It has been 18 months since ESPN final ranked the 11 UFC divisions from most to least star-studded and aggressive, and quite a bit has modified. Again in Might 2024, Islam Makhachev was the light-weight champion readying himself for his third protection, and now he is getting ready to problem Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight championship at UFC 322 on Nov. 15.
If we embrace Makhachev among the many welterweights and one other former champion going for a second title, Zhang Weili, to ladies’s flyweight, these lessons turn into two of 4 with multiple athlete on ESPN’s pound-for-pound listing. Although the welterweight division did make a soar up from No. 4 to No. 2, it was overwhelmed to the highest spot by a division that boasts a champion on a relentless win streak and deep bench behind him. Under welterweight, a majority of the remaining weight lessons have new rankings and new alternatives to maneuver up.
1. Males’s bantamweight (Earlier rating: 2)
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
Bantamweight and light-weight have battled it out for the No. 1 spot the previous two years — and this yr, it goes to 135 kilos. Why? Dvalishvili on the high is a good place to start out. He is essentially the most lively champion within the sport, and would possibly go down as essentially the most lively in historical past. He is established a visual hole between himself and the remainder of this division, which is wild as a result of this weight class is undeniably stacked. And in its prime. Umar Nurmagomedov is likely one of the greatest non-champs within the sport. Sean O’Malley ran right into a stylistic nightmare in opposition to Dvalishvili, however he is been excellent in any other case. Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo are two former, feared champions. As is Henry Cejudo, who will retire once more on the finish of the yr however is technically nonetheless within the divisional high 10. High to backside, that is the deepest weight class within the UFC.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Dvalishvili vs. Nurmagomedov
Dvalishvili has to beat Yan (once more) in December, but when and when Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov rematch for the title once more, will probably be large. At that time, it can begin to really feel like Nurmagomedov is likely to be the one bantamweight with an opportunity to beat the champ.
2. Welterweight (PR: 4)
Champion: Jack Della Maddalena
Welterweight is arguably essentially the most entertaining division within the sport proper now — and that really has nothing to do with “personalities.” In truth, a lot of the names on the high have comparatively quiet demeanors, however expertise speaks. And it is available in totally different types. The boxing of JDM. Belal Muhammad’s tempo. Sean Brady’s smothering wrestling. Shavkat Rakhmonov’s close to 100% end charge. The technically sharp, clever execution of Ian Machado Garry. The ferocious knockout energy of Joaquin Buckley. Now you add Makhachev to all of that? This division is not far behind bantamweight for the No. 1 spot.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Della Maddalena vs. Makhachev on Nov. 15
The apparent one. It is Makhachev’s flip to attempt to turn into a two-weight champion, after watching a number of others get that shot in recent times. Oddsmakers are saying Makhachev is the favourite (-270 per ESPN BET) in opposition to Della Maddalena, however this seems like a 50-50 struggle.
3. Light-weight (PR: 3)
Champion: Ilia Topuria
Light-weight is all the time within the combine as the game’s greatest division, normally due to a handful of the identical, tried-and-true names. However these names are ageing. Dustin Poirier is retired. Justin Gaethje is not far off. Charles Oliveira is 36 years outdated. Michael Chandler has slowed down. Tony Ferguson is gone. The subsequent era seems excellent, to make sure. Topuria is ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. Arman Tsarukyan is world-class in each side. Paddy Pimblett nonetheless has some doubters, however his outcomes cannot be questioned. Max Holloway is just one struggle into his everlasting light-weight transfer, so he nonetheless has lots to say. It is an awesome division, however this new era has some work to do to match the extent of greatness the earlier period reached.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Topuria vs. Pimblett
Pimblett just isn’t essentially the most deserving title challenger, and the UFC hasn’t mentioned for positive he’ll get the following shot. We should always discover out for positive earlier than the tip of the yr, and if it does occur subsequent, will probably be a large draw when it comes to viewership. And if Pimblett will get the upset, the complete 155-pound panorama will really feel it.
