Five burning questions for Topuria, Pereira and the UFC middleweight division - ESPN

Eight events remain on the UFC calendar for the rest of 2025, and there are many unanswered questions left to be explored. For instance, pound-for-pound king Ilia Topuria has fought only once this year, a first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira that won him the lightweight championship in June. Topuria has yet to defend his title, the biggest holdup being who would make the most sense to challenge him.

Speaking of the pound-for-pound king, is Topuria really the most deserving of that moniker? Maybe for now, but hot on his tail are Islam Makhachev, who will challenge Jack Della Maddalena for welterweight supremacy at UFC 322 on Nov. 15, and Merab Dvalishvili, who will make his fourth men's bantamweight defense of the year on Dec. 6 against Petr Yan. And then there are light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, middleweight champ Khamzat Chimaev and featherweight titlist Alexander Volkanovski — when will they fight again? And in the cases of Pereira and Chimaev, in what division?

Saturday's meeting between Reinier de Ridder and Brendan Allen at UFC Fight Night in Vancouver, British Columbia (7 p.m. ET on ESPN+, prelims at 4 p.m.) will have some say in the middleweight equation. The winner might just find himself fighting for the title next.

Here's a breakdown of these burning questions and their potential impact heading down the final stretch of 2025.

It would certainly seem to be either Justin Gaethje or Paddy Pimblett, but no one is saying definitively one way or another. There is — and has been — strong speculation behind the scenes that the UFC will kick off its new domestic broadcast deal with Paramount+ with a Topuria-headlined card in January in Los Angeles. The UFC, however, has yet to confirm Topuria's involvement