There ended up being seven UFC title changes across six different divisions in 2024 and in an unpredictable sport like mixed martial arts it would but truly shocking to see all the current champions still be in possession of their titles at this time next year.
Did anyone think 12 months ago that Belal Muhammad, Julianna Pena and Dricus Du Plessis would all win championship bouts and end the year at the top of their respective divisions?
The UFC’s 2025 schedule is set to kick off this weekend and later this month at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 the first two title fights of the year are set to go down.
With that in mind, below is a look at the futures market and corresponding odds for who will be the UFC champion in each division at the end of 2025.
(Note: Not all fighter odds are listed below, only the fighters with the shortest odds plus some other notable, ranked contenders are shown).
STRAWWEIGHT (106-115 POUNDS)
Weili Zhang (current champion) -164 | Tatiana Suarez +100 | Virna Jandiroba +400 | Yan Xiaonan +1000 | Jéssica Andrade +2500 | Iasmin Lucindo +2500 | Gillian Robertson +4000 | Amanda Lemos +5000 | Mackenzie Dern +5000 | Amanda Ribas +15000
Oddsmakers don’t view the UFC’s smallest division as a wide-open race and the future of 115 pounds will be heavily swayed by the result of the UFC 312 co-main event in February when Zhang defends her title against the unbeaten yet oft-injured Suarez.
Divisional stalwarts and longshot title hopefuls Dern and Ribas kick off the 2025 schedule with a main event at the UFC Apex on Saturday.
MEN'S FLYWEIGHT (116-125 POUNDS)
Alexandre Pantoja (current champion) -120 | Brandon Moreno +350 | Kai Kara-France +350 | Brandon Royval +550 | Manel Kape +700 | Joshua Van +1000 | Asu Almabayev +1300 | Tatsuro Taira +1500 | Amir Albazi +2500 | Steve Erceg +3000 | Tagir Ulanbekov +5000 | Charles Johnson +5000 | Kai Asakura +5000
With his seven-fight winning streak and impeccable record against the top contenders in the division it’s no surprise Pantoja is expected to end the year with his belt still over his shoulder. He holds multiple wins over Moreno and Royval, has previously defeated Kara-France, Kape, Erceg and Asakura. There are no contenders beyond Asakura, who recently debuted in the UFC with a title fight loss to Pantoja in December, with odds shorter than 200-to-1 or +2000. Interesting that Van, an excellent young prospect, has much shorter odds to be champ than Johnson does considering Johnson knocked Van out this past July and went 4-0 last year.
One notable name not listed is former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo who has been competing at bantamweight recently but holds a previous win over Pantoja at flyweight. That is one hypothetical matchup the UFC could explore if no suitable challengers emerge for the reigning titleholder and Figueiredo decides to move back down to 125 pounds for one last title run.
WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT (116-125 POUNDS)
Valentina Shevchenko (current champion) +100 | Manon Fiorot +150 | Erin Blanchfield +300 | Alexa Grasso +500 | Natalia Silva +575 | Maycee Barber +1600 | Jasmine Jasudavicius +5000 | Rose Namajunas +7500 | Viviane Araujo +8000 | Jessica Andrade +1000 | Miranda Maverick +1000 | Tracy Cortez +20000
Shevchenko won back her title from Grasso at UFC 306 in September and is likely to defend her title against Fiorot in her next outing. While former champ Grasso remains in the mix, her defensive wrestling or lack thereof in her loss to Shevchenko left much to be desired as younger challengers like Blanchfield and Silva continue to improve and Canada’s Jasudavicius aims to extend her hot streak into 2025.
MEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT (126-135 POUNDS)
Umar Nurmagomedov -125 | Merab Dvalishvili (current champion) +100 | Petr Yan +375 | Sean O'Malley +800 | Mario Bautista +2000 | Cory Sandhagen +2500 | Song Yadong +5000 | Payton Talbott +5000 | Deiveson Figueiredo +7500 | Jose Aldo +7500 | Henry Cejudo +10000 | Marcus McGhee +10000 | Montel Jackson +15000 | Raul Rosas Jr. +15000
The UFC’s most talented and deepest division (arguably) will have more clarity and adjusted odds by the end of the month since Jan. 18’s UFC 311 is co-headlined by Dvalishvili defending his title against the undefeated and touted Nurmagomedov. Does Dvalishvili extend his winning streak as an underdog champion or are we about to enter a new era at bantamweight?
WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT (126-135 POUNDS)
Kayla Harrison -333 | Julianna Pena (current champion) +175 | Raquel Pennington +550 | Norma Dumont +600 | Macy Chiasson +2000 | Ailin Perez +3000 | Miesha Tate +4000 | Ketlen Vieira +5000 | Mayra Bueno Silva +7500
This is the first division where we see a contender as the odds-on fave to be champ by next New Year’s Eve. Harrison is 2-0 since joining the UFC and the former PFL champion and two-time Olympic gold medal-winning judoka is expected to also earn UFC gold during her fighting career. Pena became a two-time titleholder in October thanks to a controversial split decision win over Pennington. Notably, former two-weight champion Amanda Nunes does not have odds listed as she is currently retired from competition. There have been rumblings that she could consider a return to the sport, though, which would certainly mean she’d fight for the title in her first bout back.
FEATHERWEIGHT (136-145 POUNDS)
Ilia Topuria (current champion) -227 | Diego Lopes +250 | Movsar Evloev +300 | Alexander Volkanovski +550 | Lerone Murphy +1000 | Aljamain Sterling +5000 | Arnold Allen +6000 | William Gomis +6000 | Josh Emmett +8000 | Joanderson Brito +10000 | Jean Silva +10000 | Bryce Mitchell +10000 | Max Holloway +10000
The unbeaten champ Topuria has been talking about moving up to lightweight more than continuing to defend his featherweight strap, but the Spanish star is not lacking suitable contenders. Lopes and Evloev in particular are on the doorstep of a title shot and former champion Volkanovski is aiming to get back to the top and avenge his loss to Touria.
