his combat range is very wide, he hits hard with both hands and works great in a boxing stance.

He is especially hard at work on wrestling and has already achieved the right to a brown belt in jiu-jitsu.

The spectacular style of fighting, as well as eccentric behavior outside the cage, make McGregor one of the most popular fighters, his fights are sold by viewers of pay-per-view cable channels like hot cakes.

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Dagestan is famous for its freestyle wrestling school and is becoming the birthplace of the best mixed martial arts fighters. Among them is Khabib Nurmagomedov, who occupies the 13th line in the UFC ranking, regardless of the category. In his lightweight, he is considered the best after the legendary McGregor, a duel with whom he diligently seeks.

Unlike the Irishman, Khabib is a wrestling specialist, he twice became the world champion in combat sambo, grepling, pankration. In 2012, he began performing in the UFC.

He was inactive for two years due to an injury, however, despite this, he managed to hold 30 fights, all of which he won.

Nevertheless, Khabib also has weaknesses. Apparently, he is not quite comfortable with the framework of light weight, which is why he has to hard to lose weight before fights. Just after such preparation, he recently felt ill before the fight with Tony Ferguson, and the fight was postponed.

Stipe Miocic

The American fighter of Croatian origin firmly holds the UFC world heavyweight title. By many analysts, he is recognized as the absolute best fighter, regardless of the weight category. Before joining mixed martial arts, he was successful in boxing and wrestling, in particular, winning the prestigious Golden Gloves tournament, and was also a member of the first division of NCAA wrestlers. This explains his invulnerability both in the standing position and in the stalls. A fighter without weaknesses rarely gives his opponent a chance to show his strengths.

On account of the formidable Croat victory over Fabio Maldonado, Andrei Orlovsky, Fabricio Werdum. In 2015, Stipe Miocic set a unique record against Mark Hunt with 361 punches. This fight was recognized as the "Beating of the Year" according to the UFC.

Misha Tate

Another American beauty belongs to the best MMA fighters among women. For several years, fans watched with admiration the confrontation between Ronda Rousey and Mischa Tate in the bantamweight division. Just like her main rival, Misha was especially good at choking and painful techniques. At the youth level, she was engaged in freestyle wrestling, won regional competitions, after which she began to compete in mixed martial arts, immediately becoming one of the best fighters. Over and over again, overturning rivals with her lightning-fast passes to the legs, the American even earned the nickname "Takedown" among fans and specialists.

Especially epic was her confrontation with Ronda Rousey. Twice she met with her in the fight for the championship belt and lost twice.

Finally, Misha Tate fulfilled her cherished dream by defeating Collie Holm in the title fight, but did not hold the title for long, losing to the dangerous Brazilian Amanda Nunez.

Ronda Rousey

The list of the best MMA fighters in the world would be incomplete without the fair sex. A special place here is occupied by the former world bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. She trained professionally in judo and was on the US Olympic team at the age of seventeen.

In 2008, Ronda Rousey won the Beijing Olympics in brilliant style. Having won everything she could in amateur sports, the strong girl decided to test herself in mixed martial arts. In the octagon, she made full use of her judo skills, and none of her opponents long years nothing could oppose her deadly painful techniques.

In her 12 UFC victories, she used the armbar nine times, which was her signature move. She held the world bantamweight title from 2012 to 2015. The real sensation was her defeat in 2015 by Collie Holm, who managed to keep a dangerous opponent at a distance and knocked out Rhonda in boxing style.

A year later, she tried to regain the title of world champion, but again she ran into an uncompromising opponent with strong shock training. Amanda Nunes managed to break the legendary American and won technical knockout.

In this article, we will discuss weight classes in the UFC, talk about people who have distinguished themselves in this area. This championship attracts the attention of many martial arts fans, but not everyone knows the details of the formation or organization of fights. We will introduce you to information about which male and female weight categories in the UFC currently exist. Also reversible Special attention on the heroes of this championship.

