As has become somewhat of a tradition here at MMASucka, we like to throw out 10 outlandish MMA predictions every year and claim to be psychic when one of the 10 gets remotely close. Last year’s article can be found here, however, we will revisit our outlandish MMA predictions in this article.
Be sure to check out the previous article to find our 2025 predictions in detail!
Revisiting our Outlandish MMA Predictions for 2025
1 -Tom Aspinall Will End the Year as Undisputed Heavyweight Champion… After Beating Jon Jones in July
Could we claim this one as a success? Half of it is true, Tom Aspinall will end the year as the undisputed heavyweight champion… but not in the manner in which he would have wanted.
Aspinall was upgraded to undisputed champion… after Jon Jones retired. It’s a fight that everyone wanted to see, Aspinall vs Jones, however, one person didn’t – Jon Jones.
Aspinall would make one defence of his title in October against Ciryl Gane, however, after an eye poke rendered the Brit unable to continue, the fight ended in a no contest. A year to forget for Aspinall.
2 – Bellator Will Cease to Exist
Our first success! On January 14th, the PFL confirmed that Bellator would cease to exist and would be completely engulfed by the PFL. The rosters would be consolidated and no Bellator belts would be contested anymore.
It was always going to happen, however, it still came as a shock. The PFL grabbed the bull by the horns in 2025, kicking off the year with big news. This has lead to a number of former Bellator stars signing for the UFC, with limited success.
3 – Valentina Shevchenko Will Make Two Defences of Her Title Before Retiring
Similar to our first outlandish MMA prediction, this one is half right. Valentina Shevchenko went 2-0, defeating Manon Fiorot and Zhang Weili, both in convincing fashion. At 37, however, she’s not hinting at retirement just yet.
We said: ‘She will defeat Manon Fiorot in a boring, one-sided, wrestling-heavy decision‘ and we weren’t totally wrong. It’s a forgettable performance but it still adds a ruby to her belt.
4 – Kayla Harrison Finishes the Year as UFC Bantamweight Champion
Another success! We claimed that Kayla Harrison would finish former champion, Juliana Pena within three rounds, something that happened at UFC 316, winning the UFC bantamweight title.
We did predict that she would be scheduled to face Norma Dumont in December, however, it appears her first title defence will occur in January… against the former champion, Amanda Nunes. Maybe one of our outlandish MMA predictions for 2026 will feature these women…
5 – Paddy Pimblett Headlines in London in March, Wins and goes on to Fight Michael Chandler
Paddy Pimblett is set for a huge 2026 after just one outing in 2025. He didn’t headline in London in March, however, he did get a huge fight. He did face Michael Chandler as we predicted, finishing the American in a five-round co-main event at UFC 314.
The Baddy is scheduled for an interim title opportunity against Justin Gaethje to kick off the UFCs Paramount Plus era.
6 – Alex Pereira goes 2-0 in 2025 but still doesn’t fight Magomed Ankalev
Alex Pereira had his most inactive year since joining the UFC, only competing twice, both times he faced Magomed Ankalaev. On the first occasion, he lost a decision to the Russian, forcing many to ask questions about whether he was ‘done’ at the top level.
In the rematch, however, Poatan blasted Ankalaev away in just 1:20, proving to everyone that he is still the elite at 205lbs.
7 – Ilia Topuria Retires a Legend and Makes a Further Defence of his Title
Ilia Topuria’s 2025 didn’t play out as we predicted. We thought that he would stick around at 145lbs, however, he relinquished the featherweight belt at UFC 314 to pursue the vacant lightweight strap.
He would go on to win the 155lbs title in devastating fashion, notching a first round knockout of Charles Oliveira, before being forced to sit out for the remainder of 2025 and early 2026.
Alexander Volkanovski won the vacant belt at UFC 314 and is set to make his first title defence of his second reign at UFC 325 back home in Australia in early 2026.
8 – Conor McGregor Competes in the UFC!
One word – Wrong. 2026? Who knows these days, he’s just so unpredictable.
9 – The UFC Acquire some BIG names from ONE Championship
This one didn’t happen in any way, shape or form. The UFC concentrated on signing big names from Bellator as we mentioned earlier, focused on getting some solid competitors through the doors via the Contender Series and signed talent from around Europe, instead of Asia.
10 – Dakota Ditcheva Continues to Dominate the PFL’s Flyweight Division, Setting up a Fight with Shanelle Dyer
Dakota Ditcheva’s 2025 didn’t quite go to plan. Whether this was due to contract disputes, inappropriate competition or injuries, she only competed once in 2025 in a decision win over Sumiko Inaba.
She is scheduled to meet Denise Kielholtz in early 2026 in a fight that isn’t going to be particularly competitive in favour of Ditcheva.
She won’t be facing Shanelle Dyer any time soon, however. Nightmare featured on the Contender Series this year and despite losing the fight, she fought so well that Dana White still offered her a contract.
Ironically, the younger Dyer could be making a bigger splash than Ditcheva in the coming years.
Keep an eye out for our outlandish MMA predictions – 2026 edition – to see if we can be any more successful next year.
