The Place of UFC Titles
The Place of UFC Titles.
Heavyweight- Well Daniel Cormier is the double champ of the UFC’s two highest weight classes, lets first start with Heavyweight. After Cormier took the title from Stipe Miocic (who held the most title defenses at Heavyweight in UFC history) and Brock Lesnar stepped into cage proceeding to push Cormier. It seems that Lesnar will get the next shot at the title after Derrick Lewis. However Lesnar can’t fight till January because of USADA suspension from UFC 200. Derrick Lewis the overnight sensation after his knockout of Alexander Volkov in the final seconds at UFC 229 with very entertaining post fight interview that made him take over the internet. With a win in his fight before that against Francis Ngannou which was very boring, and actually the least strikes thrown in a fight. It seems that Lewis will get the next title shot at UFC 230 as Dana White said on 10/9 “Its a done deal.” Many believe it should be Miocic since he does have the most title defenses. The division is also getting some young stars like a Curtis Blaydes who’s on four fight winning streak. With wins over Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt. Nevertheless UFC 230 needs a big headline, and Lewis vs Cormier will sell tickets, and we know both will be ready to fight. To wrap Heavyweight up, ewis vs Cormier is next title fight, with Lesnar and Miocic waiting in the background.
Light Heavyweight- It looks like Cormier won’t he defending this belt again or anytime soon. As he took the Lewis fight, and the Lesnar fight probably not to far behind it, he will use that time in between to prepare for each fight. It appears that it will be Alexander Gustafson vs Jon Jones 2 for the Light Heavyweight interim or if they strip Cormier for the real belt. The fight will go down in December. Light Heavyweight is not super stacked at the moment where the contenders are clear. They do have some new young stars rising in Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes both should be interesting to see how they develop. We know though Jones vs Gustafson 2 will be fun.
Middleweight- Middleweight has a lot of contenders at the moment. After TUF 28 though it’s been announced that Robert Whittaker the champ will fight Kelvin Gastelum for the belt. Chris Weidman is not happy about that as he trolls Gastelum constantly on Instagram, as he submitted Gastelum in July of 2017. After Gastelum beat Jacere Souza both being top 5 in the division in May of 2018, with no clear contender after Yoel Romero lost twice to Whitetaker, with Weidman hurt, and Rockhold not really deserving a shot they gave Gastelum the shot. Weidman vs Rockhold will go down on November 30th probably for the 1 contender at the belt next. With Darren Till looking like he’s going to middleweight, and Paulo Costa looking dominate we may have more names to enter the race for the Middleweight crown. The division also has other young rising star in Israel Adesayna, who will be fighting seventh ranked Derek Brunson at UFC 230. Adesayna is 14-0 in his MMA career, and looks to continue that while also looking to impress in his top ten debut. Theirs a lot of matchups that could be made in the division, and questions if Romero and Rockhold will jump up to Light Heavyweight. Nonetheless Middleweight will be shaken up by the end of the year.
Welterweight- The 170 pound division is one of the only ones that has clear cut contender. The next fight for the Welterweight title will be Tyron Woodley vs Colby Covington. Woodley defended his belt for the fourth time in September after submitting Darren Till. Colby Covington dominated 4th ranked Rafael Dos Anjos back in June. After Till bested Stephen Thompson the UFC gave him the shot against Woodley. Well his shot didn’t go his way now it’s time to see if the newest Bad Guy in Covington can stop Woodley’s dominate run as champ.
Lightweight- Well if you didn’t hear Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov finally fought. Nurmagomedov the clear 155 champ after the fight. In the co main event on that card Tony Ferguson after an ACL tear which only took him 6 months to recover from; also had an impressive showing against 8th ranked Anthony Pettis. It’s clear to me that with business not being a factor Ferguson vs Nurmagomedov should actually finally square off. Book the fight the 5th time as it will be the charm. McGregor can get the winner after the matchup as he should fight Nate Diaz, especially with Diaz fight with Dustin Poirier in November being cancelled due to Poirier injury. Poirier if he was able to compete would of with a win could have also made an argument for a title shot. Diaz beat him he can call for the McGregor fight or the title shot, more than likely the pay day he’ll go for in the McGregor fight. However the UFC is a business and we could just see Khabib vs McGregor 2 without Ferguson in between. Poirier is just the middle men in all this as he got KO’d by McGregor early in each other’s career but sets him out of the title shot until McGregor and Ferguson make a move.
Featherweight- Nothing to explain here ...when Max Holloway vs Brian Ortega happening?
