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Match-making has been a bit suspect in the UFC over the last year or so, as many deserving contenders have been overlooked while booking championship fights.
Many fans have accused the promotion of favoring popular fighters over deserving ones, with a notable example being Jorge Masvidal's upcoming welterweight title fight against Kamaru Usman.
Champions have had a role to play in this - while Usman called Masvidal out, middleweight champ Israel Adesanya expressed an interest in fighting Darren Till despite the presence of other top contenders.
Here is a list of every UFC division's most deserving number one contender.
Men's UFC divisions and their most deserving #1 contenders
Flyweight: Brandon Moreno
'The Assassin Baby' pushed champion Deiveson Figueiredo to the limit in December 2020, and a rematch has been booked for UFC 263 in June. Moreno is undoubtedly the #1 contender at flyweight, ahead of the undefeated Askar Askarov and Alexandre Pantoja.
Bantamweight: Petr Yan
Despite losing via DQ in his first title defence against current champ Aljamain Sterling, Yan is arguably the best bantamweight in the UFC at the moment. The Russian has been campaigning for an immediate rematch, but Sterling is set to have surgery on his neck and will return only later in the year.
The division is not short of contenders, with the returning TJ Dillashaw taking on Cory Sandhagen in May and Cody Garbrandt facing Rob Font in the same month.
Featherweight: Max Holloway
Holloway fell narrowly short to title holder Alexander Volkanovski twice, but there's no doubting his standing at the top of the pile in the UFC featherweight division. With utterly dominant wins over Brian Ortega and Calvin Kattar under his belt, 'Blessed' is one of the greatest featherweights of all time.
Ortega and Volkanovski will coach in TUF before finally facing off, while #3-ranked Zabit Magomedsharipov - who is likely to fight in the summer - is another to keep an eye on.
Lightweight: Dustin Poirier
With Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler set to compete for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 262 in May, Poirier is easily the #1 contender. With wins over Conor McGregor, Dan Hooker and Justin Gaethje, 'The Diamond' decided to forego the championship fight and take part in the McGregor trilogy, which has been scheduled for UFC 264 in July. If he wins, his next fight will definitely be for the title.
Welterweight: Colby Covington
Covington was overlooked for a shot at the welterweight title held by Kamaru Usman in favour of Jorge Masvidal despite dominating former champ Tyron Woodley, and he's the deserving #1 contender in the division. 'Chaos' was Usman's biggest test, but he's out of opponents with the rest of the top contenders already booked.
Middleweight: Robert Whittaker
Another #1 contender who's been TKOed by the champion, Whittaker seems to have competition from Marvin Vettori for the next shot at Israel Adesanya's title. The Aussie is certainly more deserving than Vettori, with wins over Darren Till and Jared Cannonier since his loss to Adesanya. It would be impossible to deny Whittaker if he gets the better of Kelvin Gastelum this week.
Light Heavyweight: Glover Teixeira
The departure of Jon Jones has allowed others to make an impact on the light heavyweight division, one of whom is veteran Teixeira. On a 5-fight win streak at the moment, the 42-year-old is in line to face champion Jan Blachowicz later this year. Aleksandar Rakic isn't too far away as well.
Heavyweight: Stipe Miocic
Miocic isn't expected to be seen in the Octagon anytime soon, with either Jones or Derrick Lewis likely to face champion Francis Ngannou. But should the Cleveland native want the rematch, he will be handed it without hesitation because of his legacy in the heavyweight division.
Women's UFC divisions and their most deserving #1 contenders
Strawweight: Rose Namajunas
With wins over Jessica Andrade and Joanna Jedrzejczyk (twice), Namajunas earned her title shot and is set to face champion Weili Zhang at UFC 261 in April. Yan Xiaonan is surging up the rankings though, and it won't be long before she reaches the top of the division.
Flyweight: Lauren Murphy
Despite fervently crusading for a chance at the gold, Murphy is set to take on #6-ranked Joanne Calderwood in June. 'Lucky' is on a 4-fight win streak with victories over Andrea Lee and Roxanne Modafferi, and could've been handed the next shot at champion Valentina Shevchenko ahead of Andrade.
Bantamweight: Germaine De Randamie
De Randamie's only two losses in her last 10 fights have come against women's MMA GOAT Amanda Nunes, and she's rightfully the #1 contender in the bantamweight division.
Featherweight: N/A
Nunes has cleared out the entire division, whose future in the UFC hangs in the balance at the moment.