4. Middleweight (PR: 6)
Champion: Khamzat Chimaev
Middleweight makes a two-spot soar , and there is a case it needs to be extra. Middleweight is in one thing of a renaissance — because of the emergence of latest names. It is not simply that these new fighters are profitable — they’re dominating. Chimaev is the poster boy for dominance, rag-dolling everybody he fights. Earlier than dropping the belt, Dricus Du Plessis had completed two of the perfect middleweights of all time in Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. Nassourdine Imavov knocked out Adesanya in February. Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez choked out Roman Dolidze whereas standing up. Reinier de Ridder gained 4 fights in 9 months. Brendan Allen has come into his personal at age 29. This can be a proficient group that’s not ready to blossom — it is absolutely arrived.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Chimaev vs. Hernandez
As sturdy because the division is, there may be not a budding superfight in the mean time. That may change earlier than lengthy. For now, “Fluffy” seems like Chimaev’s greatest risk, and he has the boldness to satisfy Chimaev head-on in each the prefight antics and the struggle itself.
5. Ladies’s flyweight (PR: 5)
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
This division is just a little top-heavy, however what a high it’s –.particularly with the addition of Zhang Weili from strawweight to enrich Shevchenko. These two alone make this the strongest ladies’s division in years, maybe ever. Add the very official, very totally different ability units of Manon Fiorot, Erin Blanchfield and Natalia Silva to the combination, and you’ve got an extremely intriguing high 5. With these three names on the cusp of a title alternative, plus the likes of Maycee Barber and Rose Namajunas, there’s potential for a shakeup right here. How Zhang settles into flyweight is a large query for girls’s MMA as a complete.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Shevchenko vs. Zhang on Nov. 15
This matchup has been just a few years within the making and can dictate a lot when it comes to the following strikes for Zhang and Shevchenko (the highest two pound-for-pound fighters on this planet). We’ll probably really feel the ripple results from the results of this struggle, no matter who wins, for the following year-plus.
6. Featherweight (PR: 3)
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
The largest change to this division since our final rating is, after all, the departure of Topuria to light-weight. It is nonetheless very deep with out him, however he did go away a void. Very like light-weight, there are proficient fighters right here who usually are not but completely established. We nonetheless must see the precise attain of fighters akin to Movsar Evloev, Lerone Murphy and even Diego Lopes, who got here up quick to Volkanovski in his first title shot earlier this yr however figures to get one other one within the close to future (doubtlessly in his subsequent bout). Youssef Zalal, 29, and Steve Garcia, 33, additionally convey youth and potential, respectively, to the highest 10. There’s quite a bit to love. Do not be shocked if, contemplating all of this expertise, featherweight strikes again into the highest 3 in our subsequent rating.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Movsar Evloev vs. Lerone Murphy
The UFC remains to be weighing its choices on the following 145-pound title struggle, however in the mean time, the most certainly state of affairs is a rematch between Volkanovski and Lopes. That opens the door for an apparent No. 1 contender bout between Evloev and Murphy. Look, Volkanovski is wonderful however he is getting older and there will be a brand new age ushered onto his throne finally. Who will take that throne? Lopes? Evloev? Murphy? One of many greatest questions on this division proper now, nonetheless, is simply how good Evloev and Murphy are, and we’ll discover that out in 2026.
7. Males’s flyweight (PR: 9)
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
It is by no means going to be the UFC’s most sellable division, however let’s present it the respect it deserves right here. This weight class is flush with expertise — and to counsel in any other case is pure bias based mostly on a perceived lack of family names. Pantoja is likely one of the most spectacular champions within the UFC, dominating his opposition in a way that is not so totally different from Dvalishvili. Joshua Van, who will get his shot at Pantoja at UFC 323 on Dec. 6, is likely one of the most fun, surging contenders the game has seen in years. Brandon Moreno is a top-10 pound-for-pound candidate on any given night time. He’d be on that listing if a few very shut scorecards had learn barely otherwise in his previous 4 fights. Amir Albazi, Kai Kara-France, and Manel Kape are all well-rounded, extremely conditioned, skilled contenders. Tatsuro Taira has been known as a phenom at occasions, and he is nonetheless solely 25. This division is quite a bit higher and quite a bit deeper than it typically will get credit score for.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Brandon Moreno vs.Tatsuro Taira on Dec. 6
Moreno wants a win extra when these two meet subsequent month. He is a two-time champion, and if he desires to turn into a three-time champion, he’ll must take down the winner of Pantoja vs. Joshua, however he has to win this one first. His prospects of getting again to a title would take an enormous hit if he had been to lose to Moreno.
