2025 in UFC

On August 9, 2023, U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware granted class action status to more than 1,200 former UFC fighters who competed between December 2010 and June 2017 and are suing for $800 million upward to $1.6 billion in wages, as the lawsuit claims Zuffa had abused its power to suppress UFC fighters' wages. The anti-trust law also permits private plaintiffs to be able to recover three times the damages suffered, meaning the UFC may ultimately pay several billions of dollars' worth of damages.^[1] The case has a scheduled April 8, 2024 trial date.^[2] On March 20, 2024, TKO, UFC parent company reached an agreement to settle all claims in the class action lawsuits for $335 million where the settlement amount will be deductible for tax purposes.^[3][4] However, on July 31, 2024, Judge Richard Boulware ruled that the case would be heard by a jury and denied the preliminary approval for a settlement and reset for trial of in October.^[5][6] On February 6, 2025, Judge Richard Boulware of Nevada granted final approval for a $375 million settlement in the "Le vs. Zuffa" antitrust lawsuit for monopolistic practices. As part of the settlement, around $240 million to $260 million will be distributed to eligible fighters, specifically those who competed in at least one UFC bout from December 2010 to June 2017. These payments are expected to be made over the next year. Additionally, $40 million from the settlement will be set aside for administrative and legal expenses.^[4]

Based on court filings from late July 2025, the Johnson v. Zuffa antitrust lawsuit, originally filed in 2021, is proceeding, and status conference for the case is scheduled for late August 2025.^[7]

In May 2025, two antitrust lawsuits were filed against the UFC. One, led by former fighter Misha Cirkunov, specifically challenges the enforceability of arbitration clauses and class action waivers in UFC contracts.^[8][9] The other lawsuit, filed by former fighter Phil Davis, alleges that the UFC's anticompetitive practices also negatively impacted the ability of non-UFC fighters to secure fair wages.^[10][11][12]

On August 11, 2025, the UFC announced a seven-year media rights agreement with Paramount Skydance Corporation worth $7.7 billion. Paramount+ will exclusively stream all events for seven years, starting in 2026. Some numbered events will also air on CBS. The agreement will allow the UFC to move away from pay-per-view as events will stream on Paramount+ at no additional cost. All 13 of the UFC's flagship events and 30 Fight Nights a year will be streamed on the Paramount+ service.^[13] UFC CEO and President Dana White announced the UFC would produce four big events per year on CBS, and that the UFC's planned card for the White House on June 27, 2026, would one of those events.^[14]

The numbers below records the events, fights, techniques, champions and fighters held or performed for the year of 2025 in UFC.^[15]

Starting in 2019, the UFC created year-end awards with "UFC Honors President's Choice Awards" for categories "Performance of the Year" and "Fight of the Year" being chosen by UFC CEO Dana White. The other "UFC Honors Fan Choice Awards" are for categories "Knockout of the Year", "Submission of the Year", "Event of the Year", "Comeback of the Year" and, from 2020, "Debut of the Year" in which fans are able to vote for the winner on social media.^[16]

Winners traditionally received a commemorative trophy along with a set of Toyo Tires, but beginning in 2026, Toyo Tires was no longer a sponsor of the awards.^[17]

This is the first edition of the UFC.com Awards not written by the late former senior editor Thomas Gerbasi, who passed away in September 2025.^[29]

These fighters have either been released from their UFC contracts, announced their retirement, or joined other promotions:

