List of Bellator MMA champions
Bellator MMA is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class.
At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded Bellator Fighting Championships as a tournament based organization. The inaugural champion for each weight class was determined by the winner of an eight-man tournament. All subsequent title challengers were required to first win an eight-man tournament in a specific weight class in order to earn the right to challenge that division's reigning champion. Dethroned champions were required to re-enter the tournaments in order to attempt to regain their title. Under Bjorn Rebney's sole leadership, Bellator MMA would strictly adhere to these rules during the first four years of its operation.
The first changes to this format would begin to appear not long after Viacom, Inc. purchased a controlling stake in the organization. In November 2012, CEO Bjorn Rebney announced the introduction of a "championship rematch clause". This would allow Bellator to schedule an immediate title-fight rematch if officials deemed the fight necessary. The next major change occurred during Bellator's when it was announced that all three tournaments would be shorter, four-man affairs instead of the standard eight. Though originally stated to return to the eight-man only tournaments afterwards, officials instead decided to add two additional four-man tournaments to the existing tournament lineup in an effort to provide a more consistent flow of title challengers for their champions to face.
Two additional rule changes would be announced. The first was the "tournament champion replacement clause" introduced in August 2013. This allowed officials to grant title shots to replacement fighters when tournament winners were injured, or otherwise unavailable, through a complex voting and points system. Then, in June 2014, CEO Bjorn Rebney made an announcement stating that any fighter who had previously won a Bellator tournament would maintain permanent eligibility to fight for a title without having to re-enter another tournament. Neither of these changes would ever be implemented, however, as one week later Bellator MMA and its founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted ways, bringing about an end to the organization's tournament based model.
Current champions
| Division | Champion | Since | Defenses |
| Women's Featherweight |  Cris Cyborg | January 25, 2020 | 0 |
| Women's Flyweight |  Ilima-Lei Macfarlane | November 3, 2017 | 4 |
Men's championship history
Heavyweight World Championship
206 to 265 lbsLight Heavyweight World Championship
186 to 205 lbs| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
| 1 |  Christian M'Pumbu def. Rich Hale | Bellator 45 Lake Charles, LA, USA | May 21, 2011 | 650 days | |
| 2 |  Attila Végh | Rio Rancho, NM, USA | February 28, 2013 | 387 days | |
| - | Emanuel Newton def. Muhammed Lawal for interim title | Long Beach, CA, USA | November 2, 2013 | — | |
| 3 | Emanuel Newton | Mulvane, KS, USA | March 21, 2014 | 343 days | 1. def. Joey Beltran at Bellator 124 on Sep 12, 2014 2. def. Linton Vassell at Bellator 130 on Oct 24, 2014 |
| 4 |  Liam McGeary | Bellator 134 Uncasville, CT, USA | February 27, 2015 | 617 days | 1. def. Tito Ortiz at on Sep 19, 2015 |
| 5 | Phil Davis | Bellator 163 Uncasville, CT, USA | November 4, 2016 | 232 days | |
| 6 | Ryan Bader | Bellator 180 New York City, NY, USA | June 24, 2017 | days ' | 1.''' def. Linton Vassell at Bellator 186 on Nov 3, 2017 |
Middleweight World Championship
171 to 185 lbsWelterweight World Championship
156 to 170 lbsLightweight World Championship
146 to 155 lbsFeatherweight World Championship
136 to 145 lbs| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
| 1 | Joe Soto def. Yahir Reyes | Bellator 10 Ontario, CA, USA | June 5, 2009 | 454 days | |
| 2 | Joe Warren | Bellator 27 San Antonio, TX, USA | September 2, 2010 | 554 days | |
| 3 | Pat Curran | Bellator 60 Hammond, IN, USA | March 9, 2012 | 604 days | 1. def. Patrício Freire at Bellator 85 on Jan 17, 2013 2. def. Shahbulat Shamhalaev at Bellator 95 on Apr 4, 2013 |
| 4 | Daniel Straus | Long Beach, CA, USA | November 2, 2013 | 133 days | |
| 5 | Pat Curran | Bellator 112 Hammond, IN, USA | March 14, 2014 | 176 days | |
| 6 |  Patrício Freire | Bellator 123 Uncasville, CT, USA | September 5, 2014 | 428 days | 1. def. Daniel Straus at Bellator 132 on Jan 16, 2015 2. def. Daniel Weichel at Bellator 138 on Jun 19, 2015 |
| 7 | Daniel Straus | Bellator 145 St. Louis, MO, USA | November 6, 2015 | 532 days | |
| 8 | Patrício Freire | Bellator 178 Uncasville, CT, USA | April 21, 2017 | days ' | 1. def. Daniel Weichel at Bellator 203 on Jul 14, 2018 2. def. Emmanuel Sanchez at Bellator 209 on Nov 15, 2018 3.''' def. Juan Archuleta at Bellator 228 on Sept 28, 2019 |
Bantamweight World Championship
126 to 135 lbsWomen's championship history
Women's Featherweight World Championship
to| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
