2025 Australian MMA Breakthrough Fighter of the Year - Matty Iann

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year isn’t always about who has the flashiest highlight. It’s about who arrived in a way that changes how we talk about a division. In 2025, that guy was Matty Iann.

Coming into the year he was still basically a new pro, just 1–0 in 2024, finding his feet and building the foundations. Then the sport did what it does. An opening appeared when Kuya Ito, the reigning Eternal bantamweight champion, got called up to Road to UFC. Suddenly there was space at the top and Matty Iann got an opportunity he probably doesn’t get in a “normal” timeline.

He didn’t just take it. He owned it.

The moment that stamped it was the Conor Birch fight. Birch was a name plenty of people avoided because he’s a problem, and he’d already proven it by knocking out Kris Ustijanovski, who went on to push the pace in a HEX title bout against who I still think is the number one bantamweight in Australia, Kasib Murdoch. So when Matty took the Birch fight, it wasn’t matchmaking luck. It was a choice to walk straight into the fire. And he passed.

That win didn’t just add a number to his record, it changed his status. It’s the kind of performance that makes people start ranking you differently. For me, Matty is the clear number two at 135 right now. And if you told me he’s number one, I wouldn’t even argue, because that’s how strong the Birch win was. The only reason I still lean Kasib is the body of work, more reps, more cementing. Confused? Exactly. That’s how stacked and chaotic this bantamweight picture is, and it’s why we need Matty Iann vs Kasib Murdoch as soon as it can happen.

What makes Matty’s breakout even more impressive is that it hasn’t been some smooth, protected rise. He’s done this while changing gyms, spending time training in Thailand, and continuing forward through personal upheaval after the loss of his coach Suman Mokhtarian. And on a personal note, Suman told me in early 2024 that Matty would be a champion in 2025 and in the UFC by 2026. That sounded bold at the time. It sounds a lot less bold now.

Because it’s more than one fight. Watch him train. Watch him move. Talk to the people around him. He’s different. He’s special. And in 2025, he announced himself.

Matty Iann is the 2025 Australian MMA Breakthrough Fighter of the Year.

Runner up: Kim Tran

Kim Tran deserves her flowers too. She went 3–0 in 2025 and she’s not just winning, she’s knocking girls out and doing it with growing confidence. She was a more 50–50 amateur because her coach, Matt “Bones” Williams, actually tests his fighters and doesn’t gift them easy weight cuts at amateurs. Now, with Platinum One backing her and the team finding the sweet spot, it feels like she’s about to take a real leap. If we see a DWCS opportunity in 2026, it won’t surprise me at all.

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