Predict the UFC champions at the end of 2022

[MMC]

We know who the champions are to end 2021, and I thought this would be a fun thread to look back on at the end of next year. If you want, you can also pick champs from other promotions. Here are mine

Heavyweight: Jon Jones: Might be a bit of a reach and there’s plenty of reason to be skeptical but ultimately I think this happens and I think he gets it done)

Light Heavyweight: Glover Texiera: No one else in the division is really that impressive to me, except for maybe Jan who won’t be getting a title fight next year. I’ll just stick with the incumbent.

Middleweight: Israel Adesanya: Just don’t see anyone else is on his level so I can’t pick him to lose the belt. Only way I see it is if he vacated to move to LHW.

Welterweight: Kamaru Usman: Just like Izzy he’s so far ahead of the rest of his weight class that I can’t pick him to lose. I wouldn’t be too shocked if he retires after another fight or two though.

Lightweight: Charles Oliveira: It’s closer than is the case with Usman and Izzy but he’s another guy I don’t see losing his belt anytime soon. Definitely could happen though.

Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez: Wanted to go bold on one of these and this will be it. Never been too high on Volk and this is the guy I think he’s most likely to lose to next year.

Bantamweight: Petr Yan: He’ll get the belt back from Sterling (which could be well into the year given how this has played out) and I don’t see Dillashaw beating him either, though BW is a pretty good division and it won’t be easy. Still see him running the division for another year.

Flyweight: Brandon Moreno: Figgy is the only person I see him potentially losing to, was very tempted to pick him but ultimately decided not to.

Women’s Featherweight: Amanda Nunes: Does Kayla still want to come to the UFC after Amanda’s loss? If not I don’t see anyone good enough to beat her.

Women’s Bantamweight and Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko: Not much left for her to do in Flyweight and I think she’ll see an opportunity here and be granted it. Not convinced Nunes has much of an itch to fight at 135 again soon (or perhaps ever, though I would pick her in a rematch against Pena)

Women’s Strawweight: Rose Namajunas: Like several of my other picks, just don’t see anyone in the division good enough to beat her anytime soon.

Click to read more...

 

[pistolpete11]

Good thread idea.

Heavyweight - I'm going to go with Gane. Francis can put anyone's lights out and it would not shock me for it to be him, but Gane is such a technical and safe striker, great movement, and a true HW in terms of size. I think he's going to be able to pick Francis apart. If he were then to defend his belt in 2022, I don't know who it's against, but he's a tough nut to crack for Jones, Stipe, Blaydes, whoever.

Light Heavyweight - This one is wide open IMO. I could absolutely see Jiri putting Glover's lights out and I could absolutely see Glover slipping a punch and choking him. After that, who knows? Jan, Rakic, Anthony Smith. Have to pick 1, I'll say Jiri. Guy is just so dynamic.

Middleweight - Tough to pick against Izzy. I think Whittaker is his toughest test. Even if he loses to him, they probably do a trilogy, so he'd get another crack at it.

Welterweight - Tough to pick against Usman. Wouldn't be totally shocked if it ended up being Burns, Chimaev, or even Luque, though.

Lightweight - Islam. As good and as dangerous as Oliveira is, he still seems to be vulnerable defensively. Whether that is to a power puncher like Gaethje or the grappling of someone like Islam, he has holes. Islam seems to have it all. That Khabib factor with the wrestling, though maybe not quite as dominant, but better striking and if you listen to Josh Thompson better submissions.

Featherweight - Top of the division here is kind of a mess. Volk is probably the safe bet, but I'm going to say Max out of hope.

Bantamweight - Tough to pick against Yan. Already saw him against Sterling, Aldo, and Sandhagen. TJ is up there in age for the weight class and I don't know what he brings that's all that different than those guys. So yeah, Yan. Would not be surprised with Merab, though.

Flyweight - Moreno. Granite chin, great BJJ, an absolute dog, still young. Don't think he's unbeatable by any means, but I think he picks up a few title defenses.

Women's Featherweight - Harrison. Who knows how Nunes losing effects things, but Harrison is an athletic freak. That was a tough fight for Nunes even before her invincibility was broken. For my dark horse, I'll go with "there isn't a WFW division by the end of 2022". If Harrison signs elsewhere, what's the point of even keeping the division?

Women's Bantamweight - If Nunes is still committed to the fight game, I think she gets her belt back. If not, it's wide open. Pena, GDR, Holm, Viera, Valentina. It could change hands a few times just like when Ronda lost.

