The MMA world is fascinating. Fighters master two three disciplines of combat sports techniques and prepare for months along with the exhaustive weight cut before a competition. The UFC has bought the MMA to new heights with their super match ups, larger than life promotions and well sometimes highly debated pay scale. The UFC is successful in mixing the real world fights and match up in a story telling way of the WWE. Icons like Daniel Cormier, Connor McGregor, Jon Jones, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Olivera are a hit amongst masses.
The last drawn UFC 280 showcased the new lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and the buzz just got bigger with next fights of Islam versus Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones vs Francis Ngannou doing the rounds.
We often wonder about the insane specimen of training these fighters go through all year long and from years the places they have treated like places of worship – the gym !!.
Today we look at the current champions of UFC, and the gyms they workout at.
# Deiveson Figueiredo
Born: Soure, Para, Brazil
Flyweight Champion
Nicknames: Deus Da Guerra (God of War), Figgy Smalls
MMA Record: 21 Wins, 2 Losses, 1 Draw
Born to a local buffalo herder, Figueiredo began his journey at the age of 9 when he started practicing local wrestling. Making his professional debut at the age of 25 in the MMA world and was signed by UFC in 2017. After having successful run in first 4 fights, Figueiredo lost his fifth match in the UFC to Jussier Forminga.
On Feb 29,2020 Figueiredo faced Joseph Benavidez for the Flyweight championship, however lost to make weight and couldn’t fight for the same. The eventual success came Figueiredo’s way on July 19 against the same opponent and won the Flyweight championship belt. After losing the title to Brandon Moreno at UFC 263, Figueiredo won back his title from the same opponent in UFC 270 and is still the flyweight champion.
The fourth bout between Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno is scheduled on January 21, 2023, at UFC 283. Figueiredo has recently started training at Chute Boxe Diego Lima, Sao Paolo, Brazil on the invite of former lightweight champion and the sensation from Brazil Charles Oliveira.
On Feb 29,2020 Figueiredo faced Joseph Benavidez for the Flyweight championship, however lost to make weight and couldn’t fight for the same. The eventual success came Figueiredo’s way on July 19 against the same opponent and won the Flyweight championship belt. After losing the title to Brandon Moreno at UFC 263, Figueiredo won back his title from the same opponent in UFC 270 and is still the flyweight champion.
The fourth bout between Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno is scheduled on January 21, 2023, at UFC 283. Figueiredo has recently started training at Chute Boxe Diego Lima, Sao Paolo, Brazil on the invite of former lightweight champion and the sensation from Brazil Charles Oliveira.
#Aljamain Sterling
Born: Uniondale, New York,USA
Bantamweight Champion
Nicknames: Funk Master
MMA Record: 22 Wins, 3 Losses
Sterling started wrestling while back in school to be distant from the gang life surrounding in his neighborhood in New York. He continued wrestling through college and entered his professional career in 2009 before making an entry in UFC in the year 2014. Facing his first defeat in 2016 in his fifth fight in the UFC. A resurfaced Sterling came back only to lose the fight in 2017 to Raphael Assuncao. After 3 years of constant wins Sterling was finally given a title shot against Peter Yan at UFC 256. Sterling won the fight by disqualification due to an illegal knee by Yan. He became the first fighter in UFC history to win a championship by disqualification.
In the recently concluded UFC 280 Sterling successfully defended his title against TJ Dilshaw via technical Knockout in the second round. Sterling has been training at Serra Longo Fight team (Serra BJJ Academy and Longo Weidman MMA), Long Island, NY, USA for a long time. The gym also was the training place for Matt Sera(former welterweight champion) and Chris Weidman (former middleweight champion).
#Alexander Volkanovski
Born: Shellharbour, Australia
Featherweight Champion
Nicknames: The Great
MMA Record: 25 Wins, 1 Loss
The current UFC pound for pound champion Alexander Volkanovski was in the limelight as he came into the cage after Islam Makhachev defeated Charles Olivera and the great Khabib Nurmagomedov announcing the next plan for Islam is to defeat Vol Volkanovski in his backyard in Australia. Volkanovski’s parentage comes from Macedonia and Greece and Volkanovski started training in wrestling at a young age only to give up at the age of 14 to pursue rugby.
As fate would have it Volkanovski came back to train for MMA at the age of 22 and participated in numerous MMA competitions in the Oceania region before making a entry in UFC in the year 2016. Initially starting in the lightweight division Volkanovski decided to compete n featherweight After a successful string of wins Volkanovski finally got his title shot against the famed Max Halloway in 2019 which he won by unanimous decision and was crowned the featherweight champion. Volkanovski has defended his title and his poised to have the championship fight against Islam Makhachev in January 2023.
