MMA Fighting’s 2025 Fighter of the Year: Islam Makhachev

2025 was a transitional year for MMA in more ways than one. Not only was it the final year of the UFC on ESPN before moving to Paramount, but it also saw the undisputed title change hands in 10 of the 11 UFC weight classes, and sometimes back again. Champions rose and fell and 2025, both literally a

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2025 was a transitional year for MMA in more ways than one. Not only was it the final year of the UFC on ESPN before moving to Paramount, but it also saw the undisputed title change hands in 10 of the 11 UFC weight classes, and sometimes back again.

Champions rose and fell and 2025, both literally and metaphorically. Longtime “champs in waiting” finally made good, while GOATs cemented their legacies and chased new types of history. Still, others reminded us who they were before we wrote them off.

And some fighters even did that which has become the siren song of modern MMA: winning a belt in a second weight class.

This year was jam-packed with significant accomplishments from the best fighters in the world. Here are our selections for the best of the best.

1. Islam Makhachev

It’s hard to imagine 2025 going much better for Islam Makhachev. He entered 2025 as the lightweight champion and the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world; He ended it still holding down the top pound-for-pound spot, but wearing the welterweight title instead.

In January, Makhachev made history, setting the record for most lightweight title defenses in the UFC when he racked up his fourth by submitting Renato Moicano in the first round at UFC 311. With that win, Makhachev inserted himself into the lightweight GOAT conversation, but his next achievement was arguably even bigger.

In November, Makhachev dominated Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 to win the welterweight title, becoming the 11th two-division champion in UFC history. With that win, Makhachev finally stepped out of the shadow of his friend and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov to claim something entirely his own and cement himself as one of the very best fighters of this generation.

If you really are being critical, you could nitpick some of Makhachev’s achievements — Moicano was a last-minute replacement opponent after Arman Tsarukyan withdrew the day before the bout, and “JDM” had just won the title from Belal Muhammad earlier in the year — but none of that was Makhachev’s fault. He faced the toughest challenges he could at the time, and delivered one-sided thrashings both times, making history in the process.

When we look back on 2025 in the future, Islam Makhachev is the fighter who we will think about first.

2. Valentina Shevchenko

While Makhachev arguably had the most historically significant wins of 2025, no one in MMA had better wins this year than Valentina Shevchenko.

After reclaiming her flyweight title in 2024, “Bullet” made a statement in 2025 that she still rules over the 125-pound division with an iron fist. In May, Shevchenko stopped No. 1 contender Manon Fiorot’s seven-fight winning streak in its tracks at UFC 315 (a win which already aged well, given Fiorot rebounded with a first-round KO of Jasmine Jasudavicius) to pick up her eighth title defense.

Shevchenko followed that up by dominating Zhang Weili in a battle of the GOATs and top two pound-for-pound fighters at UFC 322. Many pundits picked Zhang to beat Shevchenko and cement herself as the WMMA GOAT, but “Bullet” made it look fairly easy, blanking the former strawweight champion on the scorecards.

Were these the most exciting wins in history? No. But they were as good as any victory in 2025, and only continued to add to arguably the greatest resumé in WMMA history, which is why three panelists saw fit to rank Shevchenko first overall. In fact, had one panelist not left Shevchenko off his ballot entirely, she would have taken home Fighter of the Year honors over Makhachev. Instead, “Bullet” will have to settle for runner-up and the unofficial “Female Fighter of the Year” title.

3. Petr Yan

While Makhachev and Shevchenko had better overall years, nobody had a better performance this year than Petr Yan. And, arguably, nobody did more for their legacy.

In 2020, Yan was the future of the bantamweight division; a fighter so brimming with talent that the UFC barely waved to Henry Cejudo as the then-champion retired from the sport in an ill-conceived attempt to get paid more. When he won the belt, people expected Yan would be the fighter to finally put together a sustained run atop the bantamweight division, but then the Aljamain Sterling fiasco happened, and his career got derailed.

But Yan put the train back on the tracks in a big way in 2025. In July, he delivered a forgettable but quality win over Marcus McGhee to move his win streak to three in a row and set himself up for another shot at the title, against a man who had embarrassed him two years before. People expected the same from Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323, but instead, they got one of the best performances of the decade as Yan beat Dvalishvili up for 25 minutes to finally reclaim the title.

It remains to be seen whether Yan will put together the long reign that was always expected of him, or if this will be a Cody Garbrandt vs. Dominick Cruz situation, but that doesn’t matter. Yan’s sensational efforts this year will live on for a long time.

4. Merab Dvalishvili

Dvalishvili was so close to taking home the top spot this year.

Through 10 months of the year, Dvalishvili was the clear Fighter of the Year frontrunner. After upsetting Umar Nurmagomedov in January in his first title defense (and one of the better fights of the year), Dvalishvili followed that up by submitting rival Sean O’Malley in their rematch in June. “The Machine” then tied the record for most title fights in a year by beating Cory Sandhagen in October, and looked like the runaway Fighter of the Year winner.

But then, Icarus flew too close to the sun.

Dvalishvili wanted to make history and set the record with four title defenses in one year, making a quick turnaround to defend against Petr Yan in December, when, as mentioned, Yan delivered one of the best performances of the decade, upending Dvalishvili’s dreams. But even with the loss, Dvalishvili had a year most fighters could only dream of, and still cracked the top five.

5. Joshua Van

Like Dvalishvili, Van was extremely close to earning Fighter of the Year this year. Instead, he’ll have to settle for Breakthrough Fighter.

Van had an insane year by any metric. Beginning 2025 unranked, Van ended the year as the flyweight champion, while winning Breakthrough Fighter and Fight of the Year honors, and becoming the first UFC champion to be born in the year 2000. In fact, the only blemish on Van’s Fighter of the Year resumé is that his title win was a bit wonky.

Van started the year with a victory over the undefeated Rei Tsuruya, which moved him into the UFC rankings. He then stopped Bruno Silva in June, before stepping in against Brandon Royval on short notice, winning the Fight of the Year and vaulting to the No. 1 contender spot overnight. And had Van done something similar to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323 to claim the belt, there’s little doubt he’d have been close to a unanimous choice for Fighter of the Year.

Unfortunately, the battle between Pantoja and Van barely got started, as Pantoja injured himself just moments into the fight after Van caught a kick and Pantoja went to the canvas. It’s a legitimate win for Van, but it’s also undeniably weird, and not exactly a reflection of who is the “better” fighter, which hurts Van. Still, Breakthrough Fighter and Fight of the Year are nothing to sneeze at.