Five Youngest Champions in UFC History
With the recent announcement of Jon Jones' return and Raul Rosas Jr's next bout, it's time to recall the fighters who captured the illustrious UFC gold early into their life. Let's look at the youngest champions in the UFC's 30-year history and the potential candidates to break the top spot.
5. Frank Shamrock: 25 years and 14 days old
If you need to be made aware of who Frank Shamrock is, let's quickly review some of his accomplishments for an introduction. Despite making his UFC debut in 1997, he still holds the record for the fastest submission in Light-Heavyweight history at just 16 seconds and the fastest knockout in Strikeforce history, finishing the fight in 20 seconds. He is also the first fighter, alongside John Lober, to headline a UFC event in Brazil. Shamrock was also a champion in Pancrase, the WEC, Strikeforce, and of course, the UFC. And finally, he holds an undefeated record of 5-0 inside the UFC.
Now that you know what he accomplished, let's go over the events that led to him capturing UFC gold. He would make his professional debut in 1997, finding mixed success in Japanese MMA Promotion, Pancrase. Shamrock would fight under Pancrase for most of his career, amassing a record of 11-6-1, before leaving the promotion to pursue other opportunities. Due to his reputation, he would debut in the UFC for the inaugural Light-Heavyweight championship. Shamrock would defeat his opponent Kevin Jackson via submission, claiming the belt at just 25 years of age. He would defend the belt four more times before leaving the UFC due to a lack of interest in the opposition.
4. Carlos Newton: 24 years, eight months, and 17 days old
Carlos Newton had an extraordinary career in MMA. Newton is a 3rd-degree black belt in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu and made his debut at 19 years old. In his debut, he took on Jean Rivière, a man with a 100 lbs weight advantage over him. Although he lost this fight, Newton gained massive popularity for his efforts during the bout. This fame skyrocketed the career of Newton, who would fight in the UFC just four fights later. He would defeat Bob Gilstrap by submission in his UFC debut before losing his next fight to Dan Henderson by split decision. Newton would not return to the UFC for three years, fighting in many different promotions during his absence. In his return, Newton took on Pat Miletich for the Welterweight Championship.
Newton would win via third-round submission, becoming the UFC champion at 24. However, he would not have success retaining the belt, losing his next fight to Matt Hughes in a very controversial fight. Newton would attempt a standing triangle choke but would be slammed to the canvas by Hughes. Simultaneously, Hughes would fall unconscious due to the pressure of the triangle choke, and both athletes would be out cold. However, the referee only saw Newton unconscious and awarded Hughes the victory. They two would rematch, and he would lose to Hughes by TKO in the second round.
3. Josh Barnett: 24 years, four months, and 12 days old
Josh Barnett would find massive success in MMA throughout his entire career and hold many titles by the end of it. He would debut at 19, dominating his first nine fights in regional promotions. This win streak would catch the attention of the UFC, and they would invite Barnett to make his octagon debut at UFC 28. He would take on Gan McGee in his first bout, and after weathering an early storm in the first round, he would secure a second-round TKO victory. He would lose his next fight but bounce back with finishes against Semmy Schilt and Bobby Hoffman to earn a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Barnett would face Heavyweight champion Randy Couture, and the fight would play out very similarly to the Mcgee fight. Couture would succeed in the first round, but into the second, Barnett would gain a dominant position on top of Couture. From here, he would smash Couture with ground-and-pound strikes, leading to a late second-round TKO victory.
At just 24, Barnett was the youngest champion to date and still holds the record for the youngest UFC Heavyweight Champion. But, unfortunately, Barnett would be stripped of his title following a second positive drug test and wouldn't return to the UFC for another 11 years.
2. José Aldo: 24 years and 21 days old
"The King Of Rio" José Aldo. Considered by many the greatest Featherweight of all time, Aldo also owns the prestige of being the second youngest champion in UFC history. He would amass a record of 10-1 before debuting in the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) promotion. Aldo would win his first five fights in the promotion, all by finish, earning him a shot at the WEC Featherweight championship. Aldo would defeat the champion, Mike Brown, by TKO in the second round, earning him the WEC gold. He would defend the WEC belt twice more against Uriah Faber and Manny Gamburyan.
To understand what happened next, we need to know about Zuffa, LLC. Zuffa is a sports promotion company that owns the UFC. In 2010, Zuffa purchased the WEC to merge it with the UFC. Zuffa wished to merge the UFC and the WEC to create one massive organization that incorporated lower weight classes. Since the UFC did not have a Bantamweight or Featherweight division at the time of the merger, the UFC promoted Aldo to UFC Champion on November 20, 2010, and he had just turned 24.
He would defend the Featherweight title seven times, become a 2x Featherweight Champion, and challenge for the Bantamweight title throughout the rest of his career. Aldo holds victories over Frankie Edgar, Rob Font, and Pedro Muhnoz. He would retire in 2022 following his loss to Merab Dvalishvili.
1. Jon Jones: 23 years and eight months old
Jon "Bones" Jones has had a controversial but successful MMA career. It is also worth noting that he is the only fighter on this list still active in the UFC. He would debut in 2008 at 20 years old, and just six fights into his career made his UFC debut against Andre Gusmao. Jones would showcase his elite clinch and unorthodox striking to win a comfortable unanimous decision. He would win his next two fights before losing by DQ to Matt Hamil for illegal elbows. He would then put a three-fight finish streak together to challenge for the Light-Heavyweight championship. Mauricio Rua was the champion then and had a terrific Muay Thai background with plenty of experience. Despite being 23 years old, Jones would dominate Rua in one of the biggest beatdowns in the UFC, winning the title on March 19, 2011, via 3rd-round TKO stoppage.
Since 2011, Jones has only fought for the Light-Heavyweight belt and holds victories over Daniel Cormier, Alexander Gustafsson, and Thiago Santos. After his last fight in 2020, another successful defense against Dominick Reyes, Jones would vacate the title and announce his move to Heavyweight.
On March 4, Jones will fight for the vacant Heavyweight Championship against Ciryl Gane in an attempt to join an elite fraternity of only seven fighters who have held UFC belts in two divisions.
Who could break the record?
Twenty-three years and 243 days is the record to beat, and with most of the UFC roster significantly above that age, it's been tough to beat over the years. However, at the time of writing this article, there are 5 UFC fighters under 23. So let's take a quick look at some of the possible record-breakers.
Raul Rosas Jr is the obvious pick for this category. He is 18 years old and has the most time out of the current UFC roster to become champion. Rosas Jr debuted on December 12, 2022, defeating Jay Perrin in a dominant showing. He's now booked to face Christian Rodriguez in his next matchup. If he keeps fighting actively and up the rankings, he could realize a UFC title in the next five years.
Muhammad Mokaev is the only other plausible pick. At 22 years old, Mokaev has a 3-0 record in the UFC and is currently ranked #12 at flyweight. He is a very accomplished fighter for his age, holding an amateur record of 23-0 and a professional record of 9-0-(1NC). His next bout comes against unranked Jafel Filho on March 18, and if Mokaev wins, he will likely face a ranked opponent next. If Mokaev remains active and victorious, he can fight for the Flyweight Championship before passing Jones' record age.
Iasmin Lucindo, Cameron Saaiman and Yusaku Kinoshita could all theoretically break the record. However, with Lucindo being 0-1 in the UFC, Kinoshita having yet to debut, and Saaiman, who is unranked, only having a year to go, it is improbable they will capture gold.
Do you think any of these young athletes can break Jones' record? As a member of the Verdict Community, we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
