New champions come and previous champions go. That is the never-ended storyline in sports activities, together with within the UFC. Every year the combat promotion crowns new champions and 2025 will likely be no completely different.
Former middleweight titleholder Michael Bisping believes a minimum of 4 belts will change palms within the upcoming 12 months and particularly named which divisions.
The primary present champion that Bisping believes will fall is ladies’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili. Weili faces Tatiana Suarez within the UFC 312 co-main occasion on Feb. 9 in Sydney, Australia and Bisping predicts that Suarez will depart the octagon with the championship.
“I’ve acquired to go along with Tatiana Suarez – I did say that this time final 12 months. After all, she’s combating Zhang Weili, so we’ll see how that performs out. I simply assume the wrestling that Tatiana Suarez has goes to trigger loads of issues for lots of people. This time subsequent 12 months, a method or one other, she’ll be the champ,” Bisping mentioned on TNT Sports activities’ “Combat Week.”
Julianna Peña holds the ladies’s bantamweight title. She captured the belt by defeating Raquel Pennington in a controversial break up resolution in October. By the tip of 2025, Bisping predicts Kayla Harrison could have the ladies’s 135-pound belt.
“The ladies’s bantamweight champion, there’s solely going to be one identify in dialogue: Kayla Harrison. No offense to Julianna Peña, I feel she’s nice for the game, she’s a enjoyable individual. She’s enjoyable to take a seat and watch fights with as a result of she talks loads of s-h-i-t the entire time. She’s nice, however Kayla Harrison, I imagine, will likely be too massive, too robust, too good at judo, too mentally robust, too match. She’ll drag her down, she’ll get the submission, and she or he’ll additionally get the belt,” Bisping predicted.
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Middleweight champion Dricus de Plessis places his title on the road within the UFC 312 primary occasion in a rematch in opposition to former titleholder Sean Strickland. Regardless who wins on Feb. 9, Bisping sees Khamzat Chimaev will likely be middleweight champion as quickly as he will get to combat for it.
“It’s fascinating as a result of I’m trying on the rankings right here. I by no means thought we’d see a 12 months the place Robert Whittaker wasn’t within the dialog. It simply exhibits the game is such a merciless mistress. Clearly, Khamzat Chimaev squeezed his tooth out final time, and yeah, I’m gonna must say Khazmzat. Dricus (Du Plessis) is an incredible champion. I feel him and Sean (Strickland) could have one other shut combat, however I feel regardless, when Khamzat will get his probability, he’ll be victorious. I imply, what he did to Robert Whittaker – I’ll by no means underestimate that man ever once more,” Bisping mentioned.
The fourth championship that Bisping believes will change palms was the heavyweight title at present held by Jon Jones.
“If there’s an interim champion, it is going to be Tom Aspinall. Nonetheless, I don’t assume there will likely be one. I imagine that the rationale Tom isn’t combating at London is as a result of Jon Jones–Tom Aspinall will go down. The largest heavyweight combat the game has ever seen. Perhaps the most important combat interval that this sport has ever seen. Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall, and when the mud settles, ‘Tommy Aspinall, Aspinall, Tommy Aspinall!”
