Athletes
The Fights | 2025 Half-Year Awards
There Have Been Some Amazing Brawls Inside The Octagon So Far. Take A Look At Which Five We Can't Stop Talking About
The highly unofficial half-year awards season continues with the best fights of the first half of 2025 and how we saw them on fight night…
1 – Joshua Van vs Brandon Royval
Brandon Royval and Joshua Van fought like they were trying to send a message to the men that would follow them into the Octagon, as the flyweight contenders went toe-to-toe, blow-for-blow, round-for-round, delighting the crowd at T-Mobile Arena and those watching at home.
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Van showed he belonged in the upper echelon of the 125-pound weight class from the outset, getting the better of things in the opening frame to show Royval that he had a serious fight on his hands. The former title challenger found his rhythm and his footing in second, landing at an insane clip, while Van continued to stand his ground.
Likely even heading into the third, the two men stepped it up even more, staying on the gas throughout, with Van dropping Royval in the waning moments of the fight, swinging things in his favor.
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That’s two wins this month for the native of Myanmar, and a victory that catapults him into the championship picture, with a date against the winner of Saturday’s co-main event likely next. It’s been a meteoric rise for the 23-year-old Houston resident, and he’s only going to get better.
2 – Jack Della Maddalena vs Belal Muhammad
Jack Della Maddalena is the new UFC welterweight champion, earning a unanimous decision win over Belal Muhammad in a fight contested exclusively on the feet to close out UFC 315 in Montreal.
The challenger had tremendous success early, welcoming Muhammad’s willingness to stand and strike by routinely getting the better of the exchanges, getting out ahead on the scorecards through the early rounds. The champion started to close the gap and had more success in the third and fourth, doing a better job of backing Della Maddalena up, but still struggling to get him to the canvas and land series damage.
In the fifth, Della got back to getting the better of the striking exchanges, busting Muhammad up with a knee as he came forward, only for the champ to drag him to the canvas and lump him up with an elbow. Down the stretch, the man from Perth continued unloading, hurting Muhammad and throwing to the very end.
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After the scorecards were collected and totalled, it was Della Maddalena that stood triumphant, earning his eighth consecutive UFC win and 18th consecutive victory overall to become the new welterweight champion. He joins Robert Whittaker and Alexander Volkanovski as Australian titleholders, and Jamahal Hill and Sean O’Malley as DWCS grads to ascend to the top of their divisions.
This was an outstanding fight and ramps up the excitement around the welterweight division even more as we head into the second half of 2025.
3 – Nazim Sadykhov vs Nikolas Motta
Fighting in his home country of Azerbaijan, lightweight prospect Nazim Sadykhov gave the fans what they wanted with a thrilling second-round stoppage of Nikolas Motta.
Undeterred by the boos from the crowd, Motta jarred Sadykhov early in the first round and emptied his tank with a barrage of punches. Sadykhov briefly hit the deck, but he got up, weathered the storm and started firing back on a gassed Motta. With a minute left, things settled down, but only briefly.
The fight picked up where it left off in the second, Sadykhov cutting Motta with a flush elbow. Despite fatigue, Motta kept firing back, but it was Sadykhov now in control with clean strikes from all angles. And then, out of nowhere, “The Black Wolf” ended it, dropping Motta with a right hand that brought in referee Lukasz Bosacki to halt matters at 4:17 of round two.
Sadykhov moves to 11-1-1 with the win. Motta falls to 15-6 with 1 NC.
4 – Merab Dvalishvili vs Umar Nurmagomedov
The bantamweight championship fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov was everything we expected and more, with the champion and challenger working at a break-neck pace with Dvalishvili taking over in the championship rounds to retain his title.
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Nurmagomedov was sharp to start, using his diverse striking arsenal and outstanding grappling to pick at the champion, largely keep things standing, and get out to an early lead. But as the rounds passed, Dvalishvili’s ridiculous pace started to wear on the challenger, with the Georgian titleholder having more success in the third round and then taking it up another notch in the championship rounds.
By the end of the fourth, Nurmagomedov was spent and Dvalishvili was still pressing forward, carrying it over into the fifth, where he kept Nurmagomedov moving backwards, trying to remain above water.
When the nines and tens were added up, it was Dvalishvili that came out ahead, successfully defending his title while handing Nurmagomedov the first loss of his professional career. This was an incredible example of what an impact pace and conditioning can have in a high-level fight, and an outstanding win for “The Machine.”
5 – Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes
Alexander Volkanovski is once again the UFC featherweight champion, ascending to the throne for a second time with a unanimous decision win over Diego Lopes in the main event of UFC 314.
The Australian dominated the opening round, looking like the man who ruled this division for a number of years before settling into a rhythm and output that kept Lopes on the end of his punches more often than naught. Lopes had his best round in the fourth, hurting Volkanovski with a thudding uppercut and putting the pressure on throughout, only for Volkanovski to settle himself, utilizing his jab and movement to stem the tide.
When the scorecards were collected and the tens and nines were totalled, it was Volkanovski that came out ahead, earning a clean sweep of the scorecards. “Alexander the Great” becomes the second man to hold the UFC featherweight title twice, joining Jose Aldo, while becoming the first competitor over age 35 to win a title fight in the lighter weight classes.
This was an outstanding fight between two absolutely tremendous competitors, and a great way to reset things in the featherweight ranks.
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