![\"Kamaru](\"https:\/\/platform.mmafighting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2025\/11\/gettyimages-2246901866.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0.0030869914181579,100,99.993826017164\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: Kamaru Usman attends the UFC 322 event at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Cooper Neill\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n
Who should NOT get the shot: Kamaru Usman.<\/p>\n
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to begin the proceedings by once again saying I respect everything Kamaru Usman has accomplished in this sport. He is the second-, at worst third-best welterweight of all time. And in a division with such a rich history, that\u2019s beyond impressive.<\/p>\n
With that out of the way\u2026 Kamaru Usman getting a title shot right now is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!<\/p>\n
If this division was where it was at when Usman was the champion, then it would make sense for someone in Usman\u2019s spot to get the shot. But let\u2019s be honest, friends. Welterweight is 10,000 times more interesting now than it was then, and most of the rise of intrigue in this division happened while Usman wasn\u2019t fighting.<\/p>\n
But now we get into the nitty gritty. Usman has ONE WIN in the last four years. One. It was against Joaquin Buckley, who was on a nice run, but the best wins during Buckley\u2019s streak were Stephen Thompson \u2014 who is one day older than I am, and was beating Buckley for over two rounds of that fight \u2014 and Colby Covington, who is clearly on the back-nine and took that fight coming off of the couch. Usman beat Buckley in a workmanlike fashion, and he should be commended for it. But to say that win has more value than what Michael Morales did to Sean Brady, or what Ian Machado Garry did to Belal Muhammad, and not to mention, what Shavkat Rakhmonov has done to everyone he\u2019s faced in his career is just incorrect. Let\u2019s not forget, Usman got his title fight get-back after Leon Edwards colded him. He got a full camp, and lost again in a non-controversial fashion. And yes, he fought Khamzat on short notice, and while that\u2019s really cool, he lost that fight, too. So we\u2019re going to reward him with jumping the queue because he has one win while the division got super fun while he wasn\u2019t fighting because he lost to Khamzat Chimaev?<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s the merit argument.<\/p>\n
As far as the, \u201cIt\u2019s the biggest fight the UFC can make in the division\u201d argument, I would love to know what this is based off of. Usman is obviously known, but did I miss where he became this gigantic superstar? Usman was the B-side in more than half of his title defenses, and if you watched UFC 322, Islam Makhachev is a star, and will be the A-side in pretty much every fight he\u2019d be in, unless it\u2019s Ilia Topuria, then it\u2019s at least a discussion. I\u2019d be willing to bet Makhachev vs. Usman would do about the same as Makhachev against anybody else in the division. If we\u2019re actually going to base this decision on which fight for Makhachev draws the most eyeballs, just freaking give it to Topuria. Yes, it\u2019s ludicrous and silly, but at least it\u2019s undeniable that it would be the biggest fight.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll cap this off with the most important point of all: NOBODY is asking for this fight outside of Usman, Makhachev (and even he\u2019s pulling back on it), their manager, and, oh yeah, Usman\u2019s podcast co-host Henry Cejudo. The UFC can\u2019t even play the, \u201cThis is the fight the fans want\u201d card.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, if drawing power is a wash because the actual draw is the champion, can we just let merit reign for once? Can\u2019t we just live in a world where Usman has to win one more fight against another one of these fighters in the conversation?<\/p>\n
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: Michael Morales of Ecuador enters the Octagon in a welterweight fight during the UFC 322 event at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n Who should get the shot: Breathe my best friend, breathe.<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, I\u2019m with Mr. Heck when it comes to giving Morales the title shot. I\u2019ve been all in on the Morales bandwagon since early in his UFC career and even though I wavered and weakly picked Brady to beat him<\/a> (I thought it would be a learning lesson!), I was very, very wrong and very, very happy to be so. Morales is ready right now and yes, I believe he actually has a good shot to beat Makhachev.<\/p>\n Still just 26, Morales has plenty of room to grow while also showing he\u2019s pretty darned season already with a 19-0 record including seven UFC victories. He hasn\u2019t been picking on minnows either. Brady, Gilbert Burns, Neil Magny, and Jake Matthews are all tough outs and Morales has excelled with every new test. Why not him? Why not now?<\/p>\n The man has the entire nation of Ecuador behind him and if he can shock the world with an upset of Makhachev, then the UFC potentially has its next global star.<\/p>\n Who should NOT get the shot: Carlos Prates.<\/p>\n That\u2019s right, I hate fun!