With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from December 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for December.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
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Nominee: Iwo Baraniewski def. Ibo Aslan at UFC 323
They weren’t there for a long time, but fight fans sure had a good one when the two light heavyweight sluggers stepped into the cage and delivered absolute chaos before Iwo Baraniewski (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) finished Ibo Aslan for good at 1:29 of Round 1.
Baraniewski was first to drop Aslan, who immediately returned the favor moments later. Aslan swarmed by Baraniewski dropped him again. Aslan grabbed hold of a leg and worked his way back to the feet, and stunned Baraniewski again. Baraniewski then dropped Aslan, and that was it.
Nominee: Payton Talbott def. Henry Cejudo at UFC 323
Henry Cejudo was outmatched, outstruck, and outsized in his retirement fight – but he was not out-dogged against rising star Payton Talbott.
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Cejudo (16-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) left his wrestling shoes at home, as he tried to go strike-for-strike with the surging bantamweight Talbott (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC). Ultimately, Talbott won by unanimous decision, but former two-division champ Cejudo was praised for his efforts on the way out.
Nominee: Steven Asplund def. Sean Sharaf at UFC on ESPN 73
It was almost entirely one-way traffic for Steven Asplund (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who cut Sean Sharaf (4-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) open in the first round and spilled blood all over the canvas. Although Sharaf hung tough and absorbed much damage and swung back, the pressure of Asplund was relentless, and the referee jumped in for a standing TKO at the 3:49 mark of Round 2.
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Asplund set a new record for most significant strikes landed in a three-round UFC heavyweight fight at 170, snapping a previous record held by former champion Andrei Arlovski.
Petr Yan is once again the UFC bantamweight champion after a stellar performance against Merab Dvalishvili in their rematch.
The final pay-per-view main event of the ESPN era saw Dvalishvili (21-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) chase history in a fourth attempt at a title defense in a calendar year. Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) had other ideas, turning in a much different fight than their first meeting to reclaim the title by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) to end UFC 323.
Dvalishvili was the more active fighter to start the fight, putting together multiple striking combinations as Yan tried to stay on the outside and find his own range. Midway through the round, Yan found an opening he was looking for, cracking Dvalishvili with a hard right that rocked and cut the champ. Dvalishvili then resorted to his wrestling game to slow things down.
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In Round 2, Dvalishvili immediately worked for takedowns, but Yan was able to keep the fight standing. After a few back-and-forth striking exchanges, it was Yan who would surprise with a takedown. Dvalishvili scrambled to top position, but Yan quickly scrambled back to his feet, where the fight would remain until the horn. Dvalishvili returned to his stool bruised and bloodied.
Yan nearly created a highlight moment early in the third as he spiked Dvalishvili on his head with a slam from the clinch. Somehow, Dvalishvili popped right back up and ate a clean shot to the jaw. However, a moment later, Dvalishvili lifted Yan and carried him around the octagon like a sack of potatoes while the crowd erupted. Dvalishvili slammed Yan to the mat, but couldn’t keep him there. In the closing seconds, Yan landed a damaging kick to the liver, causing Dvalishvili to retreat.
Yan continued to bring the fight to Dvalishvili in the fourth, and got trapped in a tight guillotine early in the round. Yan escaped and the fight returned to standing, where Dvalishvili turned up the volume. Yan was game, though, and countered with another hard body shot. After seeing he hurt Dvalishvili again, Yan upped the pressure. Yan denied a takedown and dug in a hard punch to the body.
Going into the final round, it was apparent Dvalishvili was down on the scorecards. Dvalishvili offered more volume, but Yan remained defensively sound, countering with stinging shots. The takedown defense continued to shine as well, leaving Dvalishvili without options for a comeback finish.
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Yan recaptures the bantamweight title as he extends his current winning streak to four. He dropped the title to Aljamain Sterling by DQ at UFC 259. Yan then won the interim title in his next outing, turning away Cory Sandhagen, but failed to unify in a rematch against Sterling. Six fights later, he’s back on top of the division again.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Fight of the Month, December 2025: Yan vs. Dvalishvili 2
