UFC: Who Will Be Champions At the End of 2020?

The UFC has concluded its final card of 2019 and what a year it was. Of the 12 weight divisions among the men and women, there were seven new champions, with one division, women’s strawweight, having two new champions in Jessica Andrade and the current champ, Zhang Weili. This begs the question of who will be in possession of the gold at the end of 2020.

Online sportsbook Bovada has released odds on all the weight divisions and who may be the title holders at the end of next year, including whether the BMF title will be defended. I’m going to look into a couple of divisions where I think a new champion will be crowned and who I think that may be.

Women’s Strawweight Division

This division was dominated by Joanna Jedrzejczyk for several years until she was stopped by Rose Namajunas. “Thug” held the belt for a while before she was finished by Jessica Andrade, who was stopped by Zhang Weili, all within a span of two years – what a wild division. Weili is the +250 favorite to hold on to her belt at the end of 2020. She is an extremely well-rounded fighter and very well could have a long reign as champion, with her first defense coming against Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 in March.

However, news came out in late 2019 that Rose Namajunas will be returning to the Octagon, likely in early 2020. She has odds of +850 to reclaim her strap and that’s the wager I love. Thug Rose came up through the ranks with her incredible grappling and submission skills but her striking evolved along the way to the point that she stood toe to toe with Jedrzejczyk for five rounds, winning a decisive unanimous decision. I think if she is reinvigorated, as she claims, she could get a tune-up fight in early 2020 and a title shot later in the year.

Men’s Bantamweight Division

In 2019, Henry Cejudo (+140) made the jump from the flyweight division up to the bantamweight division and earned a third-round knockout win over Marlon Moraes to win the vacant belt. T.J. Dillashaw was the champion but was stripped after testing positive for a banned substance and was handed a two-year suspension. It is a stacked division with many worthy challengers. One of those I like is Jose Aldo, who may be getting the next shot, but he’s not on the list. So, my second option is Petr Yan at +350.

The Russian native is an absolute problem for the bantamweight division. He is relentless with great wrestling and exceptional striking, and he also can push the pace from the moment the fight starts right until the final horn goes off. He should be a bigger man than Cejudo and has all the skills to be champ. He likely has one more fight before a title shot; I’d say he will fight Marlon Moraes as a No. 1 contender bout.

Men’s Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Division

The focus for this section is mostly for the heavyweight division, but to talk about the big boys, the 205-pound champ also has to mentioned. Stipe Miocic reclaimed his title after knocking out Daniel Cormier at UFC 241 in August and it’s hard to really find a clear challenger at this point. Many would say Francis Ngannou, but we saw that in early 2018 and Miocic completely outclassed the Predator, so that fight doesn’t excite a lot of people. The Miocic-DC trilogy is on the table, but I think we get the same result as the last time.

There is a beast hiding in the shadows, though, who has expressed that there’s a high chance he makes the jump to the heavyweight division and that’s Jon “Bones” Jones. The arguably GOAT is defending his light heavyweight belt against Dominick Reyes in February 2020 and he’s already tried to get a fight with Miocic. The current heavyweight champ is dealing with an injury, though, so Jones remains at LHW at the moment. If Jones defends his belt in fine fashion, he could get a heavyweight title fight straight away so getting him at +400 is great value. With Bones leaving the light heavyweight division, a new champ would emerge for LHW and I think Anthony Smith at +850 could be an interesting wager.

Here’s a look at the full list of odds for future UFC champions:

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada

Odds as of December 21 at Bovada