Who Should Headline UFC 323?

Despite being a historic card in itself, we don’t have a main event announced yet. There are, however, four bouts announced for the card. Marvin Vettori meets Brunno Ferreira, Maycee Barber clashes with Karine Silva, we have Mansur Abdul-Malik vs Antonio Trocoli and importantly, we have former champion, Brandon Moreno vs Tatsuro Taira. We’ll come back to that fight later.

We take a look at who could potentially headline the UFC’s final PPV of the current era, UFC 323.

Who Can We Rule Out?

Naturally, there must be a title on the line in the headline slot of UFC 323. It’s difficult to predict, however. There are several fighters that we can rule out of competing at UFC 323. Light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira has recently announced that he has a broken foot and won’t return until mid-2026. The welterweight title will be contested just one month before UFC 323 so it’s highly unlikely that we see that belt contest for again so soon. It’s the same story at the women’s flyweight strap, which is also being contested at UFC 322.

The women’s bantamweight title is also unlikely to be contested again this year. Champion, Kayla Harrison, seems to be on a collision course with former champion, Amanda Nunes. With that being said, although Nunes could be cleared in December, it’s more likely going to be in 2026 that we see the Lionness in action again.

So who does that leave?

The lightweight champion, Ilia Topuira, will likely be saved for the first PPV of the new era. He’s a huge star and regardless of who he fights, it’ll be big.

The strawweight title will be contested at UFC 322 and it’s unlikely that we’ll see either Mackenzie Dern or Virna Jandiroba out again in 2025.

Khamzat Chimaev’s middleweight title is also unlikely to feature at UFC 323 as he isn’t usually the most active fighter. He has struggled to get clearance in recent years to fight in the United States, and it’ll be more likely that he is on the shelf until 2026.

UFC 323 Headline Slot

The flyweight title could potentially be on the line again at UFC 323. Champion, Alexandre Pantoja, headlined the final PPV of 2024, having competed in June at UFC 317, he’ll be available for a turnaround in December. The logical opponent, Joshua Van, also competed at UFC 317, so he will also be fit for a December date. As we know Moreno and Taira are on the card, so could act as back-up if needed.

At UFC Rio, Michael Aswell appeared to leak that the fight was official, however, nothing has been confirmed yet.

Featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski is also a big possibility. He hasn’t competed since April, a unanimous decision win over Diego Lopes. Undefeated Brit, Lerone Murphy, is the next logical opponent, however, it appears that the UFC might be looking a Lopes rematch, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. Volkanovski vs Murphy could be a great headliner for UFC 323 and both men should be ready for a December dance.

Outsider Chances

There is a slight possibility that bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili makes a quick return. After yet another dominant performance at UFC 320, the Georgian suggested that he wanted to return again this year. His issue is that he may not have a suitable opponent by December. A Petr Yan rematch could happen, but after the first fight wasn’t competitive, there may not be a huge pull for this one. With that being said, the potential for Merab to make four title defences in 2025 makes the fight a big one.

Depending on how the UFC 321 main event between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane goes, there’s a slim chance that the winner makes a quick turnaround. If we get a first round finish, there should be no reason why he can’t turn around and compete again in December. It largely depends on the outcome of the other heavyweight fight on UFC 321 between Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida. The next contender will likely come from this fight so if the winner leaves Abu Dhabi fresh, that could be a potential headliner.

Who do you want to see headline UFC 323?