UFC Decline: Champions Who Could Revitalize It

This past Saturday, UFC Vegas 107 went down. It was an entirely forgettable card, right up until the main event fell apart just moments before they were set to do the walks. It was just the latest in a 2025 that has been underwhelming for the world’s leading promotion. Are things bad now? Let’s discuss.

Is the UFC bad now?

Is UFC Vegas 107 truly the worst card in recent memory or are we being too harsh on the event?

When I got this question, I thought I’d have to dive deep to figure it out. But then I took a look at it and realized, no, this is easy. UFC Vegas 107 isn’t the worst card in recent memory because it’s not even the worst card this year. In fact, it might not be Top 3.

UFC Vegas 101 kicked the year off in the exact opposite of style. 14 fights with only three ranked fighters on the card in total. If you can tell me one fight other than the main event, I’ll be impressed (the main event was Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2).

A month later, UFC Vegas 102 then lowered the bar even further, with only two ranked fighters competing on it. I’m willing to bet you can’t even name the main event off the top of your head. But this card did at least have the decency to only be 12 fights.

Then we have UFC Vegas 103 (are you sensing a theme developing?) with the Manel Kape vs. Asu Almabayev fight and … nothing else. At least this time the main event was supposed to be the incredible Kape vs. Brandon Royval matchup, so maybe we can cut the UFC some slack there.

Then there’s UFC Vegas 104 and the Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze 2 fight that no one needed and everyone wishes didn’t happen, but the rest of that card ended up being kind of fun at least.

No, the worst card of the year, and perhaps the worst card in many years, happened just a few weeks ago at UFC Vegas 105. Lerone Murphy vs. Josh Emmett was a classic Lerone Murphy fight, meaning it was 25 minutes of unwatchable. And the rest of the card had seven decisions in 11 fights. There is almost nothing redeeming or memorable about that card, making it undeniably better than the tomfoolery that took place this past weekend.

All this is to say that this is what happens when you don’t have to try. Competition breeds creativity and a better product. Monopolies are terrible for consumers and that’s what we have here. The UFC’s dominant market share means they don’t have to make an effort, and they aren’t really even pretending any more.

UFC 316 — not great, Bob!

“Is Lipski-da Silva vs. Cong potentially the biggest banger on UFC 316?”

All that carries right on over to this weekend. I think most fans have come to grips with the idea that APEX cards are going to be bad, but the hope is that the UFC will at least try with regard to pay-per-views. I present UFC 316 as the counter to that notion.

The main event is a quick rematch of a fairly boring affair, with little reason to think anything happens differently. Sure, Sean O’Malley might do better, you never know, but the more likely outcome is a carbon copy of the forgettable first fight a few months ago.

The co-main event this weekend is a very good and important fight, but it’s also hard to be excited about any women’s bantamweight matchup now. The division is on life support and it’s hard to imagine it holding on for too much longer, even if Kayla Harrison makes good and wins the title.

And the rest of the card is, meh? I’m excited about the debut of Patchy Mix, who I think the UFC desperately needs right now, but beyond that, there’s not much to hang your hat on. Bruno Silva vs. Joshua Van is a solid scrap but that’s about it.

So, to answer your questions, maybe. I suspect the Vicent Luque vs. Kevin Holland fight is going to be violent for however long it lasts, but given the underwhelming matchups and stylistic preferences of many of the top fighters on the card, there’s a very good chance that Ariane da Silva vs. Wang Cong is the most fun scrap of the evening.

Be positive

Of the 4 in the co-main/main, who has the least to lose at UFC 316?

If you’re trying to be positive about UFC 316, this is the case: there are real and very big things at stake in the top two fights on Saturday. Merab vs. O’Malley 2 may be a travesty of matchmaking, but it’s incredibly meaningful.

If Merab loses, his burgeoning case as the bantamweight GOAT (outrageous at this point) takes a big hit, especially because, let’s be serious, the UFC isn’t running a trilogy right back. If O’Malley upsets Merab, the UFC is going to bury “The Machine” and probably book O’Malley in a rematch with Kris Moutinho next.

Conversely, if O’Malley loses, well, shit. What does he do next? I guess he could try and bump up to 145, but I don’t love his chances there, so now he’s another Rich Franklin, just more popular? That’s never an ideal place to be.

In the co-main event, if Kayla Harrison loses, this is the second time the superfight with Amanda Nunes falls through for her, and, more importantly, it kills the whole purpose of her UFC career. Kayla came over to the UFC to win this title, and if she loses to Peña, that might just be the end of her career.

In contrast, Peña is a two-time champion (I cannot believe that is true), which means if she retires tomorrow, she’s still probably going into the Hall of Fame. That’s quite the accomplishment considering I’m still not sure she’s any good. And heck, women’s bantamweight is so thin, Peña can probably hang around and get another shot at the belt, maybe even win it. So I guess I’ll go with Julianna Peña.

How do we fix the UFC?

Fast forward one year, in a perfect world, who are your 11 UFC champions?

Be as realistic or unrealistic as you please.

There are many issues facing the UFC right now, but the biggest one — from a fan perspective — is the lack of stars. There simply aren’t many names that make people stand up and pay attention. This doesn’t hurt the UFC’s bottom line (yay for monopolies!) but it really hurts casual fan interest. So the best way to fix it would be to get a bunch of interesting title holders who could maybe break through. Here’s my list:

Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall. In an ideal world he KO’s Jon Jones and becomes a star. Jon won’t fight him though, so just making him the Baddest Man on the Planet outright is the next best option.

205: Alex Pereira. If Alex can get the belt back, a superfight between him and Tom is massive. Also, Pereira vs. DDP is pretty sick.

185: Dricus du Plessis. I think DDP is close to crossing over as a star because he’s gotten to beat big names. Beating Chimaev should elevate him, and he’s got the generic good looks and personality to resonate with a fan base.

170: Islam Makhachev. Jack Della Maddalena is uniquely bad on a microphone. He will kill the division as its steward. Islam is the best fighter on the planet and has the Khabib legacy. Being WW champ would get him over in a major way.

155: Ilia Topuria. Obviously.

145: Jean Silva. He’s my boy, and he can make people care.

135: Jose Aldo. I don’t care that he’s retired. You said perfect world, and this is perfect.

125: Brandon Moreno. Only two fighters have ever won a title three times in the same division. Randy Couture did it at heavyweight a billion years ago, and then Jon Jones did it at light heavyweight. Except one of Jon’s was an interim belt he was later stripped of. So this would be new ground and pretty cool.

W135: They should fold this division up after Kayla vs. Amanda Nunes.

W125: Dakota Ditcheva. She’s the one.

115: Mackenzie Dern. It’s time for the Dern hive to rise up.

Rest easy, Jordan Breen

Breaks my heart to share the news to the MMA world that Jordan Breen has passed away.

Jordan forgot more about MMA than most of us will ever remember. One of the smartest souls I ever met. His passion was truly unique.

Today would’ve been his birthday. Will miss you buddy.

This is obviously not a question, but the news broke while I was writing this and I wanted to say a few things.

Many of you reading this may have no idea who Jordan Breen was. That’s a shame. Breen was one of the smartest people ever to get involved in MMA, and a major reason why I ended up doing this. The man had a passion for the sport rivaled by few and unparalleled knowledge that he passed on freely. He was at the forefront of MMA media back in the dark ages of the sport and, most importantly, he was a good man. His passing is a tragic loss and hit me harder than I’d have expected. He will be missed.

Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who sent in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck because you can send your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I will answer all the good ones! It doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.