It’s been an eventful 2025 campaign for the UFC, with dominant champions changing divisions, new stars staking their claim to title shots, and established stars continuing to build their legacies. Even with marquee names like Jon Jones and Conor McGregor remaining out of the picture-despite their best efforts to convince us otherwise-the world’s preeminent MMA promotion hasn’t missed a step (at least as far as profit margins are concerned).
There are still plenty of meetings to take place inside the octagon over the next two and a half months before the UFC White House talk ramps up even more, so MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Mike Heck, Jed Meshew, and Damon Martin teamed up to pick the fights we’re most looking forward to before 2026 rolls in.
Lee: I called dibs on the obvious choice here: Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev.
The Nov. 15 UFC 322 main event feels like a fitting climax to the 2025 Pound-for-Pound debate (though Alexandre Pantoja may have something to say about it in December), with Makhachev, Della Maddalena, Ilia Topuria, and Merab Dvalishvili all making their case to be considered the No. 1 guy in all of MMA. Sure, making Topuria have to beat Makhachev to win the lightweight belt made a ton of sense, but once Della Maddalena beat up Makhachev’s buddy Belal Muhammad, the stage was set for a megafight no one even considered 12 months ago.
And the way Della Maddalena handled Muhammad makes it much easier to imagine him dealing with Makhachev’s wrestling and defense, especially given the size advantage “JDM” will have on fight night. Makhachev is the deserved favorite and could well run through Della Maddalena (I doubt it), but if he puts on a career-best performance, we’re going to have a serious conversation about whether he’s surpassed the accomplishments of his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Heck: Looking at what’s currently on the books, I thought there were a few more compelling choices, honestly. But since it’s the best division in the sport, and because it’s a big one, I’ll go with the UFC Qatar main event between Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker on Nov. 22.
Let’s be clear, Tsarukyan shouldn’t even be in this fight as he should be fighting Ilia Topuria for the lightweight title. But I totally understand the UFC pivoting to either Paddy Pimblett or Justin Gaethje to make Topuria happy. Now we get the division’s top contender facing, quite possibly, the biggest dog in the division. X’s and O’s, Tsarukyan should win this fight convincingly, but Hooker is super good at taking great fighters into deep waters — see Dustin Poirier and Mateusz Gamrot. Tsarukyan is yet to win a UFC main event, and the last time he was booked in such a spot, you all know what happened. A win here should lock up Tsarukyan fighting for the title in 2026.
For Hooker, a win here puts him in a great spot. He may not get the lightweight title shot, but he’ll most certainly get the BMF title shot against Max Holloway. The stakes are high, and there’s no way this fight isn’t fun.
Meshew: So, the honest answer is whatever headlines UFC 323 in December, because mystery is the heart of excitement. Who doesn’t love a mystery box, after all? It could be anything! Perhaps the UFC ends its ESPN deal with a bang and books Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria? You never know!
But, in the absence of the choosing the great mystery, I shall default to the one, true answer: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili.
Shevchenko vs. Zhang is not just the best fight on the books right now, it’s the best fight, on paper, that the UFC can make in the entire sport. This is the first time in the history of women’s MMA that the No. 1 and No. 2 pound-for-pound fighters in the world are facing off with each other. That’s remarkable. But more than that, this isn’t just a pairing of the top two women in the sport, it’s a matchup of two of the four greatest women to ever compete. Amanda Nunes, Valentina Shevchenko, Cris Cyborg, and Zhang Weili are generally considered to be the greatest female fighters of all time. Nunes fought two of her peers, and now Shevchenko gets to fight a second on of hers.
On top of that, it’s a fascinating matchup. Zhang has looked unbeatable at 115 pounds since reclaiming the title, and she’s finally moving up to flyweight. Meanwhile, Shevchenko appears to be past her prime, but she’s still reclaimed her belt and defended it against the clear-cut No. 1 contender. This is the sort of fight that comes around once or twice in a generation, and the winner may end up staking a claim as the greatest to ever compete. That’s gotta be the one I’m most interested in.
Martin: It’s not the sexiest answer but for me it’s the UFC Qatar co-main event between Belal Muhammad and Ian Machado Garry. Actually, this should probably be the main event or at least a five-round fight because the stakes are high for both men.
After finally achieving his dream and becoming welterweight champion with a win over Leon Edwards, Muhammad’s reign came to a quick end after he decided to show off his “Canelo hands” against Jack Della Maddalena and subsequently lost his title. At 37, Muhammad is hitting an age where fighters rarely get better and it always seems like Father Time is stalking them like the grim reaper. If he ever hopes to get back into title contention again, Muhammad has to win and shut down a guy who won’t stop talking between now and November.
Garry has been telling anybody who will listen he’s destined to become UFC champion and while he came up short in his first bid at earning a title shot when he fell to Shavkat Rakhmonov, the Irish welterweight has a new lease on life after picking apart Carlos Prates and now getting Muhammad as an opponent. Rakhmonov has effectively disappeared and the only other person who could make a compelling argument for a title shot would be Sean Brady if he keeps building on the momentum of his own win streak.
This is an old school matchup of grappler versus striker and either Muhammad reclaims his spot atop the division with a chance to become champion again or Garry vaults past him and immediately becomes the top contender at 170 pounds.
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