We have officially hit the first week of July and the halfway point of 2025. So far, the UFC has put on seven pay-per-view events and 15 Fight Night cards in eight U.S. states and seven international countries. We’ve seen six new champions crowned (one of whom didn’t even have to fight for it), six title defenses and countless knockouts, submissions and decisions.
But for as many good fights as there have been the first six months of the year, there have also been some stinkers — particularly in a few usually reliable divisions. Right now, it’s hard to deny that some UFC divisions are just a lot more fun to watch than others.
At the halfway point of the UFC calendar, ESPN took stock of every fight at every division and graded each group based on fight quality and the activity of fighters ranked in ESPN’s divisional rankings. We also looked ahead to the fights that could improve each standing by year’s end.
Heavyweight grade: F
Best fight so far: Jailton Almeida defeats Serghei Spivac by first-round knockout
Best fight to come: Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane (unofficial)
Blame Jon Jones for this one. Look, if you caught my thoughts about Jones during the week of his retirement, I don’t blame him for choosing to retire. I do blame him for dragging it out and stalling this division for as long as he did. There has been nothing to watch at heavyweight … and frankly, it’s been that way even beyond the first half of this year. The Jones versus Stipe Miocic “title fight” was more of a legacy exhibition match. But as Aspinall has said, that’s all in the past now, and he’s looking to be as active as possible. There’s hope for the future.
Light heavyweight grade: B+
1:28
Magomed Ankalaev defeats Alex Pereira to become new light heavyweight champ
Magomed Ankalaev quiets the Las Vegas crowd as he beats Alex Pereira via unanimous decision to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion.
Best fight so far: Magomed Ankalaev defeats Alex Pereira by unanimous decision
Best fight to come: Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2 (unoffical)
It has been a surprisingly good showing by the 205-pound division in 2025. You wouldn’t have expected that going into the year because Pereira had cleaned out a lot of the division while champion from November 2022 to March 2025. It’s a little bit of an older division. Guys near the top of the rankings are not as active. But the championship shakeup from Pereira to Ankalaev in March was a major storyline of the year thus far.
The resurgence of Dominick Reyes, whose win over Nikita Krylov in April was his third straight by knockout, is also worth paying attention to. Carlos Ulberg is doing his job as an exciting, new contender. JiYí Procházka and Khalil Rountree Jr. each looked sensational in bounce-back wins this year. Light heavyweight is actually cruising.
Middleweight grade: C
Best fight so far: Roman Kopylov defeats Chris Curtis by third-round knockout
Best fight to come: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev (UFC 319 on Aug. 16)
This division has been strong as a whole, but the UFC 312 title fight between Du Plessis and Sean Strickland drags the grade down. That was an ugly fight, and most of the blame for that goes to Strickland. For all his talk that he felt he was robbed on scorecards in the first title fight against Du Plessis, he gave a pretty uninspiring effort in the rematch.
Expect a much different title fight at UFC 319 in August. Du Plessis is scheduled to face Chimaev in one of the most intriguing matchups of the year. There is also the surging Reinier de Ridder, who takes on Robert Whittaker on July 26, and a banger of a matchup between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho scheduled for Sept. 6.
Welterweight grade: A
2:02
Jack Della Maddalena impresses to become new UFC welterweight champ
Jack Della Maddalena stuns Belal Muhammad in the main event of UFC 315 to become the new welterweight champion.
Best fight so far: Jack Della Maddalena defeats Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision
Best fight to come: Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev (unofficial)
Welterweight has been incredibly entertaining in 2025. Like light heavyweight, this grade is a bit of a surprise, considering some of the talent at the top is aging and the “boogeyman” of the division, Shavkat Rakhmonov, hasn’t made an appearance. But some of the bigger contender fights — Ian Machado Garry versus Carlos Prates; Kamaru Usman versus Joaquin Buckley — have been high drama. And the title fight between JDM and Muhammad was excellent.
Now, with Makhachev moving up from lightweight to challenge for the title at some point this year, this division might prove to be the most compelling by year’s end.
Lightweight grade: C-
Best fight so far: Rongzhu defeats Kody Steele by unanimous decision
Best fight to come: Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett (unofficial)
Some might view this as a harsh grade, but there’s room for lightweight to improve. The first pay-per-view of the year proved disastrous, when Arman Tsarukyan pulled out of a title fight against Makhachev on one day’s notice. Another huge fight for the division, Justin Gaethje versus Dan Hooker originally scheduled for March, fell through because of injury. Dustin Poirier hasn’t made an appearance this year. Neither has Max Holloway. As amazing as the UFC 317 main event was between Topuria and Charles Oliveira, it was short and one-sided. I’m certainly not hating on this division. It was a down first half, and it will turn around.
A good place to start is New Orleans, where Poirier and Holloway will meet for the third and final time with the BMF belt on the line. Topuria is also expected to make his first title defense later this year — possibly against Pimblett, whom he exchanged words with after he knocked out Oliveira.
Featherweight grade: B
1:27
Alexander Volkanovski wins featherweight title for second time
Alexander Volkanovski defeats Diego Lopes via unanimous decision to become a two-time featherweight champion in the UFC.
Best fight so far: Alexander Volkanovski defeats Diego Lopes by unanimous decision
Best fight to come: Lopes vs. Jean Silva (Noche UFC on Sept. 13)
It was a solid first half for the featherweights. Volkanovski reclaimed the throne in a very entertaining bout and set the tempo for the 145-pound division. On top of that, longtime Bellator MMA champion Patricio Pitbull made his UFC debut. He didn’t win, but it was nice to see him join the UFC. The continued emergence of Silva and other newer talent such as Lerone Murphy, Youssef Zalal and David Onama was also welcomed. This division is a powder keg waiting to blow.
The UFC debut of another former Bellator star, Aaron Pico, is on deck for July 26. Silva versus Lopes in September will be pure fire. And Brian Ortega versus former men’s bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling was just announced for August. The second half of the year already looks incredible.
Men’s bantamweight grade: B-
Best fight so far: Merab Dvalishvili defeats Umar Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision
Best fight to come: Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen (unofficial)
Credit Dvalishvili for absolutely carrying this division so far in 2025. He has fought twice, and delivered top-notch performances in each bout. The rest of the division has been a little underwhelming. A main event between Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong at a Fight Night in February went sideways because of an eye poke. Petr Yan hasn’t yet fought (though he is scheduled against Marcus McGhee on July 26. The UFC, quite frankly, gave José Aldo some questionable matchmaking for his comeback, and he ended up retiring again. This grade would be much lower were it not for the champ, who has emerged as one of the most entertaining figures in the entire sport.
Nothing official has been announced, but Dvalishvili has said he wants to fight two more times this year, and Sandhagen appears to be the obvious choice for him next.
Men’s flyweight grade: B
Best fight so far: Joshua Van defeats Brandon Royval by unanimous decision
Best fight to come: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Van (unofficial)
How about this Van kid, huh? He’s a 23-year-old flyweight version of Holloway. Just swag and skills for days. Pantoja’s next title fight probably will be his most-watched, and that’s because of Van. But let’s make sure Pantoja also receives acknowledgement. He is solidifying himself as an all-time great and a must-watch every time out.
Brandon Moreno is worth mentioning as well. He looks as if he’s putting it all together in a way he didn’t even as a champion. But the big story of the half-year at flyweight is Van. He’ll have his chance in his next bout to become a UFC champion.
Women’s bantamweight grade: F
2:00
Amanda Nunes, Kayla Harrison face off after Harrison wins belt
Kayla Harrison beats Julianna Peña and calls out Amanda Nunes, who declares in the Octagon she’s coming back.
Best fight so far: Kayla Harrison defeats Julianna Peña by second-round submission
Best fight to come: Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes (unofficial)
Abysmal. Let’s be real, this division barely exists right now in the UFC. Harrison is incredible. She alone is an A-plus, and it truly says something about her that this division, as bad as it is, could produce one of the biggest fights of the year in the upcoming Harrison versus Nunes bout. Outside of Harrison, it gets pretty bleak pretty fast. Just look at the rankings.
No. 3 Raquel Pennington hasn’t fought this year. No. 5 Norma Dumont hasn’t fought. No. 6 Irene Aldana hasn’t fought. Ketlen Vieira (No. 4) and Macy Chiasson (No. 7) fought each other in May, but not at bantamweight because Vieira had weight-cutting issues. Ailin Perez (No. 8) had a terribly tedious fight against Karol Rosa (No. 9) in January. It’s not great.
Women’s flyweight grade: C
Best fight so far: Jasmine Jasudavicius defeats Jessica Andrade by first-round submission
Best fight to come: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Natalia Silva (unofficial)
There has been some good and some bad from the flyweights thus far in 2025. Shevchenko is back to her dominance but not necessarily in a highlight-reel kind of way. What she’s doing is remarkable, churning out wins against a new generation after chewing up the one before it. But the excitement and interest level around her title reign is lower than it has been in previous years. Silva looks like a compelling challenger, and her win over Alexa Grasso on May 10 was a highlight of the first half. It sets up some stylistic intrigue around her likely title fight against Shevchenko. In a piece of tough luck, Erin Blanchfield has registered zero appearances so far, as Maycee Barber was deemed medically uncleared for their scheduled title fight at, literally, the last minute. It wasn’t the worst opening half for this division, but we’ll all hope for better in the second half.
Strawweight grade: D+
Best fight so far: Alice Ardelean defeats Rayanne dos Santos by unanimous decision
Best fight to come: Zhang Weili vs. Virna Jandiroba (unofficial)
In the first half, this division contributed only three fights to UFC PPVs. Zhang’s title fight against Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312 on Feb. 8 was a letdown, because Suarez didn’t offer the challenge many figured she would. Amanda Lemos versus Iasmin Lucindo on the next PPV in March turned out to be a snoozefest. Yan Xiaonan versus Jandiroba at UFC 314 in April was high-level but nothing extra memorable. The intrigue around this division begins and ends with Zhang, and she’s doing her part. She was impressive in that victory over Suarez, even if the competition was lacking. This division is going to need some help from sources other than Zhang if it’s to improve on this rating in the second half.
