With 42 total Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events throughout 2025 — on top of all of the other promotions such as Professional Fighters League (PFL), Dirty Boxing, and Bareknuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC)
— combat sports fans have probably forgotten about many of the wild moments that happened throughout the action-packed year.
From knockouts and post-fight interviews to funny in-cage spots, or maybe you’re a hardcore mixed martial arts (MMA) freak and remember everything.
Well, either way, we’ve got you covered.
In part four of UFC 2025, “Rewind,” which runs from UFC Rio (Oct. 11, 2025) to UFC Vegas 112 (Dec. 13, 2025), we look back at some of the most memorable moments from that specific event timeline, including Tom Aspinall getting eye gouged, Islam Makhachev making history, and the end of ESPN.
PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR
UFC Rio: ‘Oliveira vs. Gamrot’ – Oct. 11, 2025 – Farmasi Arena, Brazil
Lucas Almeida made headlines before the fight for hiding an obviously injured hand (which ended up being broken) and paid for it as he got pummeled by Michael Aswell, getting stopped in the first round.
UFC Vancouver: ‘de Ridder vs. Allen’ – Oct. 18, 2025 – Rogers Arena, Canada
Azamat Bekoev was on the path to becoming a real player in the Middleweight division; however, that ended at UFC Vancouver when UFC rookie Yousri Belgaroui beat him up for three rounds, eventually stopping him in the third round.
UFC 321: ‘Aspinall vs. Gane’ – Oct. 25, 2025 – Etihad Arena, UAE
Obcviously the most notable thing to happen at UFC 321 occurred in the main event; however, Quillan Salkilld capped off his tremendous rookie year by sparking Nasrat Haqparast with one of the best head kicks you’ll ever see.
UFC Vegas 11o: ‘Garcia vs. Onama’ – Nov. 1, 2025 – UFC Apex, Las Vegas
Ah, UFC Vegas 110, the event that had the alleged Issac Dulgarian fight fixing scandal — if you don’t know about that, here are the details.
However, I’m going to mention the co-main event between Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Ante Delija because it was crazy. Cortes-Acosta was initially finished in the first round by Delija, but an instant replay review revealed an eye poke moments before the stoppage. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) ruled the strike accidental and restarted the fight — and just seconds later, “Salsa Boy” knocked Delija out.
UFC Vegas 111: ‘Bonfim vs. Brown’ – Nov. 8, 2025 – UFC Apex, Las Vegas
Every MMA fan has been waiting for Christian Leroy Duncan to really break out, as he is an incredibly gifted fighter, and at UFC Vegas 111 — he finally did as he viciously knocked out Marco Tulio with a spinning back fist followed by a gnarly punch.
UFC 322: ‘Della Maddalena vs. Makhachev’ – Nov. 15, 2025 – Madison Sqaure Garden, New York
Four brutal knockouts happened at UFC 322, but the one that I kept going to was Bo Nickal’s nasty head kick on Rodolfo Vieira, simply because of the pressure that was on his shoulders after his first pro loss earlier in the year.
UFC Qatar: ‘Tsarukyan vs. Hooker’ – Nov. 22, 2025 – Ali Bin Hamad al-Attiyah Arena, Qatar
Nearly one decade after leaving the Octagon, the Japanese star Kyoji Horiguchi turned heads in his Octagon return, smashing Flyweight contender Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC Qatar, stopping him in the third round.
It was glorious.
UFC 323: ‘Dvalishvili vs. Yan 2’ – Dec. 6, 2025 – T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
The best 89 seconds in 2025 happened at UFC 323 when Iwo Baraniewski and Ibo Aslan threw caution to the wind for an all-out phone booth brawl.
UFC Vegas 112: ‘Royval vs. Kape’ – Dec. 13, 2025 – UFC Apex, Las Vegas
The final UFC fight card to take place in the ESPN era was a violent UFC Apex card — and I’ll end this four-part yearly series with another nasty head kick at the hands (or leg) of Melquizael Costa.
Oh, he was robbed of a $50k bonus, too.
Checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.
