Updated: UFC Welterweight Division

(Originally written in March 2023. Updated at the bottom in August 2024).

The UFC Welterweight Division has had seven champions since late 2006. Most of them are or will be UFC Hall of Famers. Georges St-Pierre, a two-division champion thrived mainly in this division. He became champion first in November 2006 by beating Matt Hughes via TKO in Round 1. After becoming champion, he quickly would be upset by Matt Serra, making Matt Serra the new champion. Shocking the world at the time. Georges would become interim champion by beating Matt Hughes again this time by arm-bar submission. UFC 83 Serra St-Pierre 2 would take place in April 2008. This time Georges would win by TKO and reclaim the title. He would make sure to not to let the belt slip away again. Georges would go on to win the next 12 fights in a row claiming one of the greatest UFC title runs of all-time. Is his fight against Johny Hendricks, he would win by split decision. UFC President Dana White was amongst many who felt that Hendricks had beaten St-Pierre but the judges were ‘wrong.’ After the fight, Georges stated he was taking time off before eventually retiring with nine title-defenses. His reign this time lasted from April 2008 until November 2013.

After retiring, St-Pierre would return four years later, this time at middleweight and would beat Michael Bisping to win the UFC Middleweight Championship. After that, he officially retired for good and hasn’t returned since. After St-Pierre retired the first time in 2013, the title would become vacant in December and would remain that way until March 2014 when Johny Hendricks would get a second opportunity at the title. This time Hendricks would fight Robbie Lawler and win by unanimous decision becoming the new UFC Welterweight Champion.

Hendricks and Lawler would rematch in December and this time Lawler would win by split-decision, making Robbie Lawler the new champion. After beating Hendricks in December 2014, he would have two title-defenses against Rory MacDonald and Carlos Condit. Two Epic Fights.

His turn as champion would then come to an end in July 2016, when he was KO’d by Tyron Woodley. Woodley would defend his belt with four title-defenses. winning three of them. He had a majority draw against Stephen Thompson, then would defeat him five months later. He then defeated Demian Maia in one of the worst UFC title fights ever. Then he beat up-and-coming challenger Darren Till.

His run would end in March 2019 when he was rag-dolled by soon-to-be legend Kamaru Usman. Usman would win that fight 50-45 X3 unanimously. Once Usman became champion, he was levels above any other contender that shared the octagon with him. He was the Ultimate Fighter 21 winner and had a 15-fight win streak in the UFC. One win shy of Anderson Silva’s record for most consecutive wins in UFC history. After beating Woodley, he would defend his belt five times. Twice against Covington, twice against Masvidal, and once against former teammate and sparring partner Gilbert Burns.

In August 2022, Usman would fight Leon Edwards for the second time since they fought in December 2015. Kamaru was the heavy favorite and was on his way to another title defense and another unanimous decision victory. A probable 49-46 x3 unanimous victory until the final minute of the 5^th round. At 4:03 in the fifth round, Leon Edwards would land a sneaky head kick out of nowhere to shock the UFC world and the welterweight division. ‘Headshot. Dead.’ UFC commentators Jon Anik, Joe Rogan, and Daniel Cormier were ‘writing his obituaries’ during the final round of the fight. Everyone was counting Leon out, he looked out of it and was feeling sorry for himself. It seemed like he was gassed and looked like he wanted to quit and was mentally defeated. He doesn’t have the nickname ‘Rocky’ for nothing. The big underdog snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat and would become the new UFC Welterweight Champion of the world.

The rematch between the two in March 2023 at UFC 286 was in Edwards’ backyard: London, England. Before, during, and after the fight you could tell Edwards had a completely different energy and confidence. One we hadn’t seen before from him in a long time. The trilogy was great and Edwards would defeat Usman by Majority Decision to defend and solidify his belt. It was the first time in Usman’s career where he looked like the prey instead of the predator. Edwards gameplan was perfect. He attacked Usman at the legs and the body and kept Kamaru off-balance and uncomfortable. After the win, Dana White stated that Colby Covington would be next against Edwards for the belt. Debatable to say the least…

While for Usman, the road ahead is interesting and full of question. For him to get the belt back would take some time and he’s already defeated the majority of top talent contenders in that division already. He won’t be getting Edwards again and, like Max Holloway in the UFC Bantamweight Division, they are the #1 contender and have nowhere to go in that division. They are stuck. An interesting situation for him to consider could come the same way it was for Georges St-Pierre. He could move up to the middleweight division and fight a top contender and have the flash pass right to the front of the line of a title shot in that weight class. The thing is, is that depends of who’s the champion at middleweight. If Adesanya defeats Pereira in the rematch and reclaims his gold then Usman will not fight Adesanya and Kamaru stays at 170. If Pereira defeats Adesanya again then it opens up the door for Usman to try at 185 as well while Adesanya will be stuck. Either way, I think Usman’s next opponent will be either Shavkat Rahkmonov at 170. Or Khamzat Chimaev at either 170 or 185 depending on the results of UFC 287 Adesanya Pereira II in April 2023. Usman did say he wants to turn it around quickly and get a belt opportunity again soon. He was humble in defeat and looks forward to his next adventure, whatever weight class that may be.

Update August 2024:

Kamaru Usman stepped in on 5 days notice at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi to face rising star Khamzat Chimaev in the middleweight division. Khamzat would go on to win by majority decision in a closely tested fight. Khamzat dominated round 1 very easily but gassed out by the end of round 2 and was clearly Kamaru’s round in round 3. If that fight was a five found fight. I think Kamaru would taken it. Nevertheless, Kamaru now is on a three fight losing streak. Once upon a time we had three solidified champions Kamaru, Adesanya, and Volkanovski. Now, Kamaru has lost three in a row, Volk has lost three in a row, and Adesanya has lost the belt twice and lost three of four. It’s been over 10 months since we last saw Usman but I do expect him to get a top tier contender fight again soon now that the championship belt has changed hands once again and Usman is no longer being stuck as a gate keeper in this division.

After being Kamaru Osman to take the belt, then defeating him again in the trilogy to defend. Leon Edwards faced off against undeserving title contender Colby Covington fresh off a year hiatus from being arch-nemesis Jorge Masvidal. Colby took a year off dealing with a legal issue between him and Masvidal and had to handle court issues. When he returned he talked his way back into a title fight and went up against Colby at UFC 296. Leon won every round and made it look embarrassing for Colby since he talked so much junk just to look like a deer in headlights the entire fight and stall out. It wasn’t a great fight but it was Leon who put on an actual fight even taking Colby down a few times. Colby is now 0-3 in title fights and has yet to fight since.

Fast forward to UFC 304 where Leon Edwards is slated face Belal Muhammad in Leon’s hometown Manchester, England. Belal had been a #1 contender for awhile but because he’s the master at going to decision. Not many fans were eager to see him fight for the belt which led to many leapfrogging over him. UFC is a business at the end of the day and needs to sell, so I get it to a degree. Not saying I agree with it.

At UFC 304, the fights were starting around 6 am Manchester time, due to the PPV being the same time in America. The fight went on and Leon looked out of it almost from the start but give credit where credit is due. Belal looked incredible that night and was taking Leon down and controlling him and the fight almost the entire way. Belal would go on to win by unanimous decision to become the new UFC Welterweight Champion, which is where we stand now.

Belal became the first MMA fighter from Palestinian background to win a UFC title. It seems as if another undefeated rising star in Shavkat Rakhmanov is slated to be next for the belt against Belal while Leon and Kamaru’s next fights are still uncertain.