{"id":371141,"date":"2025-12-25T14:59:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T14:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/371141\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T14:59:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T14:59:21","slug":"top-five-ufc-mma-events-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/371141\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Five UFC\/MMA Events Of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Merry Christmas everyone! As the year winds down and the UFC layoff continues, it\u2019s a perfect time to look back over the most eventful moments of 2025. In this case, we\u2019re talking big picture. Top-to-bottom, what were the best and most memorable fight cards of the year? I always have trouble with this one and really have to look back over the list, but the priority here is great fun on the \u201cPrelims,\u201d some cool finishes throughout, and a high-profile (ideally title) fight that lives up to expectations.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s check out 2025\u2019s \u201cEvents of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Arman<\/a><\/p>\n

Arman Tsarukyan of Georgia kicks Dan Hooker of New Zealand in a lightweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena (ABHA Arena) in Doha, Qatar, on November 22, 2025. (Photo by Noushad Thekkayil\/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

I wanted to include at least one \u201cFight Night\u201d event, and maybe it\u2019s just recency bias speaking, but I found UFC Qatar to be great fun.<\/p>\n

In the main event, Arman Tsarukyan lived up to the hype and smashed Dan Hooker to bits. It was predictable, sure, but quite violent and fun to watch as Tsarukyan proved himself one of the division\u2019s finest. Ian Machado Garry vs. Belal Muhammad in the co-main was the low point of the main card, and it was still a pretty decent scrap with relevant title implications.<\/p>\n

The rest of the card was all finishes. Volkan Oezdemir, Mytybek Orolbai, and Waldo Cortes-Acosta each flattened their opponent in the very first round. Kyoji Horiguchi returned in tremendous fashion. There were some fun moments on the undercard too, like Luke Riley\u2019s debut KO victory or Asu Almabayev\u2019s comeback guillotine over Alex Perez.<\/p>\n

9 finishes out of 14 fights overall is nothing to scoff at!<\/p>\n

\"CHICAGO,<\/a><\/p>\n

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 16: (L-R) Carlos Prates of Brazil punches Geoff Neal in a welterweight fight during the UFC 319 event at the United Center on August 16, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Ed Mulholland\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

The knock against UFC 319 is the main event. Khamzat Chimaev laid an egg versus Dricus Du Plessis despite winning dominantly. It was an extremely conservative (read: boring) victory even if the \u201cBorz\u201d rise as a whole has been must-watch entertainment.<\/p>\n

How can you argue with back-to-back spinning elbows though? Both Lerone Murphy and Carlos Prates scored two of the year\u2019s best KOs consecutively. Michael Page jumping up to Middleweight and shocking Jared Cannoner was pretty neat in its own right, and Tim Elliott scored a major upset win via guillotine over Kai Asakura.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a fun main card! On the \u201cPrelims,\u201d the highlights include a quick Michael Oleksiejczyk KO, the continued resurgence of Alexander Hernandez at the expense of Chase Hooper, and Joseph Morales\u2019 TUF-winning triangle choke.<\/p>\n

\"INGLEWOOD,<\/a><\/p>\n

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 18: Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia punches Umar Nurmagomedov of Russia in a bantamweight title fight during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome on January 18, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n

Two title fights up top and both were pretty badass? Now we\u2019re heating up.<\/p>\n

In the UFC 311 main event, Islam Makhachev dispatched Renato Moicano in short fashion via d\u2019arce choke. If Arman Tsarukyan had actually made this fight rather than pull out, perhaps this is card of the year? As it stands, it\u2019s still fun to watch a divisional GOAT handle somebody who isn\u2019t quite at his level.<\/p>\n

As for the co-main event, was Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov the best title fight of the year? I would say so (spoiler for a future article!). Those two went to absolute war for 25 minutes in one of the most high level fights of 2025, and Dvalishvili earned his upset win and respect as a divisional GOAT candidate in his own right. It was awesome!<\/p>\n

