The best UFC middleweight champion of all time, and the worst

The middleweight division in one of the most storied divisions in the history of the UFC. It has been a part of the UFC nearly a decade longer than the bantamweight division; yet, the belt has changed hands only once more than bantamweight with a total of 13 times.

The first middleweight champion dates back to Sept. 28, 2001, when Dave Menne defeated Gil Castillo by unanimous decision at UFC 33. Menne would lose the title to Murilo Bustamante in January 2002.

Menne went on to lose his next fight against Phil Baroni eight months later, leading to his departure from the UFC. Menne made a two-fight return in 2006, losing to Jake Shields and Josh Koscheck within six months. Menne's last fight was a rematch against Bustamante in 2012 at Amazon Forest Combat 2.

The middleweight division would see a brief period of title vacancy starting in 2003 when Bustamante vacated the title to join PRIDE. The next title fight wouldn't happen until 2005 when Evan Tanner defeated David Terrell at UFC 51, but Tanner could only hold the title for four months.

Tanner's lone title defense was a loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 53. Franklin would be the first champion to defend the middleweight title more than one time, which probably seemed like a significant achievement at the time.

The second highest number of consecutive title defenses in the middleweight division stands at five; it was accomplished by the current middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, during his first tenure. The champ is set to make the first defense of his second title reign at UFC 293 against Sean Strickland.

The highest number of consecutive title defenses in the middleweight division stands at 10, putting Franklin's pair of defenses in a long shadow. This record is held by a fighter who took three light heavyweight bouts during his title reign and holds a UFC-wide record for longest title reign by number of days at 2,457.

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time and is the clear choice for the best middleweight champion of all time.