UFC 2025 | Incredible Year Still Has More To Offer

Each of the first three bouts feature matchups where emerging names have a chance to knock off former champions, as Bogdan Guskov faces Jan Blachowicz, Payton Talbott takes on Henry Cejudo, and Tatsuro Taira squares off with Brandon Moreno. In each instance, a victory for the less established side of those pairings creates added intriguing in those weight divisions, with Talbott rising into the Top 15 with a win and Taira becoming a bona fide contender at flyweight if he can turn back the former two-time champion Moreno.

In the co-main event, either Pantoja will add another successful title defense to his resume, further bolstering his challenge to Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson for top spot all-time in the flyweight division, or 24-year-old challenger Joshua Van will close out an already impressive 2025 campaign by earning a fourth victory and ascending to the throne.

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And in the main event, Dvalishvili puts his bantamweight strap on the line of a fourth time this year, running it back with former champ Petr Yan. If he wins, “The Machine” will not only further cement his case for Fighter of the Year — which is already pretty much assured — but he’ll also become the first fighter to ever successfully defend their title four times in a year. He’d run his winning streak to 15 too, leaving him one back of Makhachev and Silva for the most consecutive victories inside the Octagon.

While the final event of the year doesn’t have the massive stakes of the last pay-per-view of 2025, it does offer a chance to see a host of intriguing names that will be worth keeping a close eye on next year, including DWCS Class of ’24 member Kevin Vallejos, Class of ’25 grad Cezary Oleksiejczuk, streaking featherweight Melquizael Costa and his opponent Morgan Charrier, and bantamweight hopefuls Melissa Croden and Luana Santos.

Even without an electric ending to December, this year has been pretty special, and if things continue the way they have so far in 2025 through these final two events, it’s going to be difficult to argue that this wasn’t one of the very best years in UFC history.