The good stuff doesn\u2019t end up top either. Jiri Prochazka vs. Jamahal Hill was a spectacular Light Heavyweight collision, par for the excellent course in regards to \u201cBJP\u201d bouts. Rounding out the main card, Jailton Almeida threw punches for the first time in his career to knock out Serghei Spivac, and Reinier de Ridder made quick work of Kevin Holland.<\/p>\n

As for the \u201cPrelims,\u201d the big story was Payton Talbott\u2019s fraud check at the hands of Raoni Barcelos. Wait \u2026 breaking news. Talbott still turned out to be really damn good in 2025? Barcelos is just an excellent veteran who took advantage of a young prospect\u2019s inexperience? That can\u2019t be right. It\u2019s impossible!<\/p>\n

\"LAS<\/a><\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 04: Alex Pereira of Brazil enters the Octagon in the UFC light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 320 event at T-Mobile Arena on October 04, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cooper Neill\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been decades since UFC events had their own specific tagline, but \u201cReturn of the King\u201d feels like an appropriate one here.<\/p>\n

Alex Pereira made a statement in the main event, knocking Magomed Ankalaev senseless in just 80 seconds. He beat the Russian champion so badly that absolutely nobody is asking for an immediate rematch. The score is technically tied, and Pereira won anyway! That\u2019s the value of aura, and it was truly a jaw-dropping moment to witness live.<\/p>\n

This take may be divisive, but I found Merab vs. Cory Sandhagen in the co-main event to be an outstanding fight. Sandhagen brought really interesting answers to the Dvalishvili puzzle, and they were working well until Dvalishvili bombed him and nearly secured a knockout. After the near finish, Sandhagen was game and savvy enough to stay in the fight, but he was rendered reactive.<\/p>\n

Outside of the title fights, Jiri Prochazka did it again, starching Khalil Rountree in a wild third round rally. Putting Jiri on a card greatly increases the odds that it will be a memorable evening! Youssef Zalal scored a quick, slick armbar over Josh Emmett, and Joe Pyfer proved he\u2019s still a Middleweight to watch by submitting Abus Magomedov.<\/p>\n

There were some good finishes on the undercard as well, including a killer duel of Featherweight prospects Daniel Santos vs. Joo Sang Yoo.<\/p>\n

\"LAS<\/a><\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JUNE 28: Ilia Topuria of Georgia celebrates after his victory via knock out against Charles Oliveira of Brazilduring a lightweight title bout at UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena on June 28, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ian Maule\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n

On June 28, two title fights produced two dominant finishes.<\/p>\n

Atop the card, Ilia Topuria completed his ascension to double champ status by mopping the floor with Charles Oliveira. A lot of people predicted Topuria to win and a lot of folks expected the knockout, but I don\u2019t think many expected it to look so effortless. The Spanish boxer was not troubled by Oliveira\u2019s strength or reach, shucking off his takedown attempts easily before turning off the lights with a thunderous combination.<\/p>\n

Alexandre Pantoja secured the fourth \u2014 and likely final, given the current circumstances \u2014 defense of his Flyweight title at the expense of Kai Kara-France. This was a remarkably impressive showing from the Brazilian, who chased down the vaunted puncher with combinations, kicks, and slick takedowns. He ran over \u201cKKF,\u201d exposing his back repeatedly before the round three strangle.<\/p>\n

Joshua Van vs. Brandon Royval definitely helped elevate this card to classic status in an instant classic brawl that broke punch count records. Both Beneil Dariush vs. Moicano and Talbott vs. Felipe Lima went the distance, but they were high-level and competitive bouts nevertheless.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the evening, Gregory Rodrigues and Jose Delgado scored outrageous knockout wins in consecutive fights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Merry Christmas everyone! As the year winds down and the UFC layoff continues, it\u2019s a perfect time to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396],"class_list":["post-371141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}