Tom Aspinall predicts every male UFC champion by the end of 2025

UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has taken the time to predict who will be the male UFC champions by the end of 2025.

Everybody knows that Tom Aspinall is next in line for a shot at the undisputed heavyweight championship. Of course, until negotiations are finalized with Jon Jones, he isn’t able to actually prove that he’s the best heavyweight on the planet.

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For the time being, we’ll have to sit and wait. Alas, with Aspinall having so much time on his hands, it makes sense that he’d be thinking about the rest of the UFC’s male champions and how the divisions are playing out.

In a recent interview, he spoke candidly about what he expects to see by this time next year.

https://twitter.com/Home_of_Fight/status/1873034321776542003

Aspinall’s UFC men’s champion predictions

Flyweight: “I mean, I would have chosen Muhammad Mokaev but he’s gone. So, [Alexandre] Pantoja, I would say – Pantoja will still be there this time next year.”

Bantamweight: “I mean it’d be between Merab [Dvalishvili] and Umar [Nurmagomedov] next year. That’s an interesting fight but I would back Merab.”

Featherweight: “I’ll say Lerone Murphy will be getting up there by this time next year, but I don’t think he’ll have won a title just yet – I think that’s probably the year after… I think Ilia Topuria will still be champion by this time next year. Easily.”

Lightweight: “Islam’s going to be champion, again, by this time next year.”

Welterweight: “I think Belal [Muhammad] is massively underrated and I think that he’s still going to be the champion next year.”

Middleweight: “Right, I’ve picked against Dricus so many times and I’m not going to do it again, but I think to say that Khamzat Chimaev is not going to be a champion by this time next year is just silly – so I’m going to say Khamzat.”

Light Heavyweight: “I think Alex Pereira – ah, I don’t know. He’s got a tough fight with Magomed Ankalaev, I think that’s a really tough fight, so I don’t know with that one. I’m going to sit on the fence, it’s going to be one of them two; either Ankalaev or Pereira.”

Heavyweight: “Ah come on, come on. This time next year – as Ricky Gervais said [in The Office], I could be sitting in this hot seat yet – so I’m going to say me by this time next year, definitely.”

Quotes via Bloody Elbow