The Road to UFC 2025 finals are booked to take place in Sydney, Australia on the prelims of UFC 325. This is a more in depth break down of the finals bouts compared to what I will do in my YouTube video. Keep an eye out on my page as I have a few projects in the works which I want to put out before UFC 324.

DOM MAR FAN (8-2) vs. SANG UK KIM (13-3) – Lightweight Finals

In Dom Mar Fan's first fight of the season I stated that the winner of his match up against Yuji Yannick would win the entire season. So far Fan has looked dominant but I will admit his fights are not fun to watch. He does have elite BJJ and wrestling and he has won both his fights so far using that skill set. His striking isn't bad but is definitely still improving. Across both Road to UFC bouts he has logged 18 minutes of control time so far. I think he will be able to fight Kim in a similar manner. I would describe Kim as a boxer-wrestler. He showed great take down defense against Daichi Kamiya in his first fight, defending 8 take downs in less than two rounds. He eventually broke Daichi and beat Ren Yawei in a similar fashion. He pressures his opponents a lot with a strong jab and occasional take down attempts. He has been able to finish two gassed out opponents to book his ticket to the finals but against Fan he is going to be the one defending the take downs. Since he did this so well against Daichi there is certainly evidence that he could beat Fan by defending the take downs and outworking him on the feet, but I do just think Fan is a better wrestler and grappler and should be able to get take downs and control. This fight has the potential to be quite boring, as both fo Fan's performances so far haven't been very entertaining as he does simply dominate with control.

Pick: Dom Mar Fan by decision: Medium confidence

SEBASTIAN SZALAY (10-1) vs. KEIICHIRO NAKAMURA (7-1) – Featherweight Finals

I have picked both Szalay fights correctly, and both Nakamura fights incorrectly this season. Going into the season I did expect Szalay to take out the show without too much difficulty and so far that has been the case. He is an international champion in Karate so he manages range well, but his boxing is also solid. His take down defense has held up well in his career and he can wrestle offensively as well. I would be willing to compare his skillset to other Australian fighters Alexander Volkanovski, and even a bit of Quillan Salkilld. Nakamura is primarily a striker with very fast hands, and big knees up the middle. Going into the season I did worry about his lack of experience at 5-1, nut he has taken out two of the toughest fighters in the tournament in Li Kaiwen and Eoh Jin Park. His only loss came in his first professional bout and since then he has won 5 in a row, mostly by knockout. His fast hands and good footwork make him a very difficult target to hit and not get countered. He has impressed me this season but I have to continue to praise and believe in the skill set of Szalay. I am expecting him to mix in some wrestling in this fight as Nakamura does hit very hard, and is also not a very big featherweight either. There is certainly a chance of Nakamura winning by KO but I am confident that Szalay is the better fighter of the two.

Pick: Sebastian Szalay by decision. Medium confidence.

SULANGRANGBO (10-3) vs. LAWRENCE LUI (7-1) – Bantamweight Finals

This is a tough fight to call for me as I do really like Lawrence Lui, and I have picked him in both of his Road to UFC fights. Lui is a very “typical CKB fighter” and I honestly do compare him a bit to Kevin Jousset. He has his hands very high and strikes with a lot of straight shots. He is a bit stiff on the feet and his output isn't very high either. He did just knock out Van Y Ngiem who fights in a pretty similar way to Sulangrangbo. Both Ngiem and Sulangrangbo are very skilled strikers with awkward styles. Ngiem relied on footwork a lot, and Sulangrangbo throws shots from awkward angles. On Tapology, Lui is heavily favoured by the voters at 72% but I don't think that is the right side. Stylistically this is just not a great match up for Lui. Sulangrango has a very awkward style where he throws a lot of strikes from low angles. Pair that with Lui's very stiff style and I think this is a good opportunity for Sulangrangbo to land more volume. Sulangrangbo's take down defense has also proven to be very strong, defending all 9 take downs against Sim Kai Xiong who holds a win over UFC fighter Chang Ho Lee. So if Lui wants to take the fight to the ground I would be surprised if he is able to. Sulangrangbo is only 20 years old and didn't have any real experience against good competition so it was a huge unknown about how good he was going to be going into this tournament. I am picking Sulangrangbo to win a decision based on landing more volume against the stiff CKB style of Lui.

Pick: Sulangrangbo by decision. Low-medium confidence.

NAMSRAI BATBAYAR (9-1) vs. AARON TAU (11-1) – Flyweight Finals

This fight is guaranteed to be a banger. Namsrai Batbayar fights are total chaos and Tau is always going to welcome a fire fight. Batbayar really impressed me on the regional scene with his controlled aggressiveness and well rounded skill set. He strikes in the pocket a lot with hooks, knees, and anything he can land in close range. He just defeated Agulali who I consider to be a very talented prospect in the first round by hurting him on the feet and finishing him on the ground with a choke. Aaron Tau is a fighter I have been aware of for a while but have never been totally sold on. I always thought he was too small for bantamweight and unfortunately that did get proven correct when he fought Elijah Smith on the Contender Series. Since then, Smith has gone on to become undefeated in the UFC and Tau put up a respectable performance against him (especially in hindsight). He dropped down to 125 and he looks much better here. He dominated Rio Tirto who just wasn't UFC level, and then went to war with Yin Shuai who is a fighter at one point I considered to be one of China's most promising prospects. That win over Yin was very close and could have gone either way honestly. Tau fights just like Dan Hooker as he won the Dan Hooker scholarship to train at Hooker's gym. He pressures a lot but can be low volume at times. If the fight is brought to him he thrives though, and has shown that he can fight hard through adversity against Yin and Smith. Batbayar is going to a be a popular pick and I understand why. I love Batbayar's fan friendly style but this fight is going to be an all out war and I trust that Tau's chin can hold up if that is the case. I haven't seen Batbayar need to fight through adversity yet and I know Tau can do it for 3 rounds. Maybe this is a biased pick which is why I am so low confidence, but unlike the Lui fight I do like this fight stylistically for Tau as it is going to turn into the type of fight Tau thrives in.

Pick: Aaron Tau by decision. Very low confidence.