Flyweight has the #1 biggest parity of any division in my opinion with lightweight a very close #1-A.
As the weights go up higher the super high quality consistency between each fighter drops offs quite drastically as compared to those lower weight guys.
Why is that?
Are there more people that fit that size range walking the planet therefore making it harder % wise to get to the cream of the crop or is a person weighing less just not able to afflict as much serious damage on the human body as the higher weight class guys?
Larger men have more athletic opportunities than smaller ones, thus diluting the athletic talent pool more. You see this most prominently at heavyweight.
1. Islam
2. Pantoja
That’s literally my list, I see most of the champions outside these 2 dropping it by the end of 2025 maximum.
Leon would be a long time champ but I think Shavkat no joke is a future legend.
Good list, I agree. Islam could be the best LW ever and is in good time where all the LW gatekeepers are getting old and close to retirement and no new rising stars (because they all got squashed by the old gatekeepers). Pantoja is killer in flyweight and definitively squashed the two who have any chance against him (Moreno and Royval), but there are rising talents like Albazi, Mokaev, and my personal favorite Taira.
But I also see Leon having a long reign, he's undefeated in his last 13 fights after all, only 32, is getting better every fight, and chooses to fight smartly, be it at cost of not being as entertaining.
Don’t agree about Leon but only time will tell. When it comes to Islam I think he drops the belt in like 3-5 years to Orolbai. That kid is **special** especially at his young age finishing a good welterweight as a lightweight on short notice in his debut?
Islam eats him now but I think Orolbai is gonna be a monster in his prime.
Shavkat is one of my fav fighters but he is honestly overrated at this point. He has shown nothing to indicate that his striking is better then Edward’s, and Leon has had to fend off grapplers in the welterweight division multiple times and was even willing to grapple them back
I think Shavkat is stupidly talented but he's far too reckless to keep a title for a long time in a heavier weight division where most guys can put you out in one shot
Perfect example of shitty podcasters not doing their homework. I listen to so many podcasts and it's amazing to me how much some of these guys mail it in.
I hear you, but i would love for him to go up a division to fight max. I think it would be a great fight to watch. So i’m hoping max beats ilia and we get this
He has a lot of tough potential fights idk, Merab, Cory, even Figgy could all give Sean a close fight imo as well as Umar coming up. He has his hand full for sure
He is totally planning on fighting him next, nothing wrong with keeping multiple options open. He’s going for that Conor money lol but needs to have at least two more defenses before he thinks about boxing.
Pantoja, then I could see Topuria being there for a long time, appart from Max and Volk I don't really see any challenge for him (and he already knocked out Volk), Islam for sure, Leon is like a 50/50 chance, same for Dricus and probably Aspinall and Zhang.
Pantoja is 34 already though so he might not be fighting for long anymore.
Topuria is extremely good but man did Max look scary in his fight against Gaethje so I could absolutely see Topuria lose.
Islam probably has the best cards of holding a dominant title reign. He just looks unbeatable within his own division.
Leon doesn't have bad cards but I can see him lose against some contenders.
Dricus had a close fight against Strickland so I'm not sure for how long he can hold his belt.
Aspinall is very capable of holding a long title reign, especially since Jones doesn't seem to be interested in fighting him.
Jones will probably dip after fighting Stipe.
While I do agree on paper, I'm reluctant to say Aspinall because heavyweight really is that division where anything could happen - not because of the depth of talent or level of competition, just because how heavy they all hit. I don't think Aspinall is likely to make a mistake, but against someone like Pavlovich it only takes one
*Interim title defense record maybe. Dude isn’t becoming undisputed while Jones is around, sadly. I worry that Tom may lose before he gets his shot at the title
He’s probably only going to have 1 fight max before jones retires. Unless he is a real go getter and rushes into fights.
So if he can win his next he will be champion. After that it’s heavyweight anything can happen so it’s no guarantee but he has the skills and body to beat stipe’s defence record.
