Top Five UFC Fights To Look Forward To In December

Merab Dvalishvili v Petr Yan

Sunday, December 7, SA time

The much-anticipated bantamweight title fight between champion Dvalishvili and challenger Yan headlines UFC 323, the organisation’s last pay-per-view of the year at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Known as “The Machine”, Dvalishvili is exactly that, a wrestling anomaly with superhuman stamina that no one has been able to keep up with.

The greatest bantamweight of all time now aims to make history by becoming the first fighter to successfully defend a title four times in a calendar year, having already defeated Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen in his 2025 tour de force.

In their first fight in March 2023, Dvalishvili defeated Yan via unanimous decision. That loss put the Russian on a three-fight skid, but he has since rebounded with three consecutive victories and is out for revenge and to reclaim the title.

Alexandre Pantoja v Joshua Van

Sunday, December 7, SA time

Gold will also be at stake in UFC 323’s co-main event with Pantoja determined to hold onto the flyweight crown and the dangerous Van hell-bent on realising his dream of becoming world champion.

Since seizing the strap in July 2023, Pantoja has ruled the 125-pound division with an iron fist, turning back four challengers in Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura and most recently, Kai Kara-France in June. Scarily for the rest of the division, “The Cannibal” gets better with every outing and punctuated his last two defences with tapout victories.

A blue-chipper who turned 24 in October, Van has been on a meteoric rise. He’s only been competing as a pro since 2021 and is now on the brink of reaching the top of the mixed martial arts mountain.

“The Fearless” has won five straight fights, including upsetting Royval in a Fight of the Year candidate in June, and is 8-1 overall inside the Octagon. Hungry and heavy-handed, Van plans on ushering in a new era.

November’s Top Five UFC Knockouts

Henry Cejudo v Payton Talbott

Sunday, December 7, SA time

A legend will lay down his gloves at UFC 323.

Cejudo, a 2008 Olympic gold medallist and one of just 11 two-division champions in UFC history, will call it a day after his bantamweight bout with Talbott.

“Triple C” originally retired in 2020 but returned three years later. His second run in the promotion has shown that time catches up to everyone, as the Hall of Famer is 0-3.

Talbott is a rising star with a golden opportunity to beat a legend. The 27-year-old has wicked power for a bantamweight, making him a knockout artist looking for his breakout moment. This is his chance.

Jan Blachowicz vs Bogdan Guskov

Sunday, December 7, SA time

This is a similar case of a decorated veteran facing a rising contender.

Former light heavyweight champion Blachowicz returned from a 21-month layoff against the streaking Carlos Ulberg in March and lost by decision. Winless in his past three fights, the 42-year-old hasn’t tasted victory since his TKO win over Aleksandar Rakic in May 2022.

Conversely, Guskov has been on a roll since dropping his short-notice UFC debut to Volkan Oezdemir in September 2023. The 32-year-old went on to finish his next four fights, most recently knocking out Nikita Krylov in just over four minutes in July, and can vault into the top five with a win over the Polish powerhouse.

Brandon Royval v Manel Kape

Sunday, December 14, SA time

Flyweight contenders will close out the UFC’s 2025 campaign at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas.

These two have been scheduled to fight twice, first in March, when Royval withdrew due to injury, and then in June, when Kape had to pull out with an injury of his own. Now, they get another chance to compete with a potential title shot on the line.

A former title challenger, Royval was closing in on another championship opportunity prior to his surprise decision loss to Van. Kape is a thrilling striker on a march towards his first UFC title shot. The former RIZIN champion is coming off back-to-back knockouts of Asu Almabayev and Bruno Silva and has won six of his past seven fights.