It’s the start of a brand new year, a time for reflections and predictions. For those predictions, it’s time for us to bring out an old favorite: The famous Zuhosky family crystal ball.
This crystal ball has only been with me since 2022, but every year right before Jan. 1 rolls around, my brother Jonathan and I place it by my workspace for the purposes of this holiday tradition.
As you wrap up this New Year’s Day, take time out to join me for the first part of my look into the crystal ball for the world of MMA in 2025.
Let’s Look Into the Crystal Ball!
We’ll give six projections as part of this series (three today, three later on in the week.) There’s no time like the present, so why don’t we get started right now.
Crystal Ball Projection No. 1: Kayla Harrison Scores UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship in 2025
For the first prediction of the new year, let’s go with a slam dunk. At the outset of 2024, former PFL Women’s Lightweight Champion Kayla Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) made the move to Dana White’s organization.
Breaking: Kayla Harrison has signed with the UFC, Dana White announced. pic.twitter.com/5OpAk0mPor
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 24, 2024
The decision to leave the PFL behind has been a good one for the former Olympian in judo, with Harrison emerging victorious in both of her UFC contests in the old year, including a unanimous decision victory over Ketlen Viera (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) on Oct. 5 during UFC 307.
After the Viera contest, Harrison was interviewed by Megan Olivi backstage and said that she wasn’t too happy with her work in the Octagon that night.
“It just wasn’t the performance I was hoping for,” Harrison began. “I just felt a little flat tonight, couldn’t string some stuff together. [I’m] a little bit frustrated with my performance, my team makes a lot of sacrifices. Everyone really puts in a lot of effort in order for me to be here, so I just, I feel like I let them down a little bit.”
Kayla Harrison enters 2025 as the No. 2 contender at women’s bantamweight in the UFC, putting her right in line for a title shot at some point this year, provided that everything goes according to plan.
Crystal Ball Projection No. 2: Contender Series Sends 45 Fighters to UFC
Our second prediction in the crystal ball is a numeric one. 2024 was another banner year for Dana White’s Contender Series, with the Tuesday night summer MMA promotion being responsible for the signing of 42 prospects to the sport’s top organization over 10 weeks of action.
The 42 contracts signed as a direct result of appearing on the show still fell a little bit short of an all-time record for most in a single season, with the 2023 season responsible for signing 46 prospects to the UFC. As you’ve seen if you’ve watched the show over the summer months in the past years, there’s one certainty surrounding Dana White’s Contender Series:
Fighters who appear on the show have to make certain that they win with flair. Just getting a hand raised after 15 minutes (or less) may not be enough. While we’ll have to wait until the second half of the year to see if this prediction from the crystal ball comes to fruition, with more than 40 fighters getting inked to the UFC directly from this show in each of the last two seasons, it stands to reason that the 2025 season could challenge 2023’s record by sending 45 prospects to the UFC.
Crystal Ball Projection No. 3: Cage Warriors Lightweight Champion Hardwick Gets Picked Up By UFC
Finally in part one of our crystal ball predictions for 2025, George Hardwick (13-2 MMA, 7-1 CWFC) is a seasoned veteran of the fight game, having spent time in both Bellator MMA and Cage Warriors in recent years.
He enters the new year as the three-time defending Cage Warriors Lightweight Champion, most recently defending the strap by way of unanimous decision on Sept. 7 versus Cristian Iorga (7-2 MMA, 0-1 CWFC) in Cage Warriors 176 on UFC Fight Pass. Hardwick has been in line to trade in his lightweight strap for a UFC contract before.
A 2023 trip to Enterprise, NV for a bout against Abdul-Kareem Al-Sewady didn’t go Hardwick’s way, as Al-Sewady got his hand raised with a unanimous decision at the end of 15 minutes’ time. George Hardwick has an impressive MMA resume.
A UFC call-up should be in the offing for him at some point within the next 12 months.
Happy New Year!
On behalf of all of us at MMA Sucka, have a happy new year, everybody.
