Two Fights the UFC Has to Make in 2026

The UFC brought the curtain down on its 2025 season on December 7th, and it did so with a shocking upset nobody saw coming. Petr Yan defied the odds to pick up a stunning unanimous decision victory over the dominant Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323, dethroning the Machine as bantamweight champion in a shocker for the ages.

The Georgian had been ruling the 135-pound division with an iron fist up until that point, claiming the title with a resounding victory against Sean O’Malley before going on to defend the gold three times and power his way toward the summit of the pound-for-pound rankings. He was a mighty 1/5 betting favorite to successfully defend his title for the fourth time against Yan, especially as he had dominated the Russian back in March 2023 on his march toward the title.

But Yan looked reborn from the fighter who had lost four times in five fights between 2021 and 2023, beginning with him himself losing the title in controversial fashion to Aljamain Sterling.

The Siberian delivered a slew of vicious body kicks to Merab, and the cardio machine suddenly looked sapped of energy and void of answers. He was unable to land his onslaught of takedowns and instead was picked off by the nimble Yan, who emerged with the upset victory and the title in Las Vegas.

But with that clash now in the rearview mirror, attention immediately turns to 2026 and the new year. Let’s take a look at the fights that the UFC simply has to make in 2026.

Ilia Topuria vs Islam Makhachev

Ilia Topuria stole a move from the poker buffs regularly found playing in online casinos in 2025. The former featherweight champion made the one move that the table game players at https://www.slots.lv/ will tell you is the riskiest of them all, pushing all of his chips into the center of the table and going “all in” in his quest to secure a fight with pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev. He sacrificed his featherweight title and moved up to lightweight in a bid to secure a fight with the Dagestani, only for Makhachev himself to move up to welterweight and avoid a clash with El Matador.

Did his “all in” play work out? Somewhat.

Topuria, disappointed but undeterred, proceeded to knock out Charles Oliveira to claim the 155-pound gold, becoming a two-weight world champion, albeit not simultaneously, in the process. However, personal issues have seen him rule himself out of contention until at least the end of Q1 in 2026. As a result, Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gathje will battle it out for an interim title in January, with the winner of that clash poised to unify against Topuria at some point in 2026.

But that isn’t the fight we truly want to see. The clash fans around the world are salivating at the prospect of is Ilia Toipuria vs Islam Makhachev. The two rivals currently lock out the top two spots in the pound-for-pound rankings, and a clash between the pair has long been mooted. El Matador is the one clamoring for it, with Makhachev less than impressed, considering Topuria somewhat unworthy, and instead campaigning for a title defence against number eight-ranked Kamaru Usman.

Should both fighters come through their next test, then an end-of-the-year showdown between the pair could well be on the cards, regardless of Makhachev’s wants and needs. The clash is the biggest fight that the UFC can make in 2026, and if there’s one thing we know about the company’s head honcho, Dana White, it’s this: If it makes money, it makes sense.

Tom Aspinall vs Cyril Gane

It was the fight that nobody wanted to see. Fans had invested in a potential unification fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall throughout 2025. The one man who clearly didn’t want to see that fight, however, was Jonny Bones, who unceremoniously retired as heavyweight champion, despite giving the UFC his word that he would fight Aspinall next.

The Brit was then promoted from interim to undisputed champion and booked to defend against Cyril Gane in his first title defence in Abu Dhabi in November. Excitement levels were minimal, but after the first round of that clash ended controversially, fans are now clamoring for a rematch.

Throughout that first round in Abu Dhabi, Frenchman Gane was getting the better of Aspinall, peppering away from the outside with the champion seemingly unsure of how to respond. Then, an eye poke from the challenger rendered the champion unable to continue, ending the bout with the official result being a no contest. Fans were quick to criticize Aspinall, alleging that the Brit took the easy way out and that he could have continued if he wanted to.

Aspinall has since responded, posting a slew of medical evidence in recent weeks to defend his honor. But the only way he can truly clear his name is by facing Gane in the Octagon once again. And this time around, he must win definitively.