UFC 323 closes out the ESPN era as far as Pay-Per-View is concerned, with the promotion jumping to Paramount+ in 2026 and ditching PPV entirely.
It also affords Merab Dvalishvili a chance to make history, as the bantamweight champion looks to become the first man to defend his title four times in a calendar year.
Looking to play spoiler and earn revenge is ex-champ Petr Yan. The Russian was soundly defeated by Dvalishvili, losing via decision as the Georgian made his run to the UFC’s 135lb title.
In Saturday’s co-main event, Alexandre “The Cannibal” Pantoja was looking to make the fifth defense of his flyweight title, against upstart Joshua Van. Another young prospect, Payton Talbott, was standing opposite Hendry Cejudo in Triple C’s retirement fight.
Our crew has their picks ready for the final UFC numbered event of 2025. Let’s get to them!
| Writer / Fight | Blachowicz vs. Guskov | Cejudo vs. Talbott | Moreno vs. Taira | Pantoja vs. Van | Dvalishvili vs. Yan 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie Law (135-76) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Alex Behunin (128-77) | | | | | |
| Chris Prawdzik | |  | |  | |
| Mathis Dejardins |  | |  | | |
| Brett Cagle | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson | | | | | |
| Patrick Danna | | | | | |
There was but a single unanimous selection among our writers responding for UFC 323, and that was champ Merab Dvalishvili. With a machine-like 14-fight win streak, no one sees Petr Yan winning this rematch. It’s hard to argue against Dvalishvili, who has been one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC over the past couple of years.
A couple of writers do see Joshua Van upsetting flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja, but the majority are still siding with the incumbent champ. Payton Talbott has the edge over Henry Cejudo, and Bogdan Guskov is a fairly heavy favorite against ex-champ Jan Blachowicz to open the PPV card.
