10 UFC Fights We Want to See in 2025

It's just been just shy of three weeks since Joaquin Buckley busted up Colby Covington in the most recent UFC fight. As is often the case when the promotion takes its customary year-end break, it feels like it's been a lot longer than it actually has.

The good news is there's just over a week until lightweight prospects Yanal Ashmouz and Nurullo Aliev kick off the first card of the promotion's 2025 calendar.

That first card of the year, a Fight Night headlined by a rematch between Amanda Ribas and Mackenzie Dern, looks somewhat underwhelming.

However, there are already some major title fights scheduled for the first months of the year, and the UFC matchmakers are in position to put together some even bigger matchups throughout the next 12 months.

Time will tell which contests we actually get, but here are 10 fights we're hoping to see before 2025 is over.

You had to know this fight would feature on our list. It is the fight to make for 2025.

Jon Jones, the greatest light heavyweight champion in MMA history, is now the heavyweight champion. Aspinall, a 250-pound giant who moves like a middleweight and boasts both proven knockout power and submissions, is now the division's interim champion.

Truth be told, this should have happened already, but we had to wait for Jones to fight a shop-worn Stipe Miocic for some reason. Now that's mercifully behind us, there's no other fight to make for either guy.

Jones may be the greatest fighter of all time, but Aspinall has the physical tools and skill to beat any fighter on the planet right now, no matter how unbeatable they may seem.

Here's another one the UFC matchmakers really have no choice but to make.

After a hard-fought decision victory over his former training partner, Ian Machado Garry, at UFC 310, welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov is now a staggering 19-0.

The Kazakh has scored finishes in every one of his victories except his win over Garry, and several of those finishes came against top-level welterweights such as Stephen Thompson and Geoff Neal.

Rakhmonov is irrefutably the next man in line for welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, who claimed the title with a surprising decision victory over Leon Edwards last summer and is now riding an impressive 10-fight win streak.

Magomed Ankalaev is in a similar position to Shavkat Rakhmonov as the undeniable No. 1 contender in his weight class.

The Russian light heavyweight is unbeaten in his last 13 walks to the Octagon, defeating the likes of Volkan Oezdemir, Thiago Santos, Anthony Smith, Johnny Walker and, most recently, Aleksandar Rakic.

His fights aren't always pretty—and UFC brass seems to have soured on him as a result—but he's delivered some impressive finishes and deserves a crack at champion Alex Pereira based on his win-streak alone.

Hopefully, the matchmakers put aside their apparent frustration with Ankalaev and make the fight. It's not only the obvious choice from a rankings perspective, but it may also be the toughest stylistic challenge of Pereira's MMA career to date.

The 32-year-old has better grappling than any of the former kickboxer's previous opponents.

Ilia Topuria was B/R's Fighter of the Year for 2024, thanks to his stunning knockouts of living MMA legends Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski. He has options for his first title fight of 2025.

It's possible Volkanovski, who is one of the most dominant featherweights ever, will get a crack at redemption against the undefeated champion. Streaking Brazilian Diego Lopes is also in position for a title shot.

However, we're hoping it's a championship showdown between Topuria and Movsar Evloev next. The Russian is now 19-0, and after a decision win over former bantamweight Aljamain Sterling, he is certainly deserving of a title shot.

In fact, he probably deserves the chance before Volkanovski, who has not fought since he lost to Topuria, and Lopes, who he has beaten before.

Former PFL lightweight champion Kayla Harrison deserved a crack at the UFC bantamweight title from the moment she choked out former champ Holly Holm in her Octagon debut at UFC 300.

For some reason, Julianna Pena got the opportunity first, despite being far less deserving and no bigger of a star than Harrison.

Pena ultimately made good on her opportunity, becoming a two-time titleholder with a dubious decision victory Raquel Pennington at UFC 307.

Now that she's back on the throne, it's time to give Harrison the opportunity she has deserved since she beat Holm, and one she deserves even more after her decision victory over Ketlen Vieira on the same night.

Manon Fiorot is on a serious hot streak right now. She is unbeaten in the 12 fights since she lost a split decision to Bellator star Leah McCourt in her professional debut.

The French fighter's last seven wins have occurred in the UFC's Octagon, where she's defeated top contenders and former title challengers and champions like Erin Blanchfield, Rose Namajunas, Katlyn Cerminara, Jennifer Maia and Mayra Bueno Silva.

