2025 in the UFC has been a year of unprecedented highs and lows. Rapid title changes marked the year, in addition to the breaking out of a few prospects, and shocking losses that saw top contenders falling off their perch. Established stars saw a dramatic downward trajectory, while new champions sat on their divisional thrones, becoming more evolved as competitors.

Many results of these years’ matchups revealed fighters’ inability to adapt and quick knockout losses, exposing MMA’s brutal volatility. So, with 2026 fast approaching, we have prepared a list of fighters who had the best and the worst years. Let’s dive into it.

2025 winners in the UFC

Joshua Van becomes flyweight champion

One of the biggest stories of this year in the UFC is the dramatic rise of Joshua Van from distant contender to champion. The Burmese-American fighter wasn’t anywhere near becoming a star at the beginning of the year. Van rose from being an unranked prospect to UFC champion, becoming the second-youngest UFC champion in history after Jon Jones. That’s not a bad resume to have already at such a young age.

Joshua Van has put up exciting performances with his high-pressure fighting style, beating the likes of Brandon Royval and then Alexandre Pantoja, although not in the way he wanted. Van also showcased his evolution in his fighting style, improving his wrestling defense. We are likely getting a rematch between the now-champion and the former champion due to the way the first fight went down. While we wait to see if the 23-year-old can maintain his winning ways in 2026, here’s a look at the next winner on this list.

Merab Dvalishvili was the most active champion

When a fighter achieves championship success, their activity slows down a little as they take one title defense at a time. But that was not the way Merab Dvalishvili operated this year. ‘The Machine’ registered successful title defenses, beating the likes of Sean O’Malley for a second time, top contender Cory Sandhagen, and, of course, handing Umar Nurmagomedov his maiden professional loss at UFC 311.

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Merab Dvalishvili also made his way into the record books for the most takedowns landed, getting past Georges St-Pierre by a mile. He also surpassed the former double champion on the consecutive win streak list, making it 14 wins in a row. Although ‘The Machine’ ended the year by dropping the belt, fans have no doubt that he will bounce back once again.

Islam Makhachev makes lightweight record and becomes UFC double champion

2025 was a year of reaching milestones for Islam Makhachev. The Dagestan native competed twice this year, kicking off with his fourth successful lightweight title defense at UFC 311 against Renato Moicano. He not only surpassed his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, but Makhachev also equalled the record for the most title defenses in the division, alongside Gilbert Melendez.

Islam Makhachev also recorded the most lightweight title fight wins, and then he set his eyes on the welterweight title. He wanted to fight at Madison Square Garden, and he got his wish against former champion Jack Della Maddalena, who was at the top of his game. But come Fight Night at UFC 322, Khabib’s protégé dominated the fight as the challenger, becoming the eleventh multi-division champion in Dana White’s promotion.

Petr Yan becomes 2-time champion

After a horrible run from 2022 to 2023, Petr Yan made his way back into the winning column. He edged past the likes of Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Marcus McGhee with impressive decision wins. It was then, in 2025, that he called for a title shot against Merab Dvalishvili. Despite a 3-fight winning streak under his belt, ‘No Mercy’ went into the fight at UFC 323 as the underdog.

The oddsmakers have Merab Dvalishvili as the favorite, and understandably so, because ‘The Machine’ was looking unstoppable. However, Petr Yan turned the tables in the final PPV event of the UFC, beating the Georgian star at his own game, showing clinical striking ability and becoming a 2-time UFC bantamweight champion at the age of 32. Yan’s perhaps in his prime at the moment, and it will be interesting to see how his second championship reign pans out.

Valentina Shevchenko beats ex-strawweight champion

Valentina Shevchenko may not be the most entertaining fighter on certain occasions, but she deserves a lot of respect. At 37 years old, ‘Bullet’ is still one of the best champions in the promotion, having crossed the two-decade mark in her professional fighting career. Shevchenko also fought twice this year, kicking off her campaign with a win over Manon Fiorot at UFC 315.

This fight marked the second successful flyweight title defense of Valentina Shevchenko during her second reign as champion, making it nine successful title defenses overall. Then, she cemented her legacy even further with a win over ‘Magnum’ Zhang Weili, who’s as dangerous as they come. However, Shevchenko didn’t have to break too much sweat when she earned a comfortable decision win.

