We already know some big upcoming fights on the 2025 schedule but there is still much more to be excited about from the UFC in 2025.
UFC 313 saw the MMA leader return to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where Magomed Ankalaev defeated Alex Pereira in a highly anticipated light heavyweight title fight.
When looking at the action to come in the near future, we currently know the next three contests that will revolve around UFC gold.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes at UFC 314 next month for the vacant featherweight title promises to be a fascinating matchup in Miami.
With UFC 315 arriving in Canada with two title fights including Belal Muhammad vs Jack Della Maddalena, there are plenty of dates to circle on the calendar but the biggest fights of the year are seemingly still to come as Henry Cejudo recently previewed.
Henry Cejudo names the three UFC title fights at the top of his wish list for 2025
In a recent YouTube video, Henry Cejudo ran down the three top fights that he wants to see take place inside the Octagon this year.
All three picks featured a UFC title on the line with the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions all making it onto the wish list of ‘Triple C’.
1. Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall
Ask any fight fan what their most anticipated fight of 2025 is going to be and Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall for the heavyweight title is sure to appear in the top two.
Dana White recently gave a promising update on the title unification clash by saying at the UFC 313 post-fight press conference that he is confident it will happen with where and when being the biggest talking points right now.
Despite the UFC president’s comments, Cejudo believes that we may need to wait until the final quarter of 2025 to see one of the all-time greats take on arguably his most dangerous challenge yet.
“Dana White did say that this fight is going to happen sometime in the summer or potentially in August. I’m thinking more likely this fight may even get to the end of the year quite honestly if you ask me. I’m thinking more like October-November and that’s typically when Jon Jones has fought and it could potentially be at MSG but this is a fight that everybody wants to see. This is the obvious.”
2. Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria
In another unsurprising pick, this fight has been the talk of the town following the news that Ilia Topuria was vacating the featherweight title.
‘El Matador’ turned into a fully fledged superstar following his incredible success in 2024 but if there’s anyone that pips him to the pound-for-pound number one spot, it is his potential next opponent.
Cejudo did raise the concern that Islam Makhachev and his team might push back against this until Topuria beats a top contender at 155-pounds with ‘Triple C’ stating that it is up to the challenger to start making some serious noise to get this one over the line.
“People have a short attention span. He needs to continue keep stepping on this dude’s toes. If you want go the Conor McGregor route, like everything goes, but he can continue to keep talking smack, maybe making skits like his boy Merab Dvalishvili to really sell the narrative and create that story because I just don’t think he’s doing it enough.”
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Belal Muhammad/Jack Della Maddalena
Cejudo’s third and final pick is one that we certainly know won’t be next for one side of the matchup.
Injuries to both Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov have delayed the meeting between the welterweight champion and the undefeated top contender.
However, the former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion is certain that the winner of the UFC 315 main event has to take on ‘The Nomad’ by the end of the year.
“The winner of this fight, they need to fight Rakhmonov. He must be really hurt for him to just say, ‘Hey no, you guys take the title,’ to be able to pass that title on so it could be something serious.”
Due to the vague time frame for this fight, Cejudo stated that in order to stop another contender from stealing Rakhmonov’s spot, both the champion and challenger will need to call for it.
“To me, it’s who is it that can sell it. If you could sell it and the opponent and the champion says, ‘Hey let’s follow suit,’ then there’s two against one. Then it’s you two against the UFC.”
What other title fights could feature in a most anticipated list for 2025?
Where Henry Cejudo has the potential welterweight title fight that could come later on in the year in his third spot, there are other contenders.
The top two choices are incredibly hard to argue with but just one division higher is another big matchup that could be on the cards for the second half of 2025.
Dricus Du Plessis defending the middleweight title against the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev is not only a great stylistic clash, it features two big personalities.
A potential bantamweight return from Amanda Nunes would certainly rank high, as would a champion vs champion battle between Zhang Weili and Valentina Shevchenko if the flyweight champion keeps hold of her title at UFC 315.