Fighters who will be UFC champions in 2025

The year 2025 has everything to be explosive within the UFC! Will we have dominant champions? Are there any surprises in store? These are my bets on the fighters who will be UFC champions in 2025.

Women’s Strawweight: Zhang Weili

The most difficult fight for the Chinese woman is now at the beginning of the year against Tatiana Suarez. If she wins that one, I don’t see any other athlete currently ranked being able to beat her.

Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja

An athlete for Brazil to be proud of! Pantoja has been putting in better and better performances and has already passed almost everyone in the Top 10. And those who are missing… aren’t in much danger.

Women’s Flyweight: Natália Silva

The way the Brazilian is flying, next year is her time. One or two more wins and I see her fighting Valentina. Natália is VERY fast, has good takedown defense and a volume of strikes that leaves her opponents dizzy. She’s very strong for 2025.

Flyweight: Merab Dvalishvili

Perhaps this is the guess I have the least confidence in, because there are some tough guys coming up: Umar Nurmagomedov, Petr Yan and even Marcus McGhee. But the Georgian has at least four lungs and his game could complicate the lives of everyone mentioned above.

Women’s Flyweight: Kayla Harrison

Kayla is flying. She didn’t come to the UFC to play around. With her base in judo, her beautiful takedowns and her control, I don’t see her having any trouble dispatching Juliana Peña, hopefully before the middle of the year. And look, once she gets the belt, it’s going to be extremely difficult to take it from her.

Featherweight: Ilia Topuria

I’m rooting for Diego Lopes, but at the level Topuria has been fighting, what this guy is doing, it’s very difficult for anyone to break him this year. The phase is great, he’s got a great set of skills and he’s very keen to keep the belt.

Lightweight: Islam Makhachev

This one will also be decided very early in the year. It’s already the most difficult fight at the moment for Islam: Tsarukyan. But it’s worth remembering that the Russian has already beaten him once and is even better today. And Arman had a tough time beating Charles. I think the Russian continues to dominate.

Middleweight: Carlos Prates

The time is coming for the Fighting Nerds to have their first belt in the UFC and I think Prates will be the first. A couple more good wins and he’ll be in the mix. And from what we’ve seen so far, there aren’t many people who can trouble him.

Middleweight: Caio Borralho

Borralho has a tough road ahead of him, but given the level he has been showing and his mentality, he has a great chance of fighting for the belt very soon. And the names in contention all have flaws that can be exploited.

Middleweight: Alex Poatan

CHAMA! Look, unless Poatan comes in with an injury or out of concentration, no one in the rankings has a chance of knocking him off his throne. The most difficult is Ankalaev, but as he’s not a very popular athlete, he may not even be able to compete for the belt in 2025. If Alex continues at the same level as he was in 2024, he’ll be the dominant champion next year.

Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall

Another athlete who is just waiting for his chance. Whether it’s against an ageing Jon Jones or any of the Top 15 in this category, Aspinall is one step ahead. And if Jones retires before he fights again, then it’s even easier for the Englishman.