For the UFC, the 2025 calendar year has been a success. It delivered us some jaw-dropping moments as the final year of its partnership with ESPN saw underdogs toppling heavy favorites. With the promotion now looking forward to a new era with Paramount, let us take a look back at the most shocking upsets that we witnessed inside the Octagon.

Taking factors like betting odds, end of lengthy streaks, and title implications and media buzz that lasted for days and months, we have curated a list of the biggest upsets for you. This list is clustered around multiple Fight Night and PPV events, which will now be history in 2026. So, before the year begins, let’s dive in and uncover the losses that left us shocked.

Unranked UFC fighter Carlos Vera beats Josias Musasa

So, the first mention on the list may not have big names involved, but this fight certainly was the biggest shocker of the year. Unranked bantamweight contender Carlos Vera stepped inside the Octagon against Josias Musasa as a heavy underdog at UFC Vegas 104. Oddsmakers had him at +550, while Musasa came into the fight as the -800 favorite. Clearly, most people had the native of the Democratic Republic of Congo getting a quick win, but what happened was the opposite.

After the three-minute mark in the first round, Carlos Vera connected a head kick on Josias Musasa, taking him down on the mat. He wasted no time in taking the back of the oddsmaker’s favorite and made him tap out with a rear-naked choke. That loss derailed Musasa’s momentum, as he’d go on to lose another fight on the trot against Colby Thicknesse. The next fight on the list does involve two big names, and also, from the bantamweight division.

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Petr Yan ends Merab Dvalishvili’s title reign and winning streak at UFC 323

2025 could have been the year of Merab Dvalishvili. The Georgian wrestling machine started the year by handing Umar Nurmagomedov his first professional loss at UFC 311. That was his first title defense, which was followed by two more successful defenses. Some people had ‘The Machine’ winning the Fighter of the Year award when the year ended, but then the unexpected happened.

Merab Dvalishvili, heading into his fourth fight of the year at UFC 323, had a legendary 14-fight winning streak. He intended to make it 15 in a row and join the elite by matching Kamaru Usman‘s record. However, Petr Yan wasn’t intending on his chance at redemption on Dvalishvili, delivering a clinical performance in the rematch against the ex-bantamweight king to become a 2-time UFC champion. While Merab’s fans are still trying to digest the outcome of that, let’s take a look at the next mention on the list.

Reinier de Ridder hands Bo Nickal his first loss

At 33 years old, Reinier de Ridder is a seasoned veteran of the sport, having been a double champion in ONE Championship. He had considerable hype coming into the UFC and impressed the fans by starting his UFC career with a four-fight winning streak. During that run, the Dutchman came face-to-face with the highly touted middleweight prospect, Bo Nickal, and he surprised a lot of people.

The middleweight duo locked horns at UFC on ESPN 67, and despite Reinier de Ridder’s body of work in the UFC’s rival promotion, the oddsmakers were backing Bo Nickal to win. The former NCAA Division I star was a significant favorite, but it took ‘RDR’ just two rounds to seal the deal with a knee strike that earned him a knockout win. Nickal would come back with a win in his next fight; his loss to de Ridder wasn’t something people were expecting to see. Let’s move on to the next fight on the list.

Marcin Tybura gets the better of Mick Parkin

The United Kingdom has produced some really tough heavyweights in recent times, as heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall stands as a prime example. Similarly, Mick Parkin, another heavyweight fighter, burst onto the UFC scene with a 1st-round submission win in Dana White’s Contender Series. He continued his winning ways as he debuted under the UFC banner, racking up a four-fight winning streak, similar to Reinier de Ridder. However, Parkin would falter in his first fight against a ranked contender.

On the March 22, 2025, edition of UFC London, Mick Parkin had the home-field advantage, taking on the Polish heavyweight, Marcin Tybura, in his own backyard. He was undefeated heading into the fight, but it wasn’t his night, as Tybura would crush Parkin’s hype, who was on a 10-0 record at that time, and hand him his first loss with a win via decision. Parkin has yet to make his return since that fight, but while we wait for his return, here’s the next mention on the list.

Brendson Ribeiro’s submission win over Diyar Nurgozhay

In a story similar to that of the first mention on this list, the fight between Brendson Ribeiro and Diyar Nurgozhay at UFC Vegas 104 also saw oddsmakers getting their predictions wrong. After Shavkat Rakhmonov, it seemed like we had another Kazakhstan fighter who looked like he could become a champion in the future. Nurgozhay entered the UFC as an undefeated fighter, earning his contract after a TKO win at Dana White’s Contender Series.

