5 of the best welterweights outside of the UFC

Such is the depth of the UFC's welterweight division that the smaller promotion's 170-pound rosters often get overlooked.

Bellator and the PFL's welterweight divisions contain a multitude of extremely talented athletes, many of whom would likely be incredibly competitive inside the UFC.

The UFC has already signed Cage Warriors welterweight champion Ian Garry and may follow suit with several of the fighters on this list.

Honorable mentions go to ONE Championship welterweight champion Kiamrian Abbasov, as well as Bellator's Paul Daley, Jason Jackson and Neiman Gracie.

With that said, here are the five best welterweights outside of the UFC.

#5. Rory MacDonald - PFL welterweight

Former Bellator welterweight champion and UFC welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald is a name most fight fans will be very familiar with. 'The Red King' has competed in some all-time great fights, with his legendary five-round war with Robbie Lawler considered by many to be one of the greatest UFC fights of all time.

MacDonald has also competed against, and defeated, many of the welterweight elite such as Douglas Lima, Tyron Woodley and Nate Diaz. After leaving the UFC in 2016, MacDonald signed for Bellator where he won the welterweight title.

He has now moved on to the PFL, where he has qualified for the playoff stage of the organization's 2021 170-pound season. He already holds a win over Curtis Millender under the PFL banner and had a dominant performance over Gleison Tibau. However, in a bizarre moment of madness, the judges gave the fight to Tibau, earning a huge amount of public scorn across social media.

#4. Michael 'Venom' Page - Bellator welterweight

England's Michael 'Venom' Page is one of the biggest welterweight stars outside of the UFC. His flashy fighting style, outspoken personality, and bizarre antics both inside and outside the cage have seen him build a huge fanbase.

Currently holding a record of 19-1, Page has looked nothing short of incredible in all but one of his pro MMA performances. Unfortunately, Page's sole loss was also the sole title shot of his Bellator career. He was knocked unconscious by Douglas Lima.

However, since then, MVP has put together a five-fight winning streak, with his most recent performance against Derek Anderson arguably the most impressive of the lot. He now has a number one contender fight on his hands against the one man to defeat him, Douglas Lima.

#3. Magomed Magomedkerimov - PFL welterweight

One of the lesser-known names on this list, the PFL's Magomed Magomedkerimov, holds a record of 28-5 and is currently riding a 12-fight winning streak. A pro MMA fighter since 2008, Magomedkerimov has competed for a variety of promotions, finally finding a home in the PFL.

Magomedkerimov signed for the PFL in 2018, and has since amassed nine consecutive wins and won the welterweight title. He holds two victories over former UFC fighter Bojan Velickovic, as well as a submission finish over PFL veteran Ray Cooper III.

Magomedkerimov will next face off against João Zeferino in the semi-finals of the PFL welterweight season. A win here would see him once again compete for the promotion's 170-pound title.

#2. Douglas Lima - Bellator welterweight

Douglas Lima is an intriguing case in terms of the world welterweight rankings. For a period of time, Lima was held in a similar light to Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire, in that many fans of the sport considered him equal, if not superior, to UFC fighters in his weight class.

He holds wins over some truly high-level opposition, including two other fighters who feature on this list: Rory MacDonald and Michael Page.

However, similar to 'Pitbull' this past weekend, Lima lost his belt to an undefeated prospect. He also failed in an attempt to capture Gegard Mousasi's Bellator middleweight belt, leaving him on a two-fight losing streak.

He is currently set to rematch Michael 'Venom' Page in October, where a win will likely set him up for a chance to win his belt back and prove that he is still one of the world's top welterweight fighters.

#1. Yaroslav Amosov - Bellator welterweight

Bellator's current welterweight champion, Yaroslav Amasov, holds a perfect 26-0 record. While it could be argued that his first victories were over low-level competition on the Ukrainian regional circuit, you could say something similar about Khabib Nurmagomedov, who went on to become one of MMA's all-time greats.

Early fights aside, Amosov has been competing in Bellator's welterweight division since 2018, where he has amassed seven consecutive victories. Among them are impressive wins over the likes of Ed Ruth, Erick Silva and Logan Storley. Amosov's most recent victory was over the number two pick on this list, Douglas Lima, who he dominated over five rounds to pick up the Bellator welterweight strap.

Former UFC and Bellator fighter Josh Thomson recently picked Amosov as his top pick to defeat current UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.