This year, UFC fans watched fighters like Islam Makhachev, Ilia Topuria, and Alex Pereira reach greatness. However, this was also the year we saw some great names walk away from the sport, too. Some did so without pomp, others bid adieu to the sport from under the bright lights. Nevertheless, when they walked away, we all wiped away a tear, knowing full well that we may never see them fight again.

So, before we say goodbye to the year, let us look back and say our goodbyes to the greats who rode off into the sunset after an illustrious career inside the Octagon. Let’s start with the one and only…

1. Jon Jones     

Let’s be honest, not many fans saw this one coming in 2025. Before Jon Jones announced his retirement, Dana White had assured fans multiple times that ‘Bones’ would fight Tom Aspinall, raising everyone’s hopes. But the former two-division champion ultimately chose to end his 16-year career, one filled with both glory and controversy, in June.

At the UFC Baku post-fight presser, the UFC CEO dropped a bombshell, announcing that ‘Bones’ had retired while relinquishing his heavyweight title, promoting the Brit from interim champion to undisputed. Following White’s shocking reveal, the former two-division champion and widely regarded GOAT of the sport also addressed his retirement, sharing a post on the social media platform X.

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After Jones walked away from the sport, fans naturally raised questions about why he never unified the belt against Aspinall. Still, a large portion of the audience could not deny his achievements or his impact on the sport.

Despite the controversies attached to his name, Jon Jones retired as the youngest UFC champion at just 23 years old, with the most wins in title fights in the promotion’s history, with 16 title fights. And that’s not all. ‘Bones’ also holds the record for the most successful title defenses by any fighter, with 12 fights in total, a combined number from his light heavyweight and heavyweight reigns.

Now, while we’re talking about ‘Bones’ retiring at the top echelon of the sport, it also needs to be recognized that he has re-entered the official drug testing pool to perform at the UFC White House event. That move definitely hints at a possible return. Yet, there has been no official announcement from the promotion confirming his comeback. That’s why, for now, his status remains retired.

Ahead of the White House event, Jon Jones’ status could still change. But there is another fighter on this list who has very little chance of returning, even at the projected spectacle backed by Donald Trump and Dana White next year. 

2. Dustin Poirier   

Jon Jones’ retirement might have come a little unexpectedly this year, but ‘Bones’ stepping away still felt somewhat sudden. That was not the case with Dustin Poirier. After ‘The Diamond’ lost to Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 and addressed his family inside the Octagon, fans could sense the end was near. Not long after, the Louisiana slugger’s final fight was announced, a highly anticipated trilogy bout against Max Holloway with the BMF title on the line. Once again, emotions were at their peak. 

On July 19, 2025, Poirier faced Holloway in front of 18,138 cheering home-aduidence at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Already having a 2-0 edge against ‘Blessed’ in the trilogy, Poirier knew the stakes. Once they started trading, the difference was noticeable, at least in the early rounds. Still, ‘The Diamond’ landed some vicious shots and had his moments. In the end, though, he fell short, losing via unanimous decision after coming up empty in his bid for the BMF belt.

While the Louisiana legend famously won an interim title by defeating ‘Blessed’ at UFC 236, he never captured an undisputed belt. Even so, Poirier retired as one of the most violent and beloved lightweights the division has ever seen. The 36-year-old exited the sport with 10 Fight of the Night bonuses, tied with Edson Barboza, which alone proves that every time ‘The Diamond’ stepped into the Octagon, it was a war.

Moreover, he also earned four Performance of the Night bonuses. With achievements like those, retiring as a champion would have been special. But for Poirier, walking away as a fan-favorite warrior was generally seen as no less than retiring with a belt. Taking our list further, after ‘The Diamond,’ it’s Jose Aldo who made the fans drown in emotions for the second time. 

3. José Aldo    

‘The King of Rio’ entered the UFC as the reigning WEC champion. Because of that, Jose Aldo was crowned the promotion’s inaugural featherweight champion. He remained untouchable for four years, and it took Conor McGregor to finally dethrone him, knocking him out in just 13 seconds at UFC 194. Even then, the Brazilian legend found his way back to the top, reclaiming the 145-pound crown and becoming a two-time champion.