Women's Flyweight - Valentina. Her Nunes moment might be coming, but she just seems a little more focused on the fight game than Amanda.

Women's Strawweight - Rose. Weili and JJ are the toughest tests for her and she's beat them both twice, so I don't think either even gets another shot in 2022. Wouldn't be shocked by Rodriguez. She has similar qualities to JJ but without the losses to Rose, so she might get a shot. If I knew Suarez would be healthy, she'd be my pick, but at this point, I'm not sure she's ever going to fight again let alone at SW.

 

[Moncherry]

HW - Whoever wins between Ngannou and Gane. I lean Ngannou.
LHW - Prochazka
MW - Probably still Adesanya. Unless he fights Alex Pereira.
WW - Chimaev of course
LW - Khabib 2.0
FW - Either Volkanovski or Holloway again
BW - Yan
FW - Edit- That was rude. idk.
WFW - Who cares
WBW - Shevchenko if she goes back up
WFW - lol
WSW - Zhang after her fifth title shot

 

[I am not exposed]

We know who the champions are to end 2021, and I thought this would be a fun thread to look back on at the end of next year. If you want, you can also pick champs from other promotions. Here are mine

Heavyweight: Jon Jones: Might be a bit of a reach and there’s plenty of reason to be skeptical but ultimately I think this happens and I think he gets it done)

Light Heavyweight: Glover Texiera: No one else in the division is really that impressive to me, except for maybe Jan who won’t be getting a title fight next year. I’ll just stick with the incumbent.

Middleweight: Israel Adesanya: Just don’t see anyone else is on his level so I can’t pick him to lose the belt. Only way I see it is if he vacated to move to LHW.

Welterweight: Kamaru Usman: Just like Izzy he’s so far ahead of the rest of his weight class that I can’t pick him to lose. I wouldn’t be too shocked if he retires after another fight or two though.

Lightweight: Charles Oliveira: It’s closer than is the case with Usman and Izzy but he’s another guy I don’t see losing his belt anytime soon. Definitely could happen though.

Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez: Wanted to go bold on one of these and this will be it. Never been too high on Volk and this is the guy I think he’s most likely to lose to next year.

Bantamweight: Petr Yan: He’ll get the belt back from Sterling (which could be well into the year given how this has played out) and I don’t see Dillashaw beating him either, though BW is a pretty good division and it won’t be easy. Still see him running the division for another year.

Flyweight: Brandon Moreno: Figgy is the only person I see him potentially losing to, was very tempted to pick him but ultimately decided not to.

Women’s Featherweight: Amanda Nunes: Does Kayla still want to come to the UFC after Amanda’s loss? If not I don’t see anyone good enough to beat her.

Women’s Bantamweight and Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko: Not much left for her to do in Flyweight and I think she’ll see an opportunity here and be granted it. Not convinced Nunes has much of an itch to fight at 135 again soon (or perhaps ever, though I would pick her in a rematch against Pena)

Women’s Strawweight: Rose Namajunas: Like several of my other picks, just don’t see anyone in the division good enough to beat her anytime soon.

That is such a strange take because I think the top 7 or so in that division are pretty interchangeable in terms of talent. No one really stands out as being the dominant force imo. On their day, anyone in the top 7 could be beat anyone else. And I don't mean like a shock result that we saw with the Nunes result last night.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

HW- Jones: I think Gane beats Ngannou and then Jones defeats Gane in a midsummer PPV
LHW- Stipe: What the hell why not? He hinted at possibly dropping down on a recent MMA Hour and only weighed 234lbs for his fight with Francis I think he can make that transition.
MW- Izzy: Only other name is maybe Cannonier beating Brunson and taking out Izzy later this year but I doubt it.
WW- Chimaev: He's getting fast tracked and I can see Usman stepping away after he eventually takes out Edwards this spring.
LW- Oliviera: I know the hype around Islam but he is not Khabib and I can see him getting derailed at some point either by Dariush or Charles.
FW- Volk: Tentative about this one... Like someone said this whole division is kind of a cluster you know what. Maybe Giga can be knocking on the door by years end?
BW- Merab: Yan walks over Aljo this spring and his teammate rises from the depths of Georgia to avenge his fallen friend.
FW- France: Pure recency bias and just to pick a random name. He looked great last night still think he needs another fight to get the shot but he could.