LIGHTWEIGHT (146-155 POUNDS)
Islam Makhachev (current champion) -227 | Arman Tsarukyan +150 | Charles Oliveira +600 | Max Holloway +1400 | Renato Moicano +1500 | Justin Gaethje +2000 | Paddy Pimblett +2000 | Dan Hooker +3000 | Conor McGregor +5000 | Mateusz Gamrot +6000 | Grant Dawson +7500 | Michael Chandler +8000 | Joel Álvarez +10000 | Jalin Turner +10000 | Rafael Fiziev +20000
A couple of rematches are on the champ’s radar with Makhachev headlining UFC 311 against Tsarukyan later this month (Makhachev is currently a -435 favourite to beat Tsarukyan who’s listed as a +325 underdog) and Oliveira possibly next in line. There will likely be plenty of turnover at lightweight this year with the likes of Holloway, Moicano, Pimblett and Dawson on the rise with divisional stalwarts and former title contender Gaethje, Chandler and Dustin Poirier all on the wrong side of 35.
McGregor siting at 50-to-1 is interesting considering it has been more than three years since he last competed in the UFC. If he does return to the Octagon in 2025 his star power could help him get into a title fight. Featherweight champ Ilia Topuria also desires to become a two-weight champion so it’s possible the 145-pounder moves up to 155 this year too.
WELTERWEIGHT (156-170 POUNDS)
Shavkat Rakhmonov -164 | Belal Muhammad (current champion) +225 | Leon Edwards +500 | Joaquin Buckley +500 | Jack Della Maddalena +800 | Sean Brady +2000 | Ian Machado Garry +2500 | Michael Morales +2500 | Conor McGregor +4000 | Kamaru Usman +5000 | Geoff Neal +5000 | Bryan Battle +10000 | Vicente Luque +10000 | Michael Page +10000 | Gilbert Burns +15000 | Colby Covington +25000
Welterweight is arguably the most wide-open division in the UFC and one with a new, aging champion yet to make a title defence. Rakhmonov, Della Maddalena, Buckley, Brady, Machado Garry, Morales, plus Carlos Prates who is notably absent from the odds above, all represent a changing of the guard at 170 pounds. Another McGregor appearance to note here. He was scheduled to face Michael Chandler in a 170-pound contest this past summer that ultimately didn’t come to fruition, and his only win in the weight class was a 2016 victory over Nate Diaz. Makhachev could enter the conversation in this division with another title defence or two at lightweight.
MIDDLEWEIGHT (171-185 POUNDS)
Khamzat Chimaev -200 | Dricus Du Plessis (current champion) +125 | Sean Strickland +700 | Caio Borralho +1000 | Nassourdine Imavov +1600 | Anthony Hernandez +2000 | Bo Nickal +2300 | Israel Adesanya +4000 | Roman Dolidze +5000 | Gregory Rodrigues +7500 | Joe Pyfer +10000 | Brendan Allen +10000 | Robert Whittaker +10000 | Kamaru Usman +10000
Is this finally going to be the year Chimaev becomes a UFC champion? He picked up three wins since moving on from welterweight a couple of years ago and his most recent win was the most impressive of his career when he submitted former champion Whittaker in under a round. First things first, though, Du Plessis and Strickland meet in a rematch at UFC 312 in February in Australia with the winner expected to defend against Chimaev later in the year. Talented Russian striker Shara Magomedov’s odds were not listed but he is a notable 185-pounder on the rise.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT (186-205 POUNDS)
Alex Pereira (current champion) -227 | Magomed Ankalaev +100 | Carlos Ulberg +800 | Jiri Prochazka +850 | Jamahal Hill +1600 | Jan Blachowicz +2000 | Azamat Murzakanov +3000 | Nikita Krylov +5000 | Bogdan Guskov +7500 | Aleksandar Rakic +10000 | Dominick Reyes +10000 | Khalil Rountree Jr. +10000
"Poatan" continues to make his mark and dominate the division, coming off three consecutive title defences that saw him finish each of his challengers with his world-class striking skills. Pereira is one of the UFC’s biggest stars yet his most obvious next matchup to make at 205 pounds — a title defence versus Ankalaev — is not the most marketable fight from the UFC’s perspective plus Ankalaev represents a difficult style matchup for the current champ.
Not listed here are star middleweights Du Plessis, Chimaev and his longtime rival Adesanya, all of whom could theoretically leapfrog many of the 205-pound contenders listed above if they decided to change weight classes like Pereira, a former middleweight champ, did in 2023.
HEAVYWEIGHT (206-265 POUNDS)
This is the only division that does not currently have future champion odds listed.
Heavyweight has two champions: Jon Jones and interim champion Tom Aspinall, both of whom fought and defended their titles in 2024 but were not matched up against one another in a unification bout. Jones has been explicit that fighting Aspinall is not his first choice and that he’d want a massive payday in order to facilitate that matchup. The UFC is reportedly in negotiations regarding what could be next for Jones who handily defeated 42-year-old Stipe Miocic in November.
Outside of the two titleholders, potential heavyweight title contenders in 2025 include Jailton Almeida, Ciryl Gane, Alexander Volkov, Curtis Blaydes, and even current 205-pound champ Alex Pereira who has said in the past he’s interested in one day competing at heavyweight.
(Betting odds listed above via BetMGM and subject to change)
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