Month	Day	ISO	Fighter	Division	Reason	Ref
January	7		Kang Kyung-ho	Bantamweight	Released	[35]
	8		Danny Roberts	Welterweight	Released	[36]
			Urijah Faber	Bantamweight
			Victor Hugo	Featherweight
	13		Holly Holm	Women's Bantamweight	Released at her request	[37]
	15		Michał Figlak	Lightweight	Released	[38]
	16		Clay Guida	Lightweight	Released	[39]
	18		Chris Weidman	Middleweight	Retired	[40]
	24		Josefine Lindgren Knutsson	Women's Strawweight	Signed with GFL	[41]
			Julio Arce	Featherweight	Signed with GFL	[42]
			Tony Ferguson	Lightweight	Signed with GFL	[43]
	25		Ihor Potieria	Middleweight	Released	[44]
			José Johnson	Flyweight
			Magomed Gadzhiyasulov	Light Heavyweight
			Victoria Dudakova	Women's Strawweight
February	1		Matthew Semelsberger	Welterweight	Released	[45]
	3		Jairzinho Rozenstruik	Heavyweight	Released	[46]
			Jamal Pogues	Heavyweight	Released	[47]
	6		Dominick Cruz	Bantamweight	Retired	[48]
	11		Bill Algeo	Featherweight	Retired	[49]
	15		Julia Avila	Women's Bantamweight	Retired	[50]
	17		Joe Solecki	Lightweight	Retired	[51]
	18		Dylan Budka	Middleweight	Released	[52]
	19		Warlley Alves	Middleweight	Parted ways	[53]
	25		Mashrabjon Ruziboev	Lightweight	Released	[54]
	27		Cody Stamann	Bantamweight	Released	[55]
			Jonathan Pearce	Featherweight
			Joshua Culibao
			Taylor Lapilus	Bantamweight
	28		Natan Levy	Lightweight	Released	[56]
			Roosevelt Roberts	Lightweight	Released	[57]
March	5		Julian Marquez	Middleweight	Released	[58]
	7		Andrea Lee	Women's Flyweight	Released	[59]
	13		Landon Quiñones	Lightweight	Released	[60]
	14		Armen Petrosyan	Middleweight	Contract Expired	[61]
	17		Marcos Rogério de Lima	Heavyweight	Released	[62]
	20		Montana De La Rosa	Women's Flyweight	Released	[63]
	21		Danylo Voievodkin	Heavyweight	Released	[64]
	22		Molly McCann	Women's Flyweight	Retired	[65]
	25		Abdul Razak Alhassan	Middleweight	Released	[66]
			Antonina Shevchenko	Women's Flyweight	Retired	[67]
			Artem Vakhitov	Light Heavyweight	Rejected Offer	[68]
	27		Walt Harris	Heavyweight	Released	[69]
April	3		C.J. Vergara	Flyweight	Released	[70]
	8		Diana Belbiţă	Flyweight	Retired	[71]
	9		Gabriel Miranda	Featherweight	Released	[72]
			Istela Nunes	Women's Strawweight	Released	[73]
			Choi Seung-woo	Featherweight	Released	[73]
	19		Ahmad Sohail Hassanzada	Lightweight	Released after being arrested	[74]
	23		Caolán Loughran	Bantamweight	Released	[75]
			Cortavious Romious
			Lucas Alexander	Featherweight
			Pedro Falcão	Bantamweight
	26		Anthony Smith	Light Heavyweight	Retired	[76]
	28		Guram Kutateladze	Lightweight	Released	[77]
			Kevin Jousset	Welterweight
			Vinc Pichel	Lightweight	Retired	[78]
	29		Dan Argueta	Bantamweight	Retired	[79]
