Thank you, 2026. This has been the best six-month stretch of UFC events since 2021, and arguably beyond that.
Two highly anticipated title fights (Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje and Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane) headlined a fight card on the White House South Lawn. Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev finally had their grudge match. Carlos Ulberg won a championship on one good leg. And even the events that produced lackluster main events felt very exciting on the way in. And that counts for something.
The past few years have been lean on big-fight feels, but this year, numbered events have lived up to prefight hype over and over again. It's been a welcome change of pace to have so much to talk about in MMA.
The high entertainment value of the first-half schedule is especially incredible when you consider that six current UFC champions, including all three women, have yet to fight in 2026 and 81% of ESPN's ranked fighters do not have a fight scheduled. That means there must be plenty of matchmaking going on in the UFC's war room right now.
Here are 10 bouts I'd love to see get made for the second half of the year.
Men's flyweight: Joshua Van vs. Manel Kape
Joshua Van against anyone is a fight I want to watch, but right now, two matchups stand above the rest: Alexandre Pantoja or Manel Kape.
The story behind Van vs. Pantoja is better. Pantoja was the flyweight king for 2½ years before Van dethroned him in December. That fight barely got going before Pantoja suffered a dislocated elbow, so there is obviously unfinished business there. Van told ESPN before UFC 328 that he wants to prove he can beat a healthy Pantoja. However, the matchup of Van vs. Kape could be more entertaining than a rematch with Pantoja. Van is a slick, high-volume boxer, while Kape is arguably the hardest puncher at 125 pounds. They are both oozing confidence right now. Both matchups are great, but if I could only see one this year, I would pick Van vs. Kape.
Featherweight: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev
No disrespect to Volkanovski's opponent for his past two title defenses, Diego Lopes, who is one of the most entertaining men in MMA, but Volkanovski vs. Evloev should have happened already. The UFC's decision to grant Lopes a title rematch, less than one year after his one-sided loss to Volkanovski, stands out as one of its worst matchmaking decisions of 2026.
Evloev is 20-0, with 10 wins in the UFC. He has earned a title fight in every way except one -- he has not finished an opponent during his seven years with the promotion. At this point, fighting to a decision is his identity. At 37, Volkanovski is still welcoming the most-deserving challengers and he wants to beat the undefeated Evloev to further his legacy. I expect this fight to happen in the fall.
Strawweight: Mackenzie Dern vs. Zhang Weili
It's an unfortunate reality that Dern simply won't be recognized as the best strawweight in the world until Zhang comes back. That's nobody's fault, but it is true. Zhang dominated 115-pound championship fights for three years before moving up to challenge Valentina Shevchenko at women's flyweight in late 2025. Zhang came up short, and the assumption has been that she will return to strawweight.
Dern is scheduled to defend the strawweight title against Gillian Robertson at UFC 330 in August, which will be a competitive fight. If Dern wins, the first question will be when she will fight Zhang. Hopefully it happens before the end of the year.
Featherweight: Jean Silva vs. Aaron Pico
This sport hyped Pico up, then gave up on him. Then it hyped him again, and gave up on him again -- all before his 30th birthday this September. His last performance against Patricio Pitbull in April was arguably the most complete performance of his career. He's always had tremendous raw talent but has struggled to put all of the pieces together. In this last fight, he looked calm and had a well-roundedness that he's lacked in some previous fights.
He's only had two UFC fights, so there are plenty of matchmaking options. My favorite option is Silva, who is proven, confident and exceptionally dangerous. This might be the most exciting fight in all of the division. The UFC can go in plenty of directions with Pico's next opponent, so why wouldn't it take the most entertaining option?
Lightweight: Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy
This fight probably won't happen in 2026, but I love it so I'm including it. Tsarukyan needs to fight for the lightweight championship, one way or another. However, the matchup I want most for Tsarukyan is Ruffy. Ruffy is dangerous right now. To be fair, there are a lot of intriguing options at lightweight, but Ruffy's confidence and bad intentions easily make him one of my favorite fighters to watch right now. When it comes to Tsarukyan, potential matchups against Gaethje, Topuria, Charles Oliveira, Paddy Pimblett and Max Holloway make more sense from a rankings standpoint. But Ruffy is honestly my favorite one for him.
Men's bantamweight: Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili 3
This matchup is a perfect combination of history, speculation and unanswered questions. Plus, both fighters are featured in ESPN's pound-for-pound rankings. How compromised was Yan when Dvalishvili dominated him during the first bout in 2023? Did Yan overlook him entering that matchup? Conversely, how gassed was Dvalishvili in the rematch last year, attempting to compete in four title fights in a single calendar year? Ultimately, the circumstances of this two-fight history between Yan and Dvalishvili will bring the best out of both of them. This fight will likely fly under the radar of more "big-name" fights but could be the most technical and competitive fight of the second half.
Welterweight: Michael Morales vs. Gabriel Bonfim
The UFC's welterweight division has never been this stacked. It's difficult to compare eras, because this young sport is always evolving, but this current group of Islam Makhachev, Ian Machado Garry, Carlos Prates, Sean Brady, Morales and Jack Della Maddalena is ridiculously talented. Bonfim added his name to that list in June with a dominant win over former champion Belal Muhammad.
If I could only watch one weight class for the next decade, it's welterweight, easily. I can't wait to see this group sort things out in the second half of the year, and Morales vs. Bonfim is the matchup I'd anticipate most.
Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane 2
This is the most obvious matchup on this list. We have to see it. For the sake of the heavyweight division, it must happen. The top of this division will continue to be a mess until we sort out this matter of champion vs. interim champion. If Aspinall and Gane don't fight in a rematch, this weight class will continue to lack an identity.
Aspinall is back in the gym now, after recovering from an eye injury, while Gane is enjoying the interim title following a win over Alex Pereira at the White House. When the time comes, this matchup will feature high stakes, real animosity and international appeal. I could argue this is the most important fight in UFC heavyweight history. Not the "biggest," but the most important, because of the state of the division in recent years and the distaste fans would have if it failed to happen.
Women's bantamweight: Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes
This year was supposed to start with one of the biggest fights in women's MMA. Instead, we're at the halfway point, and it feels as if the entire women's side of the sport has stalled.
That will change even without this one fight. The women's divisions have to progress in the second half of 2026. There is no choice but to. Harrison vs. Nunes for the women's bantamweight title is the one fight the sport needs the most, though. This matchup is bigger than every women's fight the UFC could put together combined. The business of combat sports is like that. One blockbuster event can overshadow months of smaller ones, and that is the case with Harrison vs. Nunes. There's a tremendous story to tell around this matchup, and it's nearly a decade in the making.
Lightweight: Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett
With the right promotional push, this is the biggest fight the UFC can make. If the UFC gave this matchup the full treatment and told the stories of their complicated beef and personal backgrounds, then puts these two on the stage together in a series of news conferences leading up to the event, this fight could produce bigger numbers than Conor McGregor's comeback. I believe that.