MMA bold predictions: Is another trade brewing? Will Ngannou, McGregor fight again?

2025 is starting out as a great year for MMA. ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, Islam Makhachev, puts his UFC lightweight title on the line against Arman Tsarukyan and bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili defends against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in Inglewood, California, on Saturday.

Then February kicks off with a bang as former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya takes on rising contender Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Fight Night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 1. On Feb. 8 in Sydney, Australia, 185-pound champion Dricus Du Plessis faces ex-champ Sean Strickland in a rematch at UFC 312. In the co-main event, Tatiana Suarez finally gets her shot at the strawweight title when she challenges Zhang Weili.

Those are just a few of the big fights we can look forward to in the coming months. Could this be the last year we see some of MMA’s biggest stars in action? Who will be ESPN’s men’s fighter of the year? Will we see movement among stars between promotions?

Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale, Ian Parker, Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen offer up their bold predictions for 2025.

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Khamzat Chimaev will fight more than once in a calendar year

Okamoto: Considering how Chimaev’s UFC career began, it’s wild that this is a “bold” prediction. But at this point, how can anyone say it’s not? Chimaev has been in the UFC for five years. He fought three times in his magical 2020 campaign, but since then his level of activity has fallen off: one fight in 2021, two in 2022 and one apiece in 2023 and 2024. And more so than the inactivity, the reasons behind it make one wonder how active Chimaev can be. He’s had serious health issues. And he hasn’t fought outside of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, since 2022, presumably due to visa issues. What’s going to change? Well, he’s no longer trying to secure travel arrangements as a Swedish resident, which could positively impact his ability to obtain a visa. He’s also addressed his health more seriously than in the past, and believes he’s identified some issues that weakened his immune system. I’m buying back in on Chimaev remaining healthy and booking fights more regularly. We’ll see him compete at least twice in 2025.

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Jon Jones will fight Tom Aspinall, then retire

Sonnen: Jones will fight Aspinall to unify the UFC heavyweight title this year, and I believe Jones will perform much better against Aspinall than people expect. But, win or lose, I think that will be his last fight. Jones has seemingly been looking for a path to walk away for a while now — he thought the fight against Stipe Miocic might have been a way out, but the delay ahead of the original fight date appeared to affect those plans. Jones has expressed interest in fighting UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, but it seems pretty clear that there’s only one fight left out there for Jones, and that’s Tom Aspinall.

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Ilia Topuria will lose in his debut at 155 pounds

Parker: In an interview with Submission Radio in December, Topuria’s coach, Jorge Climent, said that the UFC featherweight champion would no longer be cutting weight and would take his talents to the lightweight division. This came as a surprise, as Topuria just did what no one had done before and knocked out Max Holloway in October. He also has many potential contenders lined up for him to cement his status as one of the greats at 145 pounds. However, if he does move up in weight, I think it will be unsuccessful and short-lived. At 5-foot-7, Topuria will be tremendously undersized in the lightweight division. I will double down on this prediction especially if he jumps right into a fight against someone such as Charles Oliveira or Arman Tsarukyan.

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Francis Ngannou fights … but not in MMA

Hale: The PFL has a huge problem finding credible opponents for Ngannou, ones that would generate widespread interest and create big enough events to earn a decent return on their investment. With no opponent on the horizon for the PFL Super Fights heavyweight champion, and considering Ngannou’s interest in stepping back into a boxing ring, 2025 will not see “The Predator” inside the SmartCage. Instead, the French Cameroonian will lace up the boxing gloves for a showdown with former heavyweight boxing champion Deontay Wilder, as part of Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season. With Wilder, 39, being on the back end of his career with losses in four of his last five fights (three by KO), this will provide one final payday for “The Bronze Bomber” in a spectacle of a clash between two of the most feared knockout artists. For Ngannou, it will be a chance for redemption after being flattened by Anthony Joshua in a second-round KO loss last March. PFL will spend 2025 searching for Ngannou’s next MMA opponent but won’t prevent the man who pushed Tyson Fury to the limit in a close split-decision loss in 2023 from taking one last swing inside a boxing ring for an absurd amount of money.

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Ilia Topuria will be the 2025 men’s fighter of the year

Cormier: The path to being named ESPN men’s fighter of the year has already been laid out for the UFC featherweight champion. I believe Topuria will face Alexander Volkanovski again. Volkanovski, who held the featherweight title from December 2019 to last February, before being dethroned by Topuria, is one of the most dominant champions in MMA history and has earned the right to challenge to reclaim the belt. I also expect Topuria to fight rising contender Diego Lopes this year as well. Lopes is riding a five-fight win streak; most recently he beat former title challenger Brian Ortega. Topuria might even get in the Octagon with Movsar Evloev, who is coming off an impressive win over former men’s bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling. I think Topuira will fight often and he will be impressive in those bouts. Doing so would put him on the short list for men’s fighter of the year.

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There will be another trade of fighters between promotions

Okamoto: It’s been more than six years since the UFC “traded” Demetrious Johnson to One Championship in exchange for Ben Askren, and I believe the landscape is ripe for something like that to happen again. The 2018 trade had perfect timing since both Johnson and Askren wanted it, and Johnson’s longtime head coach, Matt Hume, was an executive at One Championship. Going into 2025, there are obvious potential swaps to be made between the UFC and the second major promotion, the PFL. They just have to find one that benefits all parties. I won’t speculate on which specific fighters will be involved, but it’s worth noting that ESPN’s Andreas Hale reported in December that the UFC reached out to the PFL about its 2024 women’s flyweight champion, Dakota Ditcheva. Whether PFL would part with Ditcheva is unknown. But the fact the UFC had interest gives me confidence about this prediction.

Hale: Ditcheva has already tipped her hand by suggesting that the UFC and PFL had a trade on the table that fell apart. While she continues to play coy with the media, it’s obvious that she has outgrown the PFL and is seeking new challenges. The PFL should explore making a trade with the UFC to fill a few voids by bringing in some contenders. Maybe add a heavyweight or two (Derrick Lewis? Sergei Pavlovich?) who could challenge Ngannou. At 26 years of age, Ditcheva is on the cusp of stardom and the PFL would be wise to get what it can out of her now rather than let her walk for nothing when her contract expires. The UFC could also use a talented young woman with superstar potential such as Ditcheva.

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Conor McGregor returns for one last fight against Nate Diaz

Hale: As McGregor approaches age 37 with nearly four years out of action, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion is well beyond his physical prime and hanging on by name value. It’s time for the UFC to cash out on McGregor, put together one last fight, rake in the dollars and move on. The Michael Chandler ship has sailed. If there’s one name who could stand opposite McGregor for one of the biggest fights in the UFC, it would be Nate Diaz. Diaz is not under contract with the UFC but would gladly return for a big payday, and McGregor would welcome the trilogy fight as well. The matchup also wouldn’t wreak havoc on a UFC title picture, which is a bonus. There’s no use in waiting on McGregor to potentially ruin another active fighter’s future. By late summer or early fall, the megafight is on for Las Vegas.