At this point, Fiorot is undeniably the next woman in line for a crack at flyweight champion and pound-for-pound queen Valentina Shevchenko, who is again ready for fresh challenges after an entertaining three-fight series with Mexico's Alexa Grasso.

It's a compelling matchup on paper, and it would make an excellent addition to any of the UFC's 2025 visits to Europe. It would certainly be a great headliner for the promotion's customary September visit to Paris, but it would be a waste of both women's time to wait that long.

The UFC matchmakers have a solid track record when it comes to making the right fights at any given time.

Current examples include the UFC 311 lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan, and the bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov slated for the same card. Anything besides those contests would have been a mistake.

Unfortunately, the matchmakers are not immune to screwups. Case in point: the recently announced middleweight title fight between champion Dricus Du Plessis and challenger Sean Strickland.

Sure, Strickland is a former champion who lost the title with a close decision to Du Plessis last year, but that was his first title defense, and all he's done since is score a decision win over a fading Paulo Costa, which was about as entertaining as staring at a wall for 25 minutes.

It's not like the matchmakers didn't have better options, either.

Khamzat Chimaev, who is probably a bigger star than Strickland, is not only undefeated at 14-0 but also scored a quick and brutal submission win over Robert Whittaker recently, which is more impressive than anything Strickland has done outside of his title win over Israel Adesanya.

If Du Plessis beats Strickland again, Chimaev needs to be next. If Strickland wins, Chimaev still needs to be next, though that is a less compelling matchup.

Alexandre Pantoja has a long way to go if he wants to fill the shoes of flyweight legend Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson, but after a title win over Brandon Moreno and defenses against Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg and Kai Asakura, the Brazilian is probably the second-best champion in the division's history.

In fact, he's been so successful in recent years that he's somewhat short on credible options for his next title defense.

Kai Kara-France is definitely an option, as is the winner of a recently announced fight between Manel Kape and Royval. However, it's arguable the best opponent available for the champ is Kyoji Horiguchi, who is not under UFC contract right now.

The Japanese fighter was one of the many Johnson thwarted during his title reign, but he left the UFC on a three-fight win-streak. Since then, he has reigned as the Bellator bantamweight champ and is now the defending RIZIN flyweight champ.

Hardcore fans have wanted to see Horiguchi back in the UFC for years. After his New Year's Eve title defense against EFC flyweight champ Nkazimulo Zulu, he's as deserving of the opportunity as ever, and it's possible given RIZIN's working relationship with the UFC.

There's the small issue that Pantoja and Horiguchi are training partners, but it seems they're open to the idea if the price is right.

Alexander Volkanovski is one of the best featherweights in MMA history and one of the best fighters ever, regardless of weight class.

Unfortunately, the Australian hasn't fought since he lost his belt to Ilia Topuria last February.

Volkanovski has been taking a well-deserved rest since, but he has been adamant that he deserves a rematch with Topuria next.

It would be hard to deny him that chance based on his previous dominance, but we'd rather see him move up to lightweight and focus on fan-friendly legacy fights.

If that's what he chooses to do—and he's expressed openness to the idea in the past—he's got options.

A fight with Dustin Poirier would be amazing. So, too, would a fight with Justin Gaethje. The most interesting choice, though, would be a clash with former lightweight champ Charles Oliveira, who holds the record for most finishes in UFC history.

It would be a clash of two living MMA legends, and a victory would be among the greatest achievements on either man's resume.

Michael Chandler and Patricio "Pitbull" Freire are possibly the two best fighters in Bellator history.

Today, when Bellator has been swallowed and half-digested by the PFL, Chandler is six fights into his UFC career and Pitbull looks dead set on following him there.

The Brazilian is still under contract with the PFL, but that could change soon, as he grows increasingly displeased with the promotion's management of his career. If he gets his release, it's hard to imagine the UFC won't give him a shot. He may be nearing the end of his career, but he is an unsung MMA legend with a crowded trophy case to prove it.

If Pitbull does sign with the UFC, he has a sprawling list of exciting options, but a fight with Chandler seems like the one to make. The pair fought once under the Bellator banner, when Freire stopped the American to claim the lightweight belt and become a two-division champion, but the stoppage was somewhat questionable, leaving room for a rematch that never happened. That could change in 2025.

It may not be the Conor McGregor fight Chandler wasted two years of his career waiting for, but it's one he would be unlikely to turn down, and it would be a treat for fans.