Who do MMA insiders imagine would be the pound-for-pound finest in 2025?

LAS VEGAS — Max Holloway was strolling backstage on the UFC Apex final week, simply three days earlier than he challenged Alexander Volkanovski in a trilogy bout for the featherweight title at UFC 276.

When pressed with a query, the previous featherweight champion — lengthy one of many prime fighters on the planet — stopped in his tracks to suppose. The inquiry: Who would be the finest fighter on the earth in 2025?

In three years, Holloway figured, he would not nonetheless be competing himself. So, if not “Blessed,” who would be the MMA pound-for-pound king that far sooner or later? It is almost inconceivable to foretell, Holloway mentioned.

“Everybody has their ups and downs,” Holloway mentioned. “The game retains rising. It might be somebody who’s on prime now or it might be somebody we do not even know but. We’ve to simply wait and see.”

ESPN requested greater than two dozen athletes and coaches for his or her prediction on who can be the perfect MMA fighter on the earth in 2025 and there was no clear consensus. The one sample of their solutions: geography.

The vast majority of responses had been fighters from the Caucasus — the Eurasian area between the Black and Caspian seas — and its surrounding areas. Probably the most talked about names had been the likes of Khamzat Chimaev from Chechnya, Russia, now residing in Sweden; Islam Makhachev from Dagestan, Russia; and Shavkat Rakhmonov, born in Uzbekistan and now preventing out of Kazakhstan.

“I might not be shocked if it is somebody from that area of the world that has that robust, heavy wrestling base that enables them to dictate the place the combat takes place,” mentioned former UFC double champion and newly inducted UFC Corridor of Famer Daniel Cormier, a former pound-for-pound nice himself.

Chimaev, 28, is arguably essentially the most promising fighter within the UFC, a surefire future star. He is 5-Zero within the promotion and is coming off a unanimous determination win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 in April. ESPN has Chimaev ranked No. Three on the earth at welterweight, and he has additionally competed efficiently at middleweight. He completed his first 4 fights, with the primary three coming in simply 66 days, a report for the quickest 3-Zero begin in fashionable UFC historical past.

“I’ve seen and educated with Khamzat,” Xtreme Couture MMA coach Eric Nicksick mentioned. “And I see his work that he places in and I see the workforce that he is round and the folks he surrounds himself with and his work ethic. He has that mentality of a man who you could possibly see being a champion for a very long time.”

Makhachev, 30, is the longtime good friend and coaching accomplice of former pound-for-pound king Khabib Nurmagomedov. He has gained 10 straight and is closing in on a light-weight title shot. ESPN has him ranked No. four on the earth at 155 kilos.

Rakhmonov, 27, is likely to be the perfect up-and-coming prospect on the earth. He has gained his first 4 UFC fights by way of end and simply took out stalwart Neil Magny by way of second-round submission. ESPN at present doesn’t have Rakhmonov ranked at welterweight, however that’s prone to change.

“I see one thing in [Rakhmonov] that I noticed in [current pound-for-pound king Kamaru] Usman,” mentioned Rakhmonov’s coach, Henri Hooft of Kill Cliff FC. “Not style-wise. However how skilled he’s, how relaxed he’s. It is scary generally to even see how calm he’s after the combat — even through the combat.”

Different Caucasus fighters named a number of occasions by fighters and coaches had been Dagestan’s Umar Nurmagomedov, the bantamweight cousin of Khabib; mild heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev; and featherweight prospect Movsar Evloev. Russia’s Petr Yan, the previous UFC light-weight champion, and Arman Tsarukyan, a Republic of Georgia-born Armenian-Russian light-weight, additionally obtained a number of responses.

American Kickboxing Academy’s Javier Mendez coaches the Nurmagomedovs and Makhachev. And he is bullish in regards to the 26-year-old Umar being on the highest of the mountain in 2025.

“He beats all people up within the fitness center,” Mendez mentioned. “Islam [does], too. However Umar is the younger [Khabib].”

Outdoors of the Caucasus area and Eurasia, the one fighter who acquired essentially the most responses was present UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. He is been within the UFC for 4 years and has been a champion since 2019. However the Nigerian-born New Zealander is just 32 years previous and hasn’t taken lots of punishment in fights.

“Not simply because he is so dominant, however the division is not tremendous deep,” Combat Prepared MMA hanging coach Eddie Cha mentioned. “He fights so sensible, there’s not a lot injury. He can combat that type for 3 extra years at a excessive stage with no put on and tear. He is aware of how you can care for himself.”

Like Adesanya, Sean O’Malley is one other striker who hasn’t taken a lot injury and who a number of fighters and coaches suppose might be a future pound-for-pound standout. The bantamweight fighter continues to be solely 27 years previous and is already being handled by the UFC and followers as a future crossover star.

“He is simply so f—ing athletic and he is acquired this starvation to maintain bettering, maintain getting higher,” O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch mentioned. “He has the athleticism and the work ethic. By 2025, he’ll be on this athletic prime and able to be the perfect fighter on the planet.”

When requested who can be the perfect fighter on the earth in 2025, a number of fighters selected themselves, together with UFC welterweight contenders Belal Muhammad and Vicente Luque and featherweight contender Giga Chikadze.

“I can not watch for 2025, as a result of I imagine that is going to be precisely the yr when I will be the pound-for-pound No. 1,” the 33-year-old Chikadze mentioned.

On the ladies’s aspect, there was no consensus both. A few of the names continuously talked about had been two-time PFL featherweight champion Kayla Harrison, UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko and former UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili. Shevchenko is ESPN’s present No. 1 pound-for-pound feminine MMA fighter, however many suppose her dominance will proceed.

“I do not suppose she goes wherever,” LAW MMA coach Ray Longo mentioned.

Different ladies named by coaches and fighters had been potential sleeper picks akin to Brazilians Taila Santos and Natalia Silva and Scottish flyweight Casey O’Neill, who’s recovering from a torn ACL.

However, like with the lads, nobody identify stood out among the many others. A number of within the MMA group pointed on the unpredictability of the game and the way a lot it evolves in a brief interval. The UFC is not even 30 years previous but and three years in blended martial arts can appear to be an eternity relating to the development in expertise and method.

It is attainable the perfect fighter on the earth in 2025 is somebody at present unknown to the mass viewers.

“I do not suppose we have seen him but,” UFC light-weight Drew Dober mentioned of the perfect fighter in 2025. “Not within the UFC but. I feel the fellows we’ve at present, they’re exhibiting lots of development and incredible talents. However that star energy? The subsequent Conor McGregor? He is preventing regionally in a regional circuit someplace. In my humble opinion, somebody goes to be lighting it on hearth right here come quickly sufficient.”