Ranking Every UFC Division in 2025
We've come a long way since the UFC had just a handful of men's weight classes. Today, the MMA promotion has 11 total: Eight for men and three for women.
There are reasons to like every one of those weight classes, and at the same time, plenty of valid reasons to criticize all of them. But in 2025, which one is the best?
This article will attempt to figure that out.
Let's get into it.
11: Women's Bantamweight
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The women's bantamweight division has had the same impact on the female side of MMA that the heavyweight division had for men. It's the first women's division a lot of fans watched, thanks to Gina Carano, Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes.
Unfortunately, things have been pretty ugly in the weight class since Nunes retired in 2023. Since then, fans have been forced to endure a dubious Julianna Peña title reign and accept good-but-not-great fighters like Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana as the cream of the crop in the weight class.
It was objectively tough viewing for a while there.
Thank heavens for Kayla Harrison. The two-time Olympic judoka and two-time PFL champ has breathed new life into the division, displacing a few tumbleweeds—and Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira—en route to claiming the title.
She's been so impressive that Nunes is coming out of retirement to fight her. That would be a huge contest—no question. The problem is, there's still almost nothing to look forward to in the weight class after that.
Hopefully, this division can one day return to its former glory.
10: Heavyweight
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Oh, what could have been.
If the UFC had somehow convinced Jon Jones to fight Tom Aspinall, the heavyweight division could be poised to host one of the biggest clashes in UFC history at this very moment.
Instead, Aspinall, who is seemingly on track to become one of the best fighters in the division's history, is left without any credible challenges.
Just look at the heavyweight top 15. Aspinall has already beaten most of the guys in the top 10, including Alexander Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich, Curtis Blaydes and Serghei Spivac.
That leaves him with contenders like Ciryl Gane, Jailton Almeida, and Waldo Cortes-Acosta as possible title challengers. They are all good—Almeida is the best of the bunch—but none of them are world-beaters, and none will win the title.
Things look even bleaker outside the heavyweight top 15. There are so few fighters in the division that all it takes is a win or two to crack the rankings.
At the same time, the promotion is cutting guys like Martin Buday, who, despite being dreadful to watch at times, was 7-1 in the Octagon with a recent win over BJJ champ Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida.
At one time, this was the best division in MMA. Now it's like trying to watch The Hobbit movies instead of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Just a bad idea, unless there's no other choice. Make it make sense.
9: Strawweight
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For a little while, the strawweight division was arguably the best in women's MMA.
Unfortunately, the weight class has cooled off recently, thanks in large part to the dominance of champion Zhang Weili.
Much like Aspinall at heavyweight, the champion of the UFC's lightest division has already beaten many of her greatest threats, including Tatiana Suarez, Yan Xiaonan, Amanda Lemos, and Jessica Andrade.
Mercifully, she has a few good challenges left—namely, Brazilian grappler Virna Jandiroba. However, she also seems poised to climb to flyweight to fight Valentina Shevchenko for a second belt.
That's one of the biggest fights possible in women's MMA right now, but it would also deprive a struggling division of its best fighter, possibly permanently.
This division could become great again very soon, but it's going to take a few new credible challengers emerging for the increasingly dominant champ from China.
8: Light Heavyweight
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There are a lot of reasons to like the light heavyweight division.
It has a new champion in Magomed Ankalaev, a popular former champion in Alex Pereira, and a couple of exciting contenders, such as Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree, who are set to fight soon. Then there are guys like Carlos Ulberg and Bogdan Guskov on the way up.
The problem is that there are not many fighters outside the very best that fans have any reason to be excited about.
With full respect to the likes of Azamat Murzakanov and Alonzo Menifield, it's hard to imagine either guy—or anybody outside the top 10—giving anyone in the top five a serious challenge right now.
It's an incredibly top-heavy division right now. Then again, it has been for years.
7: Men's Bantamweight
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This is going to be the most controversial part of this whole article. That's because the men's bantamweight division was arguably the best in the UFC very recently—even this time last year.
It's crazy what a dominant champion can do to make a division look mediocre.
Merab Dvalishvili has already dominated the bulk of the credible challengers in the top 15, including stars like Sean O'Malley (twice), Umar Nurmagomedov, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo.
There aren't many believable challengers left for him. Certainly not the 10th-ranked Aiemann Zahabi, who is 37 years old (ancient for the lower weight classes). Certainly not Kyler Phillips, who has been nothing but inconsistent lately.
This division is not as top-heavy as the light heavyweight division, but Dvalishvili's dominance sure makes it look that way.
Yes, he's got a fight with Cory Sandhagen coming up, and that's a tough challenge, but after that, what's next? A rematch with Petr Yan, who he dominated just a few years ago? A fight with Zahabi, who will be closing in on 40 by that point?
This division needs new challengers for its champion—and fast—or he's going to leave the weight class out of sheer boredom.