Let's start from the very beginning and remember that when the UFC organization appeared in 1993, it did not have such divisions by weight that exist today. It was simple sports organization, which arranged championships for fighters. The rules of the duel were mixed, and they still remain so. But there were only two categories:

heavy weight - for fighters whose weight was more than 91 kilograms;
light weight - for those whose weight was less than 90 kilograms.

A few years later, the division into subgroups changed, and an average weight had already appeared. At the same time, weight categories in the UFC have not stopped changing. A super light subgroup also appeared, and by 2001, the weight categories of fighters were already distributed into five different types:

heavy;
light heavy;
average;
welterweight;
easy.

Weight classes in the UFC went through all these changes, primarily in order to be able to optimally distribute participants and achieve maximum performance in fights. After all, it is much more interesting to watch a duel of approximately equal opponents, and not to see how a heavyweight fights with a miniature and light athlete. Many years passed before the subgroups were again revised and lighter weights were added, as well as separate weight categories in the UFC for women.

Weight categories

So, since 2012, the organization has been holding fights in ten categories, two of which are women's. Participants are distributed according to the following weight groups:

heavy;
light heavy;
average;
welterweight;
easy;
featherweight;
the easiest;
easiest,
lightest for women;
the easiest for women.

heavyweights

Speaking about this subgroup, it is worth noting that these weight categories in the UFC are divided into two types:

heavy;
light heavy.

The heavy category includes fighters weighing from ninety-three to one hundred and twenty kilograms. The English name is heavyweight. If a fighter weighs from eighty-four to ninety-three kilograms, then he is already referred to the light heavy category. The English name is light heavyweight.

Average weight

This group includes:

middle category;

The first subgroup English title which middle weight, includes participants weighing from seventy-seven to eighty-four kilograms. Lighter fighters belong to the welter weight category and must weigh a minimum of seventy kilograms, and a maximum of seventy-seven.

A light weight

This group of participants is formed for participants whose weight is from 53 to 70 kilograms. Divided into categories:

featherweight;
the easiest;
the easiest.

The light category includes athletes with a weight of sixty-six to seventy kilograms. In the world it is known as light weight. The UFC featherweight division is comprised of fighters who weigh a minimum of sixty-one and a maximum of sixty-six kilograms. The English equivalent of the name is feather weight. Already by the name it is clear that the lightest group includes fighters with even less weight, from fifty-seven to sixty-one kilograms. The name of the category is known as bantam weight. And the last division of this weight group is the lightest category (or fly weight) with participants weighing from fifty-three to fifty-seven kilograms.

Women in the UFC

A great achievement for the beautiful half of the world's population was the selection of two categories that apply specifically to them. It was a kind of recognition of women as real participants and worthy opponents in this sport. Two groups were formed:

the easiest;
the easiest.

The lightest category called women's bantam weight unites women with a mass of fifty-seven to sixty-one kilograms. And the category women's straw weight, or the lightest, refers to athletes who weigh from forty-eight to fifty-two kilograms.

Current Champions

UFC Champions in all weight categories won their titles at different times and defended their right to hold this title a different number of times. We provide you with a list of the most relevant leaders that are currently.

Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum of Brazil. He won the title in the summer of 2015 and has never defended it yet.
Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormet of the USA. He became it in the spring of 2015 and has already managed to defend the right to be the first in this category once.
The middleweight champion is Luke Rockhold of the United States. He won the title in the winter of 2015 and has not had time to confirm it yet.
The welterweight champion is Robbie Lawlier of the USA. In the winter of 2014, he received this title and has already justified the title of the best fighter in this category twice.
The lightweight champion is Rafael DosAngus of Brazil. In the spring of 2015, he became the best in his weight category and once defended the right to be called that.
Featherweight champion - Irishman Connor Became it in the winter of 2015, while he has never defended his title in battle.
The bantamweight champion is Dominic Cruz of the United States. The most recent of the titles won in the winter of 2016, so he has never fought to defend the title.
Flyweight champion Dimitrius Johnson of the United States. This fighter managed to fight for this title seven times and won every time, remaining the best in his category. He won the title for the first time in the fall of 2012.
As for the women's categories, the American Holly Holm became the champion in the bantamweight division in the fall of 2015. She has never fought to confirm the title.
The women's flyweight champion was Johana Enzeczyk from Poland. It happened in the spring of 2015, and she has already fought twice for the right to be the best.

