Ranking UFC Weight Divisions from Least to Most Exciting.

UFC 315 just wrapped up and left a lot of options on the horizon after the result of the main event. The final clash of the night saw Welterweight champion Belal Muhammad defending against Jack Della Maddalena.

Both Della Maddalena and Muhammad put their impressive winning streaks on the line. Beyond the implications at 170 pounds, the 155 pound division was also waiting at the edge of its seat for the results.

Islam Makhachev, the current king of the lightweights, has made it abundantly clear that his dream is to challenge for a second title. This development has made the welterweight division one of the most complex in the company at the moment.

However, the lightweight division is equally as confusing when it comes to the next contender as well. This has led me to deciding to crown a definitive answer to the question of what is the best division in the UFC. I will evaluate the rankings based on three criteria:

1. The quality of the contenders.

2. The number of popular fighters currently active.

3. The activity of the contenders. By the end of this, we should have a better understanding of which divisions are the most competitive and exciting ones. We will be ranking the division in order of least interesting to most interesting.

11. (W) Bantamweight

Women's bantamweight has not been the same since the departure of the consensus MMA GWOAT. Amanda Nunes left quite a void behind after leaving two opponents she previously dominated to fight for the vacant belt.

Fans viewed the rising star, Mayra Bueno Silva, as a potential favorite to fill the entertainment value of the division after her career-defining victory over the legend Holly Holm. However after dropping her last 3 bouts in less than stellar performances, much if not all her hype has dissipated.

This leaves the former PFL hopeful to carry much of the excitement in her upcoming fight with trash talking Juliana Pena. Also, all but confirmed, should Harrison win, Nunes will come out of retirement to face her, which could spark one final blaze of interest in the division.

10. Strawweight

Women's strawweight suffers from its own success. At one point, fans and analysts touted it as one of the most dangerous divisions in the UFC, featuring 5 champions and future Hall-of-Famers all fighting each other. These five also happened to be every 115-pound champion in the history of the division.

In the modern day, Zhang Weili has outlasted the likes of Carla Esparza, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, and Jessica Andrade. Her current reign atop the division has left many to wonder if there will ever be a worthy challenge for her, especially after she survived and thrived through the golden age of the strawweights. With not many worthy contenders, this leaves little opportunity for a dance partner who can elevate the star power of the division.

9. Flyweight

Flyweight suffers from the same illness as strawweight, it's champion's success. 125-pound king Alexandre Pantoja cleared out much of his division before claiming the belt from Brandon Moreno in 2023.

Since then, he has been lapping old opponents and fighting a mix of what seems like random contenders before they can even get to their title elimination fights (looking at you Erceg and Asakura).

This all seems to just be biding time until a proper contende like Manel Kape or Kai Kara-France can challenge for the belt.

Unfortunately, Brazil fans haven't shown up for Pantoja as much as some of his peers. This leaves the division starving for intrigue aside from region specific support to characters like Moreno and Kara-France.

8. Light Heavyweight

I know it feels odd to have light heavyweight this low but hear me out. For me, the 205-pound division has always been the standard for how deep a division really can be. From the days of having Rampage Jackson, Shogun Rua, Lyoto Machida, and Jon Jones amongst others all in the same division, to only recently when we had nearly 5 champions all competing at the same time, the lightweights have always brought excitement.

And at the top of this talent rich division have stood two kings who conquered them all, Jon Jones and Alex Pereira. Now, the scale of their respective "conquering" remains quite incomparable; however, we can examine the impact side by side quite well.

When Jon Jones left the division, it struggled for years to find respect for its champions. When Alex Pereira won the belt and defended it several times convincingly, we had finally found a worthy successor. Not only was he technically one of the best strikers we had ever seen, but he also just happened to be an even bigger star than Jones.

This made his lackluster performance and subsequent defeat at the hands of Magomed Ankalaev all the more crushing. Ankalaev has largely been silent in the media since his victory, a very loud reminder that the days of Pereira running around the world on tour doing seminars and meet and greets are over.

7. (W) Flyweight

There is sneakily a lot of talent coming up in the women's flyweight division. The 125-pounders, led by first ballot hall-of-famer Valentina Shevchenko, represent the best women's division in the UFC without question. Another long reigning champion, Shevchenko has compiled one of the most impressive resumes in UFC history.

Only recently emerging from a brief break in her streak to deal with a one very persistent Alexa Grasso and turning back the talented Manon Fiorot, Shevchenko is once again looking to new challenges to cement her reign as the flyweight GWOAT and potentially challenge for the bantamweight throne once again.

But before that, she will have to deal with a full slate of potential matchups ranging from Maycee Barber and Erin Blanchfield, to strawweight alum Rose Namajunas and possibly even Tracy Cortez in the future.

6. Bantamweight

Commonly regarded as the most talented division in the UFC, the bantamweight division has always kept a few champions in the back pocket of its rankings. However, I believe fans have consistently placed it higher because of its history and haven't taken into account the current state of the division.