Bantamweight- TJ Dillashaw a champ that wants to maybe drop down a weight class to chase a second title. However their is a couple fights to make in his division. Dillashaw TKO’d former friend now foe in Cody Garbrandt twice to first earn the title then to retain the belt. That leaves Garbrandt out of the picture until Dillashaw runs through the division, a new champ occurs, or a step in fight. Raphael Assuncao could make an argument for a title shot as he’s beaten Dillashaw and Dillashaw has beaten him. Not a high class trilogy but nonetheless a trilogy. The one that has the best argument for the title shot is Dominick Cruz who beat Dillashaw in a decision. Who some thought could’ve of went Dillashaw’s way (FYI those people don’t know what their talking about). Cruz should fight for the title next as he’s been sidelined due to injury. Maybe a tune up fight since his last fight is a loss for the belt to Gardbrandt. A tune up to prove himself. In my opinion he’s already done enough for a shot. Dillashaw probably wants him to chase though since he claims Cruz made him chase.
Flyweight- Oh no we have never had to do this before, you know talk about the Flyweight division where Demetrius Johnson is not the champ. Henry Cujado pulled out the upset against him in a decision in August. Cujado is open to a fight against Dillashaw but he really has a lot of work to do. Their is many contenders at flyweight that were held under wraps since DJ already beat them since he did have the longest title defense streak at 11. Joesph Benavidez may be looking for a shot as he was beat early in the DJ title run. Number 2nd ranked contender Jussier Formiga just beat 3rd ranked contender Sergio Pettis at UFC 229 making his argument for the next shot. The next fight that Cujado takes honestly all depends on when DJ wants to comeback. If he wants to comeback soon Cujado has to fight him, if not Cujado has many options but he should fight a top Flyweight contender.
Women’s Featherweight- Weight class doesn’t really exist kind of division so Cris Cyborg doesn’t die.
Women’s Bantamweight- The division is held up as champ Amanda Nunes will go fight Cris Cyborg in a champ vs champ fight. Nunes has deserved this pay day as she’s beaten Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, and Raquel Pennington in winning and defending the belt. Not a clear contender as Holly Holm would go for a 3rd title grab after she lost the title to Miesha Tate a few years ago. Holm has the most recent win against Megan Anderson back in June. She does have a loss to Cyborg so the Nunes vs Cyborg could be telling. Kelten Viera is also the only other top 5 contender that has a win in their last fight. As she beat Cat Zingano in March. The division also has their young star named Aspen Ladd. Ladd who is only 23, ranked 7th in the division, and won performance of the night for win at UFC 229. No clear contender giving Nunes this shot, and time to let Holm vs Viera happen to maybe decide who is number 1 contender.
Women’s Strawweight- After the Brooklyn situation with McGregor one of the people on the bus was Rose Namajunas the champ of the Women’s Strawweight division. She showed up the next day to defend her belt against what to seem unbeatable Joanna Jedrzejczyk, but she TKO’d her for a second time to show Jedrzejczyk is really beatable, and the first time wasn’t a fluke. Now Namajunas is facing trauma from the incident so reported; however here’s the fights she could take when she comes back. Jessica Andrade looks to be next in line as she as beaten three of the top six ranked fighters at Strawweight. No one else in the division really has these arguments. Namajunas s Andrade should be next in line.
UFC Flyweight: They are kicking this division off at UFC 231 with Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Valentina Shevchenko for the belt.
Light Heavyweight- It looks like Cormier won’t he defending this belt again or anytime soon. As he took the Lewis fight, and the Lesnar fight probably not to far behind it, he will use that time in between to prepare for each fight. It appears that it will be Alexander Gustafson vs Jon Jones 2 for the Light Heavyweight interim or if they strip Cormier for the real belt. The fight will go down in December. Light Heavyweight is not super stacked at the moment where the contenders are clear. They do have some new young stars rising in Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes both should be interesting to see how they develop. We know though Jones vs Gustafson 2 will be fun.
Middleweight- Middleweight has a lot of contenders at the moment. After TUF 28 though it’s been announced that Robert Whittaker the champ will fight Kelvin Gastelum for the belt. Chris Weidman is not happy about that as he trolls Gastelum constantly on Instagram, as he submitted Gastelum in July of 2017. After Gastelum beat Jacere Souza both being top 5 in the division in May of 2018, with no clear contender after Yoel Romero lost twice to Whitetaker, with Weidman hurt, and Rockhold not really deserving a shot they gave Gastelum the shot. Weidman vs Rockhold will go down on November 30th probably for the 1 contender at the belt next. With Darren Till looking like he’s going to middleweight, and Paulo Costa looking dominate we may have more names to enter the race for the Middleweight crown. The division also has other young rising star in Israel Adesayna, who will be fighting seventh ranked Derek Brunson at UFC 230. Adesayna is 14-0 in his MMA career, and looks to continue that while also looking to impress in his top ten debut. Theirs a lot of matchups that could be made in the division, and questions if Romero and Rockhold will jump up to Light Heavyweight. Nonetheless Middleweight will be shaken up by the end of the year.
