Ranking Every Champion in UFC Right Now

Khamzat Chimaev is just days removed from winning UFC gold for the first time, but he immediately stands out as one of the most exciting champions in the entire promotion.

Chimaev won the middleweight belt in the main event of last Saturday's UFC 319 card in Chicago, defeating Dricus Du Plessis by decision. It wasn't his most thrilling performance, but it seemed to set the stage for what should be a long and dominant title reign.

Where does he rank among the best champions in the UFC right now? Let's break it down, champ-by-champ, based on recent performances and the likelihood of their reigns continuing.

No. 11: Magomed Ankalaev

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UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev, coming in at last place, isn't going to surprise a lot of people.

While the Russian is very good—he wouldn't be a UFC champion if he wasn't—he is prone to forgettable performances in the Octagon, even if the outcome almost always goes his way. His title-winning victory over Alex Pereira wasn't his worst performance, but it wasn't a thriller either, and it was also very competitive.

If Ankalaev can finish the Brazilian in their UFC 320 rematch on October 4, it will go a long way to improving his reputation as a champion. It will also help convince his naysayers that he's capable of holding onto the belt long-term.

No. 10: Jack Della Maddalena

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Jack Della Maddalena became the UFC welterweight champion when he defeated Belal Muhammad by decision in a Fight of the Year contender earlier this year. It was not an uncharacteristic performance from the Aussie. He's had some great fights during his time in the UFC, thanks in large part to his tremendous striking and impressive durability.

The reason he's so low on this list is that it's a bit tough to imagine him hanging onto the belt long term. Not only has he narrowly avoided defeat in previous UFC fights with Bassil Hafez and Kevin Holland, but he has some very tough challenges ahead. Chief among those is pound-for-pound great Islam Makhachev, who recently vacated the lightweight title to move up to welterweight.

Della Maddalena may beat Makhachev when they fight later this year—most likely in New York City in November—but it would be a massive upset.

If he somehow pulls it off, it's going to give fans a lot more faith that he can beat other tough welterweight contenders like Sean Brady and Shavkat Rakhmonov.

No. 9: Kayla Harrison

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Kayla Harrison may have single-handedly saved UFC bantamweight division.

The weight class went into a tailspin after former champ Amanda Nunes retired, but then Harrison came along. A former Olympic gold medalist in judo and two-time PFL champion, Harrison has been one of the most dominant fighters in women's MMA for years.

After rattling off wins over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira in her first two UFC fights, she claimed the promotion's bantamweight belt with a submission win over Julianna Peña earlier this year, breathing new life into the division in the process. Her title win was exciting enough that Nunes has decided to come out of retirement to attempt to reclaim the belt.

Harrison and Nunes' yet unscheduled fight will be one of the biggest in the history of women's MMA, and it could seemingly go either way. If Harrison wins, it will be the biggest achievement of her time in the sport. Unfortunately, she's also nearing retirement and has very few interesting challenges left beyond Nunes, which is why she's so low on this list.

No. 8: Tom Aspinall

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Tom Aspinall is one of the best heavyweights we've seen in the UFC for a long time, there's no question. He's strong, he's fast, and he's extremely dangerous on the feet and the mat, as he's proved in recent wins over Curtis Blaydes, Sergei Pavlovich, and Alexander Volkov. Unfortunately, he wasted much of his recent career chasing a fight with Jon Jones, which ultimately never happened.

His inactivity—though it's hardly his fault—has caused his stock to drop a bit. It's also hard to get excited about his title reign when there are so few interesting challenges left for him—or anybody—in the UFC's barren heavyweight division.

Aspinall's upcoming title defense against Ciryl Gane is somewhat interesting, and a future fight with Jailton Almeida will be cool, but neither fight is going to move the needle much, as Aspinall should dominate both. Beyond that, there aren't really any compelling fights for him in the weight class.

No. 7: Valentina Shevchenko

Valentina Shevchenko is easily one of the greatest fighters in the history of women's MMA. That reputation is due in large part to her legendary first run as UFC flyweight champion. She defended her belt seven times in that stretch, winning most of those fights decisively. However, she ultimately lost her belt with a submission defeat to Alexa Grasso in 2023.

After battling Grasso to a draw in an immediate rematch, she finally beat the Mexican star by decision last September to reclaim the belt. That win was proof that Shevchenko is still very good, as was her successful title defense against Manon Fiorot earlier this year.

However, she seems to have lost a step since her first reign, and at 37, is probably nearing the end of her career. For all her achievements, it would be surprising if she's still holding the belt this time next year. That's why she's not higher on this list.

No. 6: Alexander Volkanovski

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UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski finds himself in the middle of this list for the same reasons Valentina Shevchenko did.

Like Shevchenko, he is one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, thanks to his long first reign as featherweight king. Also like Shevchenko, he ended up losing the title, only to reclaim it with a decision win over Diego Lopes earlier this year.

Volkanovski's victory over Lopes proved that, despite his title loss—a knockout against Ilia Topuria—he's still got it. However, he's now 36 and has some very tough challenges ahead, namely undefeated contenders Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev.