<\/p>\n OK, let\u2019s talk about why Prates is even in the conversation. Straight-up smoking a guy who was welterweight champion less than 18 months ago should immediately merit title consideration and then you factor in that all six of his UFC wins have come by way of highlight-reel knockout and it seems silly to rule him out for the next title shot. Fans love the guy and of all the names being bandied about here, Prates might have the best puncher\u2019s chance of them all. It\u2019s easy to picture him being outwrestled early, playing to the crowd with \u201cthis guy can\u2019t hurt me\u201d gestures, and then going all out in the last two rounds to secure the KO. Unlikely, but the anticipation would be palpable.<\/p>\n However, we can\u2019t write off the recent loss to Ian Machado Garry, who has held up his end of the bargain since his lone loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov, who Prates also shouldn\u2019t pass in line if we\u2019re using MMAth. \u201cThe Nightmare\u201d is still in his prime, so let\u2019s revisit this one in 2027.<\/p>\n Who should get the shot: Kamaru Usman.<\/p>\n This pick will undoubtedly get the most aggressive responses because there aren\u2019t a lot of people on board with this idea, but there are a couple of reasons why this matchup makes sense right now \u2014 and let\u2019s be honest, why the UFC might just pull the trigger on this one.<\/p>\n First off, Usman is one of the greatest welterweights of all time and he\u2019s going to bring more eyeballs to a title fight, which, like it or not is going to matter to the UFC. Obviously, Islam recognizes this fact because he\u2019s also been pushing for a showdown against Usman. But the biggest difference in this potential matchup compared to Jon Jones only showing interest in facing Stipe Miocic is that Usman actually earned a quality win over a legit top 10 contender in Joaquin Buckley in his last outing and he\u2019s not on the wrong side of 40.<\/p>\n Add to that, Usman did the UFC a solid stepping up on 10 days\u2019 notice and nearly beating Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight (if he had two more rounds to work, Usman might be fighting for middleweight gold right now).<\/p>\n No one should argue Usman is the most deserving, but if I\u2019ve said it once, I\u2019ve said it a thousand times \u2014 if you want to stay sane watching or covering this sport, wipe the word \u201cdeserves\u201d from your vocabulary. Nick Diaz didn\u2019t deserve a title shot against Georges St-Pierre. Marlon \u201cChito\u201d Vera didn\u2019t deserve a title shot against Sean O\u2019Malley. Chael Sonnen definitely didn\u2019t deserve a title shot against Jon Jones. Usman may not deserve a shot at Makhachev but that doesn\u2019t mean he won\u2019t get it!<\/p>\n Ian Machado Garry of Ireland reacts during a welterweight bout with Belal Muhammad of Palestine at the UFC Fight Night event at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena (ABHA Arena) in Doha, Qatar, on November 22, 2025. (Photo by Noushad Thekkayil\/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n Who should NOT get the shot: Ian Machado Garry.<\/p>\n Garry might be the loudest person in the room when it comes to asking for a title shot but his record and overall performances just don\u2019t put him over the hump right now.<\/p>\n Yes, Garry has won back-to-back fights over Prates and Muhammad. Neither fight was particularly close but here\u2019s the thing \u2014 what highlights do you remember from either of those performances? What moments truly stand out from the fights?<\/p>\n Garry\u2019s style just doesn\u2019t lend itself to exciting finishes \u2014 and that\u2019s OK \u2014 but he\u2019s constantly talking like he\u2019s an executioner out there just lopping off heads. He makes grand promises that he\u2019s going to viciously knock out this guy or that guy but then walks away with a win on the scorecards.<\/p>\n Winning is what matters most, but that works against Garry in this scenario because he can\u2019t just jump the line after losing to Shavkat Rakhmonov and then making it sound like his next two wins totally negate what happened beforehand. Rakhmonov has a better argument even if sitting out for the past year and a half has killed his momentum.<\/p>\n So Garry should take another fight \u2014 here\u2019s hoping that comes against Michael Morales \u2014 and we\u2019ll find out if he\u2019s truly ready for a title shot or if he\u2019s doomed to be the bridesmaid rather than the bride.<\/p>\n LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 07: Shavkat Rakhmonov of Uzbekistan warms up prior to his fight during the UFC 310 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cooper Neill\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n Who should get the shot: Shavkat Rakhmonov.<\/p>\n The entire MMA world has gone crazy, and I don\u2019t understand it.<\/p>\n For nearly five years, everyone collectively agreed that Rakhmonov was awesome: 18 fights, 18 finishes, cool hat, Fedor-esque stoic aura. The question was not whether he\u2019d get a title shot, it was \u201cWill Shavkat or Khamzat run welterweight?\u201d And now that\u2019s just entirely gone? What happened?!<\/p>\n I\u2019ll tell you what happened, the fanbase as the memory of goldfish. If you are not fighting every six weeks, they forget you entirely, which is insane. Especially given what Shavkat did before he got injured. There are people out here arguing that Shavkat is boring which is \u2026 WHAT!?!?!<\/p>\n The case for Shavkat is simple: he\u2019s never lost, and he beat the guy that, according to Jon Anik, is most deserving of a title shot<\/a> (also a completely outrageous take); not five years ago, or in another org, but 11 months ago, in a UFC five-round fight. Belal Muhammad was the No. 1 contender. Ian Machado Garry should go above him after beating him, and Shavkat goes above him. THAT is merit.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n