Top Five UFC Fights To Look Forward To In January 2025

Mackenzie Dern v Amanda Ribas

Sunday, 12 January 2025

Contrasting contenders collide more than five years after their first fight in the marquee match of the UFC’s maiden 2025 event at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

The pair were originally scheduled to square off in the co-main event of the final 2024 card but the UFC brass had a rethink and decided the top-10 strawweights were worthy of a headlining slot.

Dern is looking for revenge after Ribas outpointed her to end her undefeated streak back in 2019. A multi-time jiu-jitsu world champion, Dern is a wizard on the ground and snapped a two-fight skid with a decision win over Loopy Godinez in August.

Ribas returns to strawweight after a failed bid to cash in on a high-profile main event bout against Rose Namajunas at flyweight. A sharp striker, her only fight at 115 pounds since 2022 saw her score a TKO win over Luana Pinheiro last November.

Islam Makhachev v Arman Tsarukyan

Sunday, 19 January 2025

Familiar foes face off for the lightweight title in the main event of UFC 311, the year’s first pay-per-view, as Makhachev and Tsarukyan renew their rivalry at the new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

Makhachev has won nine straight fights since beating Tsarukyan in their first meeting in 2019, which was the latter’s UFC debut, to extend his win streak to 14.

One of the most dominant runs in UFC history, it’s seen him clinch the title with a submission win over Charles Oliveira, make three successful title defences – twice against Alexander Volkanovski and, most recently, over Dustin Poirier – and rise to No. 1 in the pound-for-pound rankings.

Tsarukyan has won nine of his last 10 bouts, including a first-round knockout of Beneil Dariush and a split decision victory over Oliveira last time out. With both fighters on impressive win streaks, their rematch for the 155-pound gold is a can’t-miss clash.

Merab Dvalishvili v Umar Nurmagomedov

Sunday, 19 January 2025

Dvalishvili defends his bantamweight belt for the first time against the unbeaten Nurmagomedov in UFC 311’s co-main event.

Dvalishvili shut down Sean O’Malley in September to seize the 135-pound throne and improve his win streak, which includes victories over former champions Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo, to 11.

Nurmagomedov boasts a perfect 18-0 record and is coming off a dominant decision victory over Cory Sandhagen in August. The cousin of former lightweight champion and Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, he vows to bring more gold to the family.

Jiri Prochazka v Jamahal Hill

Sunday, 19 January 2025

Former light heavyweight champions will trade leather as they look to earn another title shot. Both men lost to reigning king Alex Pereira by knockout in their last fight.

Hill failed in his attempt to reclaim the belt in April. “Sweet Dreams” won the vacant title in January 2023 but was forced to vacate when he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon while playing basketball.

Prochazka defeated Glover Teixeira for the title in June 2022 but was forced to relinquish when a serious shoulder injury sidelined him for over a year. He faced Pereira for the vacant title in November 2023 and lost by knockout.

The Czech fighter bounced back with a win over Aleksandar Rakic only for history to repeat itself as he lost his second crack at Pereira in June. Both men are phenomenal strikers, so this promises to be a banger.

Beneil Dariush v Renato Moicano

Sunday, 19 January 2025

Top-10 lightweights meet at the crossroads that is UFC 311.

Dariush is attempting to dig himself out of a hole, having lost his last two fights. He’d rattled off eight wins in a row before suffering back-to-back knockout losses to Oliveira and Tsarukyan.

Moicano, meanwhile, has won six of his last seven fights, with the lone loss being a short-notice catchweight decision defeat to former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. “Money” is on a three-fight win streak and most recently stopped Benoit Saint Denis in September.

With both men determined to start the year on the right note, expect a high-level, all-action encounter.