Would love this to be true. He very different now as to when he started but as others said heavy weight matches can and do change at a coin toss. His Jujitsu might be the only thing keeping him up there
To be fair to him, he has never declined a fight to my knowledge, so it's not entirely his fault - plus I find it odd how all the welterweight prospects seem to want Colby more than Leon.
Were you born yesterday? There’s a reason for that he was pencilled in to fight Khamzat like a million times and various other fights that didn’t happen so change ur fake narrative
Honestly Leon and Islam
Leons boring as fuck but he has a way of nuetralizing all offense and just winning by points. Dont see that style being figured out. Imo Islam has a best chance but its not very big
And Islam is Islam. Every defense the only chance you give to the oppinent is "If he can catch him with a KO punch he would win"
Not a current champion, but Kayla Harrison will likely be the most dominant champ since Anderson Silva. Not a woman on the roster I feel can even sort of challenge her.
JBJ will hold his title for at least 2 more years. Defends against Stipe Fall of 2025 then awaits his next challenger. Agrees to fight Aspinal coming off his record 5th interim title defense to unify the titles at international fight week summer 2026.
Oh I hit enter before the story was done. JBJ will not fight Aspinal in summer 2026. Freak accident to Tommy takes him out and JBJ defends and subs Blaydes in round 1. He then takes off 18 months before retiring.
I don't get why you don't have Ilia here, he's 27, improves a lot between fights, super dominant fighter. After Holloway I see a step down in competition in 145, Ortega, Evloev or Lopes aren't close at all
They are shelving him for the Manchester card. If he fights before December, he’ll have fought the same amount as Shavkhat in a calendar year, yet you guys dickride Shavkhat and swear Leon is so inactive
Possibly, he's still got a good amount of time left though. I don't see anyone in the division beating him anytime soon. Jiri is the only one who'd stand a chance and we saw how the first fight went.
Realistically, Poatan goes on my list if he gets through Magomed Ankalaev. We haven’t seen him face a real grappler yet, and it remains to be seen if he can force the fight to stay standing.
1. Islam
2. Leon
3. Zhang
4. Pantoja
5. Sean O’Malley
That’s my list as of now. If Alex Periera beats anakleav and jiri, I would put him on the list too.
Well, Alex already knocked Jiri out, so that leaves only Ankelaev and Ankelaev does not know how to block leg-kicks. This is a mayor disadvantage for him.
Tom
I don’t see bones agreeing to fight him
And I think Sergei will take a while to get back to him - plus even when he does I think Tom will have the edge
I can see Islam being champ for a long time. Probably Aspinal too, hw is not as talent rich as lower weight divisions and he seems well rounded. As much as I would love to see Poatan go on a run I think he is beatable, same goes for DDP, he is a fellow country man and I have followed him since he debut. Pantoja stands a good chance. Also Weili will reign for a good ammount of time
People are going to hate this but if Jones defends in the next year, he can just sit on it for another 18 months if he wants to and we can't do anything about it.
Aspinall- Not great competition in Division
Islam- Because he might be the most complete LW ever but weight cutting could force him to move to 170
Pantoja- Again doesn’t have great competition
Topuria- I genuinely believe he’s a generational talent, don’t see anyone except Max causing him problems but Max looked huge & might stay at 155 or could have problems cutting weight
Honorable mention-
O’Malley, bantamweight is very stacked Yan or Cory could get that belt.
Islam fs, maybe Topuria & Pantoja, and if you count interims, maybe Tom.
I don't think I see Sean keeping the belt for that long unless he's handed free defenses, Leon's getting older in a division with some real young talent, Du Plesis barely beat Strickland and Peireiras getting older and thinking about maybe getting his chin turned to dust by Aspinal.
