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Who Will Win the Biggest UFC Fights of 2025?
Who Will Win the Biggest UFC Fights of 2025?
In May, UFC head honcho Dana White announced some huge fights set to take place throughout the second half of 2025. In June, former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will make his long-anticipated move up to lightweight to contest for the championship, although it won’t be against the man he wanted to face. The Georgia-born Spaniard will face former champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant title, with the most recent champion, Islam Makhachev, himself moving up to lightweight.
Topuria’s bout will take place at UFC 317 in June, and the following month, another blockbuster clash will go down as middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis defends his title against the fearsome Khamzat Chimaev. But that’s not all. The aforementioned Makhachev looks set to face off against newly minted welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena, while behemoths Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall are expected to finally unify the heavyweight division.
There is so much to look forward to over the next few months, but who will actually win these mouth-watering contests? Here are our picks.
Jon Jones Beats Tom Aspinall
When discussing dominance in sports, Jon Jones stands out as one of the most legendary figures of all time, certainly among MMA fighters. Jonny Bones has been a world champion for the last 15 years, first rising to prominence in the light heavyweight division and claiming the title back in 2011, before moving up to heavyweight in March 2023 and becoming champion there as well.
However, over the last two years, the veteran American has become increasingly inactive. Since winning the heavyweight gold in March 2023, Jones has fought just once, resulting in a knockout victory against Stipe Miocic last November. But due to that inactivity, another champion has risen.
Step up, Tom Aspinall. The British sensation has been on a tear over the past couple of years, winning his last three fights via first-round knockout and securing the interim heavyweight championship. Now, he looks set to unify the gold in a blockbuster clash against Jones, and although a fight date has not yet been announced, the bookies are already offering odds on the potential contest.
Betting oddsmakers feel like the clash is the very definition of a pick ’em. The latest odds on UFC and MMA betting at Bovada make Jones a narrow -105 underdog for the clash, with Aspinall a -115 favorite. What makes the veteran such a compelling bet at that price is not just his impeccable resume but his laser focus. He understands the challenge that Aspinall poses and has requested six months from the UFC to squarely focus his training plans on the Brit.
We expect the 37-year-old to use his size and reach advantage to get the job done, picking up the victory and bringing the curtain down on one of the all-time great sporting careers.
Ilia Topuria Beats Charles Oliveira
Ilia Topuria shot to stardom in 2024 as he knocked out two of the UFC’s all-time greats to become the undisputed king at 145 pounds. The first of those was the iconic Alexander Volkanovski, who was dropped and stopped with a brutal right hook, which resulted in El Matador becoming the featherweight champion. Topuria then brutally starched former champion Max Holloway, becoming the first man in history to stop the Blessed One.
Following the latter of those triumphs, Topuria clamored for a lightweight title clash against Islam Makhachev, even vacating his featherweight strap in a bid to secure a title shot. The Dagestani, however, remained unmoved, and he point-blank refused to face Topuria, claiming that he needed to beat a top-five ranked fighter first before he got a shot at the gold. However, in a shocking turn of events, Makhachev has also now moved up in weight, and Topuria will indeed get his title shot, although it will now be a clash with former champion Charles Oliveira, with the vacant title on the line.
Although Do Bronx is fearsome, his time as the top dog in the lightweight division is long gone. He initially dropped the title to Makhachev back in October 2022, and has also lost to the top-ranked Arman Tsarukyan in the two years since. Topuria’s fearsome power should prove to be too hot for Oliveira to handle, and we can see the former featherweight champ winning this one via knockout and becoming a two-weight champion.
Dricus Du Plessis Beats Khamzat Chimaev
Dricus Du Plessis is arguably one of the most underrated fighters on the planet today. He has beaten a murderer’s row of opponents en route to winning and defending the middleweight title, twice reigning supreme over Sean Strickland as well as defeating former champions Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.
Now, however, he faces perhaps his toughest challenge yet in the form of Khamzat Chimaev. The Chechen is as menacing as they come and is currently undefeated in the Octagon. His recent victory over the aforementioned Whittaker was as dominant as it comes, and his performance was even more impressive considering that the Reaper was supposed to be his toughest challenge yet.
Now, Chimaev finally gets his title shot, but we can see Du Plessis springing the upset by retaining his title. The challenger has already gone life and death with welterweights Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman, and the champion DDP is a far bigger man than both of them.
The South African will arguably have the power advantage, and that could prove too much of an obstacle for Chimaev to overcome, especially considering how he usually likes to rag-doll his opponents. We see Du Plessis clinging on to the title, perhaps via a close and contentious split decision.
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