Welterweight- The 170 pound division is one of the only ones that has clear cut contender. The next fight for the Welterweight title will be Tyron Woodley vs Colby Covington. Woodley defended his belt for the fourth time in September after submitting Darren Till. Colby Covington dominated 4th ranked Rafael Dos Anjos back in June. After Till bested Stephen Thompson the UFC gave him the shot against Woodley. Well his shot didn’t go his way now it’s time to see if the newest Bad Guy in Covington can stop Woodley’s dominate run as champ.
Lightweight- Well if you didn’t hear Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov finally fought. Nurmagomedov the clear 155 champ after the fight. In the co main event on that card Tony Ferguson after an ACL tear which only took him 6 months to recover from; also had an impressive showing against 8th ranked Anthony Pettis. It’s clear to me that with business not being a factor Ferguson vs Nurmagomedov should actually finally square off. Book the fight the 5th time as it will be the charm. McGregor can get the winner after the matchup as he should fight Nate Diaz, especially with Diaz fight with Dustin Poirier in November being cancelled due to Poirier injury. Poirier if he was able to compete would of with a win could have also made an argument for a title shot. Diaz beat him he can call for the McGregor fight or the title shot, more than likely the pay day he’ll go for in the McGregor fight. However the UFC is a business and we could just see Khabib vs McGregor 2 without Ferguson in between. Poirier is just the middle men in all this as he got KO’d by McGregor early in each other’s career but sets him out of the title shot until McGregor and Ferguson make a move.
Featherweight- Nothing to explain here ...when Max Holloway vs Brian Ortega happening?
Bantamweight- TJ Dillashaw a champ that wants to maybe drop down a weight class to chase a second title. However their is a couple fights to make in his division. Dillashaw TKO’d former friend now foe in Cody Garbrandt twice to first earn the title then to retain the belt. That leaves Garbrandt out of the picture until Dillashaw runs through the division, a new champ occurs, or a step in fight. Raphael Assuncao could make an argument for a title shot as he’s beaten Dillashaw and Dillashaw has beaten him. Not a high class trilogy but nonetheless a trilogy. The one that has the best argument for the title shot is Dominick Cruz who beat Dillashaw in a decision. Who some thought could’ve of went Dillashaw’s way (FYI those people don’t know what their talking about). Cruz should fight for the title next as he’s been sidelined due to injury. Maybe a tune up fight since his last fight is a loss for the belt to Gardbrandt. A tune up to prove himself. In my opinion he’s already done enough for a shot. Dillashaw probably wants him to chase though since he claims Cruz made him chase.
Flyweight- Oh no we have never had to do this before, you know talk about the Flyweight division where Demetrius Johnson is not the champ. Henry Cujado pulled out the upset against him in a decision in August. Cujado is open to a fight against Dillashaw but he really has a lot of work to do. Their is many contenders at flyweight that were held under wraps since DJ already beat them since he did have the longest title defense streak at 11. Joesph Benavidez may be looking for a shot as he was beat early in the DJ title run. Number 2nd ranked contender Jussier Formiga just beat 3rd ranked contender Sergio Pettis at UFC 229 making his argument for the next shot. The next fight that Cujado takes honestly all depends on when DJ wants to comeback. If he wants to comeback soon Cujado has to fight him, if not Cujado has many options but he should fight a top Flyweight contender.
Women’s Featherweight- Weight class doesn’t really exist kind of division so Cris Cyborg doesn’t die.
Women’s Bantamweight- The division is held up as champ Amanda Nunes will go fight Cris Cyborg in a champ vs champ fight. Nunes has deserved this pay day as she’s beaten Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, and Raquel Pennington in winning and defending the belt. Not a clear contender as Holly Holm would go for a 3rd title grab after she lost the title to Miesha Tate a few years ago. Holm has the most recent win against Megan Anderson back in June. She does have a loss to Cyborg so the Nunes vs Cyborg could be telling. Kelten Viera is also the only other top 5 contender that has a win in their last fight. As she beat Cat Zingano in March. The division also has their young star named Aspen Ladd. Ladd who is only 23, ranked 7th in the division, and won performance of the night for win at UFC 229. No clear contender giving Nunes this shot, and time to let Holm vs Viera happen to maybe decide who is number 1 contender.
Women’s Strawweight- After the Brooklyn situation with McGregor one of the people on the bus was Rose Namajunas the champ of the Women’s Strawweight division. She showed up the next day to defend her belt against what to seem unbeatable Joanna Jedrzejczyk, but she TKO’d her for a second time to show Jedrzejczyk is really beatable, and the first time wasn’t a fluke. Now Namajunas is facing trauma from the incident so reported; however here’s the fights she could take when she comes back. Jessica Andrade looks to be next in line as she as beaten three of the top six ranked fighters at Strawweight. No one else in the division really has these arguments. Namajunas s Andrade should be next in line.
UFC Flyweight: They are kicking this division off at UFC 231 with Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Valentina Shevchenko for the belt.
By Matthew Doherty
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