 

[Chaels Arms]

HW: Gane. I don't think Jones and Dana are ever going to come to terms on a HW championship bout.
LHW: Prochazka.
MW: Izzy.
WW: Usman. I think Usman fights twice in 2022 then retires next year. I think he beats Chimaev.
LW: Oliveira. I think his striking game is good enough to cause problems for Dariush and Islam who are both more one dimensional than Oliveira.
FW: Holloway. I think Holloway takes the belt from Volk and defends it against everyone in that division.
BW: Figuereido. I think he loses to Moreno than moves up. He is one of the few people in the UFC who can bang with Yan.
FW: Askarov.

 

[CDJ]

265- Francis
205- Prochazka
185- Israel (wanted to put Chimaev, don’t know if he will have time though)
170- Chimaev
155- Islam (hoping gaethje tho)
145- Volkanovski
135- Yan
125- Askarov

145- Harrison
135- Valentina
125- Valentina
115- Rodriguez

 

[I am not exposed]

265- Francis
205- Prochazka
185- Israel (wanted to put Chimaev, don’t know if he will have time though)
170- Chimaev
155- Islam (hoping gaethje tho)
145- Volkanovski
135- Yan
125- Askarov

145- Harrison
135- Nunes
125- Valentina
115- Rodriguez

Pretty much agree with this. The one I'm least certain about is LHW for the men's for reasons mentioned before in this thread. And I changed Nunes for the 135. I think she gets it back. Unfortunately.

 

[16Skippy]

HW - Francis.
LW - Prochazka. This division was hard to pick but I had to have at least a few changeovers
MW - Izzy
WW - Usman
LW - Oliveria
Feather - Holloway
BW - Yan
Fly - Askarov. Same as LW

Feather - Kayla I guess? If the division even exists.
BW - Irene Aldana. Just a hunch but I think Nunes is done and the belt is going to bounce around for a while.
Fly- Valentina
SW - Rose

 

[m9]

265 - Cyril Gane. To me, this comes down to who you think wins next month and it's a coin-flip to me. I'll go Gane though.

205 - Jiri Prochazka. He will clearly be favoured over Glover when they fight next year, and the fight isn't even scheduled yet. He also doesn't fight that often, so maybe he gets one more fight in next year, at most? I'll take those odds.

185 - Israel Adesanya. Not much to say here.

170 - Kamaru Usman. Wanted to get a bit cute here as I think there's a chance he takes a break or walks away for a bit.. but I'll go with the most likely scenario.

155 - Charles Oliveira. This comes down to timing for me again here. I think he'll be in a coin-flip with Gaethje but that fight will likely be months way still. So will he get that 2nd fight in there? Gaethje & Makhachev are really the only other answers to me. My sneaky pick if you give me odds? Max Holloway.

145 - Alex Volkanovski. Will they do the 3rd Max fight next? I don't know. I'm going safe here.

135 - Petr Yan. I can't pick Sterling to beat him. I don't think Aldo will beat him. So maybe Dillashaw is the only other option if they fight later in 2022? I want to be creative here, but I just don't see it.

125 - Deiveson Figueiredo. My picks have been pretty chalky, so I'll switch it up here. He wins the rematch and then defends one or two more times next yera.

145W - Amanda Nunes. This is just purely an odds play for me. I think Harrison is now a slight favorite for this fight, but since it's not confirmed she's signing with the UFC yet I think Nunes is the safer pick.

135W - Amanda Nunes. They probably do the rematch next, and Nunes will be a big favorite. I think if/when she wins, that 3rd fight probably doesn't happen until 2023.

125W - Valentina Shevchenko. Obviously.

115W - Rose Namajunas. I think Esparza gets the next fight and I like Rose there. Not going to go too much futher ahead than that.

 

[its josh]

Heavyweight: Gane

Light Heavyweight:Procházka

Middleweight: Whittaker

Welterweight: Kamaru Usman

Lightweight: Gaethje

Featherweight: Volkanovski

Bantamweight: Dillashaw

Flyweight: Brandon Moreno

Women’s Featherweight: Nunes

Women’s Bantamweight Nunes

Women's Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko

Women’s Strawweight: Rose Namajunas

 

[MMC]

How did you guys do? For purposes of this thread, if you picked Prochazka at LHW, you can count it as a W

 

[MMC]

We know who the champions are to end 2021, and I thought this would be a fun thread to look back on at the end of next year. If you want, you can also pick champs from other promotions. Here are mine

Heavyweight: Jon Jones: Might be a bit of a reach and there’s plenty of reason to be skeptical but ultimately I think this happens and I think he gets it done)

Light Heavyweight: Glover Texiera: No one else in the division is really that impressive to me, except for maybe Jan who won’t be getting a title fight next year. I’ll just stick with the incumbent.

