Welcome to MMAmania’s 2025 Mid-Year Awards! Can you believe 2025 is already half done?
With six months of jaw-dropping action behind us, it’s time to celebrate the fighters, fights, and moments that have lit up the MMA world. From stunning upsets and bone-crunching knockouts to rising stars and masterful submissions, 2025 has delivered some good highlights.
Let’s dive into the biggest upset of the year so far.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC Bo Nickal vs. Reinier de Ridder
UFC Des Moines
May 3, 2025
It wasn’t the biggest betting upset of 2025, however, it’s probably the most shocking. Not because Reinier de Ridder is bad, but more so there was soooo much hype on Bo Nickal.
Nickal was seen as the next great UFC fighter and tagged as a future champion, but that got cooled when De Ridder landed a nasty knee to the body that crumbled the three-time NCAA Division I national champion from Penn State University (PSU), handing him his first professional loss.
REINIER DE RIDDER KNOCKS OUT BO NICKAL TO HAND HIM HIS FIRST MMA LOSS #UFCDESMOINES pic.twitter.com/Um2kLpFezN
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 4, 2025
Here are a few honorable mentions:
Talbott vs. Barcelos
The biggest betting upset of 2025 thus far was Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos, as Talbott closed as a massive -1150 favorite while Barcelos was a -770 underdog.
Barcelos ended up dominating Talbott with relentless wrestling and controlled him for the entire fight, getting the unanimous decision win and snatching Talbott’s undefeated record.
While Barcelos derailed Talbott’s hype train, the UFC prospect rebounded at UFC 317 with a good win over Felipe Lima.
Payton Talbott: Fighting Tall vs Fighting Long
Against Barcelos, Talbott looked to stand tall & leverage his reach adv, but his posture ended up hurting him, giving up his hips and exposing him to pocket offense.
Fighting tall & fighting long aren’t always the same thing pic.twitter.com/QuoWROz2xO
— MixingMartialArts (@RyanAWagMMA) January 21, 2025
Musasa vs. Vera
Another huge betting upset occurred at UFC Vegas 104 when Josias Musasa got submitted in the first round by Carlos Vera. Musasa was the -800 betting favorite with Vera being a +550 underdog.
It was supposed to be a showcase fight for Musasa, but it quickly became a fraud check of the highest order.
CARLOS VERA WITH A MAJOR UPSET #UFCVegas104 pic.twitter.com/eeWtK524VJ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 15, 2025
Magomedov vs. Page
Shara Magomedov suffered his first professional loss to Michael Page as a -225 betting favorite, and while it wasn’t the biggest upset, it was still surprising.
Up until that fight, Magomedov had looked impressive, coming off a knockout-of-the-year contender. A matchup with the smaller “MVP” seemed like an easy win, but it wasn’t.
Page moved up to middleweight for a “one-off fun fight” and ended up stealing the one-eyed Russian’s hype with a unanimous decision victory.
30-27, 30=27, 29-28 #UFCSaudiArabia
Michael Venom Page hands Shara Magomedov his first defeat!= #RiyadhSeason | @RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/ZsbDONxpFu
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) February 1, 2025
Nakamura vs. Gafurov
Multi-time Japanese wrestling champion, Rinya Nakamura, lost his undefeated record at UFC 311, dropping a unanimous decision to Muin Gafurov.
No one saw this coming as Nakamura was a top prospect with some of the best wrestling in the division; however, to everyone’s surprise, he didn’t use it at all. Instead, he got out-struck by Garfurov … baffling.
Victoire par décision unanime pour @MuinGafurov
Regardez les prelims de l’#UFC311 EN DIRECT sur UFC Fight Pass pic.twitter.com/UoHqhu3qaI
— UFC France (@UFCFRA) January 19, 2025
Are any of these upsets the biggest of the year? Let us know below!
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