Past history teaches us to expect the unexpected in mixed martial arts, especially at the highest levels. The 12 men and women currently in possession of Ultimate Fighting Championship gold will enter their respective 2022 campaigns with a sense of anticipation. Some will be rewarded with extended title reigns while others will endure very public falls from grace. Such is the nature of the beast in a sport where chaos and tumult lurk around every corner. Need evidence? Seven of the 12 undisputed championships changed hands at least once in 2021. Who will be the last men and women standing when the calendar flips to 2023? A look into the crystal ball:
Heavyweight: Ciryl Gane
Gane’s polish belies his relative lack of MMA experience. The undefeated Frenchman enjoyed a breakthrough run in 2021, as he defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexander Volkov in back-to-back decisions, then put away Derrick Lewis with punches to claim the interim heavyweight crown in the UFC 265 main event on Aug. 7. However, Gane has yet to pass his final exam. The 31-year-old will put his perfect 10-0 record on the line with undisputed champion Francis Ngannou on Jan. 22, as their five-round unification bout headlines UFC 270 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Light Heavyweight: Jiri Prochazka
The surging Czech was viewed as a potential contender the minute he signed with the UFC, and he has only improved his stock since. Easily one of the most entertaining fighters on the roster at any weight, Prochazka has delivered sensational finishes against Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes—the latter was a “Knockout of the Year” nominee—in his two eye-opening Octagon appearances and now finds himself on a career-best 12-fight winning streak. Believed to be next in line for incumbent 205-pound champion Glover Teixeira, the 29-year-old carries violent tendencies in his DNA.
Middleweight: Kamaru Usman
Israel Adesanya remains virtually untouchable at 185 pounds, and while a UFC 271 rematch with well-regarded former champion Robert Whittaker looms, most expect “The Last Stylebender” to clear that hurdle with room to spare. What comes next for the reigning middleweight titleholder? Perhaps a confrontation with Jared Cannonier, provided “The Killa Gorilla” can get past the rejuvenated Derek Brunson at UFC 271. Adesanya would be heavily favored against Cannonier in a pairing that would not figure to move the needle of public interest much. The UFC could also think outside the box and turn to another dominant champion at a lower weight class. Might an opportunity to become a rare simultaneous two-division titleholder pique Usman’s interest enough to leave his familiar haunts at 170 pounds?
Welterweight: Kamaru Usman
Usman has taken up residence as the sport’s pound-for-pound king, and he has found the accommodations to his liking. A “Fighter of the Year” nominee in 2021, Usman turned away former Sanford MMA teammate Gilbert Burns, authored a brilliant knockout of Jorge Masvidal and then improved to 2-0 in his head-to-head series with archnemesis Colby Covington, as he laid claim to a five-round unanimous decision in their UFC 268 rematch. Now widely recognized as the most dominant champion in the sport, he will enter his first assignment of 2022 on a 19-fight winning streak. Usman’s most pressing challenges at 170 pounds figure to come from Leon Edwards and Vicente Luque, with the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev perhaps lurking in the distance.
Lightweight: Islam Makhachev
The Khabib Nurmagomedov protégé appears to have made the turn from blue-chip prospect to fully formed contender. His 2021 campaign was something to behold, as he delivered consecutive submissions against Drew Dober, Thiago Moises and Dan Hooker to climb into the Top 5 at 155 pounds. Once a popular name to dodge, Makhachev has made himself impossible to ignore in the lightweight division. He will carry a nine-fight winning streak and his 21-1 record into a high-stakes UFC Fight Night showdown with Beneil Dariush on Feb. 26. With another victory there, Makhachev would all about assure himself of a title opportunity in one of the UFC’s deepest weight classes.
Featherweight: Max Holloway
Holloway has arrived at a career-defining crossroads, as he prepares to meet reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski for a third time—Volkanovski owns a 2-0 record against him—in the UFC 272 main event on March 5. Since his most recent encounter with the Australian dynamo resulted in a split decision defeat, Holloway has looked better than ever in scoring masterful back-to-back victories against Calvin Kattar. In those two appearances, the Hawaiian combined to land 675 significant strikes, a single-fight UFC record 445 of them against Kattar in Sherdog’s 2021 “Beatdown of the Year.” From a legacy standpoint, Holloway can ill afford a third loss to Volkanovski. Expect nothing less than an absolute barnburner.
