The UFC Welterweight Division has seen a number of great champions since its foundation in 1998.
The Welterweight Division lives and lives in 2025 with young contenders who rise to the top of the division as champion Jack della Maddalena, who broke the 11-fighting undefeated line of Belal Muhammad on UFC 315.
Former champion and pound-for-pound Koning Kamaru Usman came out for the old guard and dominated a striping competition in Joaquin Buckley in UFC Atlanta during the weekend.
The 38-year-old Usman reminded the world how great he really is with the vintage performance and again got himself in the title mix on 170 pounds.
Usman is one of the 13 undisputed champions in the Welterweight in the UFC history and he stands next to the legendary Georges St-Pierre in the 'goat' conversation.
Bloody Elbow arranges the top 5 welter weights of all time.
Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty images
5. Robbie Lawler
#5 On our list is Robbie Lawler, one of the most violent hunters in the history of sport.
Lawler had a memorable title line, one that had two all time against Rory Macdonald in 2015 and former interim champion Carlos Condit in 2016.
In 2014, Lawler recorded the title in a Rematch against Johny Hendricks, the champion that Anneges St-Pierre demonstrably defeated in his pension fight.
Lawler only earned $ 300k in performance bonuses and in 2023 retired with 15 UFC victories under his belt.
4. Tyron Woodley
Tyron Woodley is one of the most undervalued champions in the UFC.
Woodley was the predecessor of Usman and defended the Welterweight title four times against people like Stephen Thompson (twice), Demian Maia and Darren Till.
Woodley stopped Jay Hieron, Josh Koscheck, Carlos Condit, Dong Hyun Kim on his way to a title fight of 2016 with Lawler, months after his five -round war against Carlos Condit.
It would take Woodley a little more than two minutes to disable Robbie Lawler with a barrage of bumps on UFC 201.
3. Matt Hughes
Before GSP, Matt Hughes ruled as the undisputed king of the Welterweight division.
Hughes got UFC Gold in 2001 with a SLAM Ko from Carlos Newton on UFC 34. He defended the title five times before he lost it to BJ Penn in 2004.
Hughes became the first man to defeat Georges St-Pierre later that year and acquires the Canadian with an arm bar just before the bell at UFC 50.
During his second title government, Hughes defeated Frank Trigg (Again), Joe Riggs, UFC 1 winner Royce Gracie and former two-division champion BJ Penn.
Hughes went 1-2 in his trilogy with St-Pierre, but then won against people like Chris Lytle, former champion Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and Cesar Almeida after losing his title in 2006.
2. Kamaru Usman
Kamaru Usman is the Consensus Second-Group Welterweight of all time.
The CV of Usman speaks for itself, because 'the Nigerian nightmare' has the longest profit streak in Welterweight history at the age of 15. Usman is bound with Hughes for the second most defense defense in the division at 5.
Usman broke a record for the most control time in a title fight (18:05) when he dominated Tyron Woodley in 2019 to win the title.
The former champion defeated many top wells weights in his heyday, such as Leon Edwards, Demian Maia, Rafael Dos Anjos, Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Gilbert Burns and most recently Joaquin Buckley.
1. Georges St-Pierre
Undoubtedly the largest MMA hunter ever, Canada's Georges St-Pierre left a legacy like no other on £ 170.
After losing his first title fight against Hughes in 2004, St-Pierre earned a rematch with five consecutive victories over BJ Penn, Sean Sean Sherk and Frank Trigg.
St-Pierre finally won the title of Hughes in 2006 and after a huge upset loss for Matt Serra the following year, GSP would never lose again.
St-Pierre won 12-Straight fights on Welterweight and defended the title 9 consecutive times.
Matt Hughes (twice), BJ Penn (twice), Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz, Johny Hendricks, and much more defeated the welterweight 'goat' (twice), BJ Penn (twice), before he retired with his belt with his belt with his belt.