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The UFC landscape in 2025 looks vastly different from the dominance Americans once enjoyed. Once home to more than a dozen world champions, the United States now has just a single titleholder in Kayla Harrison, who claimed gold at UFC 316. With Jon Jones stepping away from competition, the men’s divisions no longer boast a U.S. champion. Dagestani powerhouse Islam Makhachev has weighed in on why the tide has shifted—and his explanation points to the rise of fighters from the Caucasus region.
A shift in UFC’s balance of power
In 2016, the UFC roster was brimming with American champions across multiple divisions. Fast forward to 2025, and that number has drastically dwindled. Kayla Harrison, the two-time Olympic gold medalist from Ohio, now holds the nation’s lone belt, while Jon Jones’ retirement stripped the U.S. of its last male champion.
Makhachev, who has long been one of the most dominant fighters in the lightweight division, believes the decline of American MMA champions isn’t due to a lack of skill, but rather the surge of elite talent hailing from the Caucasus region.
Islam Makhachev points to Caucasus dominance
Asked about the UFC’s shrinking pool of American champions, Islam Makhachev gave a blunt response:
“They just started signing more of our guys. That’s the reason,” Makhachev said in an interview with Ushatayka.
The former lightweight king highlighted how fighters from Dagestan, Chechnya, and other parts of the Caucasus region bring a different mindset and cultural responsibility into the cage.
“I’m 100% sure there will be more champs from our region. From Caucasus, Dagestan, Chechnya… No brainer, our guys live for this, for this sport,” he added.
Responsibility drives their success
Islam Makhachev elaborated that the motivation fueling fighters from his homeland is unlike anything seen elsewhere.
“In the USA, for example, they don’t worry even if they competed bad. But behind our guys, there is a family, the whole city, the whole republic. And he feels this responsibility and goes out with the full responsibility and wins.”
This sense of duty, Makhachev argues, is what separates Caucasus fighters from the rest of the field.
The rise of a new breed of champions
The UFC has already seen champions emerge from the Caucasus region beyond Dagestan. Georgia has given the sport Merab Dvalishvili and Ilia Topuria, while Chechnya’s Khamzat Chimaev has cemented his place as middleweight champion. With the UFC actively recruiting from these hotbeds of talent, Islam Makhachev’s prediction of a new wave of champions from the region seems inevitable.
As America’s grip on UFC titles weakens, the question remains—can U.S. fighters reclaim their dominance, or has the era of Caucasus supremacy truly begun?
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