| 1 |  Julia Budddef. Marloes Coenen | Bellator 174 Thackerville, OK, USA | March 3, 2017 | days | 1. def. Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 189 on Dec 1, 2017 2. def. Talita Nogueira at Bellator 202 on Jul 13, 2018 3. def. Olga Rubin at Bellator 224 on Jul 12, 2019 |
| 2 | Cris Cyborg | Bellator 238 Inglewood, CA, USA | January 25, 2020 | days |
Women's Flyweight World Championship
to| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
| 1 | Ilima-Lei Macfarlane def. Emily Ducote | Bellator 186 University City, PA, USA | November 3, 2017 | days ' | 1. def. Alejandra Lara at Bellator 201 on Jun 29, 2018 2. def. Valérie Létourneau at Bellator 213 on December 15, 2018 3. def. Veta Arteaga at Bellator 220 on April 27, 2019 4.''' def. Kate Jackson at Bellator 236 on December 21, 2019 |
Women's Strawweight World Championship
UnderTournament winners
Originally, all title challengers were determined through these tournaments with the winners earning the right to challenge the reigning champion at that weight class or, if necessary, be allowed to compete for an interim or vacant title.[Bellator Fighting Championships: Season One]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Featherweight |  Joe Soto |  Yahir Reyes | Bellator 10 | June 5, 2009 |
| Welterweight | Lyman Good |  Omar De La Cruz | Bellator 11 | June 12, 2009 |
| Middleweight |  Hector Lombard | Jared Hess | Bellator 12 | June 19, 2009 |
| Lightweight | Eddie Alvarez | Toby Imada | Bellator 12 | June 19, 2009 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Two]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Lightweight | Pat Curran | Toby Imada | Bellator 21 | June 10, 2010 |
| Welterweight | Ben Askren | Dan Hornbuckle | Bellator 22 | June 17, 2010 |
| Middleweight |  Alexander Shlemenko | Bryan Baker | Bellator 23 | June 24, 2010 |
| Featherweight | Joe Warren | Patricio Freire | Bellator 23 | June 24, 2010 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Three]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Heavyweight | Cole Konrad |  Neil Grove | Bellator 32 | October 14, 2010 |
| Bantamweight | Zach Makovsky | Ed West | Bellator 32 | October 14, 2010 |
| Women's Strawweight | Zoila Gurgel |  Megumi Fujii | Bellator 34 | October 28, 2010 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Four]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Welterweight | Jay Hieron | Rick Hawn | Bellator 43 | May 7, 2011 |
| Lightweight | Michael Chandler | Patricky Freire | Bellator 44 | May 14, 2011 |
| Light Heavyweight |  Christian M'Pumbu | Richard Hale | Bellator 45 | May 21, 2011 |
| Featherweight | Patrício Freire | Daniel Mason-Straus | Bellator 45 | May 21, 2011 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: 2011 Summer Series]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Featherweight | Pat Curran | Marlon Sandro | Bellator 48 | August 20, 2011 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Five]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Middleweight | Alexander Shlemenko | Vitor Vianna | Bellator 57 | November 12, 2011 |
| Welterweight | Douglas Lima | Ben Saunders | Bellator 57 | November 12, 2011 |
| Bantamweight | Eduardo Dantas | Alexis Vila | Bellator 59 | November 26, 2011 |
| Heavyweight | Eric Prindle | Thiago Santos | March 23, 2012 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Six]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Featherweight | Daniel Mason-Straus | Marlon Sandro | May 11, 2012 | |
| Middleweight | Maiquel Falcão |  Andreas Spång | May 18, 2012 | |
| Lightweight | Rick Hawn | Brent Weedman | May 25, 2012 | |
| Welterweight |  Karl Amoussou | Bryan Baker | July 20, 2012 | |
| Bantamweight | Marcos Galvão | Luis Nogueira | August 24, 2012 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: 2012 Summer Series]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Light Heavyweight | Attila Vegh | Travis Wiuff | August 24, 2012 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Seven]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Welterweight | Andrey Koreshkov | Lyman Good | November 30, 2012 | |
| Heavyweight | Alexander Volkov | Richard Hale | December 14, 2012 | |
| Featherweight | Shahbulat Shamhalaev | Rad Martinez | February 21, 2013 | |
| Lightweight | Dave Jansen |  Marcin Held | March 21, 2013 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Eight]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Light Heavyweight | Emanuel Newton | Mikhail Zayats | March 28, 2013 | |
| Lightweight | David Rickels | Saad Awad | March 28, 2013 | |
| Middleweight | Doug Marshall | Brett Cooper | April 4, 2013 | |
| Featherweight | Magomedrasul Khasbulaev | Mike Richman | April 4, 2013 | |
| Welterweight | Douglas Lima | Ben Saunders | September 20, 2013 |
[Bellator Fighting Championships: 2013 Summer Series]
All three tournaments were shortened, four-man tournaments instead of the standard eight.
