A new year is here, and that means it’s time for Combat Press to take a look back at the best of MMA in 2025. In the coming days, Combat Press will announce its award winners in multiple categories, covering everything from the action in the cage to the biggest stories surrounding the sport.
Upsets are perhaps the greatest aspect of the entire sporting world, and that certainly includes mixed martial arts. With the odds stacked against them, underdogs are often beloved by the majority of fans who can’t help but get behind someone daring to be great.
In 2025, Petr Yan was all but counted out from ever becoming champion again. The man holding the belt had thoroughly dominated him in their first fight and had seemingly only continued to get better. Nearing the end of his prime, Yan and his team had a hard road ahead of them to try and make the necessary adjustments to just make the rematch competitive, much less to win.
Advertisement
At UFC 323, Yan put on the performance of a lifetime and dethroned the seemingly unbeatable Merab Dvalishvili. As more than a three-to-one underdog, fans and pundits alike thought the most likely outcome was a stoppage win for Dvalishvili, and, if not, another completely one-sided decision. They could not have been more wrong. Yan simply solved the puzzle that so many other men could not. He kept Dvalishvili from being able to use his cardio as a weapon and stuffed seemingly thousands of takedowns. For the first time in his career, it was Dvalishvili who looked confused, instead of the one confusing his opponent.
Two judges gave Yan four of the five rounds and one gave him three of the five for a unanimous decision win. There is a case to be made that Yan could have won every single round. He didn’t get a finish, but his absolute domination of the incumbent was nothing short of incredible. With such a dominant performance with the stakes as high as possible, the clinic he put on at UFC 323 earns him the 2025 Combat Press MMA Award for Upset of the Year.
Advertisement