Top 10 UFC Main Event Streaks
Who Has Headlined The Most Times Consecutively?
Which UFC fighter has headlined the most times in a row? Jon Jones of course. The man has been a Belt-Wearing Champion for over a decade now and has headlined every event he's been a part of since 2011.
Jones was the king of the Light Heavyweight division (205lbs) since he defeated Mauricio Rua to earn the title in March 2011. Despite being stripped of the championship belt three times, for vaious legal troubles and Performance-Enhancing Drug use,
Jones has re-earned the belt each time, never losing a bout, or his headliner status.
Since his last fight against Dominick Reyes in February 2020, Jones has had his sights set a new weight class - the Heavyweight division (265lbs). He voluntarily gave up the Light Heavyweight Belt and is currently looking for an opponent at Heavyweight - likely Stipe Miocic or Francis Ngannou - the two biggest names in the division. Win or lose in his next few bouts, Jon Jones will likely remain a main event fighter for some time to come. We predict he will headline at least 5 more times before either retiring or being placed lower on the main card after several losses.
During the UFC's early growth, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz dominated event headlines. From 2000 to 2005 these two practically alternated headlining events, Randy one month, Tito the next. They faced each other once in September 2003 at UFC 44, where Couture won by unanimous decision. Randy and Tito are recognized pioneers of the sport, and they were clearly the UFC's top two stars during the early 2000s.
Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock were the most prolific headliners in the early-early UFC days. Royce Gracie is lauded as the first champion ever, the winner of UFC 1. Since the early UFC events were tournament format (winner goes on to fight again that evening), Gracie was able to win his way to headlining the first 5 UFC events (with the exception of UFC 3, where he withdrew after winning his first bout, citing fatigue.) After UFC 5 Royce Gracie did not participate in another UFC event for over ten years. With Gracie's departure Ken Shamrock became the new marquee name - headlining five events in a row - UFC 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
Some fighters on this list are still actively headlining events - Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, Stipe Miocic and Chan Sung Jung. Although none of them are likely to pass Jon Jones' record, they will all likely headline a few more events to increase their streak. Jung is the only fighter on a headlining streak to have never held a UFC Championship title. He will get that chance when he challenges current Featherweight Champ Alexander Volkanovski in a headlining bout at UFC 273 on April 9, 2022.
- March 8th 2022
Since his last fight against Dominick Reyes in February 2020, Jones has had his sights set a new weight class - the Heavyweight division (265lbs). He voluntarily gave up the Light Heavyweight Belt and is currently looking for an opponent at Heavyweight - likely Stipe Miocic or Francis Ngannou - the two biggest names in the division. Win or lose in his next few bouts, Jon Jones will likely remain a main event fighter for some time to come. We predict he will headline at least 5 more times before either retiring or being placed lower on the main card after several losses.
During the UFC's early growth, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz dominated event headlines. From 2000 to 2005 these two practically alternated headlining events, Randy one month, Tito the next. They faced each other once in September 2003 at UFC 44, where Couture won by unanimous decision. Randy and Tito are recognized pioneers of the sport, and they were clearly the UFC's top two stars during the early 2000s.
Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock were the most prolific headliners in the early-early UFC days. Royce Gracie is lauded as the first champion ever, the winner of UFC 1. Since the early UFC events were tournament format (winner goes on to fight again that evening), Gracie was able to win his way to headlining the first 5 UFC events (with the exception of UFC 3, where he withdrew after winning his first bout, citing fatigue.) After UFC 5 Royce Gracie did not participate in another UFC event for over ten years. With Gracie's departure Ken Shamrock became the new marquee name - headlining five events in a row - UFC 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
Some fighters on this list are still actively headlining events - Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, Stipe Miocic and Chan Sung Jung. Although none of them are likely to pass Jon Jones' record, they will all likely headline a few more events to increase their streak. Jung is the only fighter on a headlining streak to have never held a UFC Championship title. He will get that chance when he challenges current Featherweight Champ Alexander Volkanovski in a headlining bout at UFC 273 on April 9, 2022.
- March 8th 2022