How the UFC Should Book the Welterweight Top 10
The UFC welterweight division is stacked right now. Unfortunately, it's also a bit of a mess, with a long line of contenders closing in on the title and no clear order among them.
The welterweight title is currently held by Jack Della Maddalena, who became the champion with a thrilling decision victory over Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 last month.
At the moment, there are no less than three contenders who arguably deserve the next crack at the new champion, but from the looks of it, none of them will get that opportunity. Instead, it is expected to go to current pound-for-pound No. 1 Islam Makhachev, who recently vacated the lightweight belt with plans to chase a second championship at welterweight.
With Makhachev seemingly jumping the line, the many deserving contenders in the welterweight top 10 are faced with a choice: Wait, in hopes they'll get a shot at the Della Maddalena-Makhachev winner or fight somebody else in the meantime.
Given how close the race for the next title shot is, it's unlikely any of them will choose the first option.
With that being said, here are the five fights we'd make for the welterweight top 10, to help clear up the pecking order in the division while we wait for Della Maddalena and Makhachev to fight.
If all of these contests are booked, we should have a much better sense of who is up next for the Della Maddalena vs. Makhachev winner by the end of the year.
Belal Muhammad (No. 1) vs. Kamaru Usman (No. 5)
1 of 5
As anyone who watched last Saturday's UFC Atlanta card knows, Kamaru Usman is the most recent top-10 welterweight to score a win.
Usman, widely considered the second-best fighter in the division's history behind Georges St-Pierre, defeated streaking contender Joaquin Buckley by decision in the main event.
It was the 38-year-old's first fight since the late 2023 decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight, and his first at welterweight since a decision loss to Leon Edwards earlier that year.
There were a lot of questions about how Usman would look after such a long layoff, but his win proved he has not lost a step.
After his victory over Buckley, the No. 5-ranked former champ was quick to call for a title shot, but that's not going to happen—unless Makhachev ends up getting injured or something.
With a title shot off the table, Usman should be matched up with No. 1-ranked contender Belal Muhammad.
The 36-year-old was the division's champion until a spirited decision loss to Maddalena last month. Despite his No. 1 ranking, he will need a big win before being considered for another title shot, and it makes sense for him to seek that against Usman.
Both are former champions, both are excellent wrestlers with underrated striking, and as luck would have it, they've got a score to settle after an infamous brawl in a podcast studio earlier this year.
If either were to win this potential matchup impressively—particularly by stoppage—they would be hard to deny for a title shot next year.
Sean Brady (No. 2) vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov (No. 3)
2 of 5
If anybody has a right to be angry about Makhachev jumping the line for a welterweight title shot, it's No. 3-ranked contender Shavkat Rakhmonov.
The Kazakh fighter is a ridiculous 19-0 as a professional, with 18 wins coming by way of finish. His incredible resume actually earned him a crack at Muhammad late last year (before Muhammad lost the belt), but the fight fell through at the last minute when the champ suffered an injury.
In a gutsy display, Rakhmonov then risked his title shot in a short-notice bout with Ian Machado Garry. While he failed to get a finish for the first time in his career, he won the fight be decision, cementing himself as the division's top contender.
Unfortunately, the 30-year-old then suffered an injury of his own, which has effectively ruled him out of the title conversation for the time being and cleared the way for Makhachev to step in.
No. 2-ranked contender Sean Brady is in a similar situation. He has lost just once as a pro—to Muhammad in 2022—but is now riding wins over Kelvin Gastelum, Gilbert Burns and Leon Edwards.
The win over the former champion Edwards—a submission victory in London in March—made the Philadelphia native one of the top contenders in the division. In fact, if Makhachev wasn't jumping the line, he would almost certainly be next in line for a title shot, due to Rakhmonov's injury.
Given the complicated circumstances, it makes sense to match up Brady and Rakhmonov later this year, when the former is healed up. Much like the winner of an Usman vs. Muhammad fight, the winner of this one would be hard to deny for the next crack at the Della Maddalena vs. Makhachev winner.