Middleweight: Israel Adesanya: Just don’t see anyone else is on his level so I can’t pick him to lose the belt. Only way I see it is if he vacated to move to LHW.

Welterweight: Kamaru Usman: Just like Izzy he’s so far ahead of the rest of his weight class that I can’t pick him to lose. I wouldn’t be too shocked if he retires after another fight or two though.

Lightweight: Charles Oliveira: It’s closer than is the case with Usman and Izzy but he’s another guy I don’t see losing his belt anytime soon. Definitely could happen though.

Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez: Wanted to go bold on one of these and this will be it. Never been too high on Volk and this is the guy I think he’s most likely to lose to next year.

Bantamweight: Petr Yan: He’ll get the belt back from Sterling (which could be well into the year given how this has played out) and I don’t see Dillashaw beating him either, though BW is a pretty good division and it won’t be easy. Still see him running the division for another year.

Flyweight: Brandon Moreno: Figgy is the only person I see him potentially losing to, was very tempted to pick him but ultimately decided not to.

Women’s Featherweight: Amanda Nunes: Does Kayla still want to come to the UFC after Amanda’s loss? If not I don’t see anyone good enough to beat her.

Women’s Bantamweight and Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko: Not much left for her to do in Flyweight and I think she’ll see an opportunity here and be granted it. Not convinced Nunes has much of an itch to fight at 135 again soon (or perhaps ever, though I would pick her in a rematch against Pena)

Women’s Strawweight: Rose Namajunas: Like several of my other picks, just don’t see anyone in the division good enough to beat her anytime soon.

Well, I did terrible, but I only started following MMA consistently midway through 2021 so this is about expected I guess, lol. Only ones I got right were Nunes at WFW and Shevchenko and WFLW

 

[pistolpete11]

Good thread idea.

Heavyweight - I'm going to go with Gane. Francis can put anyone's lights out and it would not shock me for it to be him, but Gane is such a technical and safe striker, great movement, and a true HW in terms of size. I think he's going to be able to pick Francis apart. If he were then to defend his belt in 2022, I don't know who it's against, but he's a tough nut to crack for Jones, Stipe, Blaydes, whoever.

Light Heavyweight - This one is wide open IMO. I could absolutely see Jiri putting Glover's lights out and I could absolutely see Glover slipping a punch and choking him. After that, who knows? Jan, Rakic, Anthony Smith. Have to pick 1, I'll say Jiri. Guy is just so dynamic.

Middleweight - Tough to pick against Izzy. I think Whittaker is his toughest test. Even if he loses to him, they probably do a trilogy, so he'd get another crack at it.

Welterweight - Tough to pick against Usman. Wouldn't be totally shocked if it ended up being Burns, Chimaev, or even Luque, though.

Lightweight - Islam. As good and as dangerous as Oliveira is, he still seems to be vulnerable defensively. Whether that is to a power puncher like Gaethje or the grappling of someone like Islam, he has holes. Islam seems to have it all. That Khabib factor with the wrestling, though maybe not quite as dominant, but better striking and if you listen to Josh Thompson better submissions.

Featherweight - Top of the division here is kind of a mess. Volk is probably the safe bet, but I'm going to say Max out of hope.

Bantamweight - Tough to pick against Yan. Already saw him against Sterling, Aldo, and Sandhagen. TJ is up there in age for the weight class and I don't know what he brings that's all that different than those guys. So yeah, Yan. Would not be surprised with Merab, though.

Flyweight - Moreno. Granite chin, great BJJ, an absolute dog, still young. Don't think he's unbeatable by any means, but I think he picks up a few title defenses.

Women's Featherweight - Harrison. Who knows how Nunes losing effects things, but Harrison is an athletic freak. That was a tough fight for Nunes even before her invincibility was broken. For my dark horse, I'll go with "there isn't a WFW division by the end of 2022". If Harrison signs elsewhere, what's the point of even keeping the division?

Women's Bantamweight - If Nunes is still committed to the fight game, I think she gets her belt back. If not, it's wide open. Pena, GDR, Holm, Viera, Valentina. It could change hands a few times just like when Ronda lost.

Women's Flyweight - Valentina. Her Nunes moment might be coming, but she just seems a little more focused on the fight game than Amanda.