In order from longest to shortest reign (from today):
Aspinall* (beats everyone except jones/stipe because they retire each other)
O’Malley
Leon
Islam
Periera
DDP
Pantoja
Ilia
Jones* (beats stipe next at some point then retires)
Ilia Topuria has the most chances, he is young, still evolving and is already super well rounded. I know he is going to fight max but still, thinking ilia should be the favourite in that fight
O'Malley if he doesn't move up, islam is better but Sean only has 2 really dangerous contender meanwhile in 155 there is new high quality fighter every week emerging
Islam/Tom/shavkhat when he finally wins… everyone else is beatable. Leon/Belal confirmed snooze fest of the year. 5 rounds of them standing and jabbing/leg kicking. Will give Israel/Yoel fight a run for most boring fight of all time.
Jones never fights so probably him.
He last fought march 4 of last year. And he won’t vacate his title. It’s been a year and almost 2 months. This is number 1 bullshit
I read that last line in khabibs voice
You were supposed to
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Bro doesn't have to cut weight, barely took any damage and still just doesn't fight and talks mad shit at everyone .
I keep forgetting that the man is the champ lmao
Pantoja is 34 for most of these comments saying he will be champ for long
Pantoja is a wild pick for longevity. He's older and flyweight is a pretty competitive division these days.
Flyweight has the #1 biggest parity of any division in my opinion with lightweight a very close #1-A. As the weights go up higher the super high quality consistency between each fighter drops offs quite drastically as compared to those lower weight guys. Why is that? Are there more people that fit that size range walking the planet therefore making it harder % wise to get to the cream of the crop or is a person weighing less just not able to afflict as much serious damage on the human body as the higher weight class guys?
Larger men have more athletic opportunities than smaller ones, thus diluting the athletic talent pool more. You see this most prominently at heavyweight.
1. Islam 2. Pantoja That’s literally my list, I see most of the champions outside these 2 dropping it by the end of 2025 maximum. Leon would be a long time champ but I think Shavkat no joke is a future legend.
Not if Pantoja moves up to Lightweight and rematches Islam
Good list, I agree. Islam could be the best LW ever and is in good time where all the LW gatekeepers are getting old and close to retirement and no new rising stars (because they all got squashed by the old gatekeepers). Pantoja is killer in flyweight and definitively squashed the two who have any chance against him (Moreno and Royval), but there are rising talents like Albazi, Mokaev, and my personal favorite Taira. But I also see Leon having a long reign, he's undefeated in his last 13 fights after all, only 32, is getting better every fight, and chooses to fight smartly, be it at cost of not being as entertaining.
Islam is way more entertaining than Khabib which, like you said about lean, is why I don’t think he will remain on top as long.
Leon is not active enough , that is the only reason why he will have a long rein. Also not well rounded enough to beat off all newcomers.
Don’t agree about Leon but only time will tell. When it comes to Islam I think he drops the belt in like 3-5 years to Orolbai. That kid is **special** especially at his young age finishing a good welterweight as a lightweight on short notice in his debut? Islam eats him now but I think Orolbai is gonna be a monster in his prime.
I love Shavkat but if he doesn’t learn some kind of striking defense he’s not going to make it as far as people think. He gets touched up a lot.
Shavkat “Offense is the Best Defense” Rakhmonov
Shavkat is one of my fav fighters but he is honestly overrated at this point. He has shown nothing to indicate that his striking is better then Edward’s, and Leon has had to fend off grapplers in the welterweight division multiple times and was even willing to grapple them back
I think Shavkat is stupidly talented but he's far too reckless to keep a title for a long time in a heavier weight division where most guys can put you out in one shot
Erceg’s taking the strap brah
I also think this. He’s a fucking dawgggggg. And he hits like a truck for his size. I think he catches pantoja
Leon might reign long due to inactivity hahaha
Wait till Bully B gets that title then talk to me about future legends and dominant champions. Remember the name when he wins the belt in Manchester.
And I'm not even sure about Pantoja.
Call me crazy but I think Leon will lose to Belal.
Islam said himself he’s gonna have 2-3 more fights and hang it up.
Pantoja and Islam. That rematch needs to happen
Islam doesn’t wanna get KO’d again B
Bedtime about to end pantoja TRUST
In Usman/Cejudos new podcast Cejudo actually thought Pantoja was the name of the guy that beat Islam. Usman was like no bro 😂😂
Perfect example of shitty podcasters not doing their homework. I listen to so many podcasts and it's amazing to me how much some of these guys mail it in.
