5 interim UFC champions who captured the undisputed title

#2. Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker – UFC 243

Israel Adesanya went from interim champion to undisputed champion when he stopped Robert Whittaker at UFC 243

When current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defends his title against Robert Whittaker in the headliner of UFC 271 in February, it’ll be the second title fight between the two in recent years.

The first came at UFC 243 in October 2019. That clash saw then-interim champion Adesanya dethrone Whittaker in arguably his most impressive performance to date, becoming the undisputed champion in the process.

Whittaker’s own title reign started in somewhat odd circumstances. ‘The Reaper’ initially became interim champion after defeating Yoel Romero at UFC 213. When Georges St-Pierre decided to retire and vacate the main title, the UFC simply promoted the Australian to undisputed champ.

However, injuries and illness thoroughly derailed his reign, although he did make a single defense against Romero in a rematch at UFC 225.

By the start of 2019, ‘The Reaper’ was on the shelf again, this time with a staph infection. That resulted in the UFC creating another interim middleweight title. Adesanya, who had run through all of his opponents in the octagon to go 5-0, defeated Kelvin Gastelum to claim the title in one of the year’s best fights.

That set ‘The Last Stylebender’ up for a meeting with Whittaker. In one of the most impressive title wins in UFC history, Adesanya destroyed Whittaker with a second-round knockout to become undisputed champion.

Whether he can repeat the feat at UFC 271 remains to be seen, but for now, Adesanya stands as one of the rare interim UFC champions to become undisputed champion.

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#1. Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo – UFC 194

Conor McGregor became a UFC legend when he took out Jose Aldo for the undisputed featherweight title in 2015

The most famous example of an interim UFC champion becoming the undisputed titleholder remains Conor McGregor. ‘The Notorious’ megastar claimed gold in the UFC featherweight division back in 2015, instantly writing himself into the history books in the process.

Realistically, it probably worked out better for McGregor that he was forced to win the interim title before claiming the undisputed championship.

The Irishman burst onto the scene in 2013, winning his first four bouts inside the octagon. When he was awarded a title shot following his fifth UFC win in early 2015, plenty of fans scoffed.

After all, ‘The Notorious’ had never had his takedown defense tested by one of the monstrous wrestlers of the division. That led some fans to suggest that due to his marketability and drawing power, he’d been protected by the UFC’s brass.

That changed when his planned title fight with longtime champ Jose Aldo at UFC 189 was nixed due to the Brazilian suffering a rib injury. Instead, McGregor found himself up against Chad Mendes, the best of those monstrous wrestlers, in a bout for an interim title instead.

Sure enough, ‘The Notorious’ proved all of his doubters wrong, surviving a savage ground attack from ‘Money’ before coming back to stop him violently in the second round.

The win showed everyone that McGregor was more than just hype and trash talk and better was to come.

At UFC 194, the Irishman knocked out Aldo in just 13 seconds, handing him his first defeat in over a decade. In doing so, he became not just the undisputed featherweight champion, but the UFC’s biggest superstar, period.