Ilia Topuria became the 13th fighter to hold the lightweight title at UFC 317 in June.
He picked up the vacant belt through a vicious first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira in the Las Vegas main event.
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Why was the UFC lightweight title vacant?
The UFC lightweight title was vacant because ex-champion Islam Makhachev relinquished it in May.
Makhachev had made his fourth lightweight title defence in January, submitting Renato Moicano in the main event of UFC 311 after 245 seconds.
However, he decided enough was enough at 155lbs after friend and training partner Belal Muhammad was dethroned of the welterweight strap at UFC 315.
Makhachev had been teasing a move up to welterweight for months, but didn’t want to move up if Muhammad was still the champion at 170lbs.
But Muhammad was outpointed by Australian Jack Della Maddalena in UFC 315’s main event, prompting Makhachev to drop his lightweight belt and move up a division.
This left the UFC lightweight title vacant and it has since been claimed by Topuria.
Are UFC belts made of gold?
The short answer is no, although certain features of the belt are crafted with gold-plated metal.
The UFC central piece is made of high-polished gold, while the right plate features a gold UFC world champion logo, and the leather is embedded with gold octagonal button snaps.
All champions currently compete for the legacy championship belt, just like all division kings in the last six years.
It was first introduced by the promotion in 2019, due to it being the organisation’s 25th anniversary, and the strap followed the classic UFC title used between 2001 to 2018, which was held by the likes of British former middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
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Flyweight great Demetrious Johnson was awarded his tenth classic belt when he submitted Wilson Reis in 2017.
The newish legacy belt is 50 ins (127 cm) long and 12 ins (30 cm) in height.
It weighs 10.45lbs (4.7kg) and its centre plate features the flags of the first eight countries that were home to UFC champions like the flag of the Republic of Ireland following the success of Conor McGregor.
The centre piece also includes 25 white cubic zirconia and created ruby stones that represent 25 years of the UFC.
The left plate is customised for every fighter, with the fight stones bordering the plate replaced with a red stone for each victory in a championship bout.
Each legacy belt comes with a plate on the back with a unique serial number assigned to the champion, as well as UFC CEO and President Dana White‘s signature engraved for authenticity.
UFC Legacy Championship Belt
Details
- Length: 127 cm
- Height: 30 cm
- Main Plate: 29 cm x 24 cm
- Side Plates: 11 cm x 11 cm
- Weight: 4.7 kg
- UFC logo
- Eight-country icons
- 41 white cubic zirconia and created ruby stones
How much are UFC titles worth?
Although the exact price of current UFC belts remains unknown, they are estimated to be worth around $900,000 (£662,000) apiece.
Speaking in 2019, British MMA pioneer Bisping revealed ex-light heavyweight star Rashad Evans had told him that the old belts were worth $300,000 each.
“That’s what Dana White told Rashad Evans,” he said.
“Mine’s just been gathering dust back there. There’s another one in the other room…
“If I’d known they were worth $600,000 between them I might get them insured for one and then they get stolen … I’m joking.”
This then prices the new and current belt, according to the UFC’s official website, at a whopping $900,000.
All UFC Lightweight Champions
Current champion: Ilia Topuria
12. Islam Makhachev
11. Charles Oliveira
Interim: Justin Gaethje
Interim: Dustin Poirier
10. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Interim: Tony Ferguson
9. Conor McGregor
8. Eddie Alvarez
7. Rafael dos Anjos
6. Anthony Pettis
5. Benson Henderson
4. Frankie Edgar
3. B.J. Penn
2. Sean Sherk
- Jens Pulver
“The new UFC belt is valued at three times more than its predecessor,” an introduction read when the promotion first unveiled the new belt in 2019.
MMA fans can buy a replica UFC legacy belt for a whopping $849.99 (£625), so the valuation at almost $1,000,000 for the real thing doesn’t seem far off.
