Several UFC titles changed hands, and 2025 was another big year for wrestlers in the sport.
One of the biggest current stars in the sport, Alex Pereira, lost his title against Magomed Ankalaev but regained it just months later when they rematched at UFC 320.
The likes of Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev also stuck to their plans and switched weight classes, continuing their incredible legacies in the sport.
And with 2025 nearing its end, it’s time to take a look at my predictions for who will be champion of each division by the end of 2026.
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Women’s strawweight – Zhang Weili
Despite having vacated her strawweight title in 2025, Zhang Weili‘s move up to flyweight was unsuccessful, resulting in her losing against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322.
Whilst at 115lbs, ‘Magnum’ dominated the division and there wasn’t particularly anyone else for her to fight in the division.
However, now with Mackenzie Dern reigning over the division, it is a fresh matchup for Weili to move back down in what makes the most sense for her.
Although I see the Chinese fighter reclaiming her strawweight title, I do think it is only a matter of time before she retires from the sport.
Women’s flyweight – Natalia Silva
At this point in her career, it seems almost impractical to go against the aforementioned Shevchenko, especially considering the fact that she is ageing like a fine wine.
At UFC 322, ‘Bullet’ utterly dominated Weili, who a lot of fans regarded as the pound-for-pound best women’s fighter in the sport.
But despite Shevchenko’s continued dominance in her division, I think Natalia Silva will end 2026 as the women’s flyweight champion, and that may be without having to fight Shevchenko.
I believe Shevchenko may go on to fight for the women’s bantamweight title at some point in 2026, leaving the 125lb strap vacant.
Having said that, even if Shevchenko does remain at 125lbs, I think Silva could be the one to dethrone her.
Women’s bantamweight – Kayla Harrison
In my opinion, this is one of the hardest, if not the hardest, divisions to predict. Not only because of its severe lack of contenders, but also because of the promotion’s plans in the early part of the year.
Currently, Kayla Harrison is the champion of the division, and the plan is for her to defend her title against the returning Amanda Nunes.
Despite thinking that ‘The Lioness’ will beat Harrison, principle will not allow me to pick the Brazilian to end the year as champion.
Even if Nunes beats Harrison, I believe she will immediately re-retire, leaving the division in a worse position than it is already in.
And because of that, I am picking Harrison to end the year as champion, against my beliefs.
Men’s flyweight – Muhammad Mokaev
Potentially my boldest pick of the lot is that former UFC star Muhammad Mokaev will return to the promotion in 2026 and will finish the year as the champion.
In 2025, Mokaev continued his tremendous run outside of the premier promotion, showcasing exactly what the UFC is missing.
New flyweight champion Joshua Van could face a serious threat to his short reign in the coming months.
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Men’s bantamweight – Umar Nurmagomedov
I’m expecting Merab Dvalishvili to step up to featherweight after having a trilogy fight with Petr Yan.
‘The Machine’ may have lost his bantamweight belt at UFC 323, but he’ll win it back next year.
Once he does, a move to 145lbs is on the card, leaving the door open for Umar Nurmagomedov at 135lbs.
Men’s featherweight – Merab Dvalishvili
At this point, I am unsure whether I believe Dvalishvili will end up fighting Alexander Volkanovski or if Volk will drop his title, leaving the Georgian an opportunity to fight for the second belt.
Despite the fact that Volkanovski is someone who lives and breathes MMA, I feel he could end up retiring in 2026, leaving the door open for ‘The Machine’.
And whatever weight class Dvalishvili fights at, he is not a fighter I will be going against in 2026.
Men’s lightweight – Ilia Topuria
After moving up last year, Ilia Topuria once again looked unstoppable at this weight class.
In 2026, I expect the Spaniard to put together an incredible run, where he will remain undefeated and further cement his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
With it unlikely that Islam Makhachev will move back down to lightweight for their desired super fight, I don’t see anyone that ‘El Matador’ could lose to in 2026.
Men’s welterweight – Islam Makhachev
Similar to what I said about Topuria, I think the exact same stands for Makhachev, who, after moving up from lightweight, has a bunch of fresh challenges at 170lbs.
That is the benefit the Russian has over Topuria, as at lightweight, there are far fewer contenders for him to face than there are at welterweight.
Despite that, I see Makhachev potentially defending his title twice in 2026, before then considering retirement at the end of the year.
Men’s middleweight – Khamzat Chimaev
After waiting so long to touch UFC gold, I don’t think Khamzat Chimaev will drop his title that easily.
I believe the Chechen will make his first title defense against Nassourdine Imavov, who will give him a tough fight, but ‘Borz’ will come out on top.
And after defending his title midway through the year, he may not defend it again before the end of the year, ending the year still on top.
Men’s light heavyweight – Azamat Murzakanov
This is undoubtedly my most unsure pick of the entire lot.
The light heavyweight division is in as dire a position as the heavyweight division, severely lacking contenders.
Despite Alex Pereira reigning over the division and being potentially the biggest star in the sport, I think he will eventually move up to heavyweight in 2026 in pursuit of becoming the first-ever three-division champion.
And that left me scrambling for ideas, in which I somehow landed on Azamat Murzakanov.
Having looked at the top 10 of the 205lb division, the fighters at the top are all regressing in one way or another. Murzakanov is the only one who is riding a lot of momentum.
Men’s heavyweight – Tom Aspinall
After a rough end to the year for the heavyweight division, it has to bounce back in 2026.
I expect Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane to run it back near the start of the year, in which I am predicting an Aspinall win.
Because of the lack of contenders outside of that, I expect Aspinall to have somewhat of a slow year, unfortunately, but then to book a fight against ‘Poatan’ either for the end of the year or early in 2027.
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