Defenders Blast Panthers for UFL Title

The 2025 United Football League (UFL) championship game had plenty of offense as the D.C. Defenders defeated the Michigan Panthers 58-34.  The game was played at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis before a crowd of 14,559.

D.C. quarterback Jordan Ta'mu set a UFL record with 390 passing yards and five touchdowns in his MVP performance to lead the Defenders to their first title.  Ta'mu most recently played on the Detroit Lions' practice squad.

Michigan attempted to cut into a 52-19 deficit in the fourth quarter as they took advantage of the UFL rule where after a touchdown, the trailing team can get the ball back by converting a fourth-and-12 play from their own 28.  The Panthers did that twice to get within 52-34 with more than five minutes left but the Defenders defense stopped a third fourth-and-12 attempt to end the rally.

Watch highlights of the game here:  https://youtu.be/AyiLHz8qTWY?si=eDs24KOSGcYQeCa7

This was the fourth season for D.C. which had lost in the 2023 XFL Championship game to the Arlington Renegades.  This season D.C. finished the regular season at 6-4 and second place in the XFL Conference.  They defeated the first-place St. Louis Battlehawks 36-18 in the conference championship game.

Here is a recap of the 2025 UFL Season:

USFL Conference

1. Birmingham Stallions (7-3)
2. Michigan Panthers (6-4)
3. Houston Roughnecks (5-5)
4. Memphis Showboats (2-8)

XFL Conference

1. St. Louis Battlehawks (8-2)
2. D.C. Defenders (6-4)
3. Arlington Renegades (5-5)
4. San Antonio Brahmas (1-9)

Conference Championships

USFL:  Michigan 44, Birmingham 29

XFL:  D.C. 36, St. Louis 18

UFL Championship

D.C. 58, Michigan 34