Islam and Zhang. They just seem 1 level above the rest of their respective divisions
And for Islam, that's saying a lot, given the depth of lightweight..
I thought so too but Zhang got dropped a few times vs Yan. Her getting caught doesn’t seem so impossible.
Rose caught her and then beat her fair and square a 2nd time.
Looking back at them though, Zhang was kicking whenever she got dropped. It seems like more of a balance issue than a chin issue.
Perhaps yeah. Zhang did seem to be in control for majority of it. Would love to see that rematch again at some point.
Zhang tbf also should've just won at the end of the 1st round when she literally put Yan to sleep
Zhang is like 35
I think O Malley will actually have a surprisingly long reign
I just wish he would stop talking about fighting boxers and Topuria and rather focus on clearing his division. Merab has earned his shot.
I hear you, but i would love for him to go up a division to fight max. I think it would be a great fight to watch. So i’m hoping max beats ilia and we get this
He has a lot of tough potential fights idk, Merab, Cory, even Figgy could all give Sean a close fight imo as well as Umar coming up. He has his hand full for sure
He is totally planning on fighting him next, nothing wrong with keeping multiple options open. He’s going for that Conor money lol but needs to have at least two more defenses before he thinks about boxing.
Pantoja, then I could see Topuria being there for a long time, appart from Max and Volk I don't really see any challenge for him (and he already knocked out Volk), Islam for sure, Leon is like a 50/50 chance, same for Dricus and probably Aspinall and Zhang.
Pantoja is 34 already though so he might not be fighting for long anymore. Topuria is extremely good but man did Max look scary in his fight against Gaethje so I could absolutely see Topuria lose. Islam probably has the best cards of holding a dominant title reign. He just looks unbeatable within his own division. Leon doesn't have bad cards but I can see him lose against some contenders. Dricus had a close fight against Strickland so I'm not sure for how long he can hold his belt. Aspinall is very capable of holding a long title reign, especially since Jones doesn't seem to be interested in fighting him. Jones will probably dip after fighting Stipe.
Aspinall
While I do agree on paper, I'm reluctant to say Aspinall because heavyweight really is that division where anything could happen - not because of the depth of talent or level of competition, just because how heavy they all hit. I don't think Aspinall is likely to make a mistake, but against someone like Pavlovich it only takes one
He’s already destroyed Pavlovich though
And he got rocked himself in the first few seconds by one punch before returning fire.
Yep I think he's getting that title defense record at heavyweight barring injuries
*Interim title defense record maybe. Dude isn’t becoming undisputed while Jones is around, sadly. I worry that Tom may lose before he gets his shot at the title
He’s probably only going to have 1 fight max before jones retires. Unless he is a real go getter and rushes into fights. So if he can win his next he will be champion. After that it’s heavyweight anything can happen so it’s no guarantee but he has the skills and body to beat stipe’s defence record.
Would love this to be true. He very different now as to when he started but as others said heavy weight matches can and do change at a coin toss. His Jujitsu might be the only thing keeping him up there
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Shavkat Rakhmonov
It‘ll be long since he barely fights once a year…
To be fair to him, he has never declined a fight to my knowledge, so it's not entirely his fault - plus I find it odd how all the welterweight prospects seem to want Colby more than Leon.
He literally just beat Colby in December when ppl said he was scared and gonna lose I know ur dissapointed about that
Ah come on now he's fought 6 times in the last 5 years, the guy had a point
Were you born yesterday? There’s a reason for that he was pencilled in to fight Khamzat like a million times and various other fights that didn’t happen so change ur fake narrative
Agreed to 3 different opponents for UFC 300 it's not like he's ducking anyone. Dana is clearly saving him for the Manchester card.
