There are 8 men’s weight classes in the UFC. They are flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
The divisions span a broad range of athletes, from the 125-pound flyweight limit to the 265-pound heavyweight limit. Each class exists to reduce extreme size differences and create more competitive matchups. Fighters normally weigh in the day before an event, and non-title bouts may allow a small additional allowance.
The UFC’s modern men’s division structure developed gradually. Early UFC events often used open-weight tournaments with few restrictions, while standardized weight classes became increasingly important as mixed martial arts adopted unified rules and athletic regulation.
People sometimes answer 10 because they include women’s divisions or count special categories separately. The UFC also has women’s divisions, but the question asks specifically about men’s classes. Catchweight bouts and openweight contests do not create permanent divisions, so they are not included in the total.