UFC Welterweight Top 10: The Best 170lb Fighters in 2026

UFC welterweight rankings 2026 open a new chapter at 170 pounds, and it begins with a name that would not have topped this list a year ago: Islam Makhachev. The man widely regarded as the greatest lightweight in UFC history moved up a division, dethroned Jack Della Maddalena, and now sits on the welterweight throne. Below the champion, the division remains the deepest and most ruthlessly competitive weight class in mixed martial arts, where any fighter in the top ten can derail another’s title run on a single night.

Last updated: June 15, 2026 — refreshed to reflect the current champion, Gabriel Bonfim’s rise, and Belal Muhammad’s June loss.

Here is our updated top 10 of the best 170lb fighters in 2026, ranked on recent form, finishing ability, championship credentials, and the capacity to deliver when the stakes are highest.

What Makes the UFC Welterweight Division Special in 2026?

At Unicorn Blogger, we keep coming back to one conclusion about welterweight: no other division punishes a bad night quite like this one. The talent is stacked so tightly between ranks one and fifteen that a fighter can win four in a row and still be told to wait. That logjam is exactly what makes 170 pounds the most compelling weight class in the sport right now. You have elite wrestlers, volume strikers, submission hunters, and complete mixed martial artists all occupying the same few rungs, and the stylistic clashes between them rarely produce a dull result.

The headline storyline of 2026 is the arrival of a two-division force. Makhachev vacated the lightweight title he had ruled for years and, according to ESPN’s 2026 MMA Rank panel, became one of only two fighters — alongside Ilia Topuria — to enter the year as a freshly minted champion in a brand-new division. The catch, and the conversation that dominates every welterweight discussion this summer, is activity: the champion has not defended the belt since taking it, leaving the contenders to settle the pecking order among themselves. For more on why title shots increasingly reward the busiest fighters rather than the loudest, see our take on activity over hype in the UFC title race.

For the official, panel-set rankings and the latest fight cards, the UFC’s official website remains the authoritative source ahead of every event. Our list below is Unicorn Blogger’s own assessment, which weighs recent form a little more heavily than the official media panel does.

UFC Welterweight Rankings 2026: Our Top 10

Our Welterweight Verdict

Our honest read at Unicorn Blogger is that the belt sits with the most complete fighter in the division, but the queue behind him is more crowded than at any point in recent memory. We count at least six men with a legitimate argument for the next title shot, and the tiebreaker will not be reputation — it will be who keeps winning while the champion sits. The fighter willing to take the toughest available bout, rather than wait for the perfect one, is the one we expect to leap the line.

1. Islam Makhachev (Champion, 28-1) — The reigning welterweight king and a former long-reigning lightweight champion. His positional wrestling and suffocating top control translated immediately to 170 pounds, and his unanimous-decision win over Della Maddalena confirmed he is a problem nobody in the division has yet solved. The only knock heading into the second half of 2026 is inactivity.
2. Jack Della Maddalena (18-2) — The Australian lost the belt to Makhachev but remains the clear number-one contender. His knockout power, fight IQ and willingness to trade in the pocket make him dangerous against anyone, and a rematch with the champion is the most natural title fight the division can make.
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov — Still unbeaten as a professional and still the contender most opponents would prefer to avoid. His finishing ability across every phase keeps him at the sharp end of the rankings, and a clean run of form would force the champion’s hand.
4. Ian Machado Garry — Garry’s striking accuracy, range management and footwork have carried him into the upper tier of the division, with Fight Minds noting his rise into the welterweight top three after his most recent win. His confidence is backed by genuine, high-level performance.
5. Leon Edwards — The former champion remains, in ESPN’s words, firmly in the mix among the division’s leading names. His technical evolution and championship rounds experience mean he is one or two wins from another title conversation.
6. Kamaru Usman — The former pound-for-pound mainstay continues to rate highly on data-driven systems such as the independent Elo rankings, a reflection of the sheer quality of his back catalogue and his refusal to fade quietly from the contender picture.
7. Gabriel Bonfim (20-1) — The division’s hottest fighter. According to ESPN’s divisional rankings, the 28-year-old Brazilian climbed from number 10 to number 7 after sweeping former champion Belal Muhammad across all five rounds in June 2026 — his fifth straight victory. If he keeps finishing and out-pointing ranked opponents, he is a title eliminator away from the very top.
8. Belal Muhammad — A former champion whose grinding pressure still makes him a nightmare match-up, even coming off the June loss to Bonfim. He drops a few places but remains firmly inside the elite at 170.
9. Michael Morales — The unbeaten Ecuadorian has steadily climbed the ladder with a string of finishes and decisions over established names, and at his age he represents one of the division’s highest-ceiling prospects.
10. Sean Brady — A relentless wrestling-and-pace specialist who can impose his game on almost anyone in the division. His form keeps forcing his name into the title-picture conversation.

