Amid conflicting information about the most anticipated fights of 2025, UFC President Dana White has had to speak out

Dana White

What did the UFC president say about the three most anticipated MMA fights of 2025?

Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall, Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria, and Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev are the three biggest fights that the UFC could stage in 2025, with high expectations from fans.

However, for months, the information circulating has been unofficial or one-sided, coming from both insiders and outsiders. This is also what the media wanted UFC President Dana White to personally address when he appeared at the post-fight press conference following UFC on ESPN 66 last weekend.

First, Dana White confirmed that the Du Plessis vs. Chimaev fight has officially been signed, though the timing will not be what everyone expected.

“We all knew that fight was going to happen — Du Plessis vs. Chimaev. It’s going to happen, just not during International Fight Week. The fight is finalized but it won’t take place at UFC 317,” Dana White stated.

Du Plessis vs. Chimaev is just waiting to be officially announced

Previously, there were rumors from middleweight contender Caio Borralho suggesting that Du Plessis was injured. However, the South African champion officially denied this information and affirmed that he will face “The Wolf” Chimaev, just as he had promised earlier.

Later, Dana White stated that the fight between lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and former featherweight king Ilia Topuria is still in the works.

This is the most highly anticipated showdown between two fighters currently ranked No. 1 and No. 3 on the pound-for-pound list, both holding some of the most impressive winning streaks in the promotion.

Ilia Topuria has firmly declared that his next appearance will be a lightweight title fight—no matter who the opponent is.
Meanwhile, reigning champion Islam Makhachev has repeatedly stated that Topuria has yet to truly earn the shot, especially over other top contenders like Charles Oliveira or Arman Tsarukyan.

Makhachev vs. Topuria has been the most talked-about matchup in the media in recent days

Lastly, there’s the most anticipated heavyweight clash between champions Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall. Fans are still counting on Dana White’s negotiating ability, as he emphasized only the goal of making the fight happen this year while denying all circulating rumors.

“Everything you’ve been hearing is nonsense until we officially announce it. I’ve said it many times — this is the fight we want to make in 2025, and I’m very confident it will happen,” said Dana White.

As of April 27, Jon Jones officially became the second-longest reigning UFC heavyweight champion in history, with 785 days, trailing only the legendary Cain Velasquez (896 days).

Jon Jones is now the second-longest reigning heavyweight champion, but there is still no new information about the fight with Tom Aspinall

However, that number is hardly something to be proud of for Jones, given that he has only had two heavyweight bouts so far, which is just one-third of Cain Velasquez’s total fights. The fact that Jon Jones is forcing Tom Aspinall to defend the interim title has also been a major source of criticism for the American legend in recent times.

With that said, we now have more clarity on the three most anticipated UFC fights of 2025. Fans can feel more reassured about the promotion’s efforts, something that President Dana White and his team continue to do better than any MMA organization in the world.