5 UFC champions who made three successful title defenses in a single year

Once a fighter becomes a UFC champion, it's fair to say that their schedule tends to slow down. Most champions appear once, maybe twice a year, maximum.

Over the years, though, we've seen a handful of UFC champions who were the exception to this rule, with some even making three defenses in a single year.

Making a single successful defense is tricky for a lot of champions, so three defenses in a single year should qualify these titleholders as legends.

Here are five UFC champions who made three successful title defenses in a single year.

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#5 Alex Pereira - UFC light heavyweight champion (2024)

The latest UFC champion to pull off the feat of successfully defending his title three times in a single year is Alex Pereira.

'Poatan' has been breaking barriers down ever since his octagon debut in 2021. It took him literally a year to claim gold in the middleweight division after just four fights.

After losing that title back to Israel Adesanya, the Brazilian moved to 205 pounds and claimed the crown there in just his second bout as a light heavyweight, knocking out Jiri Prochazka to claim the vacant belt.

It wasn't until this year that 'Poatan' really took off, though.

Remarkably, the Brazilian didn't actually fight until April, when he dispatched former titleholder Jamahal Hill in the first round, essentially becoming an undisputed champion.

From there, Pereira beat Prochazka in a rematch on just two weeks' notice in the headliner of UFC 303, and most recently destroyed Khalil Rountree Jr. to secure his third successful defense.

There are still the best part of three months of 2024 to go, but it's unlikely Pereira will fight again this year. Reportedly, he was both unwell and injured during training for the Rountree fight, and has stated that his win over 'The War Horse' was the end of a cycle.

Despite this, for 'Poatan' to manage three successful defenses after only claiming his title last November is nearly unheard of. At this point, he must be considered one of the all-time combat sports greats.

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#4 Matt Hughes - former UFC welterweight champion (2002)

Once considered the greatest welterweight of all time, Matt Hughes' accomplishments were eventually surpassed by the man who took his throne, Georges St-Pierre.

However, one thing Hughes did that 'GSP' never quite managed to pull off was making three title defenses in a single year.

Hughes achieved this in his first run as champion as part of his run of five successful defenses.

After claiming the 170-pound title from Carlos Newton under controversial circumstances in late 2001, Hughes made his first defense against Japanese star Hayato Sakurai in March 2002.

A largely dominant showing saw Hughes dispatch 'Mach' in the fourth round via ground-and-pound. Because he took so little damage, he was able to return just four months later.

This time, he rematched Newton, and left nothing to chance, beating down 'The Ronin' and debuting the mounted crucifix position to secure a TKO.

Hughes' final title defense of 2002 saw him stop Gil Castillo at UFC 40, in a fight that was widely overshadowed by Tito Ortiz's famous bout with Ken Shamrock.

In reality, Hughes probably should've been given far more credit for this run. Despite not fighting the toughest opponents, he was clearly dominant over his division at the time.

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#3 Chuck Liddell - former UFC light heavyweight champion (2006)

When the UFC exploded into the mainstream in 2005, Chuck Liddell was positioned as the promotion's poster-boy.

With his signature mohawk and tattoos making him look like a stereotypical cage fighter, 'The Iceman' fought with an exciting striking style and had underrated levels of charisma, too.

However, part of what allowed Liddell to catch on as a major star was his willingness to fight so often. Unlike other, arguably more talented champions, he was remarkably active.

2006 was undoubtedly Liddell's best year, as he made three successful defenses of his light heavyweight title.

First, he knocked out old foe Randy Couture in their trilogy bout in February, sending 'The Natural' into temporary retirement.

Six months later, 'The Iceman' needed just over a minute to halt the run of top contender Renato 'Babalu' Sobral. Liddell made dispatching him look easy, but in fact, the Brazilian was on a ten-fight win streak and hadn't lost cleanly since Lidell first beat him four years before.

Liddell ended his year by stopping old friend-turned-rival Tito Ortiz in the third round of an epic fight. Remarkably, the event that the fight headlined - UFC 66 - held the record for the biggest pay-per-view buyrate for two years afterwards.

Despite not retiring in the best fashion, Chuck Lidell will always be a legend of the octagon, and his title run in 2006 only added to that aura.

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#2 Kamaru Usman - former UFC welterweight champion (2021)

During his reign as welterweight champion, which began in 2019 and ended in 2022, Kamaru Usman expressed a desire to surpass the legendary Georges St-Pierre as the UFC's greatest-ever 170 pounder.

While 'The Nigerian Nightmare' eventually fell short of that goal, he did achieve something 'GSP' was unable to. Like Matt Hughes, Usman managed to defend his title three times successfully in a single year.

After only fighting once in 2020, few fans could've seen Usman's dominant 2021 coming.

He began pretty early, surviving a knockdown to TKO former training partner Gilbert Burns in February.

Considering that fight was hardly easy, it was a major shock to see him return against the dangerous Jorge Masvidal just nine weeks later.

However, nobody needed to worry about Usman, as he became the first man to ever knock Masvidal out, viciously putting 'Gamebred' down in the second round.

Finally, Usman ended his 2021 in style, settling his bitter rivalry with Colby Covington by beating him for the second time some seven months after his win over Masvidal.

Interestingly, Kamaru Usman has not won a fight since that point, bringing into question whether he pushed himself a little too much in 2021. Regardless, his accomplishment that year remains a truly great one.

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#1 Tito Ortiz - former UFC light heavyweight champion (2001)

Due to a combination of factors - his various feuds with Dana White, his prime coming over two decades ago and the poor end to his UFC career - Tito Ortiz has become largely underrated in the bigger picture.

However, 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' should always be recognized as a legend. It was not just because of his status as the promotion's original poster-boy in their push for mainstream success.

Instead, he should be remembered and respected for his dominant run as light-heavyweight champion, a run that saw him defend his title successfully on five occasions.

It's a record only ever topped by Jon Jones, and a record that the likes of Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Randy Couture and Daniel Cormier failed to match.

Ortiz's best year was definitely 2001, when he managed to defend his title successfully three times. To add to this, Tito Ortiz headlined three of the UFC's five events that year, meaning he largely carried the promotion on his back.

Were his opponents all that? Arguably not. Evan Tanner was a more natural 185 pounder, Elvis Sinosic only ever won one fight in the octagon, and Vladimir Matyushenko took his bout with Ortiz on late notice.

Regardless of that, it's impossible to take away the size of his achievement, and 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' still stands today as one of the few titleholders to make three successful defenses in a single year.