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Heavyweight | Vitaly Minakov | Ryan Martinez | July 31, 2013 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Muhammed Lawal | Jacob Noe | July 31, 2013 | |
| Bantamweight | Rafael Silva | Anthony Leone | October 4, 2013 |
[Bellator MMA: Season Nine]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Heavyweight | Cheick Kongo |  Peter Graham | Bellator 107 | November 8, 2013 |
| Middleweight | Brennan Ward |  Mikkel Parlo | Bellator 107 | November 8, 2013 |
| Bantamweight | Joe Warren | Travis Marx | Bellator 107 | November 8, 2013 |
| Featherweight | Patrício Freire | Justin Wilcox | Bellator 108 | November 15, 2013 |
| Welterweight | Rick Hawn | Ron Keslar | Bellator 109 | November 22, 2013 |
| Lightweight | Will Brooks | Alexander Sarnavskiy | Bellator 109 | November 22, 2013 |
[Bellator MMA: Season Ten]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Featherweight |  Daniel Weichel | Desmond Green | Bellator 119 | May 9, 2014 |
| Heavyweight | Alexander Volkov |  Blagoy Ivanov | May 17, 2014 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Quinton Jackson | Muhammed Lawal | May 17, 2014 | |
| Middleweight | Brandon Halsey | Brett Cooper | Bellator 122 | July 25, 2014 |
| Welterweight | Andrey Koreshkov | Adam McDonough | Bellator 122 | July 25, 2014 |
| Lightweight | Marcin Held | Patricky Freire | September 26, 2014 |
[Bellator MMA: 2014 Summer Series]
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Light Heavyweight | Liam McGeary | Kelly Anundson | September 14, 2014 |
Bellator MMA: Dynamite 1">Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1">Bellator MMA: Dynamite 1
A one night, four-man light heavyweight tournament.
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Light Heavyweight | Phil Davis | Francis Carmont | September 19, 2015 |
[Bellator MMA in 2018#Bellator Heavyweight [World Grand Prix Tournament|Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament]]
Year long, eight-man heavyweight tournament to crown a new heavyweight champion.
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Heavyweight | Ryan Bader | Fedor Emelianenko | Bellator 214: Fedor vs. Bader | January 26, 2019 |
Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix Tournament">Bellator MMA in 2018#Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix Tournament">Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix Tournament
Year long, eight-man welterweight tournament. Current welterweight champion, Rory MacDonald, is a participant and if he were to lose, the victor will be declared lineal champion until he loses or wins the tournament and becomes undisputed champion.
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Welterweight | Douglas Lima | Rory MacDonald | Bellator 232 | October 26, 2019 |
Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix Tournament">Bellator MMA in 2019#Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix Tournament">Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix Tournament
Year long, sixteen-man featherweight tournament. Current featherweight champion, Patrício Freire, is a participant and if he were to lose, the victor will be declared lineal champion until he loses or wins the tournament and becomes undisputed champion.