It is worth noting that the fighter who wins the "title" fight becomes the champion in any category. This fight lasts five rounds, each of which lasts five minutes. To defend his title, the champion fights the next contender. If the reigning champion loses, then the title passes to the winner. Otherwise, the title remains with the former favorite. There is also the concept of an interim champion. It is given to a fighter if the current champion cannot fight to defend the title for a long time (for example, for health reasons).

Outstanding fighters

There are people who are not among the list of champions at the moment, but they left a bright mark in the history of the UFC. We want to recall some of them.

Ronda Jean Rousey. First Women's Lightweight Champion. It is considered the highest paid female athlete in the world with an income of more than six and a half million dollars a year.
was the light heavyweight champion. Eight times he confirmed the right to be a champion. Unfortunately, problems with the law did not allow the athlete to fully realize himself.
Andersen Silva is rightfully considered the king of middleweight. He made ten fights to defend the title.
Slightly fewer fights spent to defend the title in the welterweight category, Georges Saintpierre. Many experts believe this in the world.
Famous names such as Chuck Lidel, Dan Henderson, BJ Peng, Tito Artis, Randy Couture, Met Hughes and others have left an indelible mark on UFC history. And this is not the whole list of significant people in this field.

In the end, I would like to add that the championships organized by the UFC are distinguished by excellent organization, are considered prestigious, and all fighters strive to get to this championship at least once in their lives. Watching competitions on TV, even at a distance and through the screen, you can feel the special atmosphere of the events. Victory in such a competition is a real achievement that fighters have been striving for since childhood, and everyone who is interested in martial arts knows the names of the champions.

Fabricio Werdum is one of the many representatives of the Brazilian MMA school. His nickname Vai Cavalo translates from Portuguese as "forward, horse." He was born on July 30, 1977 in Porto Allegri, Brazil, but currently lives in San Jose, USA, where he trains in Kings MMA. The fighting basis of Fabricio is Brazilian jiu-jitsu and muay thai.

Werdum earned the championship belt in the summer of 2015. On June 13, as part of the UFC 188 tournament, he met with Cain Velasquez, who at that time owned the title. The Brazilian dominated throughout the fight and eventually caught his opponent in a guillotine in the third round. In February 2016, he was supposed to meet with Velasquez in a rematch, but the opponent withdrew from the fight due to injury. Werdum's next entry into the octagon is scheduled for May 14, 2016 as part of the UFC 198 show. During the first defense, Fabriciou's opponent will be top contender Stipe Miocic.

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier was born on March 20, 1979 in the American city of Lafayette. He currently resides in San Jose and trains at the American Kickboxing Academy. His background is freestyle wrestling and kickboxing. In addition, Daniel boasts a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Cormier's main problem at the moment is that many do not consider him a true champion. The best UFC fighter, regardless of weight categories, Jon Jones, in the rank of title holder, met with Daniel and got the victory. Later, Jones got in trouble with the law, causing the promotion to take the belt from him. The latter was soon played by Cormier and Anthony Johnson. On May 23, 2015, at UFC 187, Cormier defeated Johnson and sat on the light heavyweight throne, after which he made his first title defense in a battle with Alexander Gustafsson. The long-awaited rematch with Jon Jones will take place on April 23, 2016 as part of the UFC 197 tournament.

UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold

Luke Rockhold was born October 17, 1984 in the California city of Santa Cruz, is a citizen of the United States of America and trains with Daniel Cormier at the American Kickboxing Academy. He has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but besides this type of martial arts, he is well acquainted with kickboxing and freestyle wrestling.

