10 Fights We Want to See in 2025

Jon Jones some time ago reached the stage of his career where he calls his own shots. Once-in-a-generation greatness has its perks.

The reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder enters the 2025 campaign, his 18th on the UFC roster, with one clear competitive avenue for a return to the Octagon: a blockbuster unification bout with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. Jones showed no signs of rust in his latest assignment, as he wrecked Stipe Miocic and sent the Strong Style Fight Team linchpin into retirement with a savage spinning back kick to the body and follow-up punches in the UFC 309 main event on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. It was his first appearance in 623 days and only served to reinforce his status as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all-time. Aspinall, meanwhile, strengthened his profile and raised his stock with a 60-second knockout of Elevation Fight Team star Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July. He owns an 8-1 record in the UFC—his lone loss resulted from a knee injury in 2022—and boasts a resume that features first-round finishes of Blaydes, Jake Collier, Alan Baudot, Serghei Spivac, Alexander Volkov, Marcin Tybura and Sergei Pavlovich. Whether their paths cross or not, the 31-year-old Aspinall certainly seems like a prime candidate to carry the heavyweight torch whenever Jones decides to walk off into the sunset.

Jones-Aspinall is but one fight we want to see in 2025. Here are nine more:

Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev: Perhaps no high-level mixed martial artist gets more out of his athletic ability than Du Plessis. The South African brute rose to the top of the 185-pound weight class over the past 12 months, as he captured the undisputed middleweight crown with a five-round split decision over Sean Strickland at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 and then retained it with a face crank submission of Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in August. Du Plessis, 30, has won 10 fights in a row. Chimaev improved to 14-0 in his only assignment of 2024, as he rearranged Robert Whittaker’s teeth with a face crank of his own at UFC 308 on Oct. 26. It was his ninth first-round finish as a pro and moved him into position for a potential title shot.

Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev: The current iteration of MMA’s boogeyman can be found lording over the UFC light heavyweight division. Pereira has violently finished five of his six opponents during his current winning streak and continues to cement himself as one of the most terrifying fighters in the sport’s history. In his most recent outing, he carved up Khalil Rountree with 127 significant strikes ahead of a fourth-round technical knockout at UFC 307 in October. Ankalaev looks like the clear No. 1 contender at 205 pounds. The decorated sambo practitioner has compiled an 11-1-1 record with one no contest across his 14 appearances inside the Octagon, his run highlighted by knockouts of Anthony Smith and Johnny Walker.

Ilia Topuria vs. Movsar Evloev: Topuria has soared to the summit of the UFC’s featherweight mountain with punishing all-terrain skills. The 27-year-old Climent Club cornerstone laid claim to the undisputed 145-pound title at UFC 298, where he punched out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round of their main event, and then retained his championship at UFC 308 eight months later by cutting down the historically indestructible Max Holloway with third-round punches. Though he has talked of a move to 155 pounds, Topuria has plenty of worthy featherweight challengers available to him. Evloev stands at the front of the line. The undefeated American Top Team export improved to 19-0 on Dec. 7, when he took a three-round unanimous decision from Aljamain Sterling at UFC 310. All nine of Evloev’s bouts in the UFC have gone the distance.

Belal Muhammad vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov: Muhammad could be the most overlooked and underappreciated champion in the sport today. Never the most physically gifted competitor in the cage, he reached the pinnacle of his profession through unwavering consistency and sheer persistence, waiting patiently until his number was called. Muhammad made the most of his opportunity, as he captured the undisputed welterweight championship with a five-round unanimous decision over Leon Edwards in the UFC 304 headliner on July 27. Suddenly, his “Remember the Name” moniker took on a whole new meaning. Muhammad boasts a 10-0 record with one no contest across his last 11 assignments. The unbeaten Rakhmonov passed the most difficult test of his career in December, when he took a unanimous decision from Ian Garry at UFC 304. His previous 18 appearances had all ended with finishes: 10 by submission and eight by knockout or technical knockout.

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Manon Fiorot: Shevchenko reclaimed what many believe to be her rightful place at the top of the 125-pound weight class when she evened her head-to-head series against Alexa Grasso at 1-1-1 with a five-round unanimous decision in their UFC 306 rematch on Sept. 14. Those behind the two-time champion in the women’s flyweight pecking order have already taken aim at the bullseye on her back, the surging Fiorot chief among them. The 34-year-old Frenchwoman fought only once in 2024 but extended her winning streak to 12 bouts by outpointing Erin Blanchfield across 25 minutes at UFC on ESPN 54 in March. Fiorot holds a perfect 7-0 record in the UFC.

Julianna Pena vs. Kayla Harrison: Some see Pena as little more than a placeholder champion in the women’s bantamweight division. Future results will determine whether or not she can change minds. “The Venezuelan Vixen” returned to the Octagon for the first time in almost two years at UFC 307, where she reclaimed the 135-pound championship with a five-round unanimous decision over Raquel Pennington on Oct. 5. Pena, 35, has won three of her last four fights, a decision loss to the great Amanda Nunes her only misstep. A two-time Professional Fighters League champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Harrison introduced herself to UFC audiences in 2024 with back-to-back victories over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira. At 18-1, she boasts 15 finishes among her 18 career wins.

Francis Ngannou vs. Denis Goltsov: A clear focal point in the PFL’s plans moving forward, Ngannou dazzled in his Oct. 19 promotional debut and obliterated Renan Ferreira with first-round punches atop the company’s pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia. The resounding victory brought with it the PFL Super Fights heavyweight championship. What follows for Ngannou remains anyone’s guess. The 38-year-old Xtreme Couture rep has strung together seven straight wins, six of them finishes, and shows no signs of physical deterioration. Goltsov powered through the PFL’s season in 2024, beating Linton Vassell, Thiago Santos and Tim Johnson in succession before putting Oleg Popov to sleep with a triangle choke in the million-dollar heavyweight final. Goltsov, 33, carries an 83% finish rate as a pro and would get the first crack at Ngannou in a meritocracy.

Patricio Freire vs. Timur Khizriev: If current trajectory holds, Freire seems destined to be on the short list of greatest fighters to never compete in the UFC. “Pitbull” snapped a two-fight losing streak on March 22, when he retained his Bellator MMA featherweight crown with a third-round technical knockout of Jeremy Kennedy at Bellator Champions Series 1. It was Freire’s lone assignment of 2024, and, with Bellator perhaps a thing of the past, uncertainty clouds his immediate future. The undefeated Khizriev ran the table during the PFL’s latest campaign, as he bested Brett Johns and Enrique Barzola during the regular season, then eliminated Gabriel Braga in the semifinals. A unanimous decision over Brendan Loughnane in the featherweight final brought the Russian a life-changing seven-figure payday and improved his overall record to a remarkable 18-0.

Shamil Musaev vs. Ramazan Kuramagomedov: Musaev planted his flag deep in PFL soil during the past calendar year, rattling of four straight victories to claim the million-dollar pot of gold at the end of the company’s featherweight rainbow. The unassuming Russian—aptly nicknamed “Silent Assassin”—enters 2025 with at 18-0-1 for his career, a majority draw with Michal Pietrzak in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki four years ago serving as the only blemish on an otherwise pristine resume. Musaev has delivered 14 of his 18 wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Kuramagomedov established himself as one of the sport’s Top 5 welterweights in June, when he struck Bellator gold at 170 pounds with a five-round unanimous decision over the favored Jason Jackson.