Ranking the final 6 UFC championship fights of 2025

The UFC plans to end 2025 with a bang. Six titles will be at stake in the final two months of the year. In the main event of UFC 321 on Saturday from Abu Dhabi (2 p.m. ET on ESPN PPV, 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+), Tom Aspinall will eventually move forward john jones Defend his Undisputed Heavyweight Championship for the first time against Saga and former interim titleholder Cyril GaneA new strawweight champion will also be determined in the co-main event, when Virna Jandiroba meeting of mackenzie dern For the 115-pound title zhang weili Vacated earlier this year to move up to flyweight.

New York’s Madison Square Garden to host former lightweight champion Islam MakhachevHe attempts to capture a second world title as he challenges the welterweight titleholder Jack Della Maddalena On November 15 at UFC 322 (ESPN PPV). The co-main event of that card also featured Zhang attempting to become champion in another weight class against the women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko,

Pay-per-view year ends in Las Vegas with men’s bantamweight champion merab dvalishvili Making a UFC-record fourth successful title defense within a calendar year. he will take charge petr yan In a rematch of their 2023 five-rounder at UFC 323. alexandre pantoja Additionally, he will also put his men’s flyweight championship on the line against the 24-year-old joshua van,

ESPN ranks all six title bouts according to the quality and importance of each matchup.

6. Strawweight: Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern

Zhang’s move to the flyweight division, as well as the instability of the strawweight division, makes this second clash between Jandiroba and Dern a less interesting title fight. Dern defeated Jandiroba in a stunning slugfest just five years ago, but she’s gone 5-4 since then, making her spot in this title fight feel more merited than merited. Jandiroba has been on a roll lately with five wins in a row, which at least makes her feel like a true title contender. But Dern hasn’t defeated any championship contenders and is teetering between a talented wrestler with title aspirations and a one-dimensional wrestler who hasn’t quite lived up to his potential.

Neither fighter should be looking forward to another kickboxing match, but strange things have happened when two wrestlers have gotten into a fight. More than anything else, this fight is an indictment of a division that is struggling to find its identity without Zhang. Whoever wins will feel more like a consolation prize than a true champion of the division.

5. Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall vs. Cyril Gane

This isn’t the heavyweight title fight that UFC fans or Aspinall wanted, but honestly, it’s good to see Aspinall back in action as the true undisputed heavyweight champion, after he and the fans had to sit through Jones’ meaningless “will he or won’t he” fight that ended in retirement. However, considering that Aspinall has destroyed every UFC opponent he has faced in less than seven minutes combined –out of his TKO loss due to injury curtis blades –Forgive us for not being too thrilled with this matchup. Gane has benefited from not having any other opponents to face Aspinall, and although Gane is certainly a capable striker, his two-minute submission loss against Jones in March 2023 doesn’t give us much hope for him against a prolific finishing machine like Aspinall. There’s always a “puncher’s chance” for him in heavyweight bouts, but few think Gane Aspinall can stop the train.

4. Men’s Bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan 2

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Merab Dvalishvili defeated Petr Yan in a unanimous decision victory

Merab Dvalishvili won via unanimous decision in an upset over Petr Yan.

Yes, we’ve seen this before. Indeed, the first meeting between Dvalishvili and Yan is impossible to ignore, as Dvalishvili’s absurd 49 takedown attempts have been cited as the moment when people realized the Georgian was more machine than man. Since then, Dvalishvili has captured the UFC bantamweight title and swept the opposition with three title defenses in 2025. As for Yan, he has quietly overturned the loss to Davalishvili with three major wins, which has forced us to question whether the loss to Davalishvili was more of an deviation from the norm. They’ll have a chance to prove that theory when they meet again at UFC 323.

This time the stakes are different, a title is at stake and Dvalishvili is trying to become the first fighter to successfully defend the title four times in a calendar year. The reason it’s not higher on the list is because we saw what happened last time and, despite what Yan has said, it’s hard to believe the results will be much different. However, if Yan looks like the version of him who was champion five years ago, it could be a major battle.

3. Men’s Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Vann

The momentum Van has gained over the past year has been eye-opening, as he has gone from potential to title contender in three fights, becoming increasingly more impressive with each performance. His outing against Brandon Royval There’s a fight of the year candidate in June that has people believing he’s one of the few contenders who has a real chance to unseat Pantoja, whose dominant flyweight championship run has put him in the conversation. demetrius johnson For the greatest men’s flyweight champion in UFC history. This conversation will come to an abrupt halt if the growing van becomes capable of upsetting the apple cart. It’s an interesting fight in terms of styles. Pantoja is no match on the ground, but Van’s skilled striking, elite cardio and superior takedown defense are the perfect recipe needed to pull off the upset. This could be a highly entertaining scrap or any other outing in which Pantoja catches a promising fighter and chokes him into submission.

2. Welterweight: Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev

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Islam Makhachev becomes the most decorated lightweight UFC fighter of all time

Islam Makhachev became the first man to defend the lightweight title four times in the UFC with a victory over Renato Moicano.

Makhachev dominated the No. 1 spot in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings, but fell behind Ilya Topuria In June, when “El Matador” became a two-division champion by knockout Charles Oliveira To regain the lightweight title vacated by Makhachev. Makhachev has a chance to regain his top spot if he can defeat recently crowned champion Della Maddalena and win the welterweight title. While some may see it as a foregone conclusion that Makhachev chooses a second world championship, Della Maddalena’s excellent skills as a striker and wrestler may provide more than enough resistance. Della Maddalena hasn’t lost a fight since starting her MMA career 0-2 in 2016, and she had an impressive performance in Fight of the Night against Belal Muhammad He was crowned champion at UFC 315 in May. There is a lot at stake as Della Maddalena aims to not become a transitional champion and eliminate a potential megafight between Makhachev and Topuria. But he probably couldn’t have a tougher task than his first title defense against one of the greatest lightweight champions in UFC history.

1. Women’s Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili

Although it is the co-main event of UFC 322, it is – by far – the most competitive and interesting title fight of the bunch. Shevchenko is already considered one of the greatest in women’s mixed martial arts, and she was fantastic in retaining the championship. manon fiorot In his second stint as flyweight champion at UFC 315. But powerhouse fighter Zhang has cemented his place as one of the all-time greats with his explosive performances as strawweight champion. Zhang’s only kryptonite during his UFC tenure has been kickboxing Rose Namajunas Overturned it twice. And if there’s anyone more qualified in the kickboxing department, it’s Shevchenko. However, Shevchenko faced challenges with powerful strikers who can wrestle both Amanda Nunes And Alexa Grasso Used similar fighting styles to defeat him. This is perfect matchmaking and a true 50-50 fight that will have a huge impact on women’s MMA. Nothing can be better than this.