MMA Fight of the Year 2025: Joshua Van and Brandon Royval throw everything but the rulebook at each other

Question: What do you get when you combine two flyweights, one of whom is all about volume and pressure, the other of whom is a precision sniper who never gets rattled?

Answer: The best fight of the year, courtesy of Joshua Van and Brandon Royval at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025.

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At this point it probably shouldn’t surprise us that the flyweight class in general, and this pairing in particular, would produce such a memorable dust-up. The 125-pounders are already known for frenetic action and technical excellence. But then you add a guy like Royval, who owns all sorts of divisional records for striking output in addition to five “Fight of the Night” bonuses, and you have a recipe for some manic magic.

This was one of those fights that achieved greatness by combining two perfect dance partners. Royval was the one who insisted on pushing the pace, constantly pumping jabs and crosses like a man who doesn’t know what to do with his hands if he isn’t sticking them in someone’s face. Van was the one content to sit back and wait for the chance to sting with one good shot as soon as Royval moved close enough.

Together they ratcheted up the violence on one another in a fight that didn’t touch the mat until the final seconds — and only then because a hard right hand by Van sent Royval toppling over like a Jenga tower.

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What really made this fight was each man’s ability to drag something special out of the other guy, maybe even something he didn’t know was in there. Van discovered he could stand up to tremendous pressure and pace, and that he could wade into a firefight when needed without sacrificing the sharp edge of his technique in a wild brawl. Royval realized he could keep coming forward at all costs and even battle his way back into a fight where he initially seemed overmatched.

Van won the unanimous decision with help from that late knockdown. Then, of course, he went on to win the UFC flyweight title with help from Alexandre Pantoja’s freak arm injury. But never forget that it takes two to make a truly great fight. And when you get the right combination of flyweights, your odds of getting something worth seeing go way, way up.

2. Jiri Prochazka vs. Khalil Rountree Jr., UFC 320

You know the really scary thing about the big homie Jiri P? It seems absolutely impossible to convince him that he’s not going to win every single fight. Even the fights he’s lost — even ones where he’s been knocked out — he fights like all this damage to his own face is just annoying preamble before he inevitably wins.

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So when he met Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 320 in October, it was really no surprise that Prochazka just kept turning up the volume until things started going his way. Rountree was game. He had his moments. But that air of inevitability Prochazka brings seemed to finally break Rountree in the third round. The look on his face went from surprise to disappointment to downright disbelief. No matter what he threw at this guy, he couldn’t make him go away.

It was weird and wild and wonderful. It was, in other words, a Jiri Prochazka kind of fight. It was also one of the best of the year.

3. Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes 1, PFL Champions Series 1

Talk about a fight with a little bit of everything. Big momentum shifts. Incredible pace and cardio. Even a point deduction due to groin strikes. It all resulted in a memorable outing at the PFL Champions Series event in Dubai last January, with a saucy side of questionable scorecards from the judges at cageside just to add to the intrigue.

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PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov came away with the majority decision victory, but Hughes outperformed a lot of people’s expectations. That, plus the debatable judges’ decision, all but guaranteed a second meeting later in the year (which Nurmagomedov also won). It was also just a good reminder that there are, somewhat regularly, really good fights happening outside the UFC.

4. Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva, Noche UFC

Here’s a fight that packed a whole lot of living into just under 10 minutes of action. That was mostly due to the fact that it included Silva, who fights like a rabid Rottweiler that stumbled upon a magic lamp and made a wish to be turned into a real boy.

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This was a wild, bloody, frantic fight that quite fittingly ended in sudden, devastating fashion once Lopes landed a spinning elbow to finally put an end to Silva’s reckless aggression. One moment it looked like anybody’s fight. The next instant Lopes was cutting his victory celebration short so he could yell at Silva’s coaches. It was just that kind of fight.

5. Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili 2, UFC 323

After the way Dvalishvili handled Yan in their first meeting back in 2023, almost nobody thought Yan had much of a chance to snatch the UFC bantamweight title from the champ in the year-end rematch at UFC 323. But sometimes good things happen when you show up with a great game plan you are uniquely capable of executing.

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This was a career performance from Yan, who became basically the first person in the UFC to not only shut down Hurricane Merab, but also actually get to unload some offense of his own against this 135-pound Tasmanian Devil. What’s even more impressive is that, just as it seemed like the pace might break him, Yan found a second and a third wind hiding somewhere in his auxiliary tank, and for once it looked like it was Dvalishvili who was struggling to keep up.

Those five spectacular rounds made Yan champ, again, while also likely setting up a rubber match at some point in the not-so distant future. Another Fight of the Year contender, coming right up?

Uncrowned’s voting breakdown for Fight of 2025:

Honorable mentions:

• Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov

• Chris Duncan vs. Mateusz Rębecki

• Aiemann Zahabi vs. Jose Aldo

• Jack Della Maddalena vs. Belal Muhammad

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More from Uncrowned’s 2025 MMA year-end review: