Every UFC champion has their next fight scheduled or determined besides Belal Muhammad (welterweight), Islam Makhachev (lightweight ), Alexandre Pantoja (men’s flyweight), and Weili Zhang (women’s strawweight).
Let’s look at the best potential challenger for those four.
Belal Muhammad vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
An easy case can be made for Kamaru Usman to get an opportunity to regain the title he held from March 2019 to August 2022, but the Nigerian Nightmare has lost his last three fights.
Granted, Usman’s last defeat came at middleweight against Khamzat Chimaev when he stepped in as a late replacement for Paulo Costa at UFC 294 in October 2023. Still, the 37-year-old likely needs a win over another Top-5 opponent before getting another shot at the title.
A title eliminator between Usman and Ian Machado Garry would make a ton of sense. Enter Rakhmonov. The 29-year-old, undefeated machine from Kazakhstan has risen to No. 3 in the UFC welterweight rankings.
He’s coming off an impressive win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in his last fight, and Rakhmonov would give Muhammad a massive test in his first title defense.
Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan
There was talk of a potential interim title fight between Tsarukyan and Mateusz Gamrot before the latter lost to Dan Hooker at UFC 305 this past Saturday.
Now the play at 155 appears to be for Hooker to fight Charles Oliveira in a title eliminator. That leaves Tsarukyan without an opponent while he closes out the remainder of a six-month suspension for throwing a punch at a fan in April at UFC 300.
Tsarukyan is eligible to return in October, but he’ll likely be ready to fight in November or December. Makhachev is also nursing an injury to his hand that pushed him out of UFC 308 when he was expected to fight Tsarukyan in Abu Dhabi.
We know UFC 310 will take place on December 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Don’t rule out Conor McGregor returning and fighting Michael Chandler on that card. Now imagine McGregor in the same building as Makhachev, who could be defending his title against Tsarukyan.
Makhachev is trained by Khabib Nurmagomedov, and that could potentially lead to fireworks before, during, and after the event. Tsarukyan is the right challenger for Makhachev. He’s faced the lightweight champion before. While Makhachev won their meeting back in April 2019, Tsarukyan was competitive as the two men earned Fight of the Night bonuses for their performances.
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Demetrious Johnson
I know Johnson was traded to ONE Championship for Ben Askren and is still signed with the organization. But Johnson is still arguably the best flyweight or fighter in his weight region–perhaps even up to bantamweight.
Pantoja has run through the flyweight division except for Tatsuro Taira and the injured Amir Albazi. Kai Kara-France made his case for a shot with a KO win over Steve Erceg at UFC 305, but Pantoja defeated him during the Ultimate Fighter in 2016.
Johnson returning to the UFC, even on loan, would likely give him a chance to earn a handsome payday and might give us a chance to see who is the most dominant flyweight in history.
Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez
Many of us may have forgotten how dominant Suarez was on her way to a 10-0 record in MMA. At this point, it’s been more than a year since she competed in the Octagon, but she sits as the No. 1 contender for Weili’s title.
If Suarez can be declared healthy after suffering a knee injury that pushed her off a February card, it would make sense for her to get her shot at the championship finally.
Weili has beaten every other legitimate contender in her division, but she can’t wait for Suarez forever.
