Who Ends 2027 as UFC Champ? Every Division Ranked + Our Futures Bets

No card, no Contender Series, no problem. With DWCS wrapped for the year, Olin and Pip went live on a Wednesday for a special edition of The MMAnomaly Show with one question on the table: who is wearing UFC gold on Dec. 31, 2027? They went through every division, women first and then the men from heavyweight down, picked a champion for each and put real futures money on the men's divisions at a fifth of a unit per ticket. DraftKings doesn't offer women's futures yet, which Olin learned that very day, so those picks are for bragging rights only. Here is how the hosts see every division shaking out, and the long-shot tickets that could cash next December.

Women's Divisions

Women's Bantamweight

Pip called it maybe the most stacked division in the UFC, and the timing makes it wide open. Kayla Harrison defends against Amanda Nunes at UFC 334, and both hosts expect a double retirement afterward. Nunes has said she will go back into retirement win or lose, and Harrison has all but called it her last fight. Breaking news landed mid-show, too: Joselyne Edwards will be the backup fighter for the title fight.

Pip went with Ailín Pérez, who is on a seven-fight win streak and already beat Edwards by decision in 2024. He could see Pérez vs. Edwards 2 for a vacant belt. Olin went with the woman on the thumbnail, Luana Santos. She has been on a tear since her 2024 decision loss to Casey O'Neill, including a win over Tainara Lisboa, and that Americana on Lisboa at the end of round two was close to flawless. She meets Yana Santos this Saturday. Olin also gave a nod to Norma Dumont as a bounce-back candidate.

Our picks: Pip, Ailín Pérez. Olin, Luana Santos.

Women's Flyweight

Natália Silva holds the belt Valentina Shevchenko vacated, and the big unknown is Shevchenko herself. She is coming back from spinal and shoulder ligament damage at 38, and the hosts doubt she returns as the same Bullet. Olin took his gal, the Canadian Storm, Jasmine Jasudavicius. Pip stayed with the champion. Silva is 29, has won 15 straight and is unbeaten in the UFC, and Pip thinks her taekwondo base and anti-grappling will give the whole division problems. The chat's dark horse was Carli Judice, who Olin says is everything Maycee Barber was supposed to be.

Our picks: Olin, Jasmine Jasudavicius. Pip, Natália Silva.

Women's Strawweight

Mackenzie Dern is the champion, and Pip thinks Zhang Weili takes the belt back when she returns. He believes she can beat Dern everywhere, smash her on the ground and outwork her on the feet. Olin sees Dern as a stylistic nightmare for Zhang. Her boxing has come a long way under coach Jason Parillo, she has been active, and unless Zhang blitzes her early, the length and grappling are a real problem. Fatima Kline came up as the prospect to watch, but both hosts see her title run as a 2028 conversation. Pip put it best: it's not a talent issue, it's a timeline issue.

Our picks: Pip, Zhang Weili. Olin, Mackenzie Dern.

Men's Divisions

Heavyweight

The board opened with Ciryl Gane at +175, Alexander Volkov at +300, Tom Aspinall at +500, Sergei Pavlovich at +750, and Josh Hokit and Alex Pereira at +1000. Pip doesn't like Aspinall's chances after the eye injury flared up again in sparring. If light shots in practice can do that, he worries what happens in a real fight. His top name is Volkov, who he believes was robbed in the 2024 split decision against Gane and should be fighting for the title. Pavlovich was his honorable mention.

Olin went with his heart of hearts, as much as he hates to say it out loud: Josh Hokit. Hokit is faster and more athletic than almost everyone in the division, and Olin thinks he beats Gane at UFC 334. Pip can see Hokit as champion but questions whether anyone has a long heavyweight reign anymore.

Our picks: Olin, Josh Hokit at +1000. Pip, Alexander Volkov at +300.

Light Heavyweight

Champion Carlos Ulberg is out with a torn ACL, and the hosts expect the UFC to fill the gap with an interim belt. That counts, Olin ruled, because if they hold a belt, it counts. Khamzat Chimaev led the odds at +175, ahead of Magomed Ankalaev at +200 and Alex Pereira at +275.