Gabriel Bonfim: The Division’s Most In-Form Contender

If you want to understand where the welterweight division is heading, watch Bonfim. He entered his June 2026 bout on the bottom fringe of the rankings and left it as a genuine top-seven contender, having beaten a former champion without dropping a round on any judge’s card. ESPN reported he moved his professional record to 20-1 with that win, extending a five-fight streak that has been built on exactly the kind of dominance that earns title shots. Fight records and the quality of his recent opposition can be tracked at Tapology’s database.

The contrast with the champion’s inactivity is stark. While Makhachev waits, fighters like Bonfim are settling the contender hierarchy in the cage, and a sustained run of decisive results — the kind explained in our breakdown of how MMA scoring actually works — is the surest route to the front of the queue.

Fights That Could Shake Up the 2026 UFC Welterweight Rankings

Rankings at 170 are never static for long, and a single finish can reorder the entire division overnight. The obvious headline is the champion’s first defence: a Makhachev–Della Maddalena rematch would settle whether the inaugural meeting was a true gap in class or a night the Australian can correct. Either way, it is the fight the division is built around right now.

Beneath that, the matchmaking writes itself. A Bonfim bout against any top-five name would function as a title eliminator and tell us whether his June breakthrough was a ceiling or a launch pad. A Rakhmonov fight against Garry or Edwards would pit unbeaten menace against polished, proven championship pedigree — one of the most compelling stylistic puzzles the division can offer. And the lurking variable, as always, is activity: every month the belt stays idle, the pressure grows for the UFC to either book a defence or strip the picture clear.

For the wider context of how these welterweights stack up against the best fighters on the entire roster, see our UFC pound-for-pound rankings for 2026, and for the longer view on the sport’s biggest names, our list of the most famous MMA fighters of all time puts the current era in perspective.

Key Takeaways

Here is what to remember about the UFC welterweight rankings in 2026:

1. Islam Makhachev is the reigning welterweight champion after beating Jack Della Maddalena, making him a rare two-division UFC titleholder.
2. The biggest question mark hanging over the division is the champion’s inactivity, with no title defence booked since he won the belt.
3. Gabriel Bonfim is the division’s hottest riser, jumping to number seven on ESPN’s list after a dominant June win over former champion Belal Muhammad.
4. Della Maddalena, Rakhmonov, Garry and Edwards form a deep and dangerous contender tier, any of whom could headline the next title fight.
5. With the ranks so tightly packed, the 2026 welterweight picture will shift significantly as ranked fighters meet and produce decisive results.

How Unicorn Blogger Builds These Rankings

Our welterweight order is not a copy of the official UFC list, which is set by a media panel and can lag behind the latest results. We weight four things: current form and win streaks, the quality of opposition beaten, finishing ability, and proven performance in championship-level fights. Where the data systems disagree with the eye test, we say so plainly rather than splitting the difference. For readers who want the panel’s official view alongside ours, ESPN’s divisional rankings are refreshed after every event and remain the cleanest public benchmark for tracking week-to-week movement at 170 pounds.

That methodology is exactly why a fighter like Gabriel Bonfim can jump several places on our board the moment he sweeps a former champion, while a long-inactive name slowly drifts down it regardless of reputation. In a division this deep, recency is everything: the welterweight who looked untouchable six months ago is only ever one bad night away from being hunted down by the pack behind him. We would rather be honest about momentum than protect a ranking that recent fights have already disproven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the UFC welterweight champion in 2026?

Islam Makhachev is the UFC welterweight champion in 2026. He moved up from lightweight and beat Jack Della Maddalena by unanimous decision in November 2025 to claim the 170-pound title, becoming a two-division UFC champion.

Who is the top contender in the UFC welterweight division?

Jack Della Maddalena is the clear number-one contender as the man who most recently held the belt, with Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry close behind. A Makhachev–Della Maddalena rematch is the most logical next title fight.

Why hasn’t the welterweight champion defended the title?

As of mid-2026 Makhachev has not yet booked a title defence, leaving the belt inactive while contenders sort out the pecking order in the cage. The lack of a scheduled defence is the single biggest talking point in the division this year.

Which welterweight fighter is in the best form in 2026?

Gabriel Bonfim has arguably the best momentum of any welterweight in 2026. Per ESPN, he climbed from number 10 to number 7 in the rankings after a five-round shutout of former champion Belal Muhammad, his fifth consecutive victory and a result that moved his record to 20-1.

The welterweight division will keep evolving through 2026 as title fights are made and contenders rise and fall. Track every shift through the MMA section on Unicorn Blogger. Who do you have as the biggest threat to Makhachev’s reign — the proven Della Maddalena, the unbeaten Rakhmonov, or the surging Bonfim? Drop your pick below.