Athletes
The Welterweight Division | 2026 Preview
After A Year Of Title Changes, One Of UFC’s Deepest Division Enters 2026 With No Shortage Of Contenders And Compelling Storylines
“On fire” is the most apt description of the welterweight division heading into 2026, and even then, that is probably an understatement. In 2025, the belt changed hands twice, first to Jack Della Maddalena and then to Islam Makhachev.
Underneath those shifts, the queue for a title shot features an abundance of riches, with multiple highly qualified and highly intriguing contenders all holding a fair case for a chance at UFC gold. Each of them brings their own narratives to the table with their own combinations of storylines.. The newly minted champion has a variety of options when considering his first defense of his second title, so it doesn’t seem like life at 170 pounds is slowing down at all in the new year.
2025 DOTCOM AWARDS: The Newcomers | The Submissions | The Knockouts | The Fighters | The Fights
Title Picture
Champion: Islam Makhachev
Contenders: Ian Machado Garry, Michael Morales, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Carlos Prates, Kamaru Usman, Belal Muhammad, Jack Della Maddalena, Sean Brady
Names to Watch: Joaquin Buckley, Yaroslav Amosov
Outlook for 2026: Makhachev achieved his ultimate dream in 2025 when he secured a second belt with a dominant win over Della Maddalena, further carving out his own legacy as one of the greatest mixed martial artists to grace the Octagon. The 34-year-old looked the part at 170 pounds, albeit not the physically dominant presence he was at lightweight. However, the lack of a draining weight cut should serve him well in the coming years, particularly as myriad contenders line up to face him.
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There is a sort of clear tier of title contenders waiting in the wings at present. Ian Machado Garry, Michael Morales and Carlos Prates all turned in statement-making wins in the last two months of the year over Belal Muhammad, Sean Brady and Leon Edwards, respectively. Machado Garry and Prates put away former champions, and Machado Garry’s main event win over Prates gives him a leg up when comparing resumes. For the 26-year-old Morales, his first-round TKO of Sean Brady (in addition to his TKO win over Gilbert Burns earlier in 2025) catapulted him from intriguing prospect into bona fide contender. Somewhere in the wings is Shavkhat Rakhmonov, who owns a win over Machado Garry but has not competed since ending 2024 as the consensus No. 1 contender. The UFC could conceivably give any of the aforementioned men a shot at Makhachev with little argument regarding their legitimacy, and it could come down to the timing of when that shot comes. Prates and Morales each said they are open to fighting one another after they stacked knockouts in New York City, which could give some wiggle room to Machado Garry’s case as well as leave the door open to former champion Kamaru Usman, who Makhachev named as a contender of interest.
Usman is a peculiar case. “The Nigerian Nightmare” dominated the division as its champion from 2019 to 2022 before Edwards hit him with the fifth-round kick heard ‘round the world, thus sending Usman on a three-year odyssey until he got his hand raised again against Joaquin Buckley. The 38-year-old showed flashes of his best form, and he serves as a fascinating stylistic matchup for Makhachev, albeit one with plenty of mileage on the proverbial odometer. A shot for Usman would have more to do with pedigree than form, but considering he is one of the two or three best to ever compete at 170 pounds in the Octagon, it’d be an understandable move.
Fighters on the outside of the title picture at the start of the year include Brady and former champions Muhammad and Della Maddalena. Each man would probably need two or three wins before wiggling into the conversation for a crack at the title, and they could find themselves lined up against men further down the Top 15 such as Buckley or Yaroslav Amosov.
READ: Greatest Short Notice Wins Of 2025
Buckley was a breakout athlete in 2024, collecting four wins (three via knockout) in nine months, including victories over Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson and former interim champion Colby Covington. He parlayed that success into a main event against Usman, against whom he ultimately lost his first fight at 170 pounds in seven appearances. The 31-year-old took a step back from his ultra-active schedule, but he remains a dynamic threat to anyone in the division.
Amosov lurks outside the rankings for the time being, but the former Bellator champion ingratiated himself to the promotion with a first-round submission over Neil Magny in the last event of 2025. The Ukrainian boasts a 29-1 record with 21 finishes and is in his prime at 32 years old. Who he makes his next move against will provide even more context as to where he fits into the division, but his quality speaks to the riches of the division.
Sometimes, a carousel at the top of the division speaks to a lack of a dominant presence. Other times, that shuffling of the deck speaks to the quality of the weight division's contenders, and that seems the case at welterweight. Makhachev is keen to restore the order Usman provided to start the decade, but the wealth of young and hungry contenders are loaded with their own ambitions that should make 2026 another banner year at 170 pounds.
Other Names to Track: Gabriel Bonfim, Mike Malott, Sam Patterson
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