Let’s address the elephant in the room, shall we? Yes, Merab Dvalishvili lost a fight, but what he accomplished overall in the past 12 months and the way he mesmerized us stood out more than any of his counterparts.
That’s why Dvalishvili is MMA Junkie’s 2025 Male Fighter of the Year.
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Our staff vote was as thin as it gets – Dvalishvili received six votes, Islam Makhachev five votes, and Petr Yan one vote. Joshua Van also was given consideration.
With Makhachev, Yan and Van all finishing the year undefeated, how is it that Dvalishvili still earned the Male Fighter of the Year nod? As one MMA Junkie staff member who voted for Dvalishvili put it, “He had such a ‘lead’ that even if you were to say ‘Oh, a loss hurts his case significantly,’ I’d still say he’s in the lead. He beat two really legit contenders and a former champion. Tried to do something no one had ever done in the sport, and that was his only shortcoming.”
Consider this: By the time Dvalishvili beat Cory Sandhagen in unprecedented fashion Oct. 4 at UFC 320, he was a virtual lock to be every MMA media outlet’s Male Fighter of the Year. Nobody else was seriously in contention after the win, highlighted by a UFC record 20 takedowns in one fight, marked Dvalishvili’s third consecutive bantamweight title defense in less than nine months, a pace only matched recently by Alex Pereira during his first light heavyweight title reign. Dvalishvili’s run, which was part of an incredible 14-fight winning streak, included a sterling performance against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 and a third-round submission of Sean O’Malley in their UFC 316 rematch.
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 18: Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia reacts at the end of his bantamweight title fight against Umar Nurmagomedov of Russia during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome on January 18, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
After UFC 320, Dvalishvili easily could’ve rested on his laurels. He had every right. Instead, he chose to chase history by attempting to become the first fighter in UFC history to defend his title four times in a calendar year when he accepted a rematch with Yan that took place just two months later at UFC 323. Was Dvalishvili biting off more than he could chew after an already insanely active and successful 2025? That was the question heading into UFC 323, and the answer turned out to be yes when he lost a unanimous decision by scores of 49-46, 49-46, 48-47.
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Male Fighter of the Year hopes dashed? Not exactly.
Consider: Makhachev did win a belt in a second division by dominating Jack Della Maddalena to become welterweight champ at UFC 322, but his only other fight of 2025 – a successful defense of the lightweight championship – came against then-ranked No. 10 Renato Moicano at UFC 311. Had Makhachev defeated originally scheduled opponent Arman Tsarukyan, who withdrew on weigh-in day, we could be having a different conversation.
Also consider: Van did go 4-0 this year, including a Fight of the Year contender against Brandon Royval at UFC 317, and his fourth victory was claiming the flyweight title from Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323. But had the title win not been the result of a fluke injury stoppage just 26 seconds into the fight, we also could be having a different conversation for this reason.
And as for Yan? Yes, he did avenge a previous loss to Dvalishvili to reclaim the 135-pound belt at UFC 323. But his only other fight of 2025 was a decision win over Marcus McGhee, who was No. 12 in the rankings at the time – hardly a Fighter of the Year resume in this writer’s humble opinion.
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Stack those resumes against Dvalishvili’s – the three title wins in less than nine months, the overall dominance, the strength of schedule, and even his daring pursuit of MMA immortality – and it’s not hard to see why he maintained his lead to be MMA Junkie’s 2025 Fighter of the Year.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Merab Dvalishvili named 2025 Male Fighter of the Year