The table below shows the number of days it took every champion in UFC history to compete in the first defence of their title.
Last update: December 30th, 2020
| UFC Champion | Days before first title defence attempted | Notes |
| Robert Whittaker | 660 | (184 days before non-title fight vs. Romero who missed weight) |
| Amanda Nunes (2) | 525 | |
| Conor McGregor (2) | 511 | |
| Anthony Pettis | 462 | |
| Frank Mir | 419 | |
| Cain Velasquez (1) | 385 | |
| Matt Serra | 378 | |
| Stipe Miocic (2) | 364 | |
| Conor McGregor (1) | 350 | (84 days before non-title fight vs. Diaz) |
| Henry Cejudo (2) | 336 | |
| Fabrício Werdum | 336 | |
| Maurício Rua | 315 | |
| Cody Garbrandt | 309 | |
| Kamaru Usman | 287 | |
| Nicco Montaño | 280 | |
| Rafael dos Anjos | 280 | |
| T.J. Dillashaw (2) | 273 | |
| Anderson Silva | 266 | (112 days before non-title fight vs. Lutter who missed weight) |
| Johny Hendricks | 266 | |
| Sean Sherk | 266 | |
| Tito Ortiz | 246 | |
| Brock Lesnar | 238 | |
| Randy Couture (4) | 238 | |
| Jens Pulver | 217 | |
| Robbie Lawler | 217 | |
| Alexander Volkanovski | 211 | |
| Tim Sylvia (1) | 210 | |
| Kevin Randleman | 203 | |
| Vitor Belfort | 203 | |
| Dominick Cruz (1) | 198 | |
| Junior dos Santos | 196 | |
| Jon Jones (1) | 189 | |
| José Aldo (2) | 189 | |
| Weili Zhang |
189 | |
| Carlos Newton | 183 | |
| Valentina Shevchenko | 183 | |
| Khabib Nurmagomedov | 182 | |
| Max Holloway | 182 | |
| Matt Hughes (2) | 176 | |
| Chris Weidman | 175 | |
| Forrest Griffin | 175 | |
| Luke Rockhold | 175 | |
| Randy Couture (5) | 175 | |
| Amanda Nunes (1) | 174 | |
| Petr Yan | 171 | |
| Mark Coleman | 170 | |
| Henry Cejudo (1) | 168 | |
| Randy Couture (2) | 168 | |
| Rich Franklin | 168 | |
| Benson Henderson | 167 | |
| José Aldo (1) | 161 | |
| Cris Cyborg | 154 | |
| Lyoto Machida | 154 | |
| Ricco Rodriguez | 154 | |
| Rose Namajunas | 154 | |
| Israel Adesanya | 153 | |
| Cain Velasquez (2) | 147 | |
| Rashad Evans | 147 | |
| Frankie Edgar | 140 | |
| Georges St-Pierre (1) | 140 | |
| Matt Hughes (1) | 140 | |
| Dominick Cruz (2) | 139 | |
| Daniel Cormier (1) | 133 | |
| Eddie Alvarez | 128 | |
| Germaine de Randamie | 128 | |
| Randy Couture (3) | 127 | |
| B.J. Penn (2) | 126 | |
| Chuck Liddell | 126 | |
| Demetrious Johnson | 126 | |
| Josh Barnett | 126 | |
| Michael Bisping | 126 | |
| Miesha Tate | 126 | |
| Deiveson Figueiredo | 125 | |
| Daniel Cormier (2) | 119 | |
| Evan Tanner | 119 | |
| Murilo Bustamante | 119 | |
| Stipe Miocic (1) | 119 | |
| Georges St-Pierre (2) | 112 | |
| Jéssica Andrade | 112 | |
| Holly Holm | 111 | |
| B.J. Penn (1) | 107 | |
| Dave Menne | 105 | |
| Quinton Jackson | 105 | |
| Tyron Woodley | 105 | |
| Joanna Jędrzejczyk | 98 | |
| T.J. Dillashaw (1) | 98 | |
| Jan Błachowicz | 94 | |
| Carla Esparza | 92 | |
| Pat Miletich | 84 | |
| Tim Sylvia (2) | 84 | |
| Frank Shamrock | 82 | |
| Maurice Smith | 82 | |
| Ronda Rousey | 79 | |
| Jon Jones (2) | 63 | |
| Andrei Arlovski | 56 | |
| Georges St-Pierre (3) | 33 | |
| Bas Rutten | 30 | An approximation- exact dates unknown |
| Randy Couture (1) | 30 | An approximation- exact dates unknown |
| Renan Barão | 26 |
Average number of days before a UFC champion attempts the first defence of their title: 186.