However, after fighters like Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski started taking over at 145 pounds, Aldo moved down to bantamweight and found decent success there as well. But, following a string of losses, the Brazilian decided to retire after losing to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278. He later tried his hand at boxing, but just a year away from the Octagon, ‘The King of Rio’ was back.

In his return, Aldo defeated the young Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301 in front of his home crowd in Rio de Janeiro, reigniting hopes that his prime had not faded. Still, the 39-year-old went on to lose a crucial bout against Mario Bautista at UFC 307. He ultimately announced his retirement once again after a loss to Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315. Beyond the defeats, Aldo also struggled with weight-cutting issues ahead of the fight, something he openly addressed in his retirement post on social media. Then, at UFC Fight Night 261 in October, the King walked out to a tearful home crowd in Rio and placed his gloves in the center of the Octagon alongside his family, thus officially ending his legendary MMA career.

When he finally stepped away, the legend still held the record for the most successful title defenses in UFC featherweight history with seven, which also stands as the most consecutive defenses in the division. Jose Aldo also remains the fighter with the most title fights at 145 pounds, with 11 appearances.

It’s a career most fighters could only dream of. And for those unversed, Jose Aldo wasn’t the only fighter to retire twice this year. Henry Cejudo also rode off into the sunset in 2025.  

4. Henry Cejudo  

Out of the fighters mentioned so far, Henry Cejudo’s initial retirement was not widely appreciated. It wasn’t because UFC fans didn’t like him, but because many felt the former two-division champion walked away at his peak. After all, Cejudo had beaten Demetrious Johnson, Dominick Cruz, and T.J. Dillashaw. Even Dana White was visibly disappointed with ‘Triple C’s decision. However, his second retirement did not raise the same questions.

After a three-year hiatus, Cejudo returned to the UFC and immediately received a title shot against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288. The fight was extremely close, but ‘Funkmaster’ edged it out via split decision. From there, the former two-division champion and Olympic gold medalist struggled to turn his losing tide around.

Cejudo went on to lose four straight fights against top 135-pound contenders. Eventually, after dropping a hard-fought battle to Payton Talbott at UFC 323, an absolute barnburner, ‘Triple C’ stepped away from the sport once again. This time, though, it came with far more respect from the fans. The closing moment came when Dana White awarded Cejudo his bonus and win money despite the loss.   

Well, while the former two-division champion’s retirement unfolded in front of a packed arena, his ex-opponent and another legend of the sport retired quietly, without making much noise.

5. Dominick Cruz   

Like Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz also entered the UFC as a WEC champion and was later promoted as the inaugural bantamweight champion. Famous for his footwork, ‘The Dominator’ looked almost invincible during his title run, where he defended the belt against other legends like Demetrious Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw, and Urijah Faber.

But when other fighters could not dethrone him, it was Cody Garbrandt who finally ended Cruz’s reign at UFC 207 in 2016. That loss was followed by a long time away from the sport due to injuries. Cruz eventually made his comeback in 2020 against Henry Cejudo in a bantamweight title fight, but ‘Triple C’ knocked him out at UFC 249.

Despite that defeat, Cruz bounced back with two wins in impressive fashion. However, another brutal loss followed when Marlon Vera landed that front kick to the face on August 13, 2022. That devastating finish kept the former champion out of action for nearly three years before he decided to return this year against Rob Font in February 2025. Still, Cruz’s injuries had clearly taken a toll, and he ultimately decided to bring an end to his decade-long career as a professional fighter.

Now, ‘The Dominator’ is fully focused on building his media presence as he retires holding the UFC bantamweight record for most days as champion, staying with the belt for 1,117 days. 

Truthfully, it was definitely the right decision for ‘Dom’ to retire, considering the injuries. But fans expected a slightly better send-off than just an announcement. And much like Cruz, Chris Weidman also walked away without taking another fight.  

6. Chris Weidman    

When it comes to American champions in this sport, Chris Weidman is widely hailed as one of the most popular American UFC fighters of all time. After beating Anderson Silva twice, the 41-year-old created history and went on to defend his belt twice against Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida.