May	3		Marina Rodriguez	Women's Strawweight	Retired	[80]
	7		Don'Tale Mayes	Heavyweight	Released	[81]
			Ivana Petrović	Women's Flyweight	Released	[82]
	10		José Aldo	Featherweight	Retired	[83]
	15		Bruno Silva	Middleweight	Released	[84]
			Jimmy Flick	Flyweight	Released	[85]
	19		Alex Caceres	Featherweight	Signed with Dirty Boxing	[86]
	26		Carlos Hernandez	Flyweight	Released	[87]
June	6		Connor Matthews	Featherweight	Released	[88]
			Hakeem Dawodu	Featherweight	Parted ways	[89]
			Kron Gracie	Featherweight	Released	[88]
	11		Ariane da Silva	Women's Flyweight	End of Contract	[90]
	17		Brad Katona	Bantamweight	Released	[91]
	21		Jon Jones	Heavyweight	Retired	[92]
	24		Cheyanne Vlismas	Women's Strawweight	Retired	[93]
	27		Christopher Ewert	Middleweight	Released	[94]
July	9		Ange Loosa	Welterweight	Released	[95]
			Felipe dos Santos	Flyweight	Released	[96]
			Jordan Vucenic	Lightweight	Released	[95]
			Trevin Giles	Welterweight	Retired	[97]
			Viviane Araújo	Women's Flyweight	Released	[95]
	12		Lauren Murphy	Women's Flyweight	Retired	[98]
	14		Jeka Saragih	Featherweight	Released	[99]
	19		Dustin Poirier	Lightweight	Retired	[100]
	31		Martin Buday	Heavyweight	Contact Concluded	[101]
August	16		Alvin Hines	Heavyweight	Released	[102]
	19		Julija Stoliarenko	Women's Flyweight	Released	[103]
	20		Bryan Battle	Middleweight	Released	[104]
September	6		Paul Craig	Light Heavyweight	Retired	[105]
	9		Melissa Martinez	Women's Strawweight	Released	[106]
			Westin Wilson	Featherweight
	11		Austin Hubbard	Lightweight
		Maheshate Hayisaer
		Maryna Moroz	Women's Flyweight
		Preston Parsons	Welterweight
October	9		Justin Tafa	Heavyweight	Released	[107]
	15		André Muniz	Middleweight	Released	[108]
			Brogan Walker	Women's Flyweight
			Irina Alekseeva	Women's Bantamweight
	22		Danny Barlow	Middleweight	Released	[109]
	27		Azat Maksum	Flyweight	Released	[110]
			Hamdy Abdelwahab	Heavyweight
November	3		Isaac Dulgarian	Featherweight	Released	[111]
	7		Quang Le	Bantamweight	Released	[112]
			Rolando Bedoya	Lightweight
			Yanal Ashmouz
	10		Chris Barnett	Heavyweight	Released	[113]
			Kiefer Crosbie	Welterweight
			Kurt Holobaugh	Lightweight
	27		Marek Bujło	Heavyweight	Released	[114]
December	6		Henry Cejudo	Bantamweight	Retired	[115]
	16		Łukasz Brzeski	Heavyweight	Released	[116]
			Marcin Prachnio	Light Heavyweight	Released	[117]
			Ricardo Ramos	Featherweight	Released	[116]
			Viacheslav Borshchev	Lightweight
			Yusaku Kinoshita	Welterweight
	18		Rhys McKee	Welterweight	Released	[118]
	22		Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos	Welterweight	Released	[119]
			Loik Radzhabov	Lightweight
			Rinat Fakhretdinov	Welterweight	Contract Concluded	[120]

