The year 2024 is already a quarter way in. How is every division in the UFC looking thus far?
We can use a variety of criteria to grade the 11 divisions in the UFC. How interesting has each division been and how interested are we in watching them over the next 9 months? How compelling is the champ? Are there real rivalries to keep an eye on? How strong is the weight classes' depth? What kind of up-and-comers are there? Are the right fights booked?
Let's hand out grades for each division based on various aspects, but most importantly, how badly do you want to watch this division in the coming years?
Men's bantamweight: A+
Standout fight in the first quarter: O'Malley def. Vera, UFC 299
Must-see upcoming fight: Figueiredo vs. Garbrandt, UFC 300
The UFC's 135-pound weight class is fire, every way you look at it. Sean O'Malley, one of the most interesting figures in the entire sport, holds the belt. He'll next fight Merab Dvalishvili, who is viewed as the division's boogeyman (he's also best friends with Aljamain Sterling, whom O'Malley knocked out last year). Cory Sandhagen is one of the most dynamic, cold-blooded assassins in the game. He will fight O'Malley at some point, guaranteed. Umar Nurmagomedov, cousin to Khabib Nurmagomedov, is considered a champion-in-waiting, and he's about to take a giant step up in competition this year.
In addition to all that, you've got six former champions scattered throughout the rankings: Henry Cejudo, Deiveson Figueiredo, Cody Garbrandt, Petr Yan, Dominick Cruz, and even Jose Aldo is coming back in May! Plus there are rising stars in Song Yadong, Kyler Phillips and Mario Bautista. It doesn't get better than this.
Middleweight: A
Standout fight in the first quarter: Du Plessis def. Strickland, UFC 297
Must-see upcoming fight: Chimaev vs. Whtitaker, UFC Saudi Arabia
What a difference a year can make, truly. Midway through 2023, this felt like it had turned into a one-man weight class of Israel Adesanya. There were some great fights to be seen at 185 pounds, but there wasn't much to say in the way of plot lines. Now, they're everywhere. Strickland vs. Du Plessis is on the short list of Fight of the Year four months in, but plenty of questions remain as the division moves forward.
Is Dricus du Plessis the real deal, and can he entice the UFC to make its first trip to South Africa? Can Adesanya return to form? How will Sean Strickland fare in a rematch against either one? Is Robert Whittaker a dark horse in all of this? Will we finally see the true potential of Khamzat Chimaev? And lurking in the shadows is Bo Nickal, who could be in position for a breakout.
This turned into one of the wildest divisions in the sport over the past 12 months, and there's no reason why it shouldn't stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Featherweight: A-
Standout fight in the first quarter: Topuria def. Volkanovski, UFC 298
Must-see upcoming fight: Kattar vs. Sterling, UFC 300
This division was my favorite for a while, because it was a weight class not just full of killers, but with the killer of the entire sport, Alexander Volkanovski, standing at the top. Max Holloway has never lost at featherweight, other than to Volkanovski. And Volkanovski beat him more soundly every time they fought. Now Volkanovski is at a crossroads in his career. There's always plenty going on at featherweight.
This division is ultra-talented, and I like the fact that it has specialists. Yair Rodriguez's kickboxing. Brian Ortega's jiu-jitsu. Movsar Evloev's wrestling. The boxing of Josh Emmett, Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen. It's a clean division. And now it's got one of the other most entertaining men in the sport, Ilia Topuria, leading the way. Expect this division to headline major events and even dictate where in the world the UFC is willing to go. The matchup between Kattar and Sterling at UFC 300 is just an appetizer for what's ahead for the rest of 2024.
Women's flyweight: B+
Standout fight in the first quarter: Fiorot def. Blanchfield, UFC Fight Night
Must-see upcoming fight: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 3
It's probably not the best thing in the world that this division is about to see Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko in three consecutive title fights, over the span of an entire year. Trilogies are great in combat sports. Fantastic. But three in a row? And the last one was a split decision draw that kind of left everyone a little unsatisfied. It makes sense, though, because although the result of the split draw in September was unsatisfying, the fight itself was great. And once Grasso and Shevchenko finish up their business, there are a lot of potential storylines teed up.
Manon Fiorot and Erin Blanchfield look like title contenders, and both should still have plenty of time left in the sport. Fiorot will likely get next for a title shot after defeating Blanchfield on Saturday in Atlantic City. Namajunas looks a bit small for 125, but her attempt to reach a second championship is something to watch. Maycee Barber is realizing the potential we've known she has had for years. There's enough here to make some sellable fights for the rest of 2024 and well into 2025.
Lightweight: B+
Standout fight in the first quarter: Poirier def. Saint Denis, UFC 299
Must-see upcoming fight: Gaethje vs. Holloway, UFC 300
Everyone always seems to rave about lightweight, and for good reason. It's the deepest division in the sport. It has Islam Makhachev, the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. It's a tremendous weight class with tremendous fighters. Like bantamweight, it has six former champions still competing -- although many of those are interim champs.
If there's any knock on lightweight, and this is splitting hairs, it's that the division has been a little logjammed. In the past five years, there have been only seven undisputed title fights, featuring just eight different fighters. It's been a bit repetitive at the very top. This weight class could use more activity and fresh faces, and the good news is that we'll likely see both happen this year.
Poirier injected energy into the division at UFC 299, just like he has been doing his entire career. It's a division of big names at critical moments in their careers and that's not going to change anytime soon.
