UFC
Which Is The Best UFC Division in 2024? We Have The Answer!
Best UFC weight class. Photo via USA Today Sports
When push comes to shove, which is the best UFC division in 2024?
In this story Frontkick ranks all the division’s in the UFC with a scoring system based on following criterias:
- How good is the division’s reigning champion?
- How is the overall quality of the division’s fighters right now?
- What’s the current 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
Former featherweight champion Amanda Nunes. Photo via UFC (Twitter)
- Champion: 0
- Overall quality: 1
- Starpower: 0,5
- Total Score: 1,5
Since women’s featherweight has no officially ranked fighters, and no champion, the division is more or less dead at the moment.
11. Women’s Bantamweight
Photo via Instagram (@raquel_pennington)
- Champion: 2
- Overall quality: 2,5
- Starpower: 1
- Total Score: 4,5
After Amanda Nunes’ departure, the women’s bantamweight division lost a lot of its starpower. The fight for the vacant title, between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva, really showed the lusterless state of the division.
However, every cloud has its silver lining. Former PFL champion and Olympic judoka Kayla Harrison recently won her UFC debut in flying colours and could really be the fighter to lift the weight class.
10. Flyweight
Alexandre Pantoja. Photo via Twitter
- Champion: 3
- Overall quality: 4
- Starpower: 1
- Total Score: 8
The men’s flyweight division has gone through a renaissance and a generational change over the past years.
New blood like Muhammad Mokaev, Amir Albazi and Steve Erceg has energy back in the once so unglamorous division. However, with the rather unknown champion Alexandre Pantoja, the division lacks real starpower.
9. Light Heavyweight
Alex Pereira. Photo via YouTube
- Champion: 5
- Overall quality: 3
- Starpower: 2
- Total Score: 10
Champion Alex Pereira single handedly lifted this division from lackluster to interesting since he moved up from middleweight last year. The division changed champions more often than any other, but now seem to have found some stability in the Brazilian kickboxer.
Still,, with the exception of Jiri Prochazka, Pereira is the only real star in the once so glorious division.
8. Women’s Strawweight
Photo via Instagram (@zhangweilimma)
- Champion: 4
- Overall quality: 4
- Starpower: 2,5
- Total Score: 10,5
Strawweight has been the deepest women’s division for a long time with champions like Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunas.
Weili just defended her strap at UFC 300 and undefeated Tatiana Suarez is most likely the next title challenger.
7. Women’s Flyweight
Alexa Grasso. Photo via Youtube
- Champion: 4
- Overall quality: 4
- Starpower: 3
- Total Score: 11
The once so scolded division has sailed up to be the No. 1 of the female weight classes. Besides the rivalry between popular champion Alexa Grasso and all-time-great Valentina Schevcheno, the 125 lbs division is filled with fighters like Erin Blanchfield, Manon Fiorot, Maycee Barber, as well as former strawweight champions Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade.
6. Heavyweight
Jon Jones. Photo via YouTube
- Champion: 5
- Overall quality: 3,5
- Starpower: 3
- Total Score: 11,5
With champion Jon Jones, interim champion Tom Aspinall and the dangerous Sergei Pavlovich, the top of the heavyweight division is just as good as in any other UFC division.
Even though the rest of the top 15 lack real interesting names, surging prospect Jailton Almeida has what it takes to threaten the best in the world.
5. Middleweight
Dricus Du Plessis. Photo via Instagram (@dricusduplessis)
- Champion: 3,5
- Overall quality: 4
- Starpower: 4,5
- Total Score: 12
With names like Khamzat Chimaev, Paulo Costa and Israel Adesanya, the middleweight division is one of the most glamorous at the moment.
Reigning champion Dricus Du Plessis might not be the star the division deserves, but there is a big grudge match in the making, between him and former champion Adesanya.
With the title eliminator bout between Robert Whittaker and Chimaev coming up, there’s a lot going on in the middleweight division at the moment.
4. Featherweight
Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway. Photo via YouTube
- Champion: 4
- Overall quality: 4
- Starpower: 4,5
- Total Score: 12,5
When Ilia Topuria defeated long-time champ Alexander Volkanovski, and former title holder Max Holloway knocked out Justin Gaethje, the featherweight division got a super fight coming up. Hopefully all parties will do everything they can to materialize the scrap.
Besides the potential title bout, the featherweight division has top fighters like Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez, Movsar Evloev and former bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling.
3. Bantamweight
Sean O’Malley. Photo via Instagram (@UFC)
- Champion: 4
- Overall quality: 5
- Starpower: 4
- Total Score: 13
The bantamweight division is on fire right now!
Merab Dvalishvili, Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan, Deiveson Figueiredo and reigning champion Sean O’Malley – the list of crazy talent just goes on and on.
It looks like the UFC will book O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili next, and we just can’t wait for the classic striker vs. grappler matchup.
2. Welterweight
Leon Edwards. Photo via UFC (YouTube)
- Champion: 4,5
- Overall quality: 5
- Starpower: 4
- Total Score: 13,5
Welterweight has been one of the top UFC weight classes for many years, and after Leon Edwards dethroned long-time champ Kamaru Usman, the division seems more alive than ever.
The top 10 features veterans like Colby Covington and Gilbert Burns, as well as new blood like Shavkat Rakhmonov, Jack Della Maddalena and Ian Machado Garry. We just can’t wait for all the action coming up in the next months.
1. Lightweight
Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira . Photo via Twitter (UFC)
- Champion: 4,5
- Overall quality: 5
- Starpower: 4,5
- Total Score: 14
The best UFC weight class in 2024 is the lightweight division. Stacked from top to bottom, with insanely talented fighters outside the rankings, it is for sure the deepest weight class at the moment.
Reigning champion Islam Makhachev has proven to be a worthy heir to Khabib Nurmagomedov, and will take on former interim champ Dustin Poirier next.
The division also has talented up-and-comers like Benoit Saint Denis, as well as UFC superstar’s like Paddy ”The Baddy” Pimblett.
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