This was the one division where the hosts agreed. Olin called Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev a demon, and Pip laid out the case. He is 25, on an 11-fight win streak, 4-0 in the UFC, and he just knocked out Nikita Krylov with a knee in round one at UFC 333. Pip went through the top 10 and struggled to find anyone who beats him, with Jiří Procházka and Dominick Reyes the only two who might trouble him with range and low kicks. Olin doesn't see Pereira coming back down in 2027 either.

Our picks: Both hosts, Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev at +3000.

Middleweight

Middleweight has the rare case of a champion priced as the underdog. Sean Strickland, who beat Chimaev, sits at +320 while Chimaev is the +140 favorite if he stays at 185. Pip thinks Strickland has some of the best anti-grappling and boxing in the division and fends off contenders like Nassourdine Imavov, with a reported Strickland vs. Imavov target for UFC 337 in Orlando in February. Olin went with the Louisiana guy, of course: Brendan Allen. Allen is on four straight wins, and his only two recent losses were to Chris Curtis, which he has already avenged, and Strickland, which he wants back. Olin has his signed gloves on the wall behind him.

Bo Nickal vs. Joe Pyfer also came up. Nickal says that fight is moving to a February main event in Cleveland, and both hosts like Pyfer to win it. Pip ended up with a bonus ticket on Pyfer at +3000 after an accidental tap he couldn't undo. Damian Pinas was the prospect to watch, but probably not for 2027.

Our picks: Olin, Brendan Allen. Pip, Sean Strickland at +320, plus the accidental Joe Pyfer ticket at +3000.

Welterweight

Islam Makhachev is a -215 favorite to keep the belt, one of the only divisions with a favorite at all, and Olin believes in his heart that Makhachev holds on. But he doesn't take the safety nets. He split his money between Carlos Prates, who has paths to beat both Michael Morales and Makhachev if he catches him early, and his real dark horse, Yaroslav Amosov, who he called a war hero and a nasty matchup for anyone.

Pip took Morales. He is huge for the division, explosive, only 27 and backed by strong Ecuadorian grappling, and Pip thinks he beats Prates for the interim title at UFC 336 on Jan. 30, then beats Makhachev when they finally meet. Olin pushed back a bit. He sees Morales's grappling as underrated but his striking as overrated by his size and power, and the wildness could cost him against Prates's Muay Thai or Makhachev's chain grappling. Sean Brady got a mention as a top-five fixture, and a reported Ian Machado Garry vs. Amosov fight for New Year's had both hosts leaning Amosov.

Our picks: Olin, Carlos Prates and Yaroslav Amosov at +1000 each. Pip, Michael Morales at +1000.

Lightweight

Olin's favorite division, and the one he toasted. The board had Ilia Topuria at +200, Arman Tsarukyan at +250 and champion Justin Gaethje at +700, priced like a man everyone expects to retire. Charles Oliveira was at +750, Paddy Pimblett and Max Holloway at +1300, Salahdine Parnasse at +1500, Usman Nurmagomedov at +1800, and Rafael Fiziev and Quillan Salkilld at +2000.

Pip floated the fun case for Gaethje, a retirement fight with Volkanovski for the lightweight belt that Gaethje wins and then sticks around, before landing on Arman Tsarukyan, the man on the thumbnail. He thinks Tsarukyan is the best fighter in the division and the rightful contender. Olin agrees Arman wins the belt if he ever gets the shot. His worry is getting it at all, between the fan incident, the weigh-in headbutt and the weigh-in kick. From a manager's chair, he said, you schedule the reliable employee. For Olin that's Quillan Salkilld, who headlines UFC Sydney against Benoît Saint-Denis on Feb. 6, 2027. Olin thinks Arman wins five more and still waits, while Salkilld wins one more and probably jumps the line. He added a smaller ticket on Parnasse after the chat got him hyped.

Our picks: Pip, Arman Tsarukyan at +250. Olin, Quillan Salkilld at +2000 and Salahdine Parnasse at +1500.

