2025 is shaping up to be an incredible year for the UFC, and we haven’t even seen the first fight on the calendar yet! That’s right. Dana White has announced a lineup of top-tier fights set to take place, with four title bouts going down in just the first two months. After delivering one banger announcement after another, the UFC CEO has unveiled yet another thrilling matchup, this time scheduled to take place in Seattle. What’s the fight, you ask? Stay tuned, as we’re back with another episode of MMA Roundup!

From the banger fight news, we will move on forward to Islam Makhachev, whose teammate has something to say about Arman Tsarukyan. And finally, we will conclude our montage with a piece of information about Movsar Evloev and Ilia Topuria. So without any further ado, let us get started.

Dana White picks Henry Cejudo and Dominick Cruz for Seattle card

Former two-division champion, Henry Cejudo is all set to make a comeback to the Octagon after his hard loss against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria card. The former champion emphasized that he would fight a few more times before leaving the game forever and it appears that the UFC CEO Dana White has come forward to fulfill his wish. ‘Tripe C’ is all set to embrace the Octagon against ‘Kung Fu Kid’ Song Yadong. The battle between two generations will go down in the main event of UFC’s return to Seattle after a long 12 years!

Both of these fighters are coming off a loss and are in dire need of a win to overturn their career. Regardless, in addition to the Cejudo vs. Yadong matchup, UFC CEO Dana White has called up Dominick Cruz to face Rob Font on the same card. The former bantamweight champion will be embracing the Octagon stage after two years of hiatus. Both of these fights scream vintage UFC warriors but will the oldies defeat the new timers? Only time will tell. For now, let us move on from these former champions to a current champion, Islam Makhachev, whose friend has made an analogy about Arman Tsarukyan.

Islam Makhachev’s friend predicts UFC 311 main event

The first PPV of the year is an absolute banger, and Dana White has truly outdone himself this time. Islam Makhachev will defend his title against his former opponent, Arman Tsarukyan. Both fighters are in their prime, and watching them go all out will be an incredible spectacle. The Dagestani appears to be unstoppable but Tsarukyan appears to have a secret weapon that he has honed while training alongside Khamzart Chimaev at ‘Hype Reality 3’.

Despite the secret weapon, Islam Makhachev’s teammate, Gadzhi Rabadanov believes that the fight won’t go into distance as Makhachev would end it in the middle rounds, “‘I’m in touch with the team. They say everything is going great, and he’s [Makhachev] is in the best shape of his life. I think this time Islam will look much more dominant compared to their first fight. Because Islam is very good at adjusting to his opponents, and all the mistakes from the first fight will look like a fluke.”

He further added, “I hope and I believe Islam will finish him. The fight won’t go five rounds…I think they will mostly fight standing and it will be over mid-fight, round three or four.” In their first meeting back in 2019, Arman Tsarukyan gave the champion a tough challenge. Despite this, Makhachev won the bout by unanimous decision. The first fight was a decision loss but what about this one? We will have to wait a few days to witness it. Regardless, for now, let us move on forward to Movsar Evloev, who has something to say about Ilia Topuria.

Movsar Evloev will chase Ilia Topuria across divisions

After an exciting back-and-forth victory against Aljamain Sterling in December. Movsar Evloev wants only one thing from the promotion and that is to let him battle against Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title. The undefeated Dagestani fighter is currently ranked #4th within the division and is expecting to face Topuria in the future for the featherweight title. While having a conversation with the media, Evloev emphasized that he would follow Ilia Topuria even to the middleweight division if it meant getting the title.

“Even if he moves up, I will take the belt first because this is my first goal. So then I will go after him, even if he goes to middleweight. It doesn’t matter. He’s not a big guy. I don’t need to cut the weight to beat this guy. I need his head on my list. Belt is first but I don’t think that he will leave the title. He’s not going to go to lightweight. He will defend his belt soon, I don’t know when but we’ll see,” said Evloev.

With a career record of 19 victories and 0 defeats, the Dagestani is looking to clash with Ilia Topuria in the future but the featherweight champion has laid out his ambitions to fight Charles Oliveira or Dustin Poirier in the future. Regardless, do you believe that the promotion would let the fight happen? Will Dana White throw Movsar Elvoev at Ilia Topuria? State your thoughts in the comments below.