UFC fights we wish to see within the second half of 2026

Thanks, 2026. This has been the most effective six-month stretch of UFC occasions since 2021, and arguably past that.

Two extremely anticipated title fights (Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje and Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane) headlined a battle card on the White Home South Garden. Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev lastly had their grudge match. Carlos Ulberg gained a championship on one good leg. And even the occasions that produced lackluster predominant occasions felt very thrilling on the best way in. And that counts for one thing.

The previous few years have been lean on big-fight feels, however this yr, numbered occasions have lived as much as prefight hype time and again. It has been a welcome change of tempo to have a lot to speak about in MMA.

The excessive leisure worth of the first-half schedule is very unimaginable when you think about that six present UFC champions, together with all three girls, have but to battle in 2026 and 81% of ESPN’s ranked fighters don’t have a battle scheduled. Which means there have to be loads of matchmaking happening within the UFC’s struggle room proper now.

Listed below are 10 bouts I might like to see get made for the second half of the yr.

Joshua Van towards anybody is a battle I wish to watch, however proper now, two matchups stand above the remainder: Alexandre Pantoja or Manel Kape.

The story behind Van vs. Pantoja is healthier. Pantoja was the flyweight king for 2½ years earlier than Van dethroned him in December. That battle barely bought going earlier than Pantoja suffered a dislocated elbow, so there may be clearly unfinished enterprise there. Van instructed ESPN earlier than UFC 328 that he needs to show he can beat a wholesome Pantoja. Nonetheless, the matchup of Van vs. Kape could possibly be extra entertaining than a rematch with Pantoja. Van is a slick, high-volume boxer, whereas Kape is arguably the toughest puncher at 125 kilos. They’re each oozing confidence proper now. Each matchups are nice, but when I may solely see one this yr, I might decide Van vs. Kape.

No disrespect to Volkanovski’s opponent for his previous two title defenses, Diego Lopes, who is among the most entertaining males in MMA, however Volkanovski vs. Evloev ought to have occurred already. The UFC’s determination to grant Lopes a title rematch, lower than one yr after his one-sided loss to Volkanovski, stands out as one in all its worst matchmaking choices of 2026.

Evloev is 20-0, with 10 wins within the UFC. He has earned a title battle in each manner besides one — he has not completed an opponent throughout his seven years with the promotion. At this level, preventing to a choice is his identification. At 37, Volkanovski continues to be welcoming the most-deserving challengers and he needs to beat the undefeated Evloev to additional his legacy. I anticipate this battle to occur within the fall.

It is an unlucky actuality that Dern merely will not be acknowledged as the most effective strawweight on the earth till Zhang comes again. That is no person’s fault, however it’s true. Zhang dominated 115-pound championship fights for 3 years earlier than transferring as much as problem Valentina Shevchenko at girls’s flyweight in late 2025. Zhang got here up quick, and the belief has been that she is going to return to strawweight.

Dern is scheduled to defend the strawweight title towards Gillian Robertson at UFC 330 in August, which shall be a aggressive battle. If Dern wins, the primary query shall be when she is going to battle Zhang. Hopefully it occurs earlier than the tip of the yr.

This sport hyped Pico up, then gave up on him. Then it hyped him once more, and gave up on him once more — all earlier than his thirtieth birthday this September. His final efficiency towards Patricio Pitbull in April was arguably probably the most full efficiency of his profession. He is all the time had large uncooked expertise however has struggled to place the entire items collectively. On this final battle, he appeared calm and had a well-roundedness that he is lacked in some earlier fights.

He is solely had two UFC fights, so there are many matchmaking choices. My favourite choice is Silva, who’s confirmed, assured and exceptionally harmful. This is perhaps probably the most thrilling battle in the entire division. The UFC can go in loads of instructions with Pico’s subsequent opponent, so why would not it take probably the most entertaining choice?

This battle most likely will not occur in 2026, however I adore it so I am together with it. Tsarukyan must battle for the light-weight championship, a method or one other. Nonetheless, the matchup I would like most for Tsarukyan is Ruffy. Ruffy is harmful proper now. To be truthful, there are plenty of intriguing choices at light-weight, however Ruffy’s confidence and unhealthy intentions simply make him one in all my favourite fighters to look at proper now. On the subject of Tsarukyan, potential matchups towards Gaethje, Topuria, Charles Oliveira, Paddy Pimblett and Max Holloway make extra sense from a rankings standpoint. However Ruffy is truthfully my favourite one for him.

This matchup is an ideal mixture of historical past, hypothesis and unanswered questions. Plus, each fighters are featured in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings. How compromised was Yan when Dvalishvili dominated him through the first bout in 2023? Did Yan overlook him getting into that matchup? Conversely, how gassed was Dvalishvili within the rematch final yr, trying to compete in 4 title fights in a single calendar yr? In the end, the circumstances of this two-fight historical past between Yan and Dvalishvili will convey the most effective out of each of them. This battle will possible fly below the radar of extra “big-name” fights however could possibly be probably the most technical and aggressive battle of the second half.

The UFC’s welterweight division has by no means been this stacked. It is troublesome to check eras, as a result of this younger sport is all the time evolving, however this present group of Islam Makhachev, Ian Machado Garry, Carlos Prates, Sean Brady, Morales and Jack Della Maddalena is ridiculously gifted. Bonfim added his identify to that listing in June with a dominant win over former champion Belal Muhammad.

If I may solely watch one weight class for the following decade, it is welterweight, simply. I am unable to wait to see this group kind issues out within the second half of the yr, and Morales vs. Bonfim is the matchup I might anticipate most.

Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane 2

That is the obvious matchup on this listing. We have now to see it. For the sake of the heavyweight division, it should occur. The highest of this division will proceed to be a large number till we kind out this matter of champion vs. interim champion. If Aspinall and Gane do not battle in a rematch, this weight class will proceed to lack an identification.

Aspinall is again within the health club now, after recovering from an eye fixed damage, whereas Gane is having fun with the interim title following a win over Alex Pereira on the White Home. When the time comes, this matchup will characteristic excessive stakes, actual animosity and worldwide attraction. I may argue that is an important battle in UFC heavyweight historical past. Not the “greatest,” however an important, due to the state of the division in recent times and the distaste followers would have if it didn’t occur.

This yr was supposed to start out with one of many greatest fights in girls’s MMA. As an alternative, we’re on the midway level, and it feels as if the whole girls’s aspect of the game has stalled.

That can change even with out this one battle. The ladies’s divisions should progress within the second half of 2026. There is no such thing as a alternative however to. Harrison vs. Nunes for the ladies’s bantamweight title is the one battle the game wants probably the most, although. This matchup is larger than each girls’s battle the UFC may put collectively mixed. The enterprise of fight sports activities is like that. One blockbuster occasion can overshadow months of smaller ones, and that’s the case with Harrison vs. Nunes. There is a large story to inform round this matchup, and it is practically a decade within the making.

Light-weight: Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett

With the appropriate promotional push, that is the most important battle the UFC could make. If the UFC gave this matchup the total therapy and instructed the tales of their difficult beef and private backgrounds, then places these two on the stage collectively in a sequence of reports conferences main as much as the occasion, this battle may produce greater numbers than Conor McGregor’s comeback. I consider that.