MMA mid-year awards: Debating the biggest winners and losers at the halfway mark of 2025
And we've seen some barnburners, too.
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Rather than wait until the end of the year to highlight the best of the best, we've decided to roll out our Uncrowned midyear awards, to shine a light on the first half of 2025. Why?
Because we're antsy, that's why.
So without further ado, enjoy!
Ilia Topuria made good on his promise and became a two-division UFC champion.
(Ian Maule via Getty Images)
FIGHTER OF THE HALF-YEAR: Ilia Topuria
Ilia Topuria may have only fought for the first time in 2025 this past weekend, but he's had us in the palms of his combustible hands since February when he vacated his 145-pound title and announced his intention to move to lightweight.
He sauntered into the T-Mobile Arena and bombed the head off legendary champion Charles Oliveira in the pièce de résistance of International Fight Week, all with a cheeky grin smeared across his marketable mug.
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Suddenly, the sport seems alive again. Jaded old hacks — many of whom work at this very website, including the one writing this blurb — are once again bursting with gusto, waxing lyrical about the warrior poet who has redeemed the industry.
He finds himself atop the pound-for-pound rankings at Uncrowned after his heroics. Granted, many will counter that Islam Makhachev should be given top billing and there is definitely substance to those claims. However, without him yet having moved up to test his mettle at welterweight against Jack Della Maddalena, Topuria is definitely the right pick for Fighter of the Half-Year.
In the words of Kendrick Lamar, anyone who disagrees can 'miss me with that bulls***.'
(See, I'm still hip.)
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– Petesy Carroll
Honorable mentions:
Merab Dvalishvili
Jack Della Maddalena
Joshua Van
BEST KO OF HALF-YEAR: Mauricio Ruffy vs. King Green
It took every fiber of my being not to pick Ilia Topuria's knockout of Charles Oliveira for this award, but I've had a metaphorical mirror chat with myself concluding that I'm drunk off my ass on recency bias and I need to take a break.
And sure, it has all the hallmarks of a brilliant stoppage. It's not just the technical element of it — a spellbinding right followed by a decorative left, before a feast of coffin nails — it was the stage, the stakes and the man who made it all the more impressive.
With all that said, when it boils down to technique and spectacle, it's impossible to overlook the rangy Brazilian Mauricio Ruffy's wheel kick knockout of Bobby Green that looked like something straight out of a circus.
After finding King (previously 'Bobby') Green at the end of his right hand on multiple occasions over the opening two minutes, the Fight Nerds product spun like a vicious ballerina before his right heel slammed into the dome of his counterpart. Green went face-first into the canvas and Ruffy stood completely still, soaking up the adoration of the Las Vegas crowd like Pavarotti after hitting the high B in 'Nessun Dorma.' Beautiful.
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– Petesy Carroll
Honorable mentions:
Ilia Topuria def. Charles Oliveira, UFC 317
Cesar Almeida def. Abdul Razak Alhassan, UFC Vegas 101
Jean Silva def. Melsik Baghdasaryan, UFC Seattle
BEST SUBMISSION OF HALF-YEAR: Jake Hadley's modified twister against Matheus Mattos
It's been a relatively quiet first half of the year for submissions, but the few options atop the list all make strong cases. Ultimately, if a twister happens, that's automatically the frontrunner for any Submission of the Year though, and 2025 is no exception. So well done, Jake Hadley.
The Englishman pulled this one off in April when matched with Matheus Mattos at PFL's second tournament event of 2025. The performance was Hadley's first after he parted ways with the UFC last year, and what a way to make a statement. If a twister isn't a rare enough submission to pull off, Hadley managed to apply the Scottish variant in that fateful third round, bending his opponent a bit more backward and to the side rather than contorting the torso like a spiral staircase. It's nasty work no matter how you twist it (pun very much intended), and it's moves like this that make us love this crazy sport in all its glory.
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– Drake Riggs
Honorable Mentions:
Sean Brady's R4 guillotine choke of Leon Edwards, UFC London
Merab Dvalishvili's R3 north-south choke of Sean O'Malley, UFC 316
Jean Silva's R2 ninja choke of Bryce Mitchell, UFC 314
Kayla Harrison's R2 kimura of Julianna Pena, UFC 316
BEST FIGHT OF HALF-YEAR: Joshua Van vs. Brandon Royval
MMA hipsters have long known that the flyweights are where to go for fight game ore, but really nobody could've predicted what was about to go down at UFC 317 in its fight between young Joshua Van and Brandon Royval. The 23-year-old Van had just fought three weeks earlier against Bruno Silva at UFC 316. He got a knockout deep into the third round, which was good enough for June, no?
No.
When Manel Kape pulled out of UFC 317 with a broken foot, Van stepped right back in to face the No. 1-ranked Royval. It promised to be a good one, given that Royval carries a king-sized chip on his shoulder and Van is young enough to still believe he's invincible. Royval established the jab from the opening moments and snapped it at Van's face relentlessly. Then Van shot back a couple of big counters that set the tempo to what would become a ridiculous back-and-forth fight.
