Islam Makhachev holds the UFC welterweight title at 29-1-0 and defends it against Carlos Prates at UFC 336 on 30 January 2027. Prates is the division's number one at 24-7-0, and a finish rate of 92% is the highest among the top five.
The champion arrives on the back of a five-round unanimous decision over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in August.
UFC welterweight rankings: Makhachev, Prates and the top five
Makhachev is 34. Prates is 33 and Brazilian, and he reaches the title fight with a 92% career finish rate. Machado Garry sits second at 17-2-0 and is 28, with Michael Morales third, unbeaten at 19-0-0 and 27. Jack Della Maddalena is fourth at 18-4-0.
Further down, Sean Brady is fifth and Gabriel Bonfim sixth. Both are on the 7 November card, UFC Fight Night: Bonfim vs. Brady.
| Rank | Fighter | Record |
|---|---|---|
| C | Islam Makhachev | 29-1-0 |
| 1 | Carlos Prates | 24-7-0 |
| 2 | Ian Machado Garry | 17-2-0 |
| 3 | Michael Morales | 19-0-0 |
| 4 | Jack Della Maddalena | 18-4-0 |
| 5 | Sean Brady | 19-2-0 |
| 6 | Gabriel Bonfim | 20-1-0 |
| 7 | Belal Muhammad | 24-6-0, 1 NC |
| 8 | Joaquin Buckley | 21-9-0 |
| 9 | Uroš Medić | 14-3-0 |
| 10 | Leon Edwards | 22-6-0, 1 NC |
| 11 | Mike Malott | 15-2-1 |
| 12 | Kamaru Usman | 21-5-0 |
| 13 | Yaroslav Amosov | 30-1-0 |
| 14 | Kevin Holland | 29-15-0, 1 NC |
| 15 | Daniel Rodriguez | 20-6-0 |
The UFC welterweight champion: what Makhachev has done here
The last title fight was UFC 330 on 15 August 2026. Makhachev beat Machado Garry by unanimous decision over five rounds, a result that left Machado Garry second in the rankings.
Nobody in the top 15 moved in the latest ranking update. The champion's record is 29-1-0, and only Yaroslav Amosov, 13th at 30-1-0, shows more wins among the ranked fighters, with Kevin Holland level with Makhachev on 29.
What the last 12 months looked like
The division produced 57 bouts in the last 12 months and 29 of them ended in a finish.
The most recent result is the sharpest. On 17 October, Mike Malott, ranked 11th, stopped eighth-ranked Joaquin Buckley with a knee in round two at UFC Fight Night: Buckley vs. Malott. At UFC 332 on 3 October Jacobe Smith finished Bruce Whitehead by TKO in round one, and Eric Nolan finished Court McGee in round three.
Outside the rankings the results kept coming. Niko Price stopped Leon Shahbazyan with punches in round one at UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Duncan on 10 October, and Roberto Soldic beat Khaos Williams by unanimous decision at UFC 332. At UFC 330 Jeremiah Wells submitted Myktybek Orolbai with a guillotine choke in round three, and Neil Magny stopped Ramiz Brahimaj by TKO in round two on the same card.
The lower half of the table is experienced. Leon Edwards is 35, Kamaru Usman and Daniel Rodriguez are 39, and Belal Muhammad is 38 with the lowest career finish rate in the top 15 at 25%.
What is booked at welterweight
The headline is the title fight: Makhachev vs. Prates, UFC 336, 30 Jan 2027. Before that, the division has the 7 November card named for Bonfim and Brady, and a Fight Night on 31 October that includes Randy Brown against Jacobe Smith.
Makhachev has already beaten the division's second-ranked fighter this year. Prates, first in the rankings, is the one who gets his chance, with Machado Garry and the unbeaten Morales next in line behind them.
In this story
This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.