Predict the UFC champions at the end of 2024

[I am not exposed]

I did pretty terrible last year. Only got 3 right.


Anyway here are my predictions in bold for the end of 2024.

HW - Jones is going to fight Stipe around September and he will breeze to an easy victory over him. He will then retire, which will mean Aspinall will be the Heavyweight belt holder by the end of the year 2024. An utter joke tbh. Stipe should fight Aspinall and then the winner should fight Jones when he comes back.
LHW - I think Pereira is too one dimensional for this division and Hill gets the belt back.
MW - Strickland loses to DDP. And Adesanya comes back and beats DDP.
WW - Belal Muhammad actually beats Leon. But there isn't quite enough time in the year for Shavkat to fight for the belt.
LW - Sticking with Islam Makhachev. But he has some potential tough fights coming up.
FW - Holloway. Topuria is hungry and beats Volk who is starting to get on a bit. Plus he got knocked out in his last fight. But Holloway overwhelms Topuria to win at the end of the year.
BW - I don't think O'Malley stays as the champion for long, but he will squeak out a decision win against Vera. This might be the hardest division to predict, I think Cejudo beats Merab, and then he beats O'Malley.
FW - I guess Pantoja.
WBW - Mayro Silva. But I'm just guessing.
WFW - Shevchenko should have won the second fight. Blew it big time. So sticking with Grasso.
WSW - Weili looked really good in her last fight. Although if anyone is on PEDs, it is her.

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[pistolpete11]

OK, I'm going to try this year.



HW - Aspinall is probably the safe bet with Jones likely to retire.

LHW - I'm going to stick with my pick from last year even though it was wrong. Ankalaev. I just don't think many in the division can handle the wrestling, but he seems to keep shooting himself in the foot every chance he gets, so.

MW - This is a tough one to me. I don't think Strickland or DDP are good bets to hold onto the belt for long. I think Izzy could get another title shot (whether deserved or not) especially if DDP beats Strickland, but I also think it's possible Izzy is just past it at this point. He's 34, has had a long combat sports career, and is semi retired. I'm going to go with Chimaev. I think the hype train has slowed down a bit and I do wonder how not being able to travel to certain places affects things for him, but I think he's in his prime, he's dynamic, and the UFC will do what they can to get him into a title shot because he's exciting.

WW - Shavkat.

LW - I'm going to go with Arman. He fought Islam tough in their first fight. It was his first fight in the UFC in 2019 and he was only like 23 or something like that. Not that Islam is old or anything at 32, but the leap you can make from 23 to 28 is bigger than the leap you can make from 27 to 32. Could be like Edwards-Usman.

FW - Topuria. 35 at FW coming off a bad KO loss is a tough place to be. If there's a guy that do it, it is Volk, but I also think Topuria is a killer coming into his prime.

BW - Another tough one. I could see any of the top 6 or 7 guys, but it seems like we are going towards O'Malley-Chito and Merab-Cejudo winners fighting. So I'll just pick one of them and say Merab.

FLW - I don't know that there is a division I've ever had less of a read on. So I'll just stick with Pantoja.

WBW - Who knows. MBS, I guess.

WFLW - Blanchfield. She's already so good and she's only 24.

WSW - I'm going to guess Suarez. They are essentially the same age, but Weili has more miles on her. Weili is strong and can grapple, but Suarez's size, strength, and wrestling is on a different level than say...Esparza's.

 

[CDJ]

265- Aspinall

205- Pereira

185- Khamzat

170- Shavkat

155- my long shot pick- Benoit St Denis. Idk if he’ll be able to climb that fast, he’s going to have trouble finding a next fight. Really strong everywhere and mega durable.

145- Volk beats Topuria and then idk what he does or who he fights after

135- Merab

125- Moreno

W135- MBS

W125- we’re gonna get Blanchfield vs Fiorot and it will be great. I’ll go Blanchfield

W115- Tatiana

 

[Taytro]

Last year I was a little bit contrarian and didn't do so hot. This year I will try to be more civilized.

HW - Jones - he will fight Stipe at the mid point or 2nd half of 2024. He will win, and he will take the belt into 2024 without giving Aspinall a chance.

LHW - Ankalaev - a draw then a NC have stalled him but I think he's the best 205er currently and should run through Walker before getting another title shot.