2025 losers in the UFC

Leon Edwards is still looking for his first win since 2023

Leon Edwards‘ biggest career highlight might just be the last-round head kick he landed on Kamaru Usman to win the welterweight title at UFC 278. He added two successful title defenses to his name the following year, but since December 2023, Edwards appears to have lost his mojo. ‘Rocky’ fought just once in 2024, dropping the welterweight belt to Belal Muhammad in a pretty one-sided fight.

Hoping to get back into title contention, Leon Edwards took on the surging welterweight, Sean Brady, in his first fight of 2025. However, he showed similar issues in the ground game department that he showed against Belal Muhammad. To make matters worse, Brady would tap out the former champion. Thereafter, in his final 2025, ‘Rocky’ saw himself getting knocked out by Carlos Prates, creating one of the most memorable moments of the year. At 34 years old, time is slipping away for Edwards, and he may need to make adjustments fast.

Dricus du Plessis drops the belt in a lopsided loss

Dricus du Plessis‘s unorthodox fighting style had troubled many fighters, from former champions like Israel Adesanya to Robert Whittaker. After beating Sean Strickland for a second time, ‘Stillknocks’ recorded his ninth win in a row, remaining undefeated in Dana White’s promotion. But the cracks in his armor were on full display when the South African star took on the indomitable Khamzat Chimaev.

Heading into the fight at UFC 319, Khamzat Chimaev was already the odds-on favorite to beat Dricus du Plessis. Despite having a relatively smaller stature than Dricus du Plessis, the Chechen native showcased excellent wrestling and ground-game prowess, and even entered the record books of the UFC. Chimaev edged past Jailton Almeida’s 21-minute-10-second control time record and registered 21 minutes and 40 seconds of control time. This has surely put du Plessis in a difficult spot.

Jack Della Maddalena gets dominated in title defense

At UFC 299, Jack Della Maddalena broke his arm during the fight against Gilbert Burns, which put him on the sidelines for over a year. When he finally returned, the Aussie national was given a title shot against Belal Muhammad, which he made great use of. Maddalena beat the Team Khabib member in almost all aspects of the fight game, fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming UFC champion.

However, Jack Della Maddalena could not replicate that success in the fight against Islam Makhachev. Although the Dagestan native was the favorite to win the matchup, there were still a lot of people talking about Maddalena’s size advantage, being a proper welterweight fighter. But the story was different at UFC 322, as he couldn’t even get hold of the match, and even looked mentally shattered by the time the last round started, eventually dropping the belt.

Magomed Ankalaev loses in emphatic fashion

According to many sources, Dana White isn’t a big fan of Magomed Ankalaev, especially due to the way he fights. His grappling-heavy and cautious approach has often made him a less exciting fighter, but the Dagestan native turned up to deliver an unusually impressive performance when he finally got his title shot. Alex Pereira, who had been putting his opponents to sleep prior to UFC 313, had no answers for Ankalaev, who defeated him to become the light heavyweight champion.

When the rematch was announced, fans were anticipating a similar outcome for Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320, or at least, a fight that goes the distance. However, Alex Pereira shocked the world. It took him just a few minutes to back the Russian star into the fence, delivering some heavy blows to knock him out in the first round. In classic ‘Poatan’ fashion, he did the Khaby Lame celebration and became a two-time champion. Ankalaev may have lost his grip on the title, because it’s back to the drawing board for him.

Henry Cejudo’s return from retirement did not pan out well

Henry Cejudo, when he made his return after a retirement phase that lasted 3 years, found himself thrown straight into a title fight. After all, his initial retirement took place without him losing the belts. However, he could not get past the then-champion, Aljamain Sterling, making his UFC 288 comeback a bit underwhelming. But Cejudo kept looking ahead for the next opportunity.

That title loss was followed by a loss to Merab Dvalishvili before the Georgian became a champion. As 2025 commenced, Henry Cejudo was looking to get his things in order with a win over Sang Yadong, but an eye poke rendered him unable to continue. After a third loss in a row, ‘Triple C’ dropped a decision loss to Payton Talbott, following which, the former double champion decided to hang up his gloves for good. It might have been a good move from Cejudo, since he wouldn’t have wanted to bow out like Tony Ferguson.

Well, these are our picks for the UFC winners and losers of 2025. Did we miss out on anyone? Let us know in the comments section.