UFC Champion Odds For End Of 2022 Calendar Year

• Six of the eight men’s champions are favored to retain their belt throughout the entire 2022 year.
• Glover Teixeira and Aljamain Sterling are the only champions with underdog odds to keep their belt.

LAS VEGAS – As the 2021 UFC season has ended and there are still a few weeks until the first event of 2022, odds are available for who will be the champion of each division at the end of the year.

Heavyweight Champion Odds

Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane are set to meet in the first PPV of the 2022 year in a bout for the heavyweight championship. The winner of the fight will unify the division’s belts and likely only have one more fight in the 2022 season, giving both fighters good value on legal sports betting sites.

Jon Jones could be worth betting on as he is likely the best fighter in the world, but it’s no guarantee he even fights in 2022, or ever again for that matter. Curtis Blaydes’ wrestling abilities give him solid odds too, but he may not even get a chance at the title.

Light Heavyweight Champion Odds

The light heavyweight division is the most wide-open according to the odds. The current champion, Glover Teixeira, has the third-best odds to retain his championship belt.

As the second-oldest champion of all time, Teixeira is likely to lose to his next opponent, likely to be Jiri Prochazka. Any of the fighters have good odds here as the LHW division doesn’t have a dominant fighter anymore.

Middleweight Champion Odds

There are truly only two options worth betting on for the middleweight division. Israel Adesanya, the current champ, and Robert Whittaker, the next challenger are the only fighters that have a chance here. They are rumored to be fighting in February and if Adesanya loses, a rematch is likely in place prior to the end of the year. If he wins, there aren’t many options left in the division.

Welterweight Champion Odds

Even the biggest Khamzat Chimaev fans will have to be a bit careful betting against the current champion and pound-for-pound king, Kamaru Usman. Usman’s biggest strength is his takedown defense and wrestling abilities and Chimaev, the up-and-comer, may have difficulties fighting Usman if he were to get the shot this year.

Lightweight Champion Odds

The lightweight division is often thought to be the most competitive division in the sport. The UFC betting odds seem to agree as the odds atop the division are rather long compared to other divisions.

Charles Oliveira is the current champion, but he’s expected to fight Justin Gaethje in his next fight who could very well win. Aside from those two, Islam Makhachev may be the best talent of them all but it’s unseen whether he’ll get a chance at the title before the year ends. The lightweight division is more of a dart throw than anything.

Featherweight Champion Odds

This is likely another weight class where there are only two fighters worth betting. Alexander Volkanovski, the current champion, and Max Holloway, arguably the best featherweight of all time are the clear top options. The two will likely meet at some point in 2022 as the obvious best fighters in the division.

Bantamweight Champion Odds

Bantamweight is an interesting division with plenty of options to bet on. Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan are expected to fight in March which would leave another title fight at some point late in the 2022 calendar year. Who the next title shot would go to is up in the air but it’s likely either Jose Aldo or T.J. Dillashaw.

Flyweight Champion Odds

The final division, flyweight, is yet another weight class where it seems as if the entire division is held up by two fighters at the top. In this case, it’s Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo. The two are set to meet for the third time in January and the same card as Ngannou and Gane.

There’s no telling what is to come in the division after their fight in January as it could very well be a fourth fight between the two. There’s no clear-cut top guy in the weight class although it’s likely Askar Askarov if anybody.

News tags: Aleksandar Rakic | Alexander Volkanovski | Aljamain Sterling | Brandon Moreno | Charles Oliveira | Ciryl Gane | Curtis Blaydes | Deiveson Figueiredo | Francis Ngannou | Glover Teixeira | Islam Makhachev | Israel Adesanya | Jiri Prochazka | Jon Jones | Justin Gaethje | Kamaru Usman | Khamzat Chimaev | Max Holloway | MMA | Petr Yan | Robert Whittaker | UFC