6: Women's Flyweight
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Valentina Shevchenko is easily the greatest female flyweight in MMA history—maybe the best fighter in women's MMA history, period. We're lucky she's still around.
Amazingly, despite years of dominance, the 37-year-old still has some good challenges left. Sure, she's now beaten top contenders like Alexa Grasso and Manon Fiorot, but the likes of Natalia Silva and Erin Blanchfield remain, meaning there are still things to look forward to in this weight class—hardly the case at heavyweight or light heavyweight or even men's bantamweight.
When you consider the fact that strawweight champ Zhang Weili could soon be headed up to flyweight to chase the belt, this division looks like one of the best in MMA right now. Certainly, the best on the women's side of the sport.
5: Middleweight
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The UFC middleweight division is as good as it's ever been right now.
We've got an unusual but talented champion in Dricus Du Plessis, and a long list of credible title contenders in Khamzat Chimaev, Nassourdine Imavov, Reinier de Ridder, Caio Borralho, and Anthony Hernandez—all of whom seem fully capable of defeating the increasingly dominant champ with the right game plan.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Du Plessis beat all of them in sequence. It also wouldn't be surprising to see the belt get passed around like a hot potato. That's an exciting dichotomy.
The one point against the middleweight division right now is that it's been cursed by terrible matchmaking.
Can you imagine the fights we might be seeing if we didn't have to watch Du Plessis defend his title against Sean Strickland? What a waste of time that was. We could have seen Du Plessis vs. Chimaev that night and then watched the winner take on Imavov or De Ridder right now.
4: Featherweight
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The featherweight division is on fire right now.
Alexander Volkanovski—one of the best fighters in the division's history—is back on the throne, and he's got a handful of alluring challenges ahead.
The most interesting is undefeated Russian contender Movsar Evloev. However, former Bellator star Aaron Pico and England's Lerone Murphy—who are set to fight at UFC 319 this month—are also in the running. So, too, are Brazil's Jean Silva and Morocco's Youssef Zalal.
Let's just hope the UFC doesn't screw all of this up by giving former interim champ Yair Rodriguez—who was beaten by Volkanovski just two years ago—a title shot.
It would be Du Plessis vs. Strickland II all over again at a lighter weight class, delaying a bunch of great fights for one that nobody wants to see.
3: Men's Flyweight
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The men's flyweight division used to be the most hated in the UFC. That was due mainly to the fact that Demetrious Johnson made every other fighter in the weight class look like a Rex Kwon Do graduate, but it's also because we didn't quite realize what we had at the time.
We're starting to catch on.
Increasingly, flyweight is seen as a division of exquisite technique and bottomless cardio, where knockouts are perhaps a bit rarer but more beautiful when they occur.
The weight class is full of amazing fighters. Truly incredible fighters. Reigning champion Alexandre Pantoja is the best since Johnson retired. Top contenders Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira are both young, well-rounded and well-documented as finishers.
The only thing this division is missing right now is a real star—not even a Conor McGregor, but a Sean O'Malley or Israel Adesanya. Give it that, and it could be the best in MMA.
2: Welterweight
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The welterweight division will most likely host one of the biggest fights of 2025, as former lightweight champ Islam Makhachev battles 170-pound Jack Della Maddalena in a bid for a second UFC belt.
that's hardly where the fun stops in the division, though.
Whether Della Maddalena pulls off a gargantuan upset and denies Makhachev or the former lightweight king attains two-division glory, multiple dangerous contenders are awaiting the champion.
Shavkat Rakhmonov, Sean Brady, Ian Machado Garry and Michael Morales are all well-positioned for title shots, and all four seemingly have a chance at beating both Della Maddalena and Makhachev.
Beyond them, resurgent former champ Kamaru Usman is back on the title hunt, and fighters such as Belal Muhammad, Leon Edwards and Joaquin Buckley are all still in the running.
Almost none of them have fought Della Maddalena or Makhachev before. It doesn't get much better than that.
1: Lightweight
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Hardcore fans have considered lightweight the best division in MMA for years. That's thanks in large part to the work of past champions like BJ Penn, Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, as well as stars like Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira.
However, the real strength of the division is that it's packed with elite talent, even far outside the top 15.
While many of the aforementioned names are retired or on the way out, lightweight is as good as ever.
We've still got legends like Oliveira, Gaethje and Max Holloway kicking around. We've got promising new contenders such as Arman Tsarukyan and Paddy Pimblett on the title hunt. We've got rising talent like Joel Alvarez, Grant Dawson, and Chris Duncan. We've got veterans like Dan Hooker and Michael Chandler in the mix.
Best of all, we've got the most spectacular champion in the sport in Ilia Topuria, who was so impressive in his title-winning KO of Oliveira that he usurped the No. 1 pound-for-pound spot from Makhachev.
The lightweight division is as good as it's ever been right now. Just imagine if Makhachev had decided to stick around to fight Topuria. What a bummer it is that it didn't happen.