Rockhold won the UFC belt relatively recently, when he won a victory over the previously undefeated Chris Weidman in a dominant style. Initially, the battle, which took place as part of the co-main event of the UFC 194 show, proceeded to the accompaniment of the attacks of the current champion, but later Rockhold managed to seize the initiative due to the fact that he retained more strength. He pinned Weidman to the ground and began beating the helpless opponent until the match was stopped by the referee. Despite the fact that Rochkold had a serious advantage during the fight, the promotion bosses appointed an immediate rematch, which will take place on June 4, 2016 at UFC 199.

UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler

Robbie Lawler is one of the most daring UFC champions. This guy was born in San Diego on March 20, 1982, and currently lives in Coconut Creek and trains at the American Top Team fight club. The fighter came to mixed martial arts from karate, and often his fights are held in a stance and are nominated for the title of the best fights of the year.

He earned the UFC welterweight title on December 6, 2014 in a confrontation with Johny Hendrix. Ruthless (Lawler's nickname) got the victory in it according to the results of a separate decision of the judges. Robbie has since made two defenses of his title. First, at UFC 189, he defeated Rory McDonald by technical knockout, after which he will meet with Carlos Condit as part of UFC 195, held on January 2, 2016. Who will be Lawler's next opponent is still unknown.

UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos

Rafael Dos Anjos was born on October 26, 1984 in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Here he currently resides, training under the guidance of Rafael Cordeiro in Kings MMA. The basis of the fighter's fighting is Thai boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Rafael dos Anjos became the champion after the title battle with Anthony Pettis. On March 15, 2015, as part of UFC 185, Rafael won the victory thanks to a unanimous decision of the judges. In December 2015, he made his first belt defense against Donald Cerrone. While many expected a competitive battle from this meeting, dos Anjos already in the first seconds of the debut round showed that he would not give Cowboy a chance, destroying him by technical knockout. The next outing of the fighter in the cage was scheduled for March 5, 2016. Rafal had to defend his belt from the encroachments of UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor. However, the Brazilian broke his leg and withdrew from the fight.

UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor is one of the most popular figures in the world of mixed martial arts. In addition, he brings the UFC the greatest income, and therefore enjoys the indulgence of the promotion management. The fighter was born on July 14, 1988 in Dublin, Ireland, where he lives at the moment. His background is diverse: karate, taekwondo, boxing and even capoeira. In addition, Conor has a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, but has not yet proven that he can be called successful in this type of martial arts.

McGregor has long attracted the attention of the whole world to his person, although he has taken possession of the championship belt relatively recently. It took only 13 seconds for him to overthrow the former title holder, the Brazilian Jose Aldo, from the throne. The exact gift of the jaw lifted the glory of the Irishman to even greater heights, and disgraced former champion. In his next fight, McGregor was scheduled to fight for the second belt against lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, but the latter was injured and pulled out of the fight. His replacement, Nate Diaz, caught Dana White's golden boy in the second round with a submission. With whom Notorius will now fight is still unknown, but it says a lot that Jose Aldo will be his opponent again.

UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominic Cruz

Dominic Cruz is another representative of the American school of mixed martial arts. Dominator was born on September 3, 1985 in Tucson, Orizona. Currently, his place of residence is the California city of Chula Vista. This guy trains with the Alliance MMA team, and his basic techniques in MMA are boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling.

Dominick Cruz has lost only once in his long career and is one of the two men who defeated reigning flyweight title holder Demetrius Johnson. However, injuries prevented Dominka from fully revealing his talents. On July 7, 2012, Cruz was supposed to fight Juraj Faber, but this fight did not take place, because Dominik suffered a cruciate ligament injury. A series of injuries kept him out of the octagon until the fall of 2014, when he met with Takeya Mizugaki and got the victory, and then again went into idle time due to yet another health problem. On January 7, 2016, the fighter made a triumphant return to the UFC, taking the belt from then-champion TJ Dillashaw. Cruise's next fight will be against Juraj Faber again at UFC 199 on June 4, 2016.