The following fighters fought their first UFC fight in 2025:

Month	Day	ISO	Fighter	Division	Event	Ref
January	11		Austin Bashi	Featherweight	UFC Fight Night 249	[121]
			Bruno Lopes	Light Heavyweight		[122]
			Jacobe Smith	Welterweight		[123]
			Marco Tulio	Middleweight		[124]
			Nicolle Caliari	Women's Flyweight		[125]
	18		Azamat Bekoev	Middleweight	UFC 311	[126]
			Billy Elekana	Light Heavyweight		[127]
February	1		Bogdan Grad	Featherweight	UFC Fight Night 250	[128]
	9		Aleksandre Topuria	Bantamweight	UFC 312	[129]
			Colby Thicknesse
			Jonathan Micallef	Welterweight		[130]
			Kody Steele	Lightweight		[131]
			Quillan Salkilld	Lightweight		[132]
			Tallison Teixeira	Heavyweight		[133]
	15		Elijah Smith	Bantamweight	UFC Fight Night 251	[134]
			Jose Miguel Delgado	Featherweight		[135]
	22		Austin Vanderford	Welterweight	UFC Fight Night 252	[136]
			Eric McConico	Middleweight		[137]
			Julius Walker	Light Heavyweight		[138]
			Nick Klein	Middleweight		[139]
March	1		Mário Pinto	Heavyweight	UFC Fight Night 253	[140]
	8		Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos	Middleweight	UFC 313	[141]
	15		Diyar Nurgozhay	Light Heavyweight	UFC Fight Night 254	[142]
			Josias Musasa	Bantamweight		[143]
			Kevin Vallejos	Featherweight		[144]
			Yuneisy Duben	Women's Flyweight		[145]
	22		Alexia Thainara	Women's Strawweight	UFC Fight Night 255	[146]
			Andrey Pulyaev	Middleweight		[147]
	29		Ateba Gautier	Middleweight	UFC on ESPN 64	[148]
			David Martínez	Bantamweight		[149]
April	5		Daniel Frunza	Welterweight	UFC on ESPN 65	[150]
			Luis Gurule	Flyweight		[151]
			Torrez Finney	Middleweight		[152]
			Uran Satybaldiev	Heavyweight		[153]
	12		Patrício Pitbull	Featherweight	UFC 314	[154]
	26		Gauge Young	Lightweight	UFC on ESPN 66	[155]
			Malcolm Wellmaker	Bantamweight		[156]
May	17		Matheus Camilo	Lightweight	UFC Fight Night 256	[157]
			Yadier del Valle	Featherweight		[158]
	31		Michael Aswell	Lightweight	UFC on ESPN 68	[159]
June	7		Andreas Gustafsson	Welterweight	UFC 316	[160]
			Mark Choinski	Lightweight		[161]
			Yoo Joo-sang	Featherweight		[162]
	21		Ko Seok-hyeon	Welterweight	UFC on ABC 8	[163]
			Rizvan Kuniev	Heavyweight		[164]
			Tofiq Musayev	Lightweight		[165]
	28		Alvin Hines	Heavyweight	UFC 317	[166]
July	19		Islam Dulatov	Welterweight	UFC 318	[167]
			Jackson McVey	Middleweight		[168]
	26		Marcus Buchecha	Heavyweight	UFC on ABC 9	[169]
August	2		John Yannis	Featherweight	UFC on ESPN 71	[170]
	16		Aaron Pico	Featherweight	UFC 319	[171]
			Alibi Idiris	Flyweight		[172]
			Baisangur Susurkaev	Middleweight		[173]
			Eric Nolan
	23		Taiyilake Nueraji	Welterweight	UFC Fight Night 257	[174]
September	6		Ante Delija	Heavyweight	UFC Fight Night 258	[175]
			Axel Sola	Welterweight		[176]
			Harry Hardwick	Featherweight		[177]
			Robert Ruchała	Featherweight		[178]
	13		Alden Coria	Flyweight	UFC Fight Night 259	[179]
			Alice Pereira	Women's Bantamweight		[180]
			Daniil Donchenko	Welterweight		[181]
			Rodrigo Sezinando
			Santiago Luna	Bantamweight		[182]
	28		Brando Peričić	Heavyweight	UFC Fight Night 260	[183]
			Cameron Rowston	Middleweight		[184]
			Elisha Ellison	Heavyweight		[183]
October	4		Jakub Wikłacz	Bantamweight	UFC 320	[185]
			Tre'ston Vines	Middleweight		[186]
	11		Beatriz Mesquita	Lightweight	UFC Fight Night 261	[187]
	18		Melissa Croden	Women's Bantamweight	UFC Fight Night 262	[188]
			Yousri Belgaroui	Middleweight		[189]
	25		Louie Sutherland	Heavyweight	UFC 321	[190]
November	1		Donte Johnson	Middleweight	UFC Fight Night 263	[191]
			Kevin Christian	Light Heavyweight		[192]
	8		Josh Hokit	Heavyweight	UFC Fight Night 264	[193]
			Max Gimenis	Heavyweight		[193]
	15		Ethyn Ewing	Featherweight	UFC 322	[194]
	22		Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev	Light Heavyweight	UFC Fight Night 265	[195]
			Denzel Freeman	Heavyweight		[196]
			Luke Riley	Featherweight		[197]
			Marek Bujło	Heavyweight		[196]
			Saygid Izagakhmaev	Welterweight		[198]
			Shaqueme Rock	Lightweight		[199]
December	6		Iwo Baraniewski	Light Heavyweight	UFC 323	[200]
	13		Allen Frye	Heavyweight	UFC on ESPN 73	[201]
			Cezary Oleksiejczuk	Middleweight		[202]
			Guilherme Pat	Heavyweight		[201]
			Isaac Thomson	Featherweight		[203]
			Lance Gibson Jr.	Lightweight		[204]
			Yaroslav Amosov	Welterweight		[205]