Alexander Volkanovski trains at Freestyle Fighting Gym, New South Wales, Australia and recently had sessions at City Kickboxing Auckland with Israel Adesanya and Ben Hooker.
As fate would have it Volkanovski came back to train for MMA at the age of 22 and participated in numerous MMA competitions in the Oceania region before making a entry in UFC in the year 2016. Initially starting in the lightweight division Volkanovski decided to compete n featherweight After a successful string of wins Volkanovski finally got his title shot against the famed Max Halloway in 2019 which he won by unanimous decision and was crowned the featherweight champion. Volkanovski has defended his title and his poised to have the championship fight against Islam Makhachev in January 2023.
Alexander Volkanovski trains at Freestyle Fighting Gym, New South Wales, Australia and recently had sessions at City Kickboxing Auckland with Israel Adesanya and Ben Hooker.
#Islam Makhachev
Born: Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia
Lightweight Champion
Nicknames: NA
MMA Record: 23 Wins, 1 Loss
Born in Makhachkala, Dagestan in a remote village, Makhachev was the neighbor of Khabib Nurmagomedov and was training under his father late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Being an elite fighter in combat Sambo and wrestling, he was Khabib’s sparring partner all through his career. Entering the UFC in 2014, Makhachev suffered his first loss by a knock out by Adriano Martins in his second match in UFC. There was no looking back for Makhachev post the loss and the world saw him take down fighters with supreme grappling skills much like Khabib and went on to have a 10-win streak.
Post Khabib’s retirement there were talks of Islam Makhachev facing Charles Olivera for the title shot and the same was slated to happen at UFC 280. Almost the entire UFC fraternity favored Charles Olivera over Makhachev. However, Makhachev submitted Charles by an arm triangle choke in the second round to claim the UFC lightweight title. Islam Makhachev trains at the American Kickboxing Academy in California, USA which was the training camp for Khabib Nurmagomedov, Daniel Cormier and Luke Rockhold.
#Leon Edwards
Born: Kingston, Jamaica
Residence: United Kingdom
Welterweight Champion
Nickname: Rocky
MMA Record: 20 Wins, 3 Losses, 1 No contest
Leon Edwards was born in Jamaica and comes from humble beginnings. Growing up he was surrounded by crimes and at age 9 he moved to England with family. Edwards also got involved in crime and drugs rising from bad influence. Leon was finally able to get out of this life when his mother enrolled him into mixed marital arts training. Edwards made his UFC debut in 2014 and was defeated.
Edwards won next two fights before losing again to Kumaru Usman. Edwards won his next 8 fights and was supposed to fight with Tyron Woodley before Covid raked up his career with cancelled fights and him being tested positive. Edwards defeated Nate Diaz to have the title shot on 20 August 2022 at UFC 278 against Kumaru Usman. The fight went on for fife rounds before Leon Edwards landed a left kick to Usman’s head bringing him down and eventually winning the championship belt. Leon Edwards trains at Team Renegade in Birmingham, England.
#Israel Adesanya
Born: Lagos, Nigeria
Resident: New Zealand
Middleweight Champion
Nickname: The Last Stylebender
MMA Record: 23 Wins, 1 Loss
Adesanya was born in Nigeria and he moved to New Zealand with family at age 10. Attending school and facing a shift in the social structure Adesanya got interested in Japanese anime. At the age of 18, Adesanya started training in kickboxing, also inspired by Muay Thai film. Adesanya shifted to a career in kickboxing and went to fight in China for a period of 5 years. Adesanya moved in to UFC in 2017 playing his debut match in 2018 against Rob Wilkinson and won next 5 fights making heads turn with a remarkable win against Anderson Silva.
Adesanya claimed the middleweight title in 2019 against Robert Whittaker at UFC 243. Adesanya defended his title against undefeated Paulo Costa. Adesanya tried his luck by going up in the weight class facing his only defeat against Jan Blachowicz. Adesanya is expected to face Alex Pereira at UFC 281 next month on 12th November. Adesanya trains at City Kickboxing in Auckland, New Zealand where Dan Hooker and Alexander Volkanovski also attended training.
#Jiri Prochazka
Born: Hosteradice, Czechoslovakia
Light Heavyweight Champion
Nickname: Denisa
MMA Record: 29 Wins, 3 Losses, 1 Draw
Jiri Prochazka is rom Czechoslovakia, and lost his father at the age of 6. Prochazka was an active football player. Due to multiple fights in the streets, Prochazka joined the gym associated with his football club. Prochazka made his UFC debut in 2020 coming after a string of fighting matches in various organizations like Gladiator Fighting championship and Rizin FF since 2012.
