UFC 2025: Analysis of the Most Anticipated Title Fights

UFC Closes Out 2025 with Explosive Card: Six Titles on the Line

The world of mixed martial arts is preparing for an electrifying year-end. The UFC has announced a series of fights that will put six titles on the line, promising strong emotions and unforgettable fights in the last two months of 2025. The action will begin in Abu Dhabi and culminate in Las Vegas, with events that promise to mark a before and after in the history of the company. The UFC 321 main event, from Abu Dhabi, on Saturday (2 p.m. ET on ESPN PPV, prelims at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+), will see Tom Aspinall defend his undisputed heavyweight championship for the first time against Ciryl Gane. In addition, a new strawweight champion will be defined in the co-main event, where Virna Jandiroba will face Mackenzie Dern for the 115-pound title, which Zhang Weili vacated to move up to the flyweight category. New York’s Madison Square Garden will be the stage where Islam Makhachev will seek a second world title by challenging welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 on November 15 (ESPN PPV). The co-main event of that card will also see Zhang attempt to become a champion in a second weight class against women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. The pay-per-view year will close in Las Vegas with the men’s bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili, seeking a fourth successful title defense in a calendar year, a UFC record. He will face Petr Yan at UFC 323 in a rematch of their 2023 bout. Alexandre Pantoja will also put his men’s flyweight championship on the line against the promising Joshua Van.

Next, we analyze the six headline fights according to their quality and importance:

• 6. Strawweight: Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern
• 5. Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane
• 4. Men’s Bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan 2
• 3. Men’s Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van
• 2. Welterweight: Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev
• 1. Women’s Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili

6. Strawweight: Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern

Zhang’s move to the flyweight division, along with the instability of the strawweight division, makes this second encounter between Jandiroba and Dern a less intriguing title fight. Dern defeated Jandiroba just under five years ago in a surprising exchange of blows, but has since had a 5-4 record, making her place in this title fight feel more like a gift than something deserved. Jandiroba has been on a good run lately, with five consecutive victories that at least make her feel like a true title contender. But Dern hasn’t beaten a championship contender and has oscillated between being a talented fighter with title aspirations and a one-dimensional fighter who hasn’t reached her potential. Neither fighter should be inclined to have another kickboxing match, but stranger things have happened when two fighters have faced each other. More than anything, this fight is an indictment of a division that is struggling to find an identity without Zhang. Whoever wins will feel more like a consolation prize than the true champion of the division.

5. Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl 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 legitimate undisputed heavyweight champion after he and the fans had to endure the nonsensical “will he or won’t he” act from Jones that ended in retirement. However, considering that Aspinall has annihilated every UFC opponent he’s faced in under seven combined minutes, outside of his TKO loss due to injury against Curtis Blaydes, forgive us for not being overly enthusiastic about this matchup. Gane is the beneficiary of there being no other opponents for Aspinall to face, and while Gane is certainly a skilled striker, his submission loss in two minutes to Jones in March 2023 doesn’t give us much hope for him against a stellar finishing machine like Aspinall. Heavyweight fights always have that “puncher’s chance” in their favor, but few believe Gane can stop the Aspinall train.

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

Yes, we’ve seen this before. In fact, it’s impossible to unsee the first encounter between Dvalishvili and Yan, because the sheer absurdity of Dvalishvili’s 49 takedown attempts has been cited as the moment people realized the Georgian was more machine than man. Since then, Dvalishvili has acquired the UFC bantamweight title and has swept away the opposition with three title defenses in 2025. As for Yan, he has quietly put the loss to Dvalishvili behind him with three dominant victories that made us question whether the loss to Dvalishvili was more of an aberration than the norm. He will have the opportunity to prove the theory when they meet again at UFC 323. What’s at stake is different this time, with a title on the line and Dvalishvili looking to become the first fighter to successfully defend a title four times in a calendar year. The reason this isn’t higher up the list is because we saw what happened last time and, despite what Yan has said, it’s hard to believe the outcome will be much different. However, if Yan looks like the version who was champion five years ago, this could be a great fight.

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

Van’s momentum over the past year has been revealing, as he has gone from prospect to title contender in three fights that have been progressively more impressive with each performance. His performance against Brandon Royval in June is a candidate for fight of the year that made people believe he is one of the few contenders with a real chance to dethrone Pantoja, whose dominant run for the flyweight championship has put him in the conversation with Demetrious Johnson for the greatest male flyweight champion in UFC history. That conversation will come to a standstill if the ascending Van is able to upset the established order. It’s an intriguing fight in terms of styles. Pantoja is unrivaled on the ground, but Van’s efficient striking, his elite cardio, and his improved takedown defense are the exact recipe needed to pull off the upset. This could be a wildly entertaining fight or another outing in which Pantoja takes a promising fighter and chokes him into submission.

2. Welterweight Weight: Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev

Makhachev held the number 1 spot in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings, but fell behind Ilia Topuria in June, when “El Matador” became a two-division champion by knocking out Charles Oliveira to acquire the lightweight title that Makhachev vacated. Makhachev has the opportunity to regain his top spot if he can take the welterweight title from newly crowned champion Della Maddalena. While some may see it as an inevitable conclusion that Makhachev will obtain a second world championship, Della Maddalena’s sublime skills as a striker and wrestler could provide more than enough resistance. Della Maddalena has not lost a fight since beginning his MMA career with a 0-2 record in 2016, and his impressive Fight of the Night performance against Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 in May made him champion. There is a lot at stake as Della Maddalena aims not to be a transitional champion and to explode a possible mega fight between Makhachev and Topuria. But he probably couldn’t have a more difficult task for his first title defense than against one of the greatest lightweight champions in UFC history.

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

Although this is the co-main event of UFC 322, it is by far the most competitive and intriguing title fight of the group. Shevchenko is already widely regarded as one of the greatest in the history of women’s mixed martial arts, and she was brilliant in retaining the championship against Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 in her second stint as flyweight champion. But the powerful wrestler Zhang has carved out her own place as one of the greatest with her meteoric rise as strawweight champion. Zhang’s only kryptonite during her UFC tenure has been kickboxing, as Rose Namajunas dethroned her twice. And if there’s anyone more qualified in the kickboxing department, that’s Shevchenko. However, Shevchenko has had her challenges with powerful strikers who can wrestle, as both Amanda Nunes and Alexa Grasso used similar wrestling styles to beat her. This is an absolutely perfect matchup and a true 50-50 fight that will have strong implications in women’s MMA. It doesn’t get any better than this.