Without any intention of taking away from his incredible legacy, it's hard to imagine his second title reign being anywhere near as illustrious as his first. That's the only reason he's not right at the top of this list, like he would have been a few years ago. Time waits for no man.

No. 5: Alexandre Pantoja

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Alexandre Pantoja is easily the greatest men's flyweight champion in the UFC since Demetrious Johnson left the promotion back in 2019. The Brazilian has now defended his belt four times, most recently with a pair of submission wins over Kai Kara-France and Kai Asakura.

At this point, there's no question he's one of the best fighters in the sport. There are only a few points against him.

The first is that a handful of his recent wins—namely, his defeats of Asakura and Steve Erceg—were a bit dubious. Neither man was a top contender when they got the opportunity to fight for the belt, and both have lost decisively to lesser fighters since then. The other point against the champ is that we have seen him lose several times in the Octagon.

He's clearly levelled up completely since his last Octagon defeat, but the fact that we've seen him lose before means it's not that hard to imagine him losing again.

His next fight will certainly be a tough one, as he's expected to take on streaking Burmese knockout artist Joshua Van next. Beyond that, he's also got Manel Kape and Tatsuro Taira to worry about.

No. 4: Zhang Weili

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Zhang Weili has enjoyed two exciting reigns as UFC strawweight champion. Her second, which started with a 2022 submission of Carla Esparza, has been particularly impressive. She's now defended her belt three times, with dominant wins over Amanda Lemos, Yan Xiaonan, and Tatiana Suarez—all tough challenges.

The argument against Zhang being one of the most exciting champions in the UFC is that she hasn't been fighting very much lately—just once in well over a year. She's also running low on viable contenders, with Virna Jandiroba looking like one of the few remaining threats at the moment.

The good news is that Zhang's dominance at strawweight may set her up for the chance to fight Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight belt. If she wins that massive clash, she'll be one of just a few two-division champions in women's MMA history and cement herself as one of the best fighters competing today.

No. 3: Khamzat Chimaev

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Many people will likely object to Khamzat Chimaev being so high on this list. That's fair. After all, he is just days into his reign as UFC middleweight champion, with no plans for a title defense.

That being said, his title-winning defeat of Dricus Du Plessis—a fantastic champion—was one of the most dominant performances we've ever seen from a title challenger. It also follows a vicious submission victory over Robert Whittaker, one of the best fighters in the division's history.

After his two latest wins, it's simply hard to imagine Chimaev losing the belt anytime soon. The amazing thing about that is, unlike other champions like Zhang Weili, Tom Aspinall, and Kayla Harrison, he has a ton of dangerous challengers waiting to fight him. That includes Nassourdine Imavov, Caio Borralho, Reinier de Ridder, and Anthony Hernandez. His division is packed with incredible fighters right now, and still, it's hard to imagine him losing his belt.

That's how good he is. That's why he's so high on this list.

No. 2: Merab Dvalishvili

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UFC bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili used to get a lot of flak from fans, largely because of his takedown-heavy fighting style and the fact that he doesn't often finish his fights. However, he's made himself undeniable.

In his last six fights, he's beaten Joe Aldo, Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, Sean O'Malley (twice), and Umar Nurmagomedov—all decisively. All of those men are extremely high-level, making Dvalishvili's recent run one of the best we've ever seen in the sport. His dominance has left his haters quieter and quieter.

Dvalishvili's reputation has also improved thanks to the fact that his fights have been getting more exciting—he submitted O'Malley in his appearance—and because he has an entertaining personality outside the Octagon. He has also been winning fans over with his staggering cardio. It's simply impossible not to admire.

Dvalishvili is booked to defend his belt against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320 on October 4. That's a very tough matchup, but if he wins, he will only cement himself as one of the most impressive fighters in the sport right now.

No. 1: Ilia Topuria

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Nobody is going to be surprised to see Ilia Topuria in the top spot on this list. The man is an incredibly gifted and downright special fighter—perhaps even more so than Chimaev, who is often described in the same terms.

Topuria, from Georgia by way of Spain, first got his hands on UFC gold early last year, when he knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to claim the featherweight belt. As if beating one featherweight legend by knockout wasn't impressive enough, he then did it again by knocking out Max Holloway in his first title defense. Holloway had never been knocked out before.

After defending his belt against Holloway, Topuria shocked fans by announcing plans to vacate his featherweight belt and move up to lightweight. He was then booked to fight Charles Oliveira for the division's vacant title in his debut. He won the fight with a vicious, first-round knockout.

Much like Volkanovski and Holloway, Oliveira is one of the greatest fighters in his division's history. Topuria's back-to-back victories over those three men represent arguably the best trio of consecutive KOs we've ever seen in the sport.

He has some tough challenges ahead in the form of Arman Tsarukyan, Justin Gaethje, and Paddy Pimblett, but it's hard to imagine him losing to any of them. It would hardly be a shock if he ends up knocking out all three.