UFC titles still active??

[One to Remember]

Are the following titles abandoned or just being held for awile?

World Middleweight title:
Murilo Bustamante has been champ sense January 11, 2002. so has he been champ for 3 years?

World Lightweight title:
B.J. Penn champ sense '98?

[BusaLiger Dragon]

Ok to anwer your question the middleweight and lightweight title are still active.

The UFC middleweight title is currently vacant

The UFC lightweight title is currently vacant

BJ Penn im guessing is no longer involved with UFC. Im guessing because he wanted to start his own training school on the big island of hawaii. He still does MMA but i dont know if he still going to have anything to do with UFC.

Im guessing after the long title reigns or whatever reasons Penn and Murilo Bustamante had, i guess the UFC stripped them from the belts. i dont know if this is true but this is in IMO.

[Tradewynd]

BJ Penn signed a deal to fight exclusively in Japan, with K-1 MMA. Since K-1 MMA is pretty much not doing anything, he's not either.

[BusaLiger Dragon]

Thanks Tradewynd for clearing that up i wasnt sure what was really going on with BJ Penn.

[niniendo warrior]

Recently, Evan Tanner won the middleweight title, so now the middleweight title is no longer vacant.

Only the lightweight title needs to be filled up and Dana has plans for that... it might be for the Ultimate Fighter show or some later UFC event.

And just to clear up the above post about BJ Penn being lightweight champ, he was never lightweight champ. It was Jens Pulver who was champ before leaving the UFC.

BJ Penn won the welterweight title from Matt Hughes, and left also.

[One to Remember X]

im gettin that info from the Archives. Is there a UFC site with title histories or official resource? The UFC show on Spike is between middleweights and light heavyweights. There was no mention of the lightweights.

[niniendo warrior]

This isn't complete for the new champs...

http://www.mmaweekly.com/historyOfTitles.html

Here's the entry on the lightweight title:

Champion Jens Pulver beat B.J. Penn on January 11, 2002 in Uncasville, CT
*Pulver leaves UFC and vacates title
B.J. Penn drew Caol Uno for the vacant title on February 28, 2003 in Atlantic City, NJ

BJ got beat by Jens AND BJ drew against Caol Uno and hence NEVER won the UFC lightweight title of the world.

The welterweight title history isn't updated as it doesn't detail Hughes losing to BJ Penn, BJ vacating, and Hughes winning the title back (against George St. Pierre, I think).

You are correct about the Ultimate Fighter show. It's between lightheavyweights and middleweights. However, there ARE plans for having LIVE UFC fights at the season finale of Ultimate Fighter. That means, you can 2 fights between the light heavyweight and middleweight finalists and some other fights in the card.

Currently, the lightweight title match being scheduled for the season finale of the Ultimate Fighter is just plain rumour and speculation. What is confirmed (or atleast verbally) is Rich Franklin v Ken Shamrock at the season finale of the Ultimate Fighter.