The Most Inactive Division In The UFC By The Numbers

UFC313 – Pereira v Ankalaev – Las Vegas UFC Fighter Colby Covington at UFC313 – Pereira vs Ankalaev at T-Mobile Arena on March 8, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/ABACAPRESS.COM Las Vegas, Nevada LAS VEGAS, NV United States PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxUK Copyright: xPXxImages/ABACAx

As UFC fans love nothing more than active fighters. What we don’t like is our favourite fighters never fighting. So we pose the question, what is the most inactive division in the UFC by the numbers?

We take a look at the official UFC rankings and find the most inactive division according to statistics. We give each division a ‘mark’ for each fighter in the top 15 who hasn’t had a fight since 2024.

The Most Inactive Division in the UFC by the Numbers
Most Active

Congratulations to all ranked middleweight and strawweight fighters. Every single fighter currently ranked in the top 15 at 185lbs and 115lbs has competed in 2025, with a number competing regularly.

Most impressively, Reinier de Ridder is set to compete for the fourth time this year on October 18th.

Mid-Level

The men’s bantamweight division has just one fighter who hasn’t competed in 2024, Marlon Vera. Like de Ridder, he’s set to compete on October 18th, scratching men’s bantamweight from the list of non-active divisions.

The men’s flyweight division, featherweight division, lightweight division, welterweight division and light heavyweight divisions all have two fighters ranked in the top 15 who haven’t competed in 2025.

At flyweight, Amir Albazi and Alex Perez are the two fighters that are yet to compete this year. Albazi was set to compete in August, however, he suffered an injury and had to withdraw. Likewise, Perez was scheduled for August but had to pull out. He is set to face Asu Almabayev in November.

November 2, 2024, Edmonton, Edmonton, Canada, Canada: Amir Albazi battles Brandon Moreno in their flyweight fight during the UFC EDMONTON event at Rogers Place on November 2, 2024 in Edmonton, Canada. /PxImages Edmonton Canada – ZUMAp175 20241102_zsa_p175_232 Copyright: xMarceloxWoox

At featherweight, Movsar Evloev and Arnold Allen are yet to make the octagon walk in 2025. Evloev was booked against Aaron Pico in July, however, was replaced by Lerone Murphy. Allen hasn’t been in action since July 2024 where he got back to winning ways against Giga Chikadze.

The lightweight division only features two fighters who are yet to compete in 2025, Dan Hooker and Arman Tsarukyan. Luckily, these two men are set to meet each other in the main event at UFC Qatar in November.

The light heavyweight division is strong at the moment. Champion, Alex Pereira, has a lot of viable competition at the top of the division. Only two fighters haven’t competed since 2024, Aleksandar Rakic last competed in October 2024, extending his losing streak to three straight. He returns to action at UFC 321, however. Former title challenger, Volkan Oezdemir, is set to compete for the first time since 2024 on November 22nd.

The welterweight division is the most worrying of the mid-level divisions. Although there are only two ‘inactive’ fighters, they aren’t booked and don’t seem to be anywhere near competing. Shavkat Rakhmonov and Colby Covington are the two who we haven’t seen make the walk in 2025. Worryingly, Rakhmonov has only had two fights since March 2023. Although he’s been suffering with injuries, it’s frustrating. He’s 19-0 with 18 finishes and potentially the best welterweight on the planet, however, we won’t know if he isn’t able to make the walk.

December 6, 2024, Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nv, United States: LAS VEGAS, NV -DECEMBER 6:Shavkat Rakhmonov steps on the scale for the official weigh-ins for UFC310 – Pantoja vs Asakura at UFC Apex on December 6, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada /PxImages Las Vegas, Nevada United States – ZUMAp175 20241206_zsa_p175_001 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex

Covington was once one of the most talked-about fighters on the entire roster. His decline has been rapid, however, he has competed just twice since March 2022.

Inactive Women

The women’s bantamweight and flyweight divisions are the second most inactive divisions in the UFC. Both divisions have three fighters that have been inactive since 2024.

At 135lbs, former champion, Raquel Pennington is yet to compete since losing the belt in October of 2024. She was scheduled to face Norma Dumont in September, however, she withdrew with an injury. Dumont herself hasn’t competed since 2024, however, she’s set to make the walk on November 1st.

Irene Aldana is the third women’s 135er who hasn’t competed in 2025, however, following the gruesome cut she suffered last time out, it was wise for her to take some time away from the sport.

The flyweight division has Erin Blanchfield, Maycee Barber and Casey O’Neill yet to compete in 2025. Blanchfield bounced back from her first UFC loss last time out, beating Rose Namajunas over five rounds. She’ll meet Tracy Cortez in a rematch at UFC 322.

May 30, 2025, Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nv, United States: LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 30:Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber face-off following the official weigh-ins at UFC Fight Night – Blanchfield vs Barber at NYNY Hotel and Casino on May 30, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada /PxImages Las Vegas, Nevada United States – ZUMAp175 20250530_zsa_p175_025 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex

Barber was set to meet Blanchfield in May, however, wasn’t medically cleared to fight on fight night, leading to a cancellation of the bout. The Future will look to continue her impressive form when she meets Karine Silva at UFC 322 also.

King Casey O’Neill has had a frustrating 2025. The young Scottish-Australian burst onto the scene and having suffered back to back losses, she got back in the win column last time out. Injuries have kept the #11 ranked flyweight out of action this year, however, with a clean bill of health in 2026, she could be a dangerous prospect at 125.

The Most Inactive Division in the UFC

No surprises here, the heavyweight division is the least active. We have a champion who has largely been avoided in Tom Aspinall. He’s not competed for 440 days due to Jon Jones avoiding him and not wanting to fight for the undisputed title.

The next challenger for the belt, Ciryl Gane also hasn’t been in action since 2024. He’s been off filming a Netflix film, rather than fighting in the octagon. Disappointing to say the least. Gane and Aspinall will meet in the UFC 321 main event for the heavyweight belt, hopefully getting the division back on track.

Alexander Volkov and Tai Tuivasa also haven’t made the octagon walk in 2025. Russia’s Volkov will also compete at UFC 321, taking on Jailton Almeida.

Tuivasa is somehow still ranked at heavyweight, sitting at #11. This is despite not competing since August 2024. Not only this, but he hasn’t won a fight since 2022 and on top of that, he’s lost five straight fights, of which four have come via finish. Recent pictures have seen him looking very out of shape and making 265lbs any time soon seems unlikely.