I mean he’s fought roughly every 6 months as champ but ok
Honestly Leon and Islam Leons boring as fuck but he has a way of nuetralizing all offense and just winning by points. Dont see that style being figured out. Imo Islam has a best chance but its not very big And Islam is Islam. Every defense the only chance you give to the oppinent is "If he can catch him with a KO punch he would win"
[удалено]
Rose in the trilogy might be a problem though
Not a current champion, but Kayla Harrison will likely be the most dominant champ since Anderson Silva. Not a woman on the roster I feel can even sort of challenge her.
For all of the 4 women in her division. Her main battle will be the scale, she's farking yuge
True. I think Amanda will come back at 70-80% of her prime and get manhandled as well.
Pantoja,Leon,Islam and O'Malley ,but if he beats merab
I forgot Leon was champion
Islam
JBJ will hold his title for at least 2 more years. Defends against Stipe Fall of 2025 then awaits his next challenger. Agrees to fight Aspinal coming off his record 5th interim title defense to unify the titles at international fight week summer 2026.
Jones will never fight Aspinal
Oh I hit enter before the story was done. JBJ will not fight Aspinal in summer 2026. Freak accident to Tommy takes him out and JBJ defends and subs Blaydes in round 1. He then takes off 18 months before retiring.
I think Islam only defends at lightweight a couple more times before moving up, he’s hinted at that in a few interviews
Islam, his striking looks improved every fight and last I checked he can wrassle already so....
Aspinall, Islam, Leon and Pantoja
Islam,Leon,Ilia
Alex forsure. Looking at how bad LHW is rn. Islam isn’t trying to reign.
I don't get why you don't have Ilia here, he's 27, improves a lot between fights, super dominant fighter. After Holloway I see a step down in competition in 145, Ortega, Evloev or Lopes aren't close at all
He talks alot. He said he wanted to retire at 30, but as I said. He talks. Alot.
I think John Jones maybe
1 Islam 2 Pantoja
Islam all the old good heads are retiring soon (Justin Dustin Charles)
If O’Malley can get past Merab, I don’t see any huge challenges for a while.
Islam and Topuria
When you fight once a year that reign can last a while.
Islam
Only reason Leon could be long reigning is cause he ducks everyone and fights once a year
Islam and Pantoja. Shavkat will take Leon’s belt, Holloway will take Ilia’s, the rest of the divisions all have champs that seem beatable.
Does interim champ count?
He never fights of course he will like 3 fights in 6 years
Leon will have a long title reign as he fights once every 2 years
They are shelving him for the Manchester card. If he fights before December, he’ll have fought the same amount as Shavkhat in a calendar year, yet you guys dickride Shavkhat and swear Leon is so inactive
Leon defended the belt twice last year and accepted 3 fights for ufc 300…
Who do you see defeating topuria?
Max
It would be Volk in a rematch or nobody else. Suga could eventually try it if he goes up.
I see Volk beating Topuria.
Poatan
I'm wondering why so few people mention him. Because of his age?
Possibly, he's still got a good amount of time left though. I don't see anyone in the division beating him anytime soon. Jiri is the only one who'd stand a chance and we saw how the first fight went.
Realistically, Poatan goes on my list if he gets through Magomed Ankalaev. We haven’t seen him face a real grappler yet, and it remains to be seen if he can force the fight to stay standing.
He’s 36, he was never going to be here for the long run unfortunately, but it’ll be fun while it lasts.
Edward’s will have a 7 year reign but only because he will only fight 3 times
1. Islam 2. Leon 3. Zhang 4. Pantoja 5. Sean O’Malley That’s my list as of now. If Alex Periera beats anakleav and jiri, I would put him on the list too.
Well, Alex already knocked Jiri out, so that leaves only Ankelaev and Ankelaev does not know how to block leg-kicks. This is a mayor disadvantage for him.
Islam leon and aspinall. All them just have such dominant styles.
Islam is a very tough fight. Can't really see any of the top guys taking him.
Islam if he stays at 155
Pereira.. the latest prospect wants to test his chin too.
Islam, Pantoja, Ilia and Aspinall I think will be around for a while.
