A History of Two-Division Champs, Part 2 | UFC Freedom 250

Like Georges St-Pierre, Cejudo fell to a dominant, long-reigning champion in his first UFC title opportunity, losing to Demetrious Johnson in their first meeting at UFC 197. But similar to the French-Canadian standout, the Olympic gold medalist rebounded in his second meeting with Johnson, edging out “Mighty Mouse” on the scorecards to win his first UFC title.

After successfully defending the flyweight title in January 2019 by beating then-bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw, Cejudo faced off with Marlon Moraes for the vacant bantamweight strap after Dillashaw was forced to relinquish the belt. Despite dropping the opening round and dealing with an ankle issue, the Arizona native rallied to finish Moraes late in the third, claiming his second UFC title and christening himself “Triple C” as a result.

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Cejudo vacated the flyweight title to focus on defending the bantamweight belt, successfully retained it in a clash with former titleholder Dominick Cruz, and then announced his retirement. He returned three years later and immediately challenged for the title but landed on the wrong side of a split decision verdict opposite Aljamain Sterling, retiring for a second time two-and-a-half years later following UFC 323.

While Pereira’s 364 days are not the shortest amount of time between title wins — Conor McGregor did it in 11 months — the fact that “Poatan” claimed gold in two weight classes as quickly as he did still remains a staggering achievement when measured against his overall UFC experience.

The former Glory Kickboxing standout debuted in the UFC on November 6, 2021. One year and six days later, he stopped Israel Adesanya to claim the middleweight title in just his eighth career appearance and fourth UFC fight. The following year, Pereira returned to Madison Square Garden and knocked out Jiri Prochazka to earn the light heavyweight title. Two years, seven fights, titles in two weight classes; the Brazilian is a true one-of-a-kind talent.

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Next month, Pereira looks to make history as the first fighter to ever win UFC gold in three different weight classes when he ventures up to heavyweight to battle Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title. We’ll have more on the magnitude of that attempt and potential achievement next week.

Each of these “Double Champ” accomplishments has been impressive in its own way, and what makes Topuria’s standout is both how he’s done it and the fact that he’s earned titles in two weight classes while maintaining an unblemished record.

“El Matador” declared that he was going to stop Alexander Volkanovski to win the featherweight title long before the two stepped into the Octagon at UFC 298 and famously changed his Instagram bio to reflect his title win the night before their fight. An evening later, Topuria made good on his promise, marching down and settling Volkanovski three-and-a-half minutes into the second round to earn his first UFC belt.

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After successfully defending the featherweight title against Max Holloway, finishing “Blessed” in the third round of their UFC 308 main event, Topuria stated his intention to move to lightweight in hopes of facing Islam Makhachev for the title in a fascinating battle of the top two pound-for-pound talents in the sport. When Makhachev made a similar move up a weight class with designs on capturing the welterweight strap, Topuria rolled into UFC 317 and promptly dispatched Charles Oliveira in the first round to claim the vacant lightweight title.

Randy Couture is the only other fighter in this rare group to win one title with an undefeated record, claiming the heavyweight title for the first time to move to 4-0, but only Topuria has maintained that pristine record while changing divisions and collecting a second title.

The most recent athlete to achieve “Double Champ” status, Makhachev accomplished the milestone while reaching another historical record last November.

Long positioned as the heir apparent to his training partner and now coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Russian standout cranked things up a notch and stormed to the top of the division following Nurmagomedov’s retirement after defeating Justin Gaethje in October 2020. Makhachev earned four wins — all by stoppage — over a 12-month stretch between March 2021 and February 2022, establishing himself as the No. 1 contender before challenging Charles Oliveira for the title at UFC 280.

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Midway through the second round, Makhachev tapped out the most accomplished finisher in UFC history, kicking off a two-and-a-half-year reign that produced four successful title defenses, the last three coming inside the distance. After relinquishing the title midway through the year, the 34-year-old ventured to welterweight last November and dominated Jack Della Maddalena to claim gold in a second division. In doing so, Makhachev equaled Anderson Silva’s record for the most consecutive wins at 16, with the opportunity to set a new standard whenever he returns to action later this year.