UFC
What Is The Best UFC Division? We Have The Answer!
Best UFC division. Photo: USA Today Sports
When push comes to shove, what is the best UFC division?
In this story Frontkick ranks all the division’s in the world’s premier MMA organization with a scoring system based on following criterias:
- How good is the division’s champion?
- How is the overall quality of the division’s fighters?
- What’s the starpower in the division?
Each weight class will be ranked between 1-5 in each category, and a division can therefore have a maximum 15 points.
Click ”Next” to check out the rankings!
12. Women’s Featherweight
Amanda Nunes. Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie – USA TODAY Sports
- Champion: 4,5
- Overall quality: 1
- Starpower: 0,5
- Total Score: 6
Women’s featherweight has no officially ranked fighters besides champion Amanda Nunes, who won the featherweight championship by knocking out Cris Cyborg in 2018.
Since then she defended her strap twice against Felicia Spencer in 2020 and Megan Anderson in 2021.
11. Light Heavyweight
Jamahal Hill. Photo via Instagram (@sweet_dreams_jhill)
- Champion: 3
- Overall quality: 3
- Starpower: 2
- Total Score: 8
Back in the day, the light heavyweight division was the flagship of the UFC with fighters like Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Anthony ”Rumble” Johnson and Sweden’s own Alexander ”The Mauler” Gustafsson in their absolute prime.
Now, the starpower is long gone, and if you look at the rankings, there are no real interesting contenders on the rise at the moment.
10. Women’s Flyweight
Alexa Grasso. Photo via Instagram (@alexa_grasso)
- Champion: 3
- Overall quality: 3
- Starpower: 2,5
- Total Score: 8,5
The women’s flyweight division is in a better state than ever.
With a new champion in Alexa Grasso, who defeated long-time champ Valentina Shevchenko, and rising stars like Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot, the division is more interesting than it has ever been.
9. Women’s Bantamweight
Amanda Nunes. Photo: USA Today Sports
- Champion: 4,5
- Overall quality: 2,5
- Starpower: 2
- Total Score: 9
When Julianna Pena shook up the world with her massive upset win against Amanda Nunes in December 2021, it felt like everything could happen in the women’s bantamweight division.
But with Nunes back as the champ the division is back where it was two years ago. However, if Irene Aldana defeats the dominant champ on June 10, we will have a whole other situation again.
8. Men’s Flyweight
Brandon Moreno. Photo: USA Today Sports
- Champion: 4
- Overall quality: 3,5
- Starpower: 2
- Total Score: 9,5
As the Frontkick predicted back in 2021, the men’s flyweight division has gone through a Renaissance.
The massive rivalry between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo, and new blood like Muhammad Mokaev, Kai Kara-France and Amir Albazi, has put the lime light on the once unglamorous division.
7. Heavyweight
Kon Jones. Photo: Thomas Shea – USA TODAY Sports
- Champion: 5
- Overall quality: 3
- Starpower: 2,5
- Total Score: 10, 5
Controversial champion Jon Jones alone adds starpower to a division that sort of lacks interesting personalities.
However, the overall quality of the division is better than in a long time, as veterans like Stipe Miocic and Jones in combination with rising contenders like Tom Aspinall, Sergei Pavlovich and Jailton Almeida makes the division interesting again.
6. Featherweight
Alexander Volkanovski. Photo via Instagram (@alexvolkanovski)
- Champion: 5
- Overall quality: 4
- Starpower: 2
- Total Score: 11
The featherweight division is insanely stacked with a dominant champion in Alexander Volkanovski and fighters like interim champ Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega and of course, the old king Max Holloway.
Outside the top 5, up-and-coming prospects like Ilia Topuria, Movsar Evloev and Bryce Mitchell just wait for a chance to enter the title mix.
5. Women’s Strawweight
Zhang Weili. Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie – USA TODAY Sports
- Champion: 3,5
- Overall quality: 5
- Starpower: 3
- Total Score: 11,5
With stars such as reigning champion Zhang Weilie and Rose Namajunas – and top 10 fighters like Jessica Andrade, Yan Xiaonan, Tatiana Suarez and Mackenzie Dern – strawweight is by far the best of all women’s divisions.
There are also plenty of interesting up-and-comers such as undefeated Yazmin Jauregui who’s ready to take over the positions of veterans like Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Angela Hill.
4. Middleweight
Israel Adesanya. Photo via Instagram (@stylebender)
- Champion: 5
- Overall quality: 4
- Starpower: 3
- Total Score: 12
With Israel Adesanya back on the throne things are just like they used to be in the stacked middleweight division.
Adesanya and Paulo Costa are the two big draws in a weight class that has all the quality in the world but lacks a true title contender to be higher on this list.
3. Men’s Bantamweight
Aljamain Sterling (right). Photo via USA TODAY Sports
- Champion: 3,5
- Overall quality: 5
- Starpower: 4
- Total Score: 12,5
The top bantamweight top 5 five is arguably the deepest of all UFC divisions. Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O’Malley, Henry Cejudo, Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan have a combined record of 80-17 and basically fought nothing but the absolute elite in the past few years.
Champion Aljamain Sterling is perhaps the question mark of the stacked division as he won the title via DQ, defended it twice via split decision, and once via a TKO against a badly injured T.J. Dillashaw.
2. Lightweight
Islam Makhachev. Photo: Per Haljestam – USA TODAY Sports
- Champion: 4,5
- Overall quality: 5
- Starpower: 4
- Total Score: 13,5
Lightweight has been one of the absolute deepest divisions in the promotion for quite a while now.
However, in the next few years we will probably see a generational change in the top 5 as hungry fighters like Mateusz Gamrot, Arman Tsarukyan and Rafael Fiziev just wait for a chance to climb the rankings and replace MMA veterans like Michael Chandler.
1. Welterweight
Leon Edwards. Photo via Twitter (UFC)
- Champion: 4,5
- Overall quality: 5
- Starpower: 5
- Total Score: 14,5
With a perfect mix of prime fighters (Leon Edwards, Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad) seasoned veterans (Kamaru Usman, Stephen Thompson and Gilbert Burns), undefeated phenomenons (Khamzat Chimaev and Shavkat Rakhmonov) and up-and-coming talents (Ian Garry and Jack Della Maddalena) welterweight is the best UFC division right now.
Best UFC division rankings
Photo via UFC
12. Women’s featherweight
11. Light heavyweigth
10. Women’s flyweight
9. Women’s bantamweight
8. Men’s flyweight
7. Heavyweight
6. Featherweight
5. Women’s strawweight
4. Middleweight
3. Men’s bantamweight
2. Lightweight
1. Welterweight
Read more: List of all current and former undisputed UFC champions