10 of the youngest ufc champions
8 mins read

10 of the youngest ufc champions

10. Tito Ortiz

25 years and 2 months old (9,213 days)

When Tito Ortiz made his MMA debut at UFC 13, he was 22 years old. In the light heavyweight tournament final, he was defeated by guy Mezger in his place.

After winning his revenge against Mezger just three fights later, the huntington Beach Bad Boy was given the opportunity to face another up and coming UFC champion Frank Shamrock.

In that bout, ortiz was stopped in the fourth round had he prevailed, he would have become the fourth-youngest UFC champion.

After that victory, Shamrock would announce his retirement, and Ortiz faced Wanderlei Silva in a fight to establish the new light heavyweight title. As the bombastic king of the 205-pound class, Ortiz led the UFC through some difficult times after defeating Silva via decision.

9. Jens Pulver

Aged: 9,211 days or 25 years and 2 months

At the age of 23, Jens Pulver made his MMA debut. After two years, he had fought twelve times and was scheduled to face Caol Uno in the UFC lightweight championship bout.

“Lil’ Evil” won the lightweight title by defeating Uno in a majority vote. After that, he defended his championship against Dennis Hallman and BJ Penn before relinquishing it over a contract issue, which turned out to be a bad move for his legacy.

Nevertheless, Pulver will always be able to hold the original UFC lightweight title.

8. BJ Penn

Aged: 9,180 days or 25 years and 1 month

When BJ Penn started competing in mixed martial arts at the age of 22, he was regarded as one of the top fighters in the lightweight class almost immediately.

Penn encountered Jens Pulver after just four fights, giving him a chance to win the 155-pound title. In a majority vote, The Prodigy was not successful. at age 23, Penn would have become the UFCs youngest champion if he had prevailed in that match.

After just three fights, Penn was facing off against caol uno for the belt that pulver had given up. He fought to a draw, though, thus he was once more unable to win the title. had penn prevailed in that match, he would have become the Octagon’s third youngest champion ever.

Finally, 11 months after dropping to Uno, Penn defeated welterweight champion Matt Hughes to win the UFC title.

7. Ricco Rodriguez

Aged: 9,170 days or 25 years and 1 month

Ricco Rodriguez, who started his mixed martial arts career at age 21, competed with Pride FC and several minor organizations before making his UFC debut two years later.

Following his four victories in the UFC, Rodriguez was matched up against Randy Couture to decide who would become the new heavyweight title. Josh Barnett lost the title two months prior after dethroning couture at UFC 36 due to a failed drug test.

In the fifth round, rodriguez used his elbows to stop couture despite losing his last three bouts and never making it back to the octagon rodriguez made history by becoming the seventh youngest champion in UFC history narrowly defeating BJ Penn by a mere 10 day margin.

6. Frank Mir

Aged: 9,158 days or 25 years, 0 months

before making his UFC debut at age 22, Frank Mir competed in two mixed martial arts matches.

a shot against heavyweight champion tim sylvia was given to Mir after he emerged victorious from his first six battles inside the Octagon. In less than a minute, Mir became the UFC s youngest champion ever by breaking the champions arm.

Unfortunately, Mir was unable to fully capitalize on his early achievements due to a motorcycle accident. The youthful champion lost the title before he could defend his unchallenged championship because of his idleness while healing from serious ailments.

5. Frank Shamrock

Aged: 9,144 days or 25 years, 0 months

Frank Shamrock made his Octagon debut in December 1997 after accruing 22 MMA bouts.

Shamrocks first fight as a UFC member was a bout against Kevin Jackson to decide who would be the first light heavyweight champion because he had a lot of experience fighting outside the company.

When shamrock submitted tim sylvia he was only two weeks younger than Frank Mir. In less than sixty seconds, shamrock also won a UFC belt by armbar.

Shamrock left mixed martial arts after four successful championship defenses shamrock might have gone down as one of the most dominant UFC champions if he had carried on with his reign.

Nevertheless only Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz have successfully defended the UFC light heavyweight title more times in a row.

4. Carlos Newton

24 years old and 8 months old (9,026 days)

carlos newton was just 19 when he started fighting mixed martial arts.

Before going back into the octagon for a championship opportunity at UFC 31, he participated at UFC 17 and for a number of other promotions. Newton defeated Pat Miletich and won the welterweight title with an uncommon bulldog choke.

Newton lost to matt hughes in his first championship defense six months later. Despite having Hughes in a tight triangle choke, newton was struck and rendered unconscious by an opponent who may have already lost consciousness.

3. Josh Barnett

24 year-old, 4 month-old (8,898 days)

Josh Barnett started MMA competition at the age of 19, just as Carlos Newton.

A week after turning 23, he made his UFC debut, winning three of his first four bouts inside the Octagon. Barnett was given a title opportunity in his next fight against Randy Couture, whom he beat at the age of just 24 years old, despite failing his drug test at UFC 34.

Later on, it was discovered that Barnett had also failed his drug test for that fight. Even though in the modern era that would have made his victory over Couture invalid, Barnett retained his victory and was simply denied the heavyweight title.

For more than eight years, Barnett was the youngest UFC champion in history, despite the dubious nature of his title.

2. Jose Aldo

24 years and 2 months old (8,838 days)

Before he was eighteen, Jose Aldo started fighting in Brazil. Aldo signed with the WEC, the top featherweight promotion at the time, by the time he was 21.

Aldo earned a chance to face 145-pound champion Mike Brown after defeating his first five opponents in the WEC. In addition, the Brazilian defeated Brown to win the WEC featherweight title at the age of 23.

In the event that the bout took place within the Octagon, Aldo would have become the UFCs youngest champion ever.

Rather, Aldo had to wait a full year and win two more fights before he could be called up to the UFC champion. That promotion did, for a little while, make Aldo the youngest fighter to wear a UFC title, but it was short lived.

1. Jon Jones

Aged: 8,644 days or 23 years, 8 months

Although Jon Jones entered the mixed martial arts scene somewhat later than some of the other competitors near the top of this list, he quickly rose to the top of the light heavyweight class.

Jones started his career a few months ahead of his 21st birthday, and it took him just six fights to establish himself as a promising prospect for UFC management. It only took Jones six more fights after joining the company to prove he was worthy of a chance to win the 205 pound title.

Jones defeated Mauricio Rua at age 23 to become the UFCs youngest champion ever. Jones is still the light heavyweight champion and quickly making a name for himself as one of the greatest fighters to have entered the Octagon, nearly three years later.

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