Featherweight

Alexander Volkanovski just took Movsar Evloev's zero at UFC 333, and he's +200 to still have the belt at the end of 2027. Jean Silva, the third face on the thumbnail, was next at +400, with Diego Lopes, Aljamain Sterling and Aaron Pico at +700 and Lerone Murphy at +1000. Pip admitted Volk proved him wrong Saturday, but with Volk calling out Gaethje for a retirement fight, he doesn't see him holding the belt through 2027. His pick for the vacant title is Murphy, whose loss to Evloev was close and argued both ways, with Silva as his honorable mention.

Olin played two tickets. Aaron Pico is on his way, and Jean Silva, he believes, is the guy. The chat pushed Aljamain Sterling, and Pip tailed it even though Sterling first has to get past Kevin Vallejos.

Our picks: Olin, Aaron Pico at +700 and Jean Silva at +400. Pip, Lerone Murphy, plus a tailed ticket on Aljamain Sterling at +700.

Bantamweight

Petr Yan is the -115 favorite after beating Merab Dvalishvili in their trilogy at UFC 333. Sean O'Malley is at +450, Song Yadong at +650, Umar Nurmagomedov at +700, Payton Talbott at +800 and Merab at +1000. Olin started on O'Malley, but Pip talked him out of it after rewatching the trilogy. Yan keeps getting better every time out, stuffed nearly every Merab takedown down the stretch, and Pip doesn't think O'Malley has improved at the same rate since their close first fight. Olin switched to Payton Talbott. He thinks Talbott is better than O'Malley right now, and his only worry is whether the title shot comes before the end of 2027. The dream timeline from the chat was Talbott over Song, O'Malley over Yan, then Talbott over O'Malley for the belt. David Martinez at +2000 was Pip's deep sleeper.

Our picks: Pip, Petr Yan at -115. Olin, Payton Talbott at +800.

Flyweight

Joshua Van has looked close to untouchable, including a dominant rematch win over Alexandre Pantoja, and he's +150 to hold on. Manel Kape, who meets Van at UFC 336, is +250, and Pantoja is +700. Olin went for the plus money and a rematch: Tatsuro Taira, who he thinks will learn a lot from his close, competitive first fight with Van. The chat agreed that Taira burned energy hunting mount and submissions instead of settling into top control.

Pip stayed with Van. He's 25, has won eight straight and keeps getting better. Kape's power is the danger, but Pip thinks the muscle slows him over five rounds. Olin also flirted with a ticket on Lone'er Kavanagh at +2000 after his knockout of Ramazan Temirov, and both hosts want to see who comes out of Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Asu Almabayev.

Our picks: Olin, Tatsuro Taira. Pip, Joshua Van at +150.

The Futures Tickets

Every ticket is a fifth of a unit. Here's what the hosts locked in on DraftKings:

• Olin: Josh Hokit (+1000), Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev (+3000), Carlos Prates (+1000), Yaroslav Amosov (+1000), Quillan Salkilld (+2000), Salahdine Parnasse (+1500), Aaron Pico (+700), Jean Silva (+400), Payton Talbott (+800) and Tatsuro Taira.

• Pip: Alexander Volkov (+300), Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev (+3000), Sean Strickland (+320), Joe Pyfer (+3000), Michael Morales (+1000), Arman Tsarukyan (+250) and Aljamain Sterling (+700).

These are long-shot bets on a 14-month timeline, so treat them as fun money. The hosts already have one futures ticket from a show like this earlier in the year that's set to cash in December, so we'll keep the receipts.

Looking Ahead

Plenty of these picks get tested soon. Luana Santos meets Yana Santos this Saturday at UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. Nolan. Harrison vs. Nunes and Gane vs. Hokit headline the stakes at UFC 334. Prates vs. Morales for the interim welterweight belt and Van vs. Kape both land at UFC 336 on Jan. 30, and Salkilld vs. Saint-Denis follows in Sydney on Feb. 6. Who do you have holding gold on Dec. 31, 2027? Drop your champions, or at least your most confident pick, in the comments on the YouTube episode. We'd love to shout you out with the receipts when they cash.

Stay tuned as we keep tracking the road to 2027 for every UFC division.