Another year of mixed martial arts (MMA) action is going into the history books. An advanced apology from myself and my editor when I continually type 2025 for the next three months.
What will be remember about 2025 in combat sports? In the cage, the rise and eventual fall of Merab Dvalishvili feels like the biggest story, then there was the continued dominance of Russian wrestling as Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev dominantly captured titles without really taking a punch. There were, of course,
incredible submissions, stunning upsets and wild back-and-forth wars in the last 12 months, too.
What’s fun is that there’s no guarantee any of those stories will rank among the most popular of the year here on MMAmania.com. It’s always an unpredictable batch! So, as the year comes to a close, what stories drove the most traffic through MMAmania.com amidst the chaos?
Let’s take a look at the first batch (No. 6 to No. 10) …
*** Note: To check out the Top 5 stories at MMAmania.com in 2025 click here at 9 p.m. ET ***
No. 10: Report: ‘Fed up’ Tank Davis retired from boxing ‘till his money runs low’
Writer: Andrew Richardson
Summary: A boxing insider says Tank Davis is over the boxing game.
Why It Blew Up: It’s always shocking when an athlete walks away at the top of their game, particularly in combat sports. It’s hard to believe an undefeated 30-year-old making millions per bout would retire, and so there was a lot of debate about the accuracy of this insider info. Davis ended up accepting the Jake Paul fight just a month or so after this report, and yet the story still feels somewhat prescient given how the rest of the year played out. Fighting Jake Paul is already a retirement from serious boxing of a kind, guaranteed to fatten the bank accounts and allow “Tank” to walk off into the sunset. Instead, Davis shot himself in the foot with his latest domestic abuse allegation, and now his boxing future is quite uncertain.
No. 9: Surprise! UFC champ Jon Jones announces ‘next fight, next opponent’ — and it’s not Tom Aspinall
Writer: Jesse Holland
Summary: Jon Jones fights the health care system
Why It Blew Up: This is a classic situation we run into covering combat sports.
Some big name — a Conor McGregor, Ilia Topuria, Dana White — teases that they’ll be dropping a huge announcement. Already, this is a gift to us writers, as the prospective announcement in itself is worthy of an article. Behind the scenes, we’re usually joking about how it’s going to be a dumb crypto scam rather than an actual important career update that anyone would care about.
Jon Jones lived up to those cynical expectations here, teasing a huge announcement amidst all the Tom Aspinall controversy and then stepping sideways to talk about some non-profit campaign. I hope some money was actually raised and some people in the health care system were actually helped … but I missed any followup post if there was one.
No. 8: Hollywood martial arts legend who fought everyone from Chuck Norris to Jackie Chan died suddenly at 75
Writer: Jesse Holland
Summary: Richard Norton died at 75 years old
Why It Blew Up: Often, our best posts are the ones that contain main stream appeal. Conor McGregor is still the biggest star MMA has ever produced, and yet the amount of people who know his name or care enough to click on his articles is a fraction compared to the fan bases of Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan. By including those truly household names into the headline alongside the phrase “died suddenly,” Holland crossed into the realm of mainstream appeal and earned Richard Norton’s passing more attention than a more plain headline would have received.
No. 7: UFC parts ways with Ronda Rousey killer and former champion, Holly Holm, after historic 16-fight run
Writer: Alex Behunin
Summary: Holm requests and is granted free agency
Why It Blew Up: While the “Ronda Rousey killer” certainly helped, I think this one is fueled by genuine surprise.
Holm may be 43 years old, but she doesn’t seem to age. “The Preacher’s Daugher” shows up in remarkable physical shape, and she’s proven that she can still compete with the best. Historically, Holm has never been far from a title shot even after a difficult loss or two. She’s just been a pillar of the unchanging division for so long that nobody really expected her to walk away.
Since leaving the UFC roster, Holm has signed with MVP and already defeated one undefeated prospect. In just a couple days, she’ll try to recapture her WBA lightweight title 19 years after she first won it!
No. 6: Claressa Shields tests positive for marijuana following Heavyweight title unification bout
Writer: Ryan Harkness
Summary: Shields fails a drug test for marijuana following a big fight
Why It Blew Up: I don’t know that I have a great explanation for this one!
Shields is a reasonably known name, sure, and failed drug tests are always a good topic. Still, it doesn’t feel like a huge story. It’s not like she failed testosterone, and marijuana is in the headline. Perhaps there’s some outrage that commissions are still testing for weed in 2025? Furthermore, the Michigan commission tested her for marijuana via a mouth swab, which is rather archaic given the more reliable accuracy of urine analysis.