So the odds were stacked against Brendson Ribeiro as the Brazilian stood as the +350 underdog. Meanwhile, Diyar Nurgozhay was the -430 favorite. However, ‘The Gorilla’ flipped the script and edged past the Kazakh fighter with a 2nd-round submission victory. Ribeiro has had a modest career in the UFC so far, but his win over Nurgozhay stands out as his biggest win ever.

Ricky Simon shockingly beats Javid Basharat

Ricky Simon has been competing in the UFC since 2018, but has never been able to reach the top echelon yet. However, he has delivered some impressive performances, but none of them were as shocking as the win over Javid Basharat was. Fighting out of London, ‘The Snow Leopard’ started off his UFC career with a 3-fight winning streak, followed by a no-contest and then a loss to Aiemann Zahabi.

Despite losing his previous fight, Javid Basharat was the favorite to win the fight, but he succumbed to a knockout defeat. At UFC Seattle, Ricky Simon surprised everyone after he laid out the London-based fighter in the very first round of the fight, derailing Basharat’s momentum even further. This brought the attention back to Simon, with some claiming that his knockout win is a ‘Knockout of the Year’ contender.

Punahele Soriano beats Uros Medic

Since making his debut in 2021, Uros Medic racked up a respectable 4-2 record by the time he headed into UFC Vegas 101. This made him the favorite against Punahele Soriano, who had joined the UFC a couple of years before the Serbian welterweight. ‘Puna’ had a modest record under his belt, but people weren’t sold on the fact that he was going to take down Medic, which he surprisingly did.

The 33-year-old did not need much time. As the fight commenced, Punahele Soriano needed thirty seconds to get rid of Uros Medic, punching him into oblivion and registering a first-round knockout win. The Serbian national’s power failed as Soriano came at him with a lot of aggression and started his year with some fireworks. This fight defined the tone of January 2025.

Veteran Jared Cannonier beats a game Gregory Rodrigues

Former middleweight title contender Jared Cannonier hasn’t had the best of runs in the UFC, and at 41 years old, he may not have much time left. 2025 has been a mixed bag for ‘The Killa Gorilla’, recording one win and one loss out of the two matches he had this year. While the loss happened against Michael ‘Venom’ Page via decision, Cannonier made sure to register his only win in 2025 in style.

Since late 2023, Gregory Rodrigues has lost just once, and that happened against Jared Cannonier. They fought each other at UFC Vegas 102, with the Brazilian fighter entering the Octagon as the favorite to beat the former title contender. It was the headliner of the night, and the fight looked like it could go the distance. But in the fourth round, ‘The Killa Gorilla’ came out with a knockout win, which was his first triumph since June 2023.

Chidi Njokuani TKOs Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

A UFC veteran for over a decade, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos has struggled to maintain consistency since 2019, when he lost his second UFC fight to Li Jingliang. Since then, the Brazilian native won four fights and lost four fights, while drawing one matchup. Regardless, dos Santos ended 2024 on a positive note, beating Zachary Scroggin with a 1st-round knockout. So when he was scheduled to fight Chidi Njokuani, people were backing him to seal the deal.

Come Fight Night at UFC Vegas 100, we saw a different story. Chidi Njokuani, who had four wins and three losses by the time he locked horns against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, surprised the UFC fans with a 2nd-round knockout win. Dos Santos is known for his durability, but that cracked under Njokuani’s volume, who impressed fans with his striking. Now, let’s take a look at the final mention on this list.

Rongzhu beats Kody Steele via decision

Although it has been just over four years since Rongzhu started competing in the UFC, he’s amassed a pretty good record for himself. At the expense of three losses, the Chinese national has recorded six wins in Dana White’s promotion. But when he was pitted against Kody Steele at UFC 312, Rongzhu was listed as the underdog by the oddsmakers, but he proved them wrong.

Kody Steele was 7-0 when he fought Rongzhu, blasting his way to the UFC with a knockout win at Dana White‘s Contender Series. However, he could not replicate the same result at UFC 312. There was a lot of hype surrounding Steele, but the Chinese native’s pressure approach got the better of him. Rongzhu was able to get through the finish line with a unanimous decision win, gaining momentum and a bit of traction.

Winning and losing are part of sport, and when it comes to mixed martial arts, it couldn’t be further from the truth. So, let us know what you thought was the biggest upset of the year. Drop your comments below.