8. Gentle heavyweight (PR: 8)
Champion: Alex Pereira
We mentioned this division was on the rise in our final rating, and that’s nonetheless the case, even when it hasn’t resulted in a better spot on this listing but. Issues had been type of a catastrophe after Jon Jones vacated the title in 2020 to maneuver as much as heavyweight, however it has come collectively in recent times and is now greater than respectable. That begins with the champion, Pereira, though he is made it clear he needs to maneuver up, too. Past Pereira, the continued development of fighters akin to Carlos Ulberg, Azamat Murzakanov and even Khalil Rountree Jr. (regardless of his latest loss to Jirí Procházka), have made this division really feel much more official and significant currently. Magomed Ankalaev is coming off a disastrous first-round knockout in opposition to Pereira final month, however nobody is questioning the expertise. Procházka has been and continues to be the actual deal — which is plain contemplating the game would forged him in a 3rd struggle in opposition to Pereira, regardless that he is 0-2 in that matchup. Gentle heavyweight remains to be formally ranked No. 8, however it seems like a division on the up.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Carlos Ulberg’s subsequent struggle
Whether or not it is in opposition to Pereira for the championship, Procházka for a No. 1 contender spot or anything, Ulberg’s ceiling means quite a bit for this division. He is charismatic, fights entertainingly and remains to be comparatively younger at age 34. We type of have a way of how a lot of the items match at mild heavyweight. Ulberg is a possible disruptor, with loads of longevity forward if he proves to be championship materials.
9. Strawweight (PR: 7)
Champion: Mackenzie Dern
Any division that loses somebody of Zhang’s caliber might be going to drop just a few spots within the energy rankings. And Zhang is not the one determine this division has given up. Alexa Grasso, Barber, Namajunas — all former strawweights who in the end settled into flyweight. Even Tatiana Suarez has dabbled at flyweight. It is not straightforward for a few of these athletes to constantly make 115 kilos for an prolonged time frame. If nothing else, with Zhang gone and no overwhelming favourite, the division ought to see some parity on the high. Dern and Virna Jandiroba’s intently contested championship struggle final month ought to function proof of that.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Dern vs. Suarez
It is a no-brainer when it comes to the division’s subsequent title struggle. There are similarities between them. Each had been extremely adorned of their respective sports activities previous to MMA (Dern in jiu-jitsu, Suarez in wrestling). Each had been anticipated to have a comparatively quick monitor to the title, and each have now taken the lengthy route as a substitute. It is an awesome matchup that can put the strawweights in a constructive mild when it occurs.
10. Heavyweight (PR: 10)
Champion: Tom Aspinall
It is unhealthy and it isn’t getting any higher. There isn’t any mild on the finish of the tunnel proper now. Aspinall has seemed like a generational expertise, however even his standing is barely down in the mean time following a aggressive first spherical with Ciryl Gane that resulted in a no-contest. Look, Aspinall and Gane are technical, elite heavyweights. Sergei Pavlovich is a wild card with dynamite in his arms, who might win all of it if had been capable of string collectively a protracted sufficient run. And veteran fighters akin to Curtis Blaydes, Jailton Almeida and Waldo Cortes-Acosta aren’t unhealthy, however they aren’t significantly harmful to Aspinall. There may be little pleasure at heavyweight proper now, which is evidenced by essentially the most thrilling factor to hope for is a possible dream struggle between the sunshine heavyweight champ (Pereira) and a semi-retired GOAT (Jones).
Greatest upcoming struggle: Aspinall vs. Gane 2
A giant a part of me desires to say Pereira vs. Jones, however aside from their mutual curiosity, the UFC hasn’t given cause to consider the struggle is on the horizon, so we’ll go together with the inevitable Aspinall-Gane rematch as a substitute.
11. Ladies’s bantamweight (PR: 11)
Champion: Kayla Harrison
This division barely exists, which is unhappy. Traditionally, it’s an important division in ladies’s MMA. Nevertheless, Harrison is such a vivid spot for this weight class and ladies’s MMA generally. Harrison and Amanda Nunes are going to satisfy in 2026, however frankly, the UFC might ignore the remainder of the division (which it is practically doing already) and few would discover. It is unlucky, however it’s the truth. The UFC might be averaging 25 to 30 rostered bantamweights, that means about half of the division is exhibiting up with a rating — which makes a rating really feel considerably meaningless. For all intents and functions, this division is Harrison, a retired Nunes, a Grand Canyon-sized hole, and the remainder of the roster.
Greatest upcoming struggle: Harrison vs. Nunes
One factor you may say about ladies’s bantamweight, nonetheless, is that this matchup is a real blockbuster. We’ll see what the fallout seems like after.