The list below is based on fighters suspended either by (1) United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) or World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for violation of taking prohibited substances or non-analytical incidents, (2) by local commissions on misconduct during the fights or at event venues, or (3) by the UFC for reasons also stated below.

ISO	Name	Nickname	Division	From	Duration	Tested positive for / Info	By	Eligible to fight again	Ref.	Notes
	Walt Harris	The Big Ticket	Heavyweight	July 11, 2023	4 years	Drostanolone and its metabolites, exogenous testosterone, and Anastrozole	CSAD	July 11, 2027	[206]	Parted with UFC as of March 2025.
	Arman Tsarukyan	Akhalkalakets	Lightweight	April 13, 2024	9 months	Pre-fight altercation with spectator during UFC 300	NSAC	January 12, 2025	[207]	$25,000 fine; additionally, if he issued an anti-bullying public service announcement approved by the NSAC, sentence could have been reduced to six months with fight eligibility on October 12, 2024
	Hamdy Abdelwahab	The Hammer	Heavyweight	July 30, 2024	6 months	Exogenous testosterone	CSAD	January 30, 2025	[208]
	Conor McGregor	Notorious	Lightweight	September 20, 2024	18 months	Three anti-doping whereabout failures on June 13, September 19, and September 20, 2024.	CSAD	March 20, 2026	[209]
	Azamat Murzakanov	The Professional	Light Heavyweight	November 1, 2024	6 months	LGD-4033 metabolites	CSAD	May 1, 2025	[210]	Second violation under the UFC.
	Dennis Buzukja	The Great	Lightweight	December 7, 2024	9 months	Altercation with a fan at UFC 310	NSAC	September 7, 2025	[211]	$2,500 fine with additional legal fees of $157.04; additionally, if he does community service executed by the NSAC, sentence can be reduced to six months with fight eligibility on June 7, 2025.
	Marcos Rogério de Lima	Pezão	Heavyweight	January 24, 2025	1 year	Anastrozole	CSAD	January 24, 2026	[212]	Second violation under the UFC. Parted ways with the UFC in March 2025.
	Danylo Voievodkin		Heavyweight	November 10, 2024	2 years	Meldonium	CSAD	November 10, 2026	[213]	Parted ways with the UFC in March 2025.
	Douglas Silva de Andrade	D-Silva	Bantamweight	February 28, 2025	6 months	Furosemide	CSAD	August 28, 2025	[214]
	Sean Strickland	Tarzan	Middleweight	June 29, 2025	6 months	Altercation at a Tuff-N-Uff event	NSAC	December 29, 2025	[215]	$5,000 fine with additional legal fees; additionally, if he does complete an anger management course, sentence can be reduced to four and a half months with fight eligibility on November 11, 2025.
	Alvin Hines	Goozie	Heavyweight	July 11, 2025	1 year	Anabolic steroid Drostanolone	CSAD	July 11, 2026	[216] [217]	Parted ways with the UFC in August 2025.
	Ramazan Temirov	Temurlan	Flyweight	July 5, 2025	1 year	Trimetazidine	CSAD	July 5, 2026	[218]
	Maryna Moroz	The Iron Lady	Women's Flyweight	July 17, 2025	1 year	Meldonium	CSAD	July 17, 2026	[219]	Parted ways with the UFC in September 2025.[220]

The following The Ultimate Fighter season was broadcast in 2025: