5 best UFC fights to look forward to in February 2025

With UFC 311 now in the books, January is over for the world's top MMA promotion. That means attentions must turn to February.

February 2025 will see the UFC produce four events, including visits to Saudi Arabia and Australia, with some big fights on tap. But which fights are the ones to really look forward to next month? There are a number of contenders.

Here are the five best UFC fights to look forward to in February 2025.

---

#5. Shara Magomedov vs. Michael 'Venom' Page - UFC Fight Night 250

While the UFC's visit to Riyadh on Feb. 1 doesn't feature any title fights, the event still looks like one full of potentially fun clashes.

One of those clashes is the co-headliner between flashy strikers Shara Magomedov and Michael 'Venom' Page.

Page will be moving up to 185 pounds for this fight, a weight he hasn't fought at since way back in 2013. However, while he's unlikely to stick around as a middleweight after this clash, it should be very worth it.

Magomedov has been a breath of fresh air since he arrived in the UFC in 2023, winning four fights in a row. 'Shara Bullet' most recently scored one of the greatest knockouts ever seen in the octagon, a wild double spinning backfist finish of Armen Petrosyan, and will be desperate to follow it up.

Can he take out Page, who made his name with a foray of flashy knockouts in Bellator? In all honesty, it's hard to call. Thanks to the Dagestani's wild style, though, it's unlikely this one will turn into a staring contest.

Hopefully, we'll see a thrilling knockout, and in essence, it should be one of those fights where the winner doesn't really matter.

---

#4. Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong - UFC Fight Night 252

The final UFC event of February will see the promotion visit Seattle, Washington for the first time since July 2013. To say they've booked an intriguing headliner would be an understatement.

The headliner in question pits former flyweight and bantamweight king Henry Cejudo against No. 8-ranked 135 pounder Song Yadong in what will be a must-win bout.

Cejudo is widely considered one of the greatest combat sports athletes of all time. He followed his 2008 Olympic gold medal in wrestling by becoming a rare simultaneous two-division champ in the octagon.

'Triple C' returned from a self-imposed hiatus in 2023, but things haven't gone to plan for him. He failed to regain the title he never truly lost in a bout with Aljamain Sterling, and then suffered a comprehensive defeat to Merab Dvalishvili.

This will be Cejudo's first fight in just over a year, and he hasn't exactly picked an easy opponent.

While Yadong has lost to his best opponents - fighters like Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan - he's generally thrashed everyone else he's faced, including Ricky Simon and Marlon Moraes.

Basically, this fight should tell us whether Cejudo simply fought two ridiculously tough opponents after his long layoff and still has plenty to offer, or whether he's finished at the top level.

Either way, this is a huge fight to look forward to, just as any fight involving 'Triple C' seems to be.

---

#3. Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez - UFC 312

UFC 312, which is set for Sydney on Feb. 9, features two title fights. While it's flying under the radar somewhat, the strawweight title bout between champ Weili Zhang and challenger Tatiana Suarez is not just a fantastic fight. It's also been a long time coming.

Ever since Suarez swept the board to win TUF 23 back in 2016, she's been pegged as a future title threat at 115 pounds.

A highly credentialed wrestler with a phenomenal submission game, Suarez has since won seven bouts in a row to take her overall record to 10-0. She's whitewashed great fighters, too, and holds wins over Carla Esparza, Jessica Andrade and even Alexa Grasso.

However, injuries have constantly derailed her momentum. Even now, coming into this title fight, she hasn't competed since August 2023.

Regardless, Suarez is still clearly the biggest threat to Zhang's title right now. 'Magnum' is on her second reign as champion, and has defended it successfully twice.

A consummate finisher, the Chinese star can hurt her foes both standing and on the ground. However, she's never faced a grappler as good as Suarez before.

So can 'Magnum' manage to keep the fight standing - where she should hold an advantage - and take out Suarez? Or will she become the latest victim of the division's biggest juggernaut?

Realistically, this is the kind of high-level title fight that deserves far more hype than it's getting. It should be a massively entertaining fight, and it's definitely one of the best on tap for February.

---

#2. Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov - UFC Fight Night 250

The UFC's visit to Saudi Arabia in February features a headline bout that sees one of the promotion's biggest stars at a crossroads in his career.

It seems like a lot more time has passed, but it hasn't yet been two years since Israel Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira to reclaim his middleweight title, finally gaining some revenge over his old rival.

That win put Adesanya back on top of the world. However, 'The Last Stylebender' then looked horribly jaded in a shock defeat to Sean Strickland, losing his title in the process.

When he returned last year, even a long rest didn't seem to have helped him, as he crashed to defeat in a title bout with new champ Dricus du Plessis.

Next month will see Adesanya face rising star Nassourdine Imavov in a must-win clash.

Imavov is a fine fighter who holds wins over the likes of Jared Cannonier and Brendan Allen. However, 'The Sniper' is nowhere near the calibre of striker as prime Adesanya.

Realistically, then, if 'The Last Stylebender' still exists as his old self, he should win this fight handily. If he falls to Imavov, then questions about his future will have to be asked.

Sure, this isn't a title fight - it'll be the first non-title fight for Adesanya since 2019 in fact - but it could well be the most important bout of his entire career.

---

#1. Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland - UFC 312

While it isn't necessarily the middleweight title fight that most fans wanted to see, UFC 312's headliner between Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland is the biggest fight set for February.

When Khamzat Chimaev dismantled Robert Whittaker in October, many observers figured that he'd leapfrog Strickland into a title fight with 'Stillknocks'.

However, Dana White and company have stuck to their guns, meaning 'Tarzan' will get a chance to reclaim his title instead.

Can he do it? To be frank, if he wants to, he'll have to produce a better display than he did in a dull win over Paulo Costa last June.

However, Strickland did come incredibly close to beating du Plessis in their first fight, which went to a split decision with many fans believing he'd done enough to win.

Du Plessis, though, has proven very difficult to stop. He's still unbeaten in the octagon at 8-0, and has finished both Whittaker and Israel Adesanya, something that would've seemed impossible a couple of years ago.

With both the South African and Strickland being wildly unpredictable, this fight could honestly go either way and the feeling is that anything could happen.

While UFC 312 isn't the deepest card, then, this fight makes it well worth watching and should be considered February's finest.