This is a list of the fighters currently signed to contract in the UFC's lightweight division. All fighters have been organized by their number of appearances in the UFC. Fighters with the same number of appearances are organized by number of wins, fighters with the same record are organized alphabetically. Each fight record has four categories: wins, losses, draws, and no-contests (NC). All fight records in this article are displayed in that order, with fights resulting in a no-contest listed in parentheses.

World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was purchased by Zuffa in 2006 and officially merged under the UFC brand on January 1, 2011. In April 2011 Zuffa purchased the Strikeforce organization, and officially folded it into the UFC in January 2013. All former WEC and Strikeforce fighters are marked with an asterisk * and have had their ZUFFA record listed in place of their UFC record, starting with WEC 25 and Strikeforce Challengers 15. These records have been, and will be, continued as former WEC and Strikeforce fighters move on in the UFC.

Fighter weight-class changes are noted with either an upward arrow or a downward arrow next to their names. This applies to fighters who have publicly announced a weight change but have yet to fight, as well as those who, like Anderson Silva, are fighting out of their natural weight class and then immediately returning to their previous one.

"TOTT" stands for "Tale of the Tape", designating the nationality used for each fighter during a UFC broadcast.

Lightweights (155 lb, 70 kg): 73 Fighters

Back in 2002, the lightweight division was a failed experiment. After a four fighter tournament produced nothing, the division was effectively put on hold until 2006. Since it's rejuvenation it has become the UFC's deepest and most competitive division.

Champion: Benson Henderson
RK	TotT	Name	Next Fight	Zuffa Record
–		Gleison Tibau		12–7
–		Melvin Guillard	Mac Danzig - UFC on Fox 8	11–8
–		Diego Sanchez	UFC 164	13–5
5.		Donald Cerrone*	KJ Noons - UFC 160	12–5 (1 NC)
7.		Nate Diaz		11–7
–		Yves Edwards	Spencer Fisher - UFC on Fox 8	10–7
–		Spencer Fisher	Yves Edwards - UFC on Fox 8	9–8
8.		Jim Miller		11–3 (1 NC)
–		Danny Castillo*	Bobby Green - UFC on Fox 8	10–5
–		Sam Stout	Isaac Vallie-Flagg - UFC 161	8–7
–		Joe Lauzon	Michael Johnson - UFC on Fox Sports 1 1	9–5
–		Matt Wiman		9–5
C.		Benson Henderson*		12–1
–		Thiago Tavares	Steroid suspension	7–5–1
–		Jamie Varner*		7–5–1
–		Anthony Njokuani*		7–6
3.		Gray Maynard	TJ Grant - UFC 160	9–1–1 (1 NC)
10.		Rafael dos Anjos		8–4
–		Sean Sherk	Semi-retirement	8–4
–		Mark Bocek		7–5
–		Evan Dunham		7–4
–		Mac Danzig	Melvin Guillard - UFC on Fox 8	5–6
6.		T.J. Grant	Gray Maynard - UFC 160	7–3
–		Ross Pearson		7–3
–		George Sotiropoulos		7–3
–		Brian Ebersole ↓	Long-term injury	4–1
–		Paul Taylor	Long-term injury	4–5
–		Michael Johnson	Joe Lauzon - UFC on Fox Sports 1 1	4–4
–		Aaron Riley	Justin Salas - UFC on Fox 8	3–5
9.		Pat Healy*	Drug suspension	5–1 (1 NC)
–		Takanori Gomi		3–4
–		Edson Barboza	John Makdessi - UFC 162	5–1
–		Bobby Green*	Danny Castillo - UFC on Fox 8	5–1
–		Ryan Couture*		4–2
–		John Makdessi	Edson Barboza - UFC 162	4–2
4.		Josh Thomson*		4–2
–		Rafaello Oliveira	Long-term injury	2–4
–		Tiequan Zhang*		2–4
–		Ramsey Nijem		3–2
–		Roger Bowling*		2–3
–		Tony Ferguson		3–1
–		Jorge Masvidal	Michael Chiesa - UFC on Fox 8	3–1
1.		Gilbert Melendez*		3–1
–		Francisco Trinaldo		3–1
–		John Maguire ↓	Mitch Clarke - UFC 161	2–2
–		Fabricio Camoes		1–2–1
–		K.J. Noons*	Donald Cerrone - UFC 160	1–3
–		Myles Jury		3–0
–		Khabib Nurmagomedov	Abel Trujillo - UFC 160	3–0
–		Isaac Vallie-Flagg*	Sam Stout - UFC 161	3–0
–		Daron Cruickshank		2–1
–		Reza Madadi		2–1
–		Cristiano Marcello		1–2
–		Michael Chiesa	Jorge Masvidal - UFC on Fox 8	2–0
–		Rustam Khabilov		2–0
–		Tim Means		2–0
–		Renee Forte		1–1
–		Lucas Martins		1–1
–		Joe Proctor	Injury	1–1
–		Mike Ricci		1–1
–		Mike Rio		1–1
–		Justin Salas	Aaron Riley - UFC on Fox 8	1–1
–		Mitch Clarke	John Maguire - UFC 161	0–2
–		Jeremy Larsen		0–2
–		Adriano Martins*		1–0
–		Norman Parke	Kazuki Tokudome - UFC 162	1–0
–		Abel Trujillo	Khabib Nurmagomedov - UFC 160	1–0
–		Kazuki Tokudome	Norman Parke - UFC 162	1–0
–		Jon Tuck	Injury	1–0
–		Al Iaquinta	Injury	0–1
–		Yancy Medeiros	Injury	0–1
–		Vinc Pichel		0–1
–		James Vick	Long-term injury	0–0

Lightweight Title History

Here's a brief rundown of the UFC's lightweight title history, from it's inception in 2001 up to the present. The UFC lightweight title has hit a series of potholes in its drive toward legitimacy. However, through it's trials and tribulations it has become the deepest and most competitive of all the UFC's divisions.

Title Lineage
No.	TOTT	Name	Defenses
1.		Jens Pulver def. Caol Uno - UFC 30	def. Dennis Hallman - UFC 33 def. BJ Penn - UFC 35 stripped
–	–	BJ Penn drew with Caol Uno - UFC 41
2.		Sean Sherk def. Kenny Florian - UFC 64	def. Hermes Franca - UFC 73 stripped
3.		BJ Penn def. Joe Stevenson - UFC 80	def. Sean Sherk - UFC 84 def. Kenny Florian - UFC 101 def. Diego Sanchez - UFC 107
4.		Frankie Edgar UFC 112	def. BJ Penn - UFC 118 drew with Gray Maynard - UFC 125 def. Gray Maynard - UFC 136
5.		Benson Henderson UFC 144	def. Frankie Edgar - UFC 150 def. Nate Diaz - UFC on Fox 5 def. Gilbert Melendez - UFC on Fox 7