At present, Merab Dvalishvili sits comfortably atop the mountain of 135ers having recently thwarted "Father's Plan" by outlasting undefeated prospect Umar Nurmagomedov. Behind him though, is a line of either previously defeated opponents, journeyman, or budding contenders who haven't even broken into the top 15. To add to that, while Sean O'Malley is certainly capable of carrying the division in terms of star power, that ability lasts only so long as he is the champion.

5. Heavyweight

Heavyweight is quite the interesting division. On one hand it has the highest finishing potential in the sport, and has it's fair share or interesting matchups to make. On the other hand, it has completely stalled because of the shenanigans happenings at the top.

Jon Jones is the undisputed champion and Tom Aspinall is the interim champion. UFC fans are waiting for a date to be set for their fight.

The anticipation for this fight certainly will make it one of the largest fights in promotion history. Unfortunately once it's all said and done, there won't be much intrigue in the division outside of a potential Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane matchup.

4. Middleweight

Middleweight has never been rich with stars to be quite honest. On the contrary it has always been the 185-pound champion that shouldered the burden of limitless fame. First it was Anderson Silva, and then he passed the torch to Israel Adesanya. There were a few champs in between them but their reigns were largely short-lived and forgettable.

With Adesanya hitting his losing streak stride lately, it has left room for several personalities to emerge within the headlines of the division. Additionally, current middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis has proved formidable enough to hold his ground as champion which leads to even bigger matchups against prospects and contenders.

His challenge will feature a heated matchup against undefeated Chechen grappling prodigy Khamzat Chimaev. Both of their styles include clunky brawling and a strong, physical grappling approach which will test both of their winning streaks to the max. What makes middleweight even more exciting is the fact that waiting in the wings is "Nassourdine Imavov, Caio Borralho, and potentially Reiner de Ridder all riding hot off of wins.

3. Lightweight

Lightweight likely will always be one of the most exciting divisions. Its fighters and matchups have stood the test of time over and over again. Therefore it's no surprise that with Khabib Nurmagomedov's heir apparent, Islam Makhachev currently fending off title challengers left and right, that this division is always on the forefront of every UFC fan's mind.

The biggest issue with the 155-pound division is actually getting Makhachev to fight the 155-pound top contenders. To date he faced: the 145-pound champion twice, and older Dustin Poirier who to be honest received his shot out of convenience and timing, and a late replacement against a number 10 ranked Renato Moicano. None of this is Islam's fault, but it does leave us salivating for the day he runs the gauntlet with Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, Ilia Topuria, and Paddy Pimblett back to back.

2. Featherweight

The 145-pound division just recently got its champion back, and while it's true that many of its stars are now destined for 155, this has simultaneously sped up the process for a lot of prospects. Undefeated Movsar Evloev will most likely receive his long awaited, well deserved chance at the belt next. His strong grappling, limitless cardio, and competency on the feet will be a unique challenge to Alexander Volkanovski, the reigning featherweight champion.

Movsar is coming off a razor close victory over Aljamain Sterling, widely considered to be in the conversation for bantamweight GOAT status. Evloev's victory likely came in the last minute of their fight, when he reversed a position and managed to throw some punches and win the final round of the fight. This leaves an argument for Sterling to place himself into a title eliminator bout next, and whoever he fights (cough* Arnold Allen) will by proxy also be in the conversation for a title bout.

Aside from that, Diego Lopes, whom Volkanovski most recently defeated for the vacant featherweight title, ignited a public feud with Yair Rodriguez. Rodriguez ranks a bit lower than Lopes. He fought on the same card where Lopes lost to Volkanovski for the belt.

Therefore, pairing these two for Noche UFC in a title eliminator fight seems to have happened by chance. The timing works too perfectly on that one.

And finally we have two prospects currently undefeated in the UFC, Lerone Murphy and Jean Silva who with any intelligent planning and scheming could also be one or two fights away from challenging for the title. Silva brings in a ton of hype from the Fighting Nerds team and it only grows as he moves up the rankings.

1. Welterweight

No one mentions welterweight when speaking of the best divisions in the UFC, and I find that highly surprising. The 170-pound division boasts the most complete list of contenders who are well rounded MMA fighters.

Even the fighters you may think are specialists utilize skills in all areas to secure their wins. For example, Leon Edwards secured takedowns and control time on Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, and Belal Muhammad back to back. Ian Gary grappled Michael Venom Page to a decision and nearly submitted Shavkat Rakhmonov.

The former champion, Belal Muhammad, may be one of the most well-rounded fighters in the UFC today, but Jack Della Maddalena recently defeated him.

Shavkat Rakhmonov, Joaquin Buckley, Kamaru Usman, and Sean Brady are just a shortlist of fighters with strong cases for the next title shot. Michael Morales and Carlos Prates are waiting on deck after the top five get their chance. And by the time the next few championship fights are decided, they will potentially ready for their turn at the belt.

All of this doesn't even include the Islam Makhachev, the #1 PFP king coming up to challenge for the belt should any of these defenses go sour for Belal. The heated anticipation of Makhachev's ascension has dramatically raised the stakes for every defense going forward and thereby boosted the division's star power.