The year 2026 is the 34th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
UFC in 2026
Class action: anti-trust lawsuits Johnson v. Zuffa Based on court filings from late July 2025, the Johnson v. Zuffa antitrust lawsuit, originally filed in 2021, is proceeding, and status conference for the case is scheduled for late August 2025.
Cirkunovs v. Zuffa and Davis v. Zuffa In May 2025, two antitrust lawsuits were filed against the UFC. One, led by former fighter Misha Cirkunov, specifically challenges the enforceability of arbitration clauses and class action waivers in UFC contracts. The other lawsuit, filed by former fighter Phil Davis, alleges that the UFC's anticompetitive practices also negatively impacted the ability of non-UFC fighters to secure fair wages.
Paramount and CBS partnership On August 11, 2025, the UFC announced a seven-year media rights agreement with Paramount Skydance Corporation worth $7.7 billion. Paramount+ will exclusively stream all events for seven years, starting in 2026. Some numbered events will also air on CBS. The agreement will allow the UFC to move away from pay-per-view as events will stream on Paramount+ at no additional cost. All 13 of the UFC's flagship events and 30 Fight Nights a year will be streamed on the Paramount+ service. UFC CEO and President Dana White announced the UFC would produce four big events per year on CBS, and that the UFC's planned card for the White House on June 14th, 2026 would be one of those events.
White House event To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States, the UFC held a historic mixed martial arts event entited UFC Freedom 250 on the grounds of the White House in June 2026, marking the first professional sporting event ever staged at the presidential residence.
The event was first announced by US President Donald Trump on July 3, 2025, during a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds: On August 29, 2025, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed via social media that plans for the event had been finalized, stating, "We had the meeting at the White House... The White House fight is on."
On October 6, 2025, President Trump announced that the event would take place on June 14, 2026, coinciding with his 80th birthday.
Post‑Fight bonus increases Beginning in January 2026, starting with UFC 324, the UFC increased its post‑fight bonus structure, raising Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night awards from $50,000 to $100,000, and introducing additional $25,000 bonuses for any knockout or submission not selected among the standard four post‑fight awards.
New rankings system The UFC introduced official rankings in February 2013 using a weekly media voting panel. On June 20, 2026, the promotion began replacing that system with the Meta UFC Rankings, an Elo‑based mathematical model designed to prioritize objectivity through factors such as opponent quality, activity, and decay for long layoffs or outdated wins. The new framework removes pound‑for‑pound rankings and minimizes human involvement, with the media panel continuing only during a transition period.
Releases and retirements These fighters have either been released from their UFC contracts, announced their retirement, or joined other promotions: Month Day Fighter Division Reason Ref January 9 Mohammad Yahya Featherweight Released 23 Tecia Pennington Women's Strawweight Retired 28 Darrius Flowers Welterweight Released 29 Patchy Mix Bantamweight Signed with Rizin FF February 5 Aaron Tau Flyweight Released Rafael Cerqueira Light Heavyweight 10 Alex Morono Welterweight Javid Basharat Bantamweight Contract expired 11 Lucas Almeida Featherweight Released Jailton Almeida Heavyweight 13 Adam Fugitt Welterweight Mohammed Usman Heavyweight 20 AJ Cunningham Bantamweight Retired 25 Nathan Fletcher Re-signed with Cage Warriors Gianni Vázquez Released 27 Gavin Tucker Featherweight Retired March 2 Felipe Bunes Flyweight Released José Medina Middleweight 10 Philip Rowe Welterweight 11 Erik Silva Featherweight Kris Moutinho Bantamweight 14 Eryk Anders Middleweight Retired 26 Luan Lacerda Bantamweight Released Montserrat Rendon Women's Bantamweight 28 Michael Chiesa Welterweight Retired Niko Price April 1 Antonio Trócoli Middleweight Released Bruna Brasil Women's Strawweight Luana Carolina Women's Bantamweight 11 Cub Swanson Featherweight Retired 18 Gilbert Burns Welterweight 21 Pedro Munhoz Bantamweight Released Shaqueme Rock Lightweight May 18 Brad Riddell Lightweight Released Mayra Bueno Silva Women's Bantamweight Colby Covington Welterweight Retired 22 Daniel Barez Flyweight Released Ketlen Vieira Women's Bantamweight Ivan Erslan Light Heavyweight Tuco Tokkos Themba Gorimbo Welterweight Retired 27 Austen Lane Heavyweight Jesús Santos Aguilar Flyweight Released 28 Max Griffin Welterweight 30 Daniel Marcos Bantamweight Contract Concluded Vince Morales Released Jamie Mullarkey Lightweight Lando Vannata 31 Andreas Gustafsson Welterweight June 7 Matt Schnell Flyweight Retired 18 Cameron Smotherman Bantamweight Released Ariane Carnelossi Women's Strawweight Thiago Moisés Lightweight 24 Carlston Harris Welterweight 30 Trey Waters Signed with PFL July 14 Michel Pereira Middleweight Contract concluded Sedriques Dumas Released 17 Victor Martinez Lightweight Irene Aldana Women's Bantamweight Retired August 1 Hailey Cowan 3 Allan Nascimento Flyweight Passed away 8 Stewart Nicoll Released Darren Elkins Featherweight Retired 11 Daniel Frunza Welterweight Signed with LFA 12 Jessie Rosas Featherweight Released Cody Gibson Bantamweight Bekzat Almakhan Shayilan Nuerdanbieke Featherweight Requested his release 15 Edson Barboza Lightweight Retired 21 Ravena Oliveira Women's Flyweight Released September 5 Aori Qileng Bantamweight 7 Michael Page Middleweight Contract concluded 10 Bruno Lopes Light Heavyweight Released 17 Lyman Good Welterweight Saygid Izagakhmaev Octber 3 Court McGee Retired
Debut UFC fighters The following fighters fought their first UFC fight