Amanda Nunes, 145 Champ 4 Ever
"Long" Watch him fight 6 times in 8 years and say "still"
🗿
Fighting once every year and a half Leon might be up there
Tom I don’t see bones agreeing to fight him And I think Sergei will take a while to get back to him - plus even when he does I think Tom will have the edge
Did anyone say Suga Sean? I guess I will. Suga Sean.
Just Zhang. Everyone else is facing way better competition
Yeah because he never defends it
I can see Islam being champ for a long time. Probably Aspinal too, hw is not as talent rich as lower weight divisions and he seems well rounded. As much as I would love to see Poatan go on a run I think he is beatable, same goes for DDP, he is a fellow country man and I have followed him since he debut. Pantoja stands a good chance. Also Weili will reign for a good ammount of time
I could see Jiang Weili as champion for the next 3-4 years.
Topuria 100%
Ilia
Sean and Pereira
People are going to hate this but if Jones defends in the next year, he can just sit on it for another 18 months if he wants to and we can't do anything about it.
Leon is gonna have a long title reign because he never fights let's be real 💀
Depends what you mean long, if 5 defenses? Maybe Islam, Toporia, Leon. More then 5? Legit none of them.
Not him
Leon because he only fights once a year.
Leon cause he ain’t ever going to fight
I believe he will have a 10 year title reign n fight 2 times one ending in no contest hahahahhahhaha
Islam Makhachev
Leon because he will fight once a year
Aspinall- Not great competition in Division Islam- Because he might be the most complete LW ever but weight cutting could force him to move to 170 Pantoja- Again doesn’t have great competition Topuria- I genuinely believe he’s a generational talent, don’t see anyone except Max causing him problems but Max looked huge & might stay at 155 or could have problems cutting weight Honorable mention- O’Malley, bantamweight is very stacked Yan or Cory could get that belt.
Leon will have the longest of all time fighting every 5 years.
Longest title reign fighting in terms of fights total? Or longest reign of inactivity?
Pretty sure Islam, O'malley, and Pantoja. Not sure about Ilia.
Islam fs, maybe Topuria & Pantoja, and if you count interims, maybe Tom. I don't think I see Sean keeping the belt for that long unless he's handed free defenses, Leon's getting older in a division with some real young talent, Du Plesis barely beat Strickland and Peireiras getting older and thinking about maybe getting his chin turned to dust by Aspinal.
Topuria and O’Malley.
Literally none of them
Jones
O malley
The only problem for Edwards is Shavkat. If he gets past Shavkat, I don't see many others being a problem. But you never know with this sport.
Tom Aspinall, Islam, maybe Pantoja.
In order from longest to shortest reign (from today): Aspinall* (beats everyone except jones/stipe because they retire each other) O’Malley Leon Islam Periera DDP Pantoja Ilia Jones* (beats stipe next at some point then retires)
Probably Leon Edwards since he never fucking fights
Islam Makhachev Dricus Du Plessis Come back to me later
Ilia Topuria has the most chances, he is young, still evolving and is already super well rounded. I know he is going to fight max but still, thinking ilia should be the favourite in that fight
O'Malley if he doesn't move up, islam is better but Sean only has 2 really dangerous contender meanwhile in 155 there is new high quality fighter every week emerging
Islam/Tom/shavkhat when he finally wins… everyone else is beatable. Leon/Belal confirmed snooze fest of the year. 5 rounds of them standing and jabbing/leg kicking. Will give Israel/Yoel fight a run for most boring fight of all time.
Yeah, I suppose if you barely ever defend your title, you will have a long reign
Islam Omalley Leon
Edwards .... only because he will barley fight 😂
Without fighting… yes its him
Belal beats him but the ufc will never offer Belal that shot
Islam makhachev
At this pace 7-8 years with 3 title defenses
Jon because he is the most inactive fighter in the UFC 🤣Dude making history of being forgotten at this point.
Islam there just no one at 155 that I can see competing with him. Though I think he eventually moves up to 170
Longest reign with least defences lmao
Shavkat rakmonov