2023 UFC Future Odds: Who Will Reign Supreme By This Time Next Year?

Forecasting The UFC Champions by the End of 2023

UFC Futures: Odds Kind To (Most) Present Champs

Capturing a UFC title is one thing. But keeping it? Fighters say that you only become a “true champion” after you’ve defended your title. In 2022, we saw eight UFC championships change hands, which is the most since the promotion struck a deal with ESPN in 2019. The 2023 UFC future odds don’t expect quite as many changes this coming year. But we can never tell how competitive and unpredictable MMA can be.

The Pound-For-Pound Best Stay Strong

Unsurprisingly, the pound-for-pound best UFC fighters are set to stay as champions in their respective divisions. Per the 2023 UFC future odds, the likes of Alexander Volkanovski (-250), Islam Makhachev (-200), and Amanda Nunes (-250) will remain champions by the end of the year. Strawweight champion Zhang Weili (-125) is the fourth champion widely favored in the sportsbook.

Volkanovski, the 145-pound champ, is also scheduled to fight Makhachev, the newly crowned 155-pound king. This will be the rare time the top-two P4P fighters face off in the octagon. UFC 284 will be one of the top UFC events of the year and the odds favor Makhachev to defend his belt.

As for Nunes, the double champ is peerless in both the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. She could complete the trilogy with Valentina Shevchenko, the flyweight champion, or with Julianna Pena, who upset her late in 2021. Either way, expect her to be a hefty favorite if either fight is made in 2023.

Champions on Shaky Thrones

As for Shevchenko, the long-reigning 125-pound queen met her match against Taila Santos in 2022. While she defeated Santos, it came via a contentious split decision. It was the closest fight of Shevchenko’s reign at flyweight and a rematch could take place in 2022 if Santos gets by Erin Blanchfield.

The grueling victory exposed a bit of Shevchenko’s weakness in the grappling aspect of MMA hence why she’s at even odds to remain champ by EOY 2023. Santos and Blanchfield are both prolific wrestlers who could give her a run for her money. The pair are at +300 and +375 to be the flyweight champ by year’s end per the 2023 UFC future odds.

They are set to fight in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Vera vs Sandhagen, which will also determine the next challenger to Aljamain Sterling’s title.

Sterling is at +225 to keep his 135-pound belt. He already turned back Petr Yan in a rematch as a 6-1 underdog. The Jamaican-American is also a wrestler and already owns a dominant win over Sandhagen. However, Vera has won four straight with KO wins over former champions.

Alternatively, Sean O’Malley could also get a title shot following his upset win over Yan. The colorful contender is at +350 to end 2023 as the new champ.

The Return of the Kings?

While 2021 was a banner year for the “Three (African) Kings”: Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usman, and Israel Adesanya, 2022 was a nightmare year for them. Ngannou unified the heavyweight title by beating Ciryl Gane. But his continuing contractual disputes with the UFC overshadowed his victory. Meanwhile, both Usman and Adesanya suffered upset losses to drop their titles.

All three are the slight favorites to finish 2023 as the champions with Ngannou at +175, and both Usman and Adesanya at +165. Ngannou is likely to rematch Gane for the belt. His former training partner is at pick’em odds to win the rematch and at +200 to keep the belt until the end of 2023.

Usman may rematch Edwards at some point in 2023. The man who dethroned him is at +200 to finish the year as champion. The third-party, Khamzat Chimaev (+250), is a fan favorite and a serious threat to beat either of them. The Swedish fighter is undefeated and has buzzsawed through his competition.

And for Adesanya, he rematches his archnemesis, Alex Pereira at some point in 2023 as well. Despite having lost to him three straight times, the former middleweight champion is favored in a future event. The 2023 UFC fight schedule could see consecutive pay-per-view events featuring these three kings in action.

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