It is the holiday season again, which is all about festivities and presents, and Dana White would wish for nothing more than to gift himself, and his fans by putting on some of the biggest fights in the coming year. Arguably, 2024 has been one of, if not the best year for the Las Vegas-based MMA promotion, which has kept fans anticipating certain marquee matchups in 2025.

2024 truly spoiled us fans, being the gift that kept on giving – from the exciting buzzer-beater knockout in the co-main event of UFC 300 to record-breaking ticket sales at the spectacle at the Las Vegas Sphere that was UFC 306. Although fans never got to see the much-anticipated return of Conor McGregor, we just might see him come back in 2025. Other big fights that Dana White is a champion vs champion fight between Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev, or even Pereira vs Chimaev. In that light, let’s take a look at some of the biggest fights the CEO can hopefully see getting materialized in the coming months.

Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria

Despite having just nine UFC fights under his belt, in an undefeated career of 16 fights, Ilia Topuria has already proven himself as the best featherweight in the world. After beating Alexander Volkanovski and becoming the first fighter to finish Max Holloway, his sights are set on a double champion status with a move to the lightweight division. However, Islam Makhachev doesn’t seem too interested in this proposition.

Islam Makhachev argued that he’s already given two chances to a featherweight fighter, ‘Volk’, and doesn’t believe there’s anything to gain by fighting another featherweight fighter again. Despite his hesitation, Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s protégé is willing to step inside the cage against any fighter if fans want it badly enough (Dana White, too), and ‘El Matador’ could make full use of this opportunity.

Moreover, Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev of the biggest stars with their headlining pay-per-views guaranteeing ticket sales. So, in all likelihood, Dana White could make this fight happen, and can even make this fight the main event of the UFC’s inaugural event in Spain. Now, let’s move to another fight that Dana White actually wants to make happen in 2025.

Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall

Well, it is no surprise that the fans are calling for the biggest heavyweight fight in all of MMA right now – Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall. While the Englishman wants to become the best heavyweight, ‘Bones’ seems rather interested in a legacy fight against Alex Pereira. However, Dana White is fixated on making this fight happen, making it clear that ‘Bones’ can either unify titles with the interim champion or ride off into the sunset.

Dana White officially claimed that the fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall has the potential to be the ‘biggest’ fight in promotional history, and the anticipation among fans is growing with each passing day. While the UFC CEO has agreed that it is the fight to make, he hasn’t yet decided or announced anything about the heavyweight title picture, especially considering how tough negotiations would be with Jones. While that happens, let’s look at another dream matchup between two of the scariest fighters in the UFC currently.

Alex Pereira vs. Khamzat Chimaev

From the welterweight division to the middleweight division, Khamzat Chimaev‘s been unbeaten (in his career) since he joined the UFC a few years ago. Following his demolition of ‘The Reaper’ Robert Whittaker at UFC 308, ‘Borz’ expressed an interest in fighting Alex Pereira during the post-fight presser. Guess what? Even Whittaker has given Chimaev a higher chance than others, of beating ‘Poatan’.

Now, Alex Pereira hasn’t mentioned anything about Khamzat Chimaev, but rumors are swirling around the UFC fandom about him being in talks for a potential fight against the Chechen-born wrestler. Dana White has already put the final nail in the coffin regarding Periera’s possible fight against Jon Jones, claiming that ‘Bones’ is just too big for the Brazilian. So could this be the fight that the UFC CEO is looking for? It would certainly make for an impressive fight given that both fighters are as exciting as anyone can get.

And now, let’s address the elephant in the room. A welterweight elephant, to be specific, in a bout that never was – Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler. A fight three years in the making, and still.

Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler

Despite being out of action, Conor McGregor always manages to keep himself relevant. While some news about him are good, others; not so much. But the only thing that fans are interested in is witnessing the former double champion back inside the Octagon, as he claims to have two fights left on his contract. His slated opponent Michael Chandler ran out of patience being on the sidelines, waiting for ‘The Notorious’ to come back.  In the end, he decided to take on Charles Oliveira at UFC 309, in an unsuccessful outing, after ‘Mystic Mac’ pulled out of their UFC 303 bout due to a toe injury.

However, ‘Iron’ is still looking for his ‘red p-nty night’, and it seems like he’s still the best opponent for McGregor’s return after a three-year layoff. Now, there have been many rumors of several other potential opponents for the Irishman’s return, but given Michael Chandler’s last performance, a fight between these two fighters is guaranteed to produce some great action. Dana White could consider this option after Conor McGregor is done with his supposed boxing match against Logan Paul in India.

Finally, let’s take a look at some action in the lower weight classes – the most exciting division below lightweight, i.e., bantamweight. How does a fight between Sean O’Malley and Umar Nurmagomedov sound to fans? To good to be true? Yes. Likely to happen? Perhaps.

Sean O’Malley vs. Umar Nurmagomedov

Dana White has a couple of fighters on his roster, who could help reignite a ‘Conor vs Khabib’ like rivalry, and potentially be of the biggest fights in 2025. Umar Nurmagomedov is gearing up for the bantamweight title against champion Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311, and there are a lot of expectations on him to come out on top against his Georgian counterpart.

On the other hand, Sean O’Malley, touted as the next Conor McGregor, is yet to make his return since losing the bantamweight title at UFC 306 after a lackluster showing. However, he could find himself fighting Umar Nurmagomedov who could become champion next month when he comes back. Even Umar’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, believes O’Malley could get a title shot upon his return.

If that’s what Dana White decides to go ahead with, we might see ‘Young Eagle’ stepping in and defending the title against ‘Suga’, if he manages to become champion at UFC 311. There’s no doubt that this will indeed be one of the biggest fights to make in 2025.

Dana White promised that 2025 will give us fans incredible fights. What do you think? Which of the above matchups are sure to happen, and which are the ones you want to see? Let us know in the comments down below.