With the UFC schedule midway through 2023, there is plenty to discuss and break down in every division.
So far this year, the UFC has seen arguably its most dominant champion, Amanda Nunes, hang up her gloves. It’s also seen one of its most dominant champs, Valentina Shevchenko, lose her title in a massive upset.
Israel Adesanya evened the score in a big way against Alex Pereira at middleweight. Kamaru Usman, the sport’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in 2022, has now suffered consecutive losses. Alexander Volkanovski gave Islam Makhachev a run for his money at lightweight. Jon Jones is finally a heavyweight, and a UFC heavyweight champion to boot.
There has been plenty of change in 2023 — including how the divisions fall in the latest ESPN weight class power rankings, with a tie for the No. 1 spot. Here are some burning divisional questions moving forward.
Note: Our panel ranks all 12 weight classes from top to bottom, taking stock of which divisions are performing the best now and which have the best pound-for-pound fighters. ESPN’s panel includes Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi, Jeff Wagenheim, Megan Anderson, Ian Parker, Reed Kuhn, Andres Waters, Andrew Feldman and Eddie Maisonet.
We have a tie for the top spot
Raimondi: Making the case for lightweight at No. 1
I’ve been a big proponent of bantamweight for a long time. It has depth. The fights are always action-packed. There are a ton of contenders, young and old. But it’s time to give the division that has been the best in the UFC for a very long time its flowers yet again.
Just in the past several weeks, there have been excellent performances at lightweight by contenders Charles Oliveira, Arman Tsarukyan and Matt Frevola. Islam Makhachev, the UFC lightweight champion, is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Oliveira is one of the top fighters, too, regardless of division. And the scrap everyone is talking about this summer — for the mythical BMF title — pits arguably the two most exciting fighters in the UFC against one another, lightweights Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.
Makhachev is expected to fight in October at UFC 294, and there are three potential challengers: Oliveira or featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in a rematch, or the Poirier vs. Gaethje winner. I can’t imagine reasonable people being upset with any of those options. How many times has a division with an elite champion been able to boast that? Just this weekend alone at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, there are two matchups between up-and-coming lightweights to watch: Damir Ismagulov vs. Grant Dawson and Ismael Bonfim vs. Benoit Saint Denis.
Wagenheim: Making a case for men’s bantamweight at No. 1
It makes sense that the 135- and 155-pound divisions finished in a tie for the top spot, and it’s no shock that the 145-pounders are just a half-step behind. All three weight classes are stacked. But bantamweight is about to launch into an unsurpassed whirl of elite competition.
Cory Sandhagen starts a busy August for 135-pounders by defending his top-five ranking in an Aug. 5 fight with Umar Nurmagomedov. Then, at UFC 292 on Aug. 19, there were three top-shelf bantamweight bouts booked. I say were because Thursday two-division champion Henry Cejudo pulled out of his matchup with Marlon “Chito” Vera because of a shoulder injury. That’s a big loss.
But look at what’s left. Aljamain Sterling will defend his championship in the UFC 292 main event against Sean O’Malley, who has long been the biggest personality in the division and now has an opportunity to show that that’s just a small part of who he is. Also that night, top-10 stalwart Rob Font will be put to a test by young Song Yadong.
What other weight class could produce a quartet of fights of that quality in a two-week span?
Okamoto: Men’s featherweight is more interesting than bantamweight and lightweight
I voted featherweight as the top division and I stand by that for multiple reasons. Don’t get me wrong, lightweight and bantamweight are fantastic — especially bantamweight, which I believe to be the strongest it’s been in years. But featherweight stands out to me.
Volkanovski is arguably the most interesting UFC champion. The way he’s carrying himself and wanting to move up for a second belt — if I could watch only one UFC champion for the next 12 months, it would be the hyperactive Volkanovski.
But beyond that, look at this division. Max Holloway is still arguably a top-10 pound-for-pound talent. Ilia Topuria, Giga Chikadze and Movsar Evloev are as good as it gets in terms of new contenders. I’m still a huge believer in Brian Ortega and Arnold Allen, if they commit themselves to small tweaks in their games (which, I believe they will).
And one more thing: As excellent as Volkanovski is, I believe Yair Rodriguez is a real threat to him at UFC 290 on July 8, which only further adds to the division’s intrigue.
Raimondi: Why women’s strawweight and flyweight are on the rise
Both of these divisions seem to be finding themselves these days after some flux at the top.
This might be the most interesting women’s flyweight has ever been, with Valentina Shevchenko now the challenger looking to get her 125-pound belt back after losing to Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 in March. Former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas moved up and will face top flyweight contender Manon Fiorot at UFC Paris in September. Erin Blanchfield is one of the most exciting young fighters in the world. And Maycee Barber looked like she’s finally figured it all out, beating Amanda Ribas bloody last weekend and finishing by TKO.
Things are looking good at 115 pounds, too. Yan Xiaonan and Amanda Lemos have emerged as legitimate contenders to Zhang Weili‘s throne, with Namajunas out of the division and former champion Carla Esparza pregnant with her first child. Mackenzie Dern looked phenomenal in a win over the always game Angela Hill last month. Tabatha Ricci continued her winning ways with a nice victory over Gillian Robertson last weekend. And perhaps most exciting at all, Tatiana Suarez, who owns dominant wins over Grasso and Esparza, is back at strawweight and will face former champ Jessica Andrade on Aug. 5. Big stuff.
Okamoto: Heavyweights are down, but there’s light at end of the tunnel
The UFC’s heavyweight division falls in our power rankings for one very obvious, legitimate reason, and that is Francis Ngannou. Ngannou’s decision to sign with the PFL effectively ends all hope of an Ngannou vs. Jones heavyweight fight — and that’s sad.
However, I don’t think heavyweight should fall too far in these rankings.
And the reason I say that is because heavyweight is actually stronger now than it has been in years. Maybe ever, honestly. I don’t expect Jones to stick around as a super active champion, but if he did choose to do so, man, he would have plenty of new matchups ahead of him. I think all of us at ESPN would rank the heavyweight division much higher in terms of intrigue.
Tom Aspinall is a well-rounded menace, who could inspire an entire region behind him. Sergei Pavlovich is the most feared heavyweight striker since … Derrick Lewis? Alistair Overeem? But he might have a much higher skill level in other areas than the others, to complement that power. I’m a little ready to sell on Ciryl Gane as a future champ, but he certainly has the talent to prove me wrong. Jailton Almeida as a top-10 talent?
Look, I get it. This division just lost a 265-pound juggernaut in Ngannou. But there’s still a lot to like, so I won’t be surprised if this division ranks higher amongst our staff in 12 months.
Wagenheim: What happened to women’s bantamweight and featherweight?
Two divisions, two stories — but just one name at the center of both.
The recent retirement of Amanda Nunes, champion at 135 and 145 pounds and the unchallenged women’s GOAT, leaves the bantamweight division rudderless. Who is poised to take over and restore the regal luster? Could it be Julianna Peña, who briefly dethroned Nunes in 2021? How about Raquel Pennington, who has won five in a row and whose only UFC defeats have come against the champ or ex-champs? Might Ketlen Vieira build some momentum in her July 22 fight with Pannie Kianzad? Those are all possibilities, but they seem way off in an uncertain future.
But at least bantamweight has a future.
Featherweight is a ghost town, and that was the case even prior to the Nunes goodbye. There are few 145-pound women on the roster to breathe life into a weight class whose expiration date appears to have expired.
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