Prochazka fought against Glover Teixeira in the recently conducted UFC 274 in May, 2022 claiming the UFC light heavyweight title making him the only Czech fighter to win UFC championship. The rematch was between Prochazka and Teixeira is scheduled at UFC 282, on December 10, 2022.
Prochazka trains at Jetsaam Gym in Brno, Czechoslovakia.
#Francis Ngannou
Born: Batie, Cameroon
Resident: France, USA
Heavyweight Champion
Nickname: The Predator
MMA Record: 17 Wins, 3 Losses
Ngannou was born in Cameroon and was raised in a poor background. His parents got divorced when he was eight. Ngannou started boxing at the age of 22 and by the time he was 26 he decided to relocate from his country for better opportunities. In the podcast with Joe Rogan , Ngannou described how he had to travel illegally till Spain travelling through rough conditions through Sahara desert. Upon reaching Spain, Ngannou was jailed for two months for illegally crossing into Spain. After spending time on the streets in France due to lack of resources Ngannou wanted to continue boxing but his coach Fernand Lopez convinced him to try MMA and allowed him to live in the gym for no money.
Ngannou started fighting MMMA career in France, and moved to UFC in 2015. In 2021 at UFC 260, Ngannou defeated Stipe Miocic via knockout in second round to win the title. Ngannou trains at Xtreme couture, Las Vegas, USA which is a gym by the MMA great Randy Couture.
#Carla Esparaza
Born: California, USA
Women's Strawweight Champion
Nickname: Cookie Monster
MMA Record: 19 Wins, 6 Losses
Esparaza was born in California and started wrestling when she was in her junior year, Esparaza also started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and was looking to expand her career into mix martial arts. Esparaza started her pro career with a stint in Bellator MMA in 2010. After suffering a loss in Bellator Esparaza competed in few other organizations before transitioning in to the UFC in 2014 where she was signed after winning the Ultimate Fighter where she was amongst 10 other fighters for their inaugural strawweight division.
On 2014 Esparaza defeated Rose Namajunas to win the strawweight title belt, She was the first UFC strawweight champion. Esparaza lost her first title defense against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in UFC 185. After a long stint I the UFC coming in after 7 wins and 3 losses Esparaza went on to win the title at UFC 274 against Rose Namajunas again. Esparaza is scheduled to make her title defense against Zhang Weili at UFC 281 scheduled for November 12, 2022. Esparaza trains at Team Oyama and Fitness, Irvine, California, USA
#Valentina Shevchenko
Born: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Women's Flyweight Champion
Nickname: Bullet
MMA Record: 23 Wins, 3 Losses
Shevchenko was born in Kyrgyzstan into a Russian Ukrainian family. Her mother is a former Muay Thai champion and father was part of the national soccer team. Shevchenko was enrolled in Taekwondo from an early age of 5 and later at age 12 shifted to Muay Thai. Shevchenko’s speed in the ring has earned her the nickname “Bullet”. There was once a match where she defeated an opponent who was 10 years older than her at age 12.
Shevchenko made her MMA debut at an early age of 15 and competed in regional tournaments through Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Korean events. Making her debut in 2016 for UFC Shevechenko initially fought in the bantamweight division but later shifted to the flyweight division and in 2018 defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk to claim the title. Shevchenko has since defended her title a record 7 times. Shevechenko trains at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand.
#Amanda Nunes
Born: Bahia, Brazil
Women's Featherweight Champion
Nickname: Lioness
MMA Record: 22 Wins, 5 Losses
Amanda Nunes is the current UFC women's pound for pound fighter. Born in a small town outside of Salvador, Brazil. Her uncle and mother used to compete in wrestling and boxing urged her to join karate at age 7 transitioning into Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 16. Nunes made her professional debut in 2008 in Prime MMA and followed it up with joining Strikeforce in 2011. Nunes made her UFC debut in 2013 in Brazil winning her first match via technical knock out. Nunes won the Bantamweight championship in 2016 defeating Miesha Tate.
Nunes defended her title against the famed Ronda Rousey at UFC 207. Nunes moved up in weight to face Cris Cyborg for the Featherweight championship and was victorious at UFC 232 making her the first woman to hold two UFC weight class belts. Nunes is only the third fighter to hold UFC titles in two weight classes simultaneously, after Connor McGregor and Daniel Cormier. She is also the first and only fighter to defend two UFC titles while holding both. Nunes trains at American Top Team gym in Florida, USA.
So here is the list readers, there is no doubt that there are multiple champions in the UFC who have overcome great battles of life to be where they are today, also there are endless fighters who are supreme in their skills. We close the list today with the current champions. The images have been taken from official website of ufc and sincere thanks to them for the same Do let me know for any interesting topics you would want me to cover, thank you for all the support.
Cheers,
Infometric4 !
