Welterweight witnessed one of the best fighters in the world as the champion for a long time. GSP dominated in that division for years, and after his legacy, it was hard for any champion to be loved by people. However, this division changed lots of champions after GSP. Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley were fighters, but no one could earn as much respect as GSP had in his prime. However, the current champion of the weight category, Kamaru Usman, is close to getting it done. For this moment, he is the #1 ranked P4P fighter in the UFC.
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The champion, called "The Nigerian Nightmare," defended his belt against the best fighters of the division already but continues to be active and earn the GOAT status. His last appearance was just a week ago, against Colby "Chaos" Covington for the second time. Their first bout ended in the 5th round via TKO, but this time Kamaru could not manage to finish his rival in a very close bout but successfully defended his belt. He looks sharp strong, and his striking is improving a lot, so it is hard to imagine him losing after the victories he earned.
The #1 ranked contender of the division is Colby Covington, who already fought twice for the belt against the same rival. However, he suffered losses in both bouts but still earned lots of respect from the MMA community. He is the only fighter who offered close fights to the champion and was 1 round away from defeating him. If he earns one or two more victories against top prospects, he might earn his title shot for the third time.
Another great prospect of the division is Brazilian BJJ master, Gilbert Burns who already had his title shot against Usman but suffered a TKO loss. Burns had his moments during the fight, but finally, he could not handle the pressure and power of the Nigerian Nightmare and suffered a loss. There are rumors that he will most likely face Khamzat Chimaev, famous for smashing four fighters of the UFC and receiving only one punch during four battles.
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Leon Edwards remains the #3 ranked contender and will most likely be the next title challenger. Leon and Usman already shared the octagon in the early stages, but both fighters are changed for this moment. Leon and Usman both improved their striking abilities and archived a lot since their first fight. Leon had ten unbeaten streaks in the UFC since his last loss against Usman, and the champion has never suffered a loss in the promotion.
Vicente Luque is one of the most underrated fighters and one of my favorite ones. He has deadly striking BJJ skills. His last appearance was against Michael Chiesa, one of the division's best grapplers, and Vicente managed to submit him in a very first round. For this moment, he is on four winning streaks, but in the UFC, he has already earned lots of victories. In the UFC, his record includes 14 wins and three defeats. 19 out of 21 victories he earned with submissions or KO. In 2021, he defeated Tyron Woodley, too. Firstly, he stunned the former champion and finished the BJJ black belt, Tyron Woodley, on the ground with Brabo Choke.
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Truly one of the best strikers of the UFC, if not the best striker, Stephen Wonderboy is the #5 ranked welterweight in the UFC. His striking is unique and impressive, but his wrestling skills are why he is not the champion. He cant protect himself against good wrestlers. The last defeat was against Gilbert Burns, who managed to control Wonderboy on the ground for whole rounds. If Wonderboy will defend himself from takedown attempts, just like Adesanya is doing in the Middleweight, he has the opportunity of winning the title.
One of my favorite fighters is undefeated grappler Sean Brady, who climbed up by six positions in the UFC welterweight rankings. He defeated Michael Chiesa and entered inside the top10. For this moment, he is the #8 ranked contender, and as he said, he wants to prove that he is the best grappler in the UFC and not only in the division. This statement did not leave Chimaev's attention, and Dagestanian/Sweden fighter called him out immediately.
Khamzat Chimaev is the rising star of the UFC. He earned four victories in the UFC and received only one punch during these fights. His last fight was against the #11 ranked fighter, who Chimaev easily defeated on the ground. Khamzat is an amazing freestyle wrestler with great submissions and ground and pound; even though he is only a blue belt in BJJ, but it means nothing. In the striking, he has bombs, and long limbs are a massive advantage for such a fighter.
Also, people talks a lot about is Ian Garry. The Irish Take over part 2, who just made his debut at UFC 268. He earned another KO victory in the first round just a second before the bell. He says he wants to take it slow and improve because he is only 23 years old, and maybe in 2-3 years, he will start leading the division. However, we did not know if this hype around him was true or not, but we will find it out soon.
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