The final UFC pay-per-view of 2025 has its headliners.
On Monday, UFC CEO Dana White announced bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvilli (21-4) goes for a record-breaking fourth-title defense of the year when he rematches Petr Yan (19-5) in the main event of UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 6.
No UFC fighter has ever successfully defended a title four times in a calendar year.
The UFC 323 co-main event was also announced, with flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (30-5) set to defend his title against Joshua Van (15-2). This is Pantoja’s fifth straight defense of his 125-pound championship.
That news was actually broken by Van’s teammate Michael Aswell, who campaigned to be on the same card as his teammate during a post-fight interview at UFC Rio on Saturday following Aswell’s first-round finish of Lucas Almeida.
Dvalishvili—currently No. 3 on the MMA Fighting Pound-For-Pound list—has won 14 straight fights since starting his UFC career 0-2. He defeated Cory Sandhagen in October to record his third title defense following wins against Sean O’Malley and Umar Nurmagomedov earlier this year.
In their first fight in March 2023, Dvalishvili defeated Yan via unanimous decision. That loss put Yan on a three-fight skid, but he has since rebounded with three consecutive victories and both fighters have spoken publicly about wanting to run it back.
Pantoja has already successfully defended his belt once this year, defeating Kai Kara-France by third-round submission at UFC 317 in June. His other victories as champion have come against Kai Asakura, Steve Erceg, and Brandon Royval. Among UFC champions, Pantoja currently has the longest active defense streakclose behind at three.
This is an enormous opportunity for Van, who just turned 24 in October and has only been competing as pro since 2021. Van emerged as a top prospect finishing seven of his first eight opponents before signing with the UFC in 2023. He has won five straight fights, including a pivotal win over Royval in a Fight of the Year candidate at UFC 317, and his UFC record stands at 8-1.
In addition to the two title fights, former bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo returns to action against rising star Payton Talbott in an intriguing matchup at 135 pounds. Also on the card, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz looks to bounce back when he faces Bogdan Guskov on the final pay-per-view event in 2025.
The Dec. 6 event also marks the end of UFC’s seven-year broadcast partnership ESPN, with the promotion moving on to a new seven-year deal with Paramount in 2026.
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