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Van was poised in the pocket, crisp with his strikes, deliberate. Royval was methodical, trying to keep range, but happily fetched into a dog fight. There were brawling moments. High kicks. Ripostes. There were combinations that you'd need to slow down to half speed to appreciate, lightning-fast hands, footwork. What there wasn't? Grappling. No wrestling, clinching, or tying up. What Van wanted to do was punch holes in Royval's face, and therefore punch his ticket to a title shot. What Royval wanted to do was punch through Van's aura.
It was a thing of beauty, the fight of the year so far — and it closed off one of the greatest accelerations into contendership we've ever seen for Van.
– Chuck Mindenhall
Honorable mentions:
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes
Take a bow, Joshua Van.
(Ian Maule via Getty Images)
BREAKOUT STAR OF THE HALF-YEAR: Joshua Van
This one was pretty easily solidified at UFC 317, wasn't it?
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Joshua Van started 2025 as an unranked, ultra-talented 23-year-old prospect — then rattled off three wins to unexpected land a UFC title shot. Oh yeah, and the last was the aforementioned Fight of the Year candidate against the UFC's No. 1-ranked contender, launching Van all the way from No. 10 into that coveted spot atop the rankings.
If you glanced at Van's run, it would be fair to assume it was some predetermined mega push from the UFC. However that couldn't be farther from the truth — Van has simply maximized his opportunities, capitalizing on staying active and letting his phenomenal talent for his age speak for itself. Van has almost immediately injected more intrigue into the flyweight division than ever before, thanks to the work he's put in thus far in 2025 — and we're only at the halfway point. At this rate he still has three fights left in 2025, with none bigger than the next: His first world title bout against Alexandre Pantoja.
– Drake Riggs
Honorable Mentions:
Jack Della Maddalena
Paul Hughes
Jean Silva
Thad Jean
Jasmine Jasudavicius
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BEST EVENT OF HALF-YEAR: UFC 314
Alexander Volkanovski returned to featherweight glory (but only after wobbling on the tightrope a few times, thanks to Diego Lopes' punching power). Paddy Pimblett put a beating on Michael Chandler that forced us all to admit that he might actually be pretty good. Jean Silva barked his way to a dominant, damn near theatrical win over Bryce Mitchell, the would-be fishing buddy of history's monsters. Dominick Reyes turned out the lights for Nikita Krylov with one solid punch.
And that was just the main card.
UFC's trip to Miami back in April has a strong case as the best full fight card we've seen so far in 2025. It had that big event feel and the action delivered inside the cage. Now just imagine how great it would have been if Jim Miller had managed to win one for us old guys in his prelim fight with Chase Hooper.
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– Ben Fowlkes
Honorable mentions:
UFC 317
UFC 311
PFL Champions Series: Nurmagomedov vs Hughes
Jon Jones made plenty of headlines in first half of 2025, though none for fighting.
(USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
STORYLINE OF THE HALF-YEAR: Jon Jones holds the heavyweight title out of rotation and then abruptly retires
It could have been the biggest fight of the year — by a lot. Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall in a UFC heavyweight title unification match? People would skip their own funerals to watch that. Name your price. Alas, it was not to be. Jones decided, after much deliberating and open discussion with social media randos, that he'd rather retire. No mega-fight or mega-payday for him, thanks. Just the sweet nothing of life as a former UFC champ.
That's all well and good, but did he really have to take the entire first half of the year to reach that decision? I'd say the waiting was the worst part if it wasn't for everything else about it. Let the record show that one of the greatest MMA careers of all time ended with UFC CEO Dana White showing up to a press conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, in the middle of the night and basically going "btw Jon called me last night and he's done." Only then did we learn this decision comes amid yet another allegation of vehicular recklessness and bizarre death threats.
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I won't say it's a good way for (chapter of) the Jones story to end. But it is perhaps a fitting way.
– Ben Fowlkes
Honorable mentions:
Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev leave behind UFC titles to move up divisions
The imminent return of Amanda Nunes
Demise of Bellator
Stillborn GFL
MOST SURPRISING DEVELOPMENT HALFWAY THROUGH 2025: Alexandre Pantoja's historic climb up the flyweight pantheon
He's beaten every Kai but the Cobra variety, and from the looks of it, he's not done yet. Alexandre Pantoja closed out 2024 with a systematic beatdown of Japanese import Kai Asakura, and then put on a show against Kai Kara-France at UFC 317 during International Fight Week. It felt less like a title defense and more like a declaration.
What is he saying to us? He's coming. Coming for it all. It's true that Pantoja is 35 years old, which is traditionally an age of fall-off at the highest level for anyone under 200 pounds. Yet Pantoja has a rare gene. He is hungrier now after defending the title four times than ever before. He went for the Kara-France's jugular like a Doberman coming off the leash. He is a maniac. Incautious at times. Wild. He changes levels quicker than anyone. His submissions are vicious. And his mindset is dialed to kill, kill, kill.
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This is all a revelation. When the series between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo played out, it felt like they were the only two viable flyweights. A couple years removed, Pantoja is ahead of the pack by a country mile.
- Chuck Mindenhall
Honorable mentions:
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