Five UFC fights we need in 2025: Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall tops the list
Share:
A grudge match, a slugfest, and vital title fights – here are the bouts we’re desperate to see. A new year of UFC action is upon us, and some major fights have already been scheduled. In the first pay-per-view of the year, January’s UFC 311, Islam Makhachev defends the lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan – in a rematch five years in the making.
![[Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/11/12/04/newFile.jpg)
On the same night, Merab Dvalishvili puts his bantamweight strap on the line against Umar Nurmagomedov, cousin of UFC great Khabib, who will also be in Makhachev’s corner that evening. In February, there is another rematch, as Dricus Du Plessis defends the middleweight belt against Sean Strickland, whom he dethroned with a narrow decision in January.
![[Khamzat Chimaev is unbeaten and undeniable]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/10/28/09/newFile-4.jpg)
That bout caps off another double-header, with Tatiana Suarez challenging women’s strawweight queen Zhang Weili earlier in the night. But what else do we want to see in 2025? Here are five UFC fights we’re craving:. Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first: the consensus most-desired UFC fight in 2025. The heavyweight titles must be unified in 2025. If Jones does not want to face interim champion Aspinall, he must retire from MMA or vacate the regular belt. Either of those moves would only boost the volume of the ‘ducking’ accusations against Jones, but he can’t be allowed to keep his title while avoiding the Briton.
![[Ian Machado Garry (pictured) was barred from training at Leon Edwards’s gym]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/08/05/newFile-1.jpg)
Aspinall has already defended and retained the interim gold once; he has more than earned his shot at Jones. Aspinall, 31, is six years younger than the American, faster, more powerful, and a more natural heavyweight. But to give Jones credit, the light-heavyweight GOAT showed with his recent stoppage of (an admittedly older, slower, rustier version of) Stipe Mioic that he does have a solid chance against Aspinall. Now he must prove it.
![[Dan Hooker (pictured) always finds himself in gripping fights, as does Justin Gaethje]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/07/09/06/GettyImages-1526901487.jpg)