Bantamweight: Petr Yan
He wields a ferocity few others can equal, and Yan will get his chance to reclaim the undisputed bantamweight title when he rematches Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 272 co-feature on March 12. Their first encounter ended in anticlimactic fashion 10 months ago when Yan was disqualified after connecting with a blatantly illegal knee in the fourth round. The setback snapped a 10-fight winning streak for the Russian and increased the animosity that existed between the two participants. With Sterling on the shelf due to injury, Yan later captured the interim 135-pound championship at UFC 267, where he outdueled Cory Sandhagen across five rounds on Oct. 30. Their unification bout offers plenty of intrigue.
Flyweight: Brandon Moreno
Moreno has blossomed on the big stage, and the Entram Gym standout reached the pinnacle of his profession when he submitted Deiveson Figueiredo with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC 263 rematch in June and struck gold at 125 pounds. In doing so, he became the first Mexican-born champion in UFC history. The two rivals will complete their trilogy at UFC 270, where they meet for a third time on Jan. 22, the fate of the flyweight title hanging in the balance. The outcome could potentially dictate the trajectory of the rest of Moreno’s career. Talent and youth are on the 28-year-old’s side, but staying power can be a difficult trait for any champion to track down.
Women’s Featherweight: Amanda Nunes
The “Lioness” still has one championship belt she can slap across her shoulder. Nunes suffered her first loss in more than seven years when she submitted to a rear-naked choke from Julianna Pena and surrendered the women’s bantamweight crown to “The Ultimate Fighter 18” winner in the second round of their UFC 269 co-main event on Dec. 11. The stunning upset sent shockwaves through the MMA world. Where Nunes turns next remains to be seen, though most expect an immediate rematch with “The Venezuelan Vixen” in a bid to reclaim lost gold. She could also choose to just forego the harsh weight cut at 135 pounds and defend the featherweight title instead, especially if the UFC can lure two-time Professional Fighters League champion Kayla Harrison in free agency. Either way, it shapes up to be an interesting 12 months for Nunes.
Women’s Bantamweight: Valentina Shevchenko
Pena’s aforementioned upset of Nunes clears the way for “Bullet” to make another run at becoming a historic two-division champion. Shevchenko had already lost twice to Nunes, putting an obvious barrier between her and the bantamweight belt for as long as the Brazilian was in power. That barrier has now been removed, at least for the time being. If Pena manages to turn away Nunes a second time in an expected rematch, it could create a scenario in which Shevchenko jumps up in weight class again. The fact that she holds a previous victory over Pena—she dispatched her with an armbar in 2017—only enhances the possibility of such a move.
Women’s Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko
It has been evident for quite some time that Shevchenko, a matchmaker’s worst nightmare at the moment, has no equal at 125 pounds. She owns wins over five of the women currently ranked in the Top 10 in the flyweight division: Jessica Andrade, Katlyn Chookagian, Lauren Murphy, Jennifer Maia and Jessica Eye. Only Maia was remotely competitive against her. Of the current crop of contenders, Taila Santos seems to have the inside track on a title shot. The 28-year-old Brazilian moved to 19-1 at UFC Fight Night 198, where she submitted Joanne Wood with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their Nov. 20 pairing. Santos offers a fresh challenge, but she would almost certainly enter the cage against Shevchenko as a prohibitive underdog.
Women’s Strawweight: Rose Namajunas
“Thug Rose” handled her business and cemented herself atop the 115-pound weight class on Nov. 6, when she retained the undisputed strawweight title with a split decision over former champion Weili Zhang in their UFC 268 rematch. Namajunas outlanded the Chinese star in the second, fourth and fifth rounds, excelled in all phases and managed to pile up seven minutes of control time despite being taken down five times in the 25-minute affair. Her road does not figure to get any easier, as several viable contenders—they include Carla Esparza, Marina Rodriguez, Xiaonan Yan and Mackenzie Dern—populate the line that has formed behind her. Namajunas’ first title defense of 2022 could come against