Who Will Be UFC Bantamweight Champion at the End of 2025? The title will be the first of 2025 to be defended as the champion, Merab Dvalishvili clashes with Umar Nurmagomedov in the UFC 311 co-main event with the strap on the line.
Dvalishvili is set to defend his belt for the first time since beating Sean O’Malley at UFC Noche back in September. Nurmagomedov is undefeated at 18-0, however, hasn’t really proven himself against top-level competition other than Cory Sandhagen.
With the belt being on the line, we take a look at who could be the UFC bantamweight champion at the end of 2025!
Who Will Be UFC Bantamweight Champion at the End of 2025? Betting Odds
All odds are correct at the time of writing and can be found here.
Top 3 Favourites
The top three favourites don’t come as much of a surprise. The current champion, the most recent other champion and the man challenging for the belt next are the three most likely to hold the belt entering 2026… according to the odds anyway.
Interestingly, it’s UFC 311’s challenger, Nurmagomedov who is most likely to be the UFC bantamweight champion with odds of +110. If Nurmagomedov can overcome The Machine, it’ll be a huge feather in his cap, especially as he has only one notable win on his resumè.
The champion has odds of +130, so although he isn’t expected to win in California, he’s only a narrow underdog. The odds suggest that even if he does lose at UFC 311, he could still reclaim the belt at some point in 2025.
Rounding out the top three is the former champion, O’Malley. Although he lost out to Merab at The Sphere, he’s still arguably the biggest name in the division so don’t be shocked to see him in the title picture again this year.
September 14, 2024, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA: SEAN OÃââ MALLEY and MERAB DVALISHVILI fight in their 5-round Bantamweight Title Main Event at UFC 306 Riyadh Season Noche UFC at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Las Vegas USA – ZUMAs346 20240914_zsp_s346_015 Copyright: xAlejandroxSalazarx
From +650 to +4000
Next, we have another former champion and a man who is back to winning ways, Petr Yan. No Mercy re-bounded from three straight losses by beating Song Yadong before out-pointing Deiveson Figueiredo across five rounds last time out. At +650, it could be worth a punt!
At slightly longer odds we have Sandhagen who is very much the ‘nearly man’ of the division. Each and every time he’s been on the brink of a title shot, he loses his next fight. Losses to Aljamain Sterling, TJ Dillashaw and Nurmagomedov have halted every title push of The Sandman‘s.+700 for Sandhagen.
Figueiredo is coming off a loss and at 37 years of age, it isn’t a surprise to see him at odds of + 1500. Another man coming off a loss, Yadong comes in at odds of +2200, however, at 27, he arguably has one of the highest ceilings in the division. Former title challenger and fan favourite, Marlon Vera is +4000 to enter 2026 as UFC bantamweight champion.
Outsiders and Fan Favourites
Let’s be honest, there will likely be two, maybe three title fights in the bantamweight division in 2025, so the following men are highly unlikely to compete for the belt this year unless there is a late notice opportunity or something along those lines.
At +6500 you can get a man who many are tipping to be the next best thing and a man who you can see compete at UFC 311, Peyton Talbott. The undefeated prospect went 2-0 in 2024 with two finishes and could be a problem in years to come.
Could we see history made with the youngest-ever UFC champion being crowned? Well 20 year old Raul Rosas Jr could be your man and with odds of +10000, you could witness history along with cashing a huge cheque.
February 23, 2024, Mexico City, Mexico: RAUL ROSAS JR. steps on the scale for the official weigh-in at the InterContinental Presidente Mexico City Hotel for UFC Fight Night Mexico City. Mexico City Mexico – ZUMAht M 20240223_mda_s346_711 Copyright: xAlejandroxSalazarx
The featherweight GOAT and former bantamweight title challenger, Jose Aldo comes in with odds of +25000 and two former bantamweight champions, Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt both come in with odds of +50000, so maybe keep hold of your money.
The highest odds being offered at the moment as to who will be the UFC bantamweight champion are +100000 for fan favourite, Adrian Yanez.
After UFC 311, we’ll have a far better idea as to who will be the UFC bantamweight champion with the belt on the line, so stay tuned!
In a recent episode of the Couch Warrior Podcast, host Mike welcomed Charalampos Grigoriou, who recently won a contract during season 7 of Dana White's Contender Series after knocking out Cameron Smotherman one minute into the fight. The conversation delved into Grigoriou's martial arts journey, his feelings on representing Cyprus and Greece, and future plans.