In fact, it's arguable the victor of this potential fight would be even more deserving.
Leon Edwards (No. 4) vs. Joaquin Buckley (No. 7)
3 of 5
Leon Edwards is the man responsible for ending the Usman dynasty in the welterweight division, famously taking the title from the long-time champ with a stunning fifth-round head kick in 2022, then defending the belt by decision in their immediate rematch in 2023.
While the English fighter went on to defend the belt for a second time against Colby Covington, things have not gone well for him since. First, he lost the title with a lopsided decision defeat to Muhammad in 2024. Then, in his long-awaited comeback this past March, he suffered one of the worst setbacks of his career, tapping out to Brady in Round 4 of a fight he was already losing badly.
While the 33-year-old's recent losses mean he is out of title contention for the moment, it will only take another win or two for Edwards to put his name back in the conversation.
The same goes for Joaquin Buckley who, as we've covered, is fresh off a decision loss to Usman.
Before losing to Usman, Buckley was on one of the best streaks in the division, with wins over the likes of Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson and Covington behind him.
Beating Edwards isn't going to put him ahead of other contenders such as Usman, Brady or Rakhmonov, but it would be a huge step in the right direction. Edwards, similarly, would benefit greatly from a win over Buckley—or a win over anybody, for that matter.
It's an interesting fight on paper, as they're both crafty strikers, albeit with very different styles. More importantly, it would help bring some order to the chaotic welterweight top 10—even if it's not a title eliminator.
Book it for the main event of a Fight Night card as soon as both are healthy enough to compete.
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Ian Machado Garry (No. 6) vs. Michael Morales (No. 8)
4 of 5
Ian Machado Garry seems to consider himself one of the top contenders in the welterweight division, but he is getting a bit ahead of himself.
While the Irishman is certainly close to a title shot, there are still at least three names ahead of him in the race for the opportunity: Usman, Rakhmonov and Brady.
Garry was last in action earlier this year, when he picked up a decision win over No. 13 contender Carlos Prates. It was an impressive victory, and it separated him from the first loss of his career—a decision defeat to Rakhmonov last December—but it was not enough to make him a serious title contender.
In fact, it was just his second victory over a top-15 contender, the other being a 2024 decision win over the 15th-ranked Michael Page.
He still has a bit more work to do.
The same goes for Michael Morales.
The Ecuadorian recently improved to a spectacular 18-0 with a knockout win over former title challenger Gilbert Burns. The victory thrust him into the welterweight top 10, but like Garry, he is still short on wins over ranked contenders.
While we wait to see who among Usman, Rakhmonov and Brady can assert themselves as the No. 1 contender, it makes sense to match Garry and Morales up.
The winner of their fight would most likely crack the division's top five, which makes it an important one for the weight class. It's also an alluring clash for fans, as they're two of the sharper strikers in the weight class.
Colby Covington (No. 9) vs. Gilbert Burns (No. 10)
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Colby Covington and Gilbert Burns are easily two of the top welterweights of the last five or 10 years, but both are clinging to their place in the rankings by their fingernails.
Covington, who came up short in a whopping three bids for welterweight gold, is now 1-3 in his last four fights, having sandwiched a win over Jorge Masvidal between losses to Buckley, Edwards and Usman.
The 37-year-old's long stretches of inactivity have damaged his standing in the division even further.
Burns, who came up short in a title fight with Usman in 2021, is on an even worse skid, with four straight losses behind him.
The Brazilian's most recent loss was a quick stoppage against Morales, while the others came against Brady, Della Maddalena and Muhammad.
It's only going to take one more loss for both Covington and Burns to go skittering out of the welterweight top 10. It only makes sense to pit them against each other in a loser-leaves-town kind of matchup.
The winner would prove they still belong among the welterweight elite, while the loser's inevitable exit from the top 10 would make space for rising contenders such as Carlos Prates, Bryan Battle, Randy Brown, Rinat Fakhretdinov and Mike Malott.
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