MW - DDP - He has the style to bully and back up Strickland, no idea who

WW - Shavkat - Sleeper pick is Islam based on what he said at 296 but Shavkhat will claim his rightful place on top of the 170s. Everything he's done so far has looked effortless.

LW - Islam - if he doesn't move up to 170, I can't see anyone challenging him. Especially if they put Charles in there again to start the year.

FW - Volk - He's getting older, took a bump, and has a tough test to start the year but I think he's still the best at FW for 2024. My sleeper here would be Arnold Allen just because I like the guy.

BW - Chito - can't bet on Sean to fight more than once a year and I don't want to pick him so I'll take the only guy he's scheduled to fight.

FLW - Moreno - He fights Albazi early in the year, should be a title eliminator. I think he's capable of beating Pantoja late in 2024.

WBW - Rocky - not particularly impressed by anyone here but Rocky always seems to find a way to win. I'll take her over MBS.

WFLW - Fiorot - unfortunately I don't think Valentina gets another shot or else I'd pick her. I think whoever fights Grasso next probably beats her so I'm guessing Fiorot is close.

WSW - Weili - Suarez is a good option but other than that I think Weili has the division on lock.

 

[m9]

I'm going to cheat and wait until they announce some more fights in the next couple of weeks

 

[m9]

HW - Aspinall & Jones the obvious options. I think my picks will be pretty chalky with current champs the rest of the way, so give me Aspinall here.

205 - I want to pick someone else, but since we have no idea what fights are coming up I'll stick with the champ Pereira.

185 - This could be the wackiest division of the year. Belt might get defended 3 times. Could see a scenario where DDP beats Strickland, Izzy beats, DDP, then Strickland beats Izzy. So it all comes back around and the champ is still Strickland.

170 - I really like Edwards over Belal. I do think Shavkat beats Leon, but since Edwards is pretty inactive I think that doesn't get booked until early 2025 so I'll go Edwards

155 - Islam

145 - I will likely pick Topuria to beat Volk, but I also think they'll do an immediate rematch. Playing the odds that if he gets two cracks he'll win one, so going Volk

135 - I don't think the UFC will be in any rush to give Merab a shot. I'll pick O'Malley to beat Vera and I'm not looking ahead any further than that

125 - Pantoja

W135 - MBS seems like the obvious answer. Could see this go a few ways, though. Shevchenko moving up and winning this belt would be my sneaky choice.

W125 - Will go a bit off the board here with a former champ, Shevchenko. I think she'll beat Grasso when they fight again and then who knows on a timeline.

W115 - Weili

 

[Bunk Moreland]

HW- Aspinall: He'll stay active while they wait for the eventual retirement fight for Jones/Stipe and they'll just elevate who ever is interim to the full title holder.

LHW- Pereira: I didn't really want to pick him but there's too much chaos in this division I can see him fighting Hill end of the spring and then I have no idea what comes next. A rematch with Jiri is he beats rakic?

MW- Chimaev: I can see them pushing him and have him fight a cannonier high ranking type and him get a title shot off one fight like that. This one is going to be wrong but idc.

WW- Shavkat: I hate jumping on the bandwagon here but nobody really stands out besides him.

LW- Islam but I'm hoping it's Tsarukyan of Gaethje

FW- Volk

BW- Merab: I think Chito beats O'Malley and eventually this summer Merab gets his shot after beating CCC.

FLY- Kape: another shot in the dark here. He beats Nicolau then gets another big name this spring/summer he could get a shot.

WSW- Weili

WFW- Blanchfield

WBW- MBS

 

[pistolpete11]

Is it too late to change my Chimaev pic? Those pictures of him don't look great. I thought his health issues were behind him, but now it's just another hurdle he'd have to clear to win a belt.

 

[CDJ]

Is it too late to change my Chimaev pic? Those pictures of him don't look great. I thought his health issues were behind him, but now it's just another hurdle he'd have to clear to win a belt.

i read somewhere that the pic was from before the Usman

 

[bov]

HW-Almeida
LHW-Ankalaev
MW-Chimaev
WW-Rakhmonov
LW-Makhachev
FW-Holloway
BW-Cejudo/Merab winner
FLY-Moreno

WBW-Pena
WFLY-Blanchfield
WSW-Zhang