Strawweight: B-
Standout fight in the first quarter: Lemos def. Dern, UFC 298
Must-see upcoming fight: Zhang vs. Xiaonan, UFC 300
This division hit a bit of a slow patch recently, as Joanna Jedrzejczyk exited from the sport and Rose Namajunas went through a period of uncertainty about her career. It feels like it's rebooted itself for a good run, though. Zhang Weili is in top form. She's clearly the No. 1 pound-for-pound female fighter in the world and is must-see TV on her own. She has new challengers ahead in Xiaonan Yan and Tatiana Suarez.
Suarez in particular is a long time coming. Despite a long history of injuries, Suarez still may prove to be one of the most dominant wrestlers in women's MMA. If and when Zhang and Suarez clash, that will be one of the most intriguing women's fights in years. Beyond that, it's a lot of familiar names, and it would be very nice to see a strawweight prospect come along who could really get us instantly excited, but the division doesn't have one at the moment. If it were a little deeper, strawweight would get a higher grade.
The start of the year hasn't featured many standout fights, but momentum is poised to change with UFC 300.
Welterweight: C
Standout fight in the first quarter: Della Maddalena def. Burns, UFC 299
Must-see upcoming fight: It's not finalized, but I can't wait for Jack Della Maddalena vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
We'll see how this division continues to redefine itself, post-Kamaru Usman's dominant reign. There is a lot of talent here, no question about that. Leon Edwards is a staple of the pound-for-pound list. Belal Muhammad has blossomed into a serious title threat. Shavkat Rakhmonov could be the biggest problem of any of them, although Jack Della Maddalena will have a say in that, if the two meet later this year.
There is not a lot of ... drama .... surrounding any of the names just mentioned. We all know this sport has an entertainment aspect, and those four tend to do most of their talking in the Octagon. The bigger names of Usman, Gilbert Burns, Colby Covington, Stephen Thompson are all in the twilight of their careers. Ian Machado Garry is garnering plenty of attention, but he's young and still developing into the fighter and "character" he'll become. There's nothing wrong with this division, but compared to the others, it's average in terms of overall intrigue.
Men's flyweight: C-
Standout fight in the first quarter: Royval def. Moreno, UFC Fight Night
Must-see upcoming fight: Pantoja vs. Erceg, UFC 301
Historically, men's flyweight has struggled to resonate with casual fans -- so much so, the UFC considered eliminating it in 2019. It's a shame because flyweight consistently delivers fast-paced action. The championship fights over the past several years have been, truly, as good as those in any other division. One current problem with flyweight, however, is that some of its most interesting names are no longer really there.
Deiveson Figueiredo has moved up. Brandon Moreno, a key cog in 125-pound intrigue, has announced he's taking an indefinite break. And the champ, Alexandre Pantoja, has already fought many of the top challengers (some of them multiple times). The good news is there are electric contenders on the rise: Amir Albazi, Manel Kape, Muhammad Mokaev, Tatsuro Taira and title challenger Steve Erceg. This division has a ton of talent, but unfortunately, at the moment, it does lack storylines and obvious matchmaking.
Heavyweight: D
Standout fight in the first quarter: Blaydes def. Almeida, UFC 299
Must-see upcoming fight: Aspinall vs. whomever he faces next, most likely Ciryl Gane
It's definitely the strangest weight class in the UFC. The best fight of the year thus far was one in which an up-and-comer, Almeida, was somewhat exposed as being one-dimensional. There's an undisputed champion in Jon Jones and an interim champion in Tom Aspinall. At least right now, however, no one expects them to ever fight each other. The UFC has elected to somewhat place the division on hold for a fight between Jones and Stipe Miocic, even though Miocic hasn't fought since 2021 and hasn't won since 2020.
The fact the UFC would even make that fight suggests how the promotion feels about some of its other options at the top. Jones seems hesitant to fight the next up-and-comer, which you really can't blame him for. The whole division feels light on depth, and frankly, on pause for 2024. If Jones were to agree to fight Aspinall in 2025, however, that one fight alone would lift this grade considerably.
Light heavyweight: D-
Standout fight in the first quarter: Ankalaev def. Walker, UFC Fight Night
Must-see upcoming fight: Pereira vs. Hill, UFC 300
Let's make one thing clear: this grade of the division as a whole does not strongly reflect on Alex Pereira or Jamahal Hill. The fact those two are headlining a card like UFC 300 illustrates what the company thinks of them. Pereira, especially, has been one of the most intriguing figures in the sport as of late. But as a whole, this is not a compelling weight class at the moment.
Jiří Procházka's momentum hit a full stop in 2022 when he suffered a severe injury. Magomed Anakalev's momentum did the same when he fought Jan Blachowicz to a draw later that year. Some of the promising young guys who were expected to make a jump haven't. Historically, this weight class has been a darling of the UFC, with Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Jon Jones et al. Unfortunately, we are a long way from that.
Women's bantamweight: F+
Standout fight in the first quarter: Pennington def. Bueno Silva
Must-see upcoming fight: Holm vs. Harrison, UFC 300
Amanda Nunes really did a number on this division. It's just hard to get up for a title fight that features two women who lost to Nunes, and that, unfortunately, is probably going to be the case for a while. Raquel Pennington's story of perseverance to finally win a championship after a long career is an inspiring one, but it doesn't equate to any major intrigue to headline a pay-per-view.
Some of the top names in this division are the same ones we were talking about in 2013, when women first joined the UFC. Pennington. Miesha Tate. Holly Holm. The only reason for the "+" on this grade is Kayla Harrison. Harrison's drop from essentially a 155-pound lightweight in PFL to a 135-pound bantamweight in the UFC is definitely intriguing. It's arguably one of the top storylines of UFC 300, if not the top storyline. But other than that, this division needs a makeover.