From UFC 311 to UFC 323, every PPV has had its talking points, from title changes to viral knockouts. We rank the 2025 UFC PPVs from best to worst based on a number of criteria: quality of main event/title fights, viral moments, big event feel and fallout.
Without further ado, let’s rank the UFC PPVs in 2025!
UFC PPVs 2025 – From Worst to Best
UFC313
UFC 313 did not live up to expectations at all. A fight card that consisted of 10 fights saw one or two highlight reels, a lackluster main event, and not a whole lot of talking points. Magomed Ankalaev defeated Alex Pereira in a boring main event and the co-main event featured a rematch between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev that we didn’t need to see.
The highlights included a Knockout of the Year contender from Mauricio Ruffy and a breakout performance from Ignacio Bahamondes.
UFC312
UFC 312 was yet another mediocre event. The build-up was good with the champion, Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland going back and forth, but the fight was one-sided in favor of the South African. The co-main event saw the dominance of Zhang Weili over Tatiana Suarez. With nine of the twelve fights going to a decision, it was a long night. Furthermore, it made no sense to hold the PPV in Australia as none of the main eventers or co-main eventers had any connection to the country. One of the more forgettable UFC PPVs in 2025.
UFC321
One of the most disappointing UFC PPVs of the year took place in Abu Dhabi at UFC 321. The main event saw Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane fight for just 4:35 to a no contest due to an eye poke. It was a devastating end to a fight that was only just heating up.
The co-main event saw Mackenzie Dern win the strawweight belt and an impressive performance from Umar Nurmagomedov saw the main card gain momentum heading into the main event.
Embed from Getty ImagesQuillan Salkilld’s Knockout of the Year candidate was certainly the highlight of the card, alongside Ludovit Klein and Mateusz Rebecki’s war.
UFC315
UFC 315 provided some decent talking points. In the main event, Jack Della Maddalena upset Belal Muhammad in an entertaining main event and Shevchenko defeated Manon Fiorot in an entertaining flyweight clash. It was another decision-heavy main card, with four of the five fights going the distance. It’s so low on the list because it didn’t feel like a big fight week leading into the card.
UFC311
When UFC PPVs started in 2025, UFC 311 actually wasn’t that bad on paper. There were four finishes in the five main card fights, including a fun fight between Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill. Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov put on an entertaining co-main event with Merab retaining his title.
What really let UFC 311 down was the main event. Arman Tsarukyan was forced to withdraw from his scheduled lightweight title fight with Islam Makhachev, meaning Renato Moicano had to step in. While it’s great that the title fight remained on the card, the fight was never going to be competitive.
UFC318
The main event of UFC 318 did a lot of the heavy lifting for this event. The retirement fight for Dustin Poirier against his former two-time enemy, Max Holloway. The fight was one-sided in favor of the BMF champion Holloway, but the spectacle of Poirier’s retirement was favorable.
The main event completed a streak of eight straight decisions after six straight finishes in the early prelims and prelims.
UFC314
UFC 314 was a blockbuster event for a number of reasons. Alexander Volkanovski answered the questions by winning the vacant featherweight title against Diego Lopes. The co-main event saw the competition increase for Paddy Pimblett as he defeated Michael Chandler and we had the debut of Patricio Pitbull, albeit in a losing effort.
It was a great event, with plenty of food for discussion and some impressive highlights to look back on. The fallout from the event is quite significant, as Pimblett has been given an interim title shot after Chandler’s win.
UFC319
While the main event wasn’t entertaining, the UFC 319 main card was impressive. Khamzat Chimaev dominated Du Plessis for 25 minutes and never gave him a chance. Lerone Murphy scored a Knockout of the Year contender against Aaron Pico in the co-main and made plenty of headlines.
Carlos Prates nailed Geoff Neal with a running elbow and Michael Venom Page looked impressive against Jared Cannonier. Murphy and Prates deservedly stood out at UFC 319 and the ramifications of Chimaev ultimately being crowned champion were significant.
UFC320
UFC 320 was a great PPV. The main event saw Alex Pereira blast away Magomed Ankalaev in just over a minute to regain his light heavyweight title. He answered a lot of questions everyone had about him after UFC 313 and silenced a lot of naysayers.
The co-main was a one-sided dominance by Merab over Cory Sandhagen, nearly finishing him off. Prochazka put on another fight of the year contender, coming from behind to defeat Khalil Rountree Jr. to finish. Youssef Zalal recorded an impressive entry.
UFC316
UFC 316 felt big, which is why it’s our third on our list of UFC PPVs for 2025. The main event featured the rematch between Merab and Sean O’Malley, with the former putting his stamp on the rivalry with a third-round finish.
The co-main event felt like a formality, with Kayla Harrison finishing the champion, Juliana Pena, and setting up a future fight with Amanda Nunes. Patchy Mix’s UFC debut generated a lot of excitement, but he didn’t live up to expectations. Kevin Holland also scored an impressive finish over Vicente Luque to open the main card.
UFC323
UFC 323 provided some interesting talking points, especially for the lower weight classes. The main event saw Merab’s long undefeated streak come to an end at the hands of his former opponent, Petr Yan. Yan is primed for performance of the year after impressively dominating the champion. The co-main event disappointed when Alexandre Pantoja suffered an injury 26 seconds into his fight. Payton Talbott scored a breakthrough victory when he eliminated Henry Cejudo.
Other highlights included Chris Duncan and Terrence McKinney and Iwo Baraniewski and Ibo Aslan having exciting, entertaining short but sweet battles.
UFC317
UFC 317. Second on our list of best UFC PPVs in 2025.
We had Ilia Topuria move up in weight to clash with Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title, a fight that felt big heading into the fight and one that subsequently shot the winner, Topuria, to super stardom. The co-main event saw further dominance from Pantoja, leaving Kai-Kara France in a one-sided flyweight title shot.
We had a fight of the year between Joshua Van and Brandon Royval, which ultimately set up the UFC 323 co-main event, making it important.
Other highlights included Gregory Rodrigues brutally knocking out Jack Hermansson, and Talbott rebounding from his first career loss.
There were huge questions asked and answered during the main event, and there were undoubtedly many talking points surrounding it.
UFC322
Drum roll please… Congratulations to UFC 322, the BEST of the 13 UFC PPVs in 2025.
It checked all the boxes you expect from a PPV event. Discussion points? Bill. Feeling like a big event? Bill. Viral moments. (Large) cheque. A phenomenal event.
The main event was a one-sided defeat of a versatile, respected champion as Islam Makhachev defeated Jack Della Maddalena. It wasn’t the most entertaining fight of the year without a doubt, but the systematic demolition of a champion from a P4P king was excellent.
The co-main event had a lot of hype, but once again we suffered a one-sided systematic defeat as Valentina Shevchenko dismantled Zhang Weili in 25 minutes. What was billed as the biggest fight in women’s history played out in a one-sided affair.
The highlights included four consecutive performances of the night-winning Next Generation knockouts. Michael Morales, Carlos Prates, Benoit Saint Denis and Bo Nickal all scored stunning knockout results on their way to victory.
Morales and Prates closed the door on the previous generation at 170 pounds, Saint Denis defeated a veteran in just 16 seconds and Nickal proved he’s more than just a wrestler.
Elsewhere on the card, Ethyn Ewing upset the odds by defeating Malcom Wellermaker via decision and Kyle Daukaus continued his UFC comeback with a quick night at the office.
A really great event.
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