Women's Strawweight - Rose. Weili and JJ are the toughest tests for her and she's beat them both twice, so I don't think either even gets another shot in 2022. Wouldn't be shocked by Rodriguez. She has similar qualities to JJ but without the losses to Rose, so she might get a shot. If I knew Suarez would be healthy, she'd be my pick, but at this point, I'm not sure she's ever going to fight again let alone at SW.

If you're giving me Jiri, I got Jiri, Islam, Nunes, and Valentina. Woof.

In my (and most of our) defense, Izzy and Usman were well on their way to retaining.

I picked with my heart when I said Max over Volk.

 

[m9]

265 - Cyril Gane. To me, this comes down to who you think wins next month and it's a coin-flip to me. I'll go Gane though.

205 - Jiri Prochazka. He will clearly be favoured over Glover when they fight next year, and the fight isn't even scheduled yet. He also doesn't fight that often, so maybe he gets one more fight in next year, at most? I'll take those odds.

185 - Israel Adesanya. Not much to say here.

170 - Kamaru Usman. Wanted to get a bit cute here as I think there's a chance he takes a break or walks away for a bit.. but I'll go with the most likely scenario.

155 - Charles Oliveira. This comes down to timing for me again here. I think he'll be in a coin-flip with Gaethje but that fight will likely be months way still. So will he get that 2nd fight in there? Gaethje & Makhachev are really the only other answers to me. My sneaky pick if you give me odds? Max Holloway.

145 - Alex Volkanovski. Will they do the 3rd Max fight next? I don't know. I'm going safe here.

135 - Petr Yan. I can't pick Sterling to beat him. I don't think Aldo will beat him. So maybe Dillashaw is the only other option if they fight later in 2022? I want to be creative here, but I just don't see it.

125 - Deiveson Figueiredo. My picks have been pretty chalky, so I'll switch it up here. He wins the rematch and then defends one or two more times next yera.

145W - Amanda Nunes. This is just purely an odds play for me. I think Harrison is now a slight favorite for this fight, but since it's not confirmed she's signing with the UFC yet I think Nunes is the safer pick.

135W - Amanda Nunes. They probably do the rematch next, and Nunes will be a big favorite. I think if/when she wins, that 3rd fight probably doesn't happen until 2023.

125W - Valentina Shevchenko. Obviously.

115W - Rose Namajunas. I think Esparza gets the next fight and I like Rose there. Not going to go too much futher ahead than that.

Eh, got burned being a bit chalky here but Nunes/Figgy getting their belts back helps. So 5 plus Jiri.

HW - Whoever wins between Ngannou and Gane. I lean Ngannou.
LHW - Prochazka
MW - Probably still Adesanya. Unless he fights Alex Pereira.
WW - Chimaev of course
LW - Khabib 2.0
FW - Either Volkanovski or Holloway again
BW - Yan
FW - Edit- That was rude. idk.
WFW - Who cares
WBW - Shevchenko if she goes back up
WFW - lol
WSW - Zhang after her fifth title shot

This is like a super lazy rough draft of an absolutely genius prediction. I like it

 

[CDJ]

265- Francis
205- Prochazka
185- Israel (wanted to put Chimaev, don’t know if he will have time though)
170- Chimaev
155- Islam (hoping gaethje tho)
145- Volkanovski
135- Yan
125- Askarov

145- Harrison
135- Valentina
125- Valentina
115- Rodriguez

Got 5 right

 

[Chaels Arms]

Just Jiri so I get half a point.

 

[pistolpete11]

Just Jiri so I get half a point.

Respect for not taking the gimmies of Valentina and Nunes, though . That's half of what I got.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Oh man I was awful just Volk for me lol

 

[m9]

We doing this for 2023? I think most of us could use a second chance at this exercise.

 

[pistolpete11]

We doing this for 2023? I think most of us could use a second chance at this exercise.

Predict the UFC champions at the end of 2023

Better luck this year, everybody.

forums.hfboards.com

Good luck.

 

[16Skippy]

HW - Francis.
LW - Prochazka. This division was hard to pick but I had to have at least a few changeovers
MW - Izzy
WW - Usman
LW - Oliveria
Feather - Holloway
BW - Yan
Fly - Askarov. Same as LW

Feather - Kayla I guess? If the division even exists.
BW - Irene Aldana. Just a hunch but I think Nunes is done and the belt is going to bounce around for a while.
Fly- Valentina
SW - Rose

Yikes maybe it's good thing for me they banned betting in Ontario!