At that point, the All-American was at the peak of his powers and had almost entered the middleweight GOAT conversation. But after Luke Rockhold knocked him out at UFC 194, Weidman’s career trajectory changed drastically, and he was never quite able to turn it around. The former middleweight champion went 3–7 in his final 10 fights, which also included a two-year hiatus following the freak leg break against Uriah Hall.

Weidman last fought against Eryk Anders at UFC 310 last year, where he suffered yet another knockout loss. However, he decided to retire earlier this year in January at the UFC 311 weigh-in show, officially saying goodbye to the UFC while holding the record for the third-most title fight wins in UFC middleweight division history, with four victories. 

7. Anthony Smith   

As we have seen so far, several champions have decided to end their UFC careers this year. Still, there are non-champion but popular fighters like Anthony Smith who have also chosen to retire. Although ‘Lionheart’s career was marked by extreme highs and lows, fans always appreciated him for competing in a staggering 60 professional MMA bouts.

Over his decade-long UFC run, Smith fought a who’s who of the light heavyweight division. But his most celebrated fight, the one that truly propelled him into the spotlight, has to be his bout against Jon Jones. The Nebraska native shared the Octagon with ‘Bones’ at UFC 235, and although he lost, Smith’s performance generated massive buzz. For a moment, he was seen as the toughest contender in the 205-pound division. 

However, his story began to shift when he suffered back-to-back losses against Glover Teixeira and other top contenders, before briefly steadying the ship with a few wins. Even so, Anthony Smith’s final three fights all ended in defeat, and the former title challenger ultimately decided to call it quits in April this year. Following one veteran, another divisional great, Paul Craig, also announced his retirement this year. 

8. Paul Craig  

Similar to Anthony Smith, Paul Craig was once a highly sought-after contender and a fan favorite. The Scotsman also managed to secure a submission victory over future champion Magomed Ankalaev and a TKO win over another former champion, Jamahal Hill. Because of that, ‘Bearjew’ built one of the most impressive résumés in the 205-pound division.

At one point, Craig was riding a five-fight winning streak, finishing most of his opponents with his elite jiu-jitsu prowess. He was only a few wins away from a title shot, but then everything changed. The 38-year-old’s career took a sharp turn as he lost eight of his final ten fights, completely fading from the title picture.

After the Scot dropped his last fight against Modestas Bukauskas via a first-round elbow, he decided it was time to step away from a truly entertaining and memorable career. In front of a packed Paris crowd, ‘Bearjew’ left his gloves in the Octagon and bid adieu to the sport.

9. Lauren Murphy 

When it comes to retirements, Lauren Murphy’s decision to end her UFC run was definitely a bit surprising. Why? Because looking at ‘Lucky’s record, she had picked up some decent wins not too long ago. Her loss to Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 266 clearly had an impact, but Murphy still went 2–2 in her final four fights.

That said, it’s also important to note that the former title challenger dealt with health issues ahead of her fight with ‘Bullet’ in 2022. Although she never openly addressed it, those problems could have played a role in her decision to retire, despite still performing well in the flyweight division.

Now, as we reach the very end of this list, there’s another accomplished veteran who deserves recognition for his contributions to the lightweight division. That fighter is the longtime 155-pounder, Vinc Pichel. 

10. Vinc Pichel  

‘From Hell’ is one of those fighters who suffered a brutal loss on The Ultimate Fighter but still managed to make it into the promotion. Why? Because Dana White saw his grit and gave him another chance to prove himself in his next outing, which he did by securing a unanimous decision victory over Garrett Whiteley.

From there, the Californian went 6–1 across his next seven fights, picking up wins over respected names like Jim Miller, Roosevelt Roberts, and Austin Hubbard. However, age eventually caught up with Pichel as he dropped three fights in a row and ultimately decided to lay down his gloves after losing his final bout against Rafa García in Mexico, at 43 years old.

Discussing Pichel’s retirement, it also needs to be acknowledged that ‘From Hell’ enjoyed a similar kind of stardom to other divisional fan favorites like Clay Guida. Fans tuned in just to watch him scrap, regardless of whether a title was on the line or not.

That said, which one made you sad the most? Do share your thoughts.