| Weight Division | Champion | Runner-up | Event | Date |
| Featherweight | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Champions by nationality
Division champions include title holders and interim title holders. Interim champions who become undisputed champions are listed only once. Tournament runners-up are not included.| Country | Division champions | Tournament champions | Total |
| United States | 24 | 28 | 52 |
| Brazil | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| Russia | 4 | 9 | 13 |
| Canada | 2 | - | 2 |
| Cuba | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| D.R. Congo | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| England | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| France | - | 2 | 2 |
| Japan | 1 | - | 1 |
| Germany | - | 1 | 1 |
| Poland | - | 1 | 1 |
Multi-division champions
Fighters who have won championships in multiple weight classes. Tournament champions are not included.| Champion | Division | Won | Lost | Defenses | Reign | Total reign |
| Joe Warren | Featherweight | Sep 2, 2010 | Mar 9, 2012 | 0 | 554 days | 723 days |
| Joe Warren | Bantamweight | May 2, 2014 | October 10, 2014 | 0 | - | 723 days |
| Joe Warren | Bantamweight | October 10, 2014 | March 27, 2015 | 0 | 169 days | 723 days |
| Ryan Bader | Light Heavyweight | June 24, 2017 | Current Champion | 1 | days ' | Ongoing |
| Ryan Bader | Heavyweight | January 26, 2019 | Current Champion | 0 | days ' | Ongoing |
| Patrício Freire | Featherweight | September 5, 2014 | November 6, 2015 | 2 | 428 days | Ongoing |
| Patrício Freire | Featherweight | April 21, 2017 | Current Champion | 3 | days ' | Ongoing |
| Patrício Freire | Lightweight | May 11, 2019 | Current Champion | 0 | days ' | Ongoing |
Most consecutive title defenses
The following includes all Bellator champions who were able to consecutively defend their title two times or more. Fighters with the same number of title defenses are listed chronologically.| Defenses | Champion | Weight class | Span | Days |
| 4 | Ben Askren | Welterweight | Oct 21, 2010 - Jul 31, 2013 | 1014 |
| 3 |  Alexander Shlemenko | Middleweight | Feb 7, 2013 - Sep 26, 2014 | 596 |
| 3 | Rafael Carvalho | Middleweight | Oct 23, 2015 - May 25, 2018 | 945 |
| 3 | Ilima-Lei Macfarlane | Women's Flyweight | Nov 3, 2017 - present | ' |
| 3 | Julia Budd | Women's Featherweight | Mar 3, 2017 - Jan 25, 2020 | 1058 |
| 3 | Patrício Freire | Featherweight | Apr 21, 2017 - present | ' |
| 2 | Michael Chandler | Lightweight | Nov 19, 2011 - Nov 2, 2013 | 714 |
| 2 | Pat Curran | Featherweight | Mar 9, 2012 - Nov 2, 2013 | 603 |
| 2 | Eduardo Dantas | Bantamweight | Feb 14, 2013 - Oct 10, 2014 | 603 |
| 2 | Emanuel Newton | Light Heavyweight | Mar 21, 2013 - Feb 27, 2015 | 708 |
| 2 | Patrício Freire | Featherweight | Sep 5, 2014 - Nov 6, 2015 | 427 |
| 2 | Will Brooks | Lightweight | Nov 15, 2014 - May 14, 2016 | 546 |
| 2 | Rory MacDonald | Welterweight | Jan 20, 2018 - Oct 26, 2019 | 644 |
| 2 | - | - | - | - |
Most wins in title bouts
The following includes all fighters with three or more championship and/or interim championship title wins. Fighters with the same number of title wins are arranged in order of less title bouts losses. Tournament championships are not included.| Title wins | Champion | Weight class | Record in title bouts |
| 8 | Patrício Freire | Featherweight Lightweight | 7 - 2 - 0 1 - 0 - 0 |
| 6 | Michael Chandler | Lightweight | 6 - 5 - 0 |
| 5 | Ben Askren | Welterweight | 5 - 0 - 0 |
| 5 | Eduardo Dantas | Bantamweight | 5 - 2 - 0 |
| 4 | Ilima-Lei Macfarlane | Women's Flyweight | 4 - 0 - 0 |
| 4 | Will Brooks | Lightweight | 4 - 0 - 0 |
| 4 | Julia Budd | Women's Featherweight | 4 - 1 - 0 |
| 4 | Emanuel Newton | Light Heavyweight | 4 - 1 - 0 |
| 4 | Rafael Carvalho | Middleweight | 4 - 1 - 0 |
| 4 | Alexander Shlemenko | Middleweight | 4 - 2 - 0 |
| 4 | Pat Curran | Lightweight Featherweight | 0 - 1 - 0 4 - 2 - 0 |
| 4 | Douglas Lima | Welterweight | 4 - 3 - 0 |
| 3 | Ryan Bader | Light Heavyweight Heavyweight | 2 - 0 - 0 1 - 0 - 0 |
| 3 | Eddie Alvarez | Lightweight | 3 - 1 - 0 |
| 3 | Joe Warren | Featherweight Bantamweight | 1 - 1 - 0 2 - 2 - 0 |