Wrestle World - Predictions Roundtable: Who will win Fighter of the Year in 2025?

2024 is officially in the books, which means we stand on the precipice of another big year in MMA. What will happen? Your guess is as good as ours. If there’s one thing this sport has proven time and again, it’s that no one knows anything. But be that as it may, we’re still going to try and predict some of the big storylines that will unfold in MMA over the next 12 months.

1. Who will be the 2025 Fighter of the Year?

Mike Heck: For those who have followed my work over the past seven or eight years, you probably know where I’m going with this: It’s Arman Tsarukyan

Am I confident in this pick considering he’s about to face the best fighter on Planet Earth in about 20 days from now? Of course not, but I’m once again pushing all of the chips in the middle of the table for a guy I predicted would be the UFC lightweight champ before he even entered the promotion.

Let’s be clear: if Tsarukyan pulls this off on Jan. 18, and captures the toughest title in all of MMA to win, it’s going to take something very special to overtake just that one victory, let alone what a title defense would bring to the table — and there will be at least one defense if not two.

Damon Martin: There are a lot of possibilities, but the person who might be best positioned to claim that award is none other than UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.

In most years, beating Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya would be enough to enter the Fighter of the Year conversation, but du Plessis won both of those fights in 2024 when Ilia Topuria was vanquishing arguably two of the greatest featherweights in history, and Alex Pereira was doing Alex Pereira things. But if du Plessis can kick off 2025 with a repeat win over Strickland, and then hand Khamzat Chimaev his first loss, who wouldn’t be impressed by that?

Could he potentially cap off the year with a fight against Pereira? Even that seems somewhat possible.

Like it or not, champions always have a leg up on the competition when it comes to Fighter of the Year consideration, and du Plessis is set up for a potentially huge 2025. If he fights and defeats Chimaev in his native South Africa, it’s only that much bigger, so du Plessis gets the nod because his year is pretty much already set before 2025 even gets started.

Jed Meshew: Let me start by saying that Damon Martin is a wise and handsome man. I’ve always said this, and I’m definitely not just saying this now because I have also been championing Dricus du Plessis as the 2025 Fighter of the Year. Everything Damon said is correct, and come December, all of you will have to finally accept that DDP is a great fighter, even if he’s also kind of a terrible one. He’s the best.

Now, having said that, it wouldn’t be much fun for me to parrot Damon’s talking points, and there is another fighter who I believe can give du Plessis a run for his money: Umar Nurmagomedov.

I’ve been saying for a few years now that Nurmagomedov is the future of the bantamweight division, and in just a couple of weeks he gets to prove me right. Nurmagomedov challenges Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title at UFC 311, and I believe he will take the belt and do so handily. That’s a very strong start to the year and puts him in great position to defend his title two times in 2025. And wouldn’t you know it, there happen to be two huge names to defend against!

Dvalishvili tried desperately to defend his belt against either Sean O’Malley or Petr Yan but ultimately failed because Nurmagomedov is the clear No. 1 contender and because both of those were rematches. Umar won’t have the same issues. When Nurmagomedov claims the title, I would be shocked if the UFC doesn’t book a fight with O’Malley for the late spring or early summer. as that’s big business. Then, after Umar whoops O’Malley, former champion Petr Yan gets his crack at Nurmagomedov.

Three title fight wins in 2025 over three big names is about as good of a year as anyone can ask for, and Umar Nurmagomedov has a real shot to pull that off and do something his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov never did: win Fighter of the Year.

2. Who will be the breakout fighter of 2025?

Heck: Speaking of cashing in on future predictions, this is finally going to be the year we get a fully healthy and active Montel Jackson in the octagon.

“Quik” has quietly put together one of the more impressive win streaks at 135 pounds with five — including a sensational 18-second destruction of Da’Mon Blackshear in July — but this run has taken place over the past nearly four years.

The 32-year-old has the talent, the precision, and the power to make a huge move at 135 in 2025; he just needs to get in the cage and compete. Let’s throw Jackson in there with a super-tough out in Rob Font early in 2025 to see how he hangs. If he gets that victory, he could be a big problem for the top of one of the UFC’s deepest divisions.

Martin: There’s already a lot of hype surrounding Payton Talbott, but perhaps 2025 is the year when he graduates from prospect to contender.

Make no mistake, the 26-year-old has already been tabbed as a future champion, and his performances to date have been nothing short of dominant. But here’s hoping he gets a step up in competition by the end of the year to really begin his ascent up the bantamweight ranks. He’s getting a veteran in Raoni Barcelos for his first fight in 2025, but if Talbott passes that test, he should start looking toward that top 15, and there’s all kinds of potential for him there.

In all the ways that Raul Rosas Jr. was once considered the future at 135 pounds, it’s Talbott who looks like a serious threat to make a run at the belt, perhaps starting with his next few performances. The key for Talbott is getting the chance to face stiffer competition, but he seems primed to pass whatever test the UFC throws at him.

Meshew: I desperately wanted to pick my guy Jean Silva here, but he already kind of broke out in 2024, so I don’t think I can do that in good conscience. Fortunately, there’s another one of my guys who is poised to make serious noise in 2025: Lone’er Kavanagh.

Just 25 years old, Kavanagh signed to the UFC off of the most recent season of Contender Series and already made a successful debut, winning a unanimous decision over Jose Ochoa. Trust me, that’s just the beginning for this kid.

Kavanagh is one of the best prospects to ever come through Contender Series and can already compete with fighters in the top 15 at flyweight. You throw him in there against guys like Tim Elliott or Alex Perez, and he’s going to hold his own, if not win. He has nasty power for a flyweight, and insane poise for being as young as he is. Should he continue to develop, this is someone who will fight for a belt one day. Plus, the man has that extra “it” factor that the UFC loves, so he’s going to get good opportunities to shine.

3. Bold Prediction for 2025

Heck: Conor McGregor is going to walk that aisle multiple times in 2025.

I know, I can hear the collective gasps now. But my bold prediction is that McGregor is going to compete for the UFC twice this year. Quite frankly, it just needs to happen — not just for fans of the sport, but for McGregor himself.

Now let’s be 100 percent clear here: The UFC has put themselves in a position where it absolutely, positively do not need the former two-division champion. Those three letters are bigger than he is, and it hasn’t always been that way. On the flip side, McGregor needs the UFC more — not because he needs the money, but if he wants to take weird boxing exhibitions, he needs its blessing. If he wants to move on to other combat sports venture, McGregor needs to complete his contract.

McGregor will be 37 in July. The clock is ticking. He can fight Michael Chandler, maybe get the trilogy with Nate Diaz, or fight somebody like a Max Holloway or another fun name that will get some buzz. McGregor needs to fight, find a competitive purpose, and potentially open some new doors.

As Bon Jovi says in the song It’s My Life, “it’s now or never.”

Martin: The UFC moves to Netflix ... and pay-per-views are a thing of the past starting in 2026.

Now, the UFC inking a broadcast deal with Netflix wouldn’t be all that surprising. That’s been a popular prediction from many industry insiders who believe Netflix is poised to make an even bigger splash in the live sports market heading into 2025. The UFC is the only major sports product available for the next three years until Major League Baseball comes due in 2028, so expect a whole lot of bidders to try and land a sport that takes place year-round, consistently produces solid ratings, and still doesn’t cost as much as jumping in the deep end with the NFL or NBA.

Netflix has 283 plus million subscribers, but this company realizes that churn is its greatest potential enemy. So, how do you keep those subscribers paying and add even more people to the bottom line? You go after WWE (that relationship kicks off on Jan. 6), and then you go after the UFC and overpay for the privilege to put every single fight on Netflix without an extra charge for subscribers. It’s not going to be cheap, but if anybody has the deep pockets to pull that off, it’s Netflix.

The UFC’s exclusive negotiating window with ESPN runs out on April 15, and that’s when things are going to get really interesting.

Meshew: We asked for bold predictions, and both Damon and Mike delivered. Sure, they weren’t as bold as saying Global Fight League gets over or PFL finally becomes the “co-leader,” but nobody is that bold. Still, I’m going to up the ante a little here: Dana White steps down as CEO of the UFC.

As Damon noted, the UFC’s broadcast deal will be resolved in the coming months, earning the promotion billions of dollars and functionally setting up the UFC and TKO for the next few years. And once that’s all said and done, what is left for Dana White?

In 24 years, White (with a considerable amount of help from the Fertitta brothers) took a failing business and turned it into one of the dominant sports entities on the planet, making more money than god in the process. He’s a modern-day oil baron, and there are no more worlds left to conquer, no enemies to crush. Truly, wouldn’t this be the best time to walk away? On top of the world, having just delivered UFC 300, The Sphere show, and the most lucrative TV rights deal in the history of the sport?’

There will never be a better time for Dana White to ride off into the sunset and spend all his energy on PowerSlap. Or if that doesn’t appeal to him, his good friend is about to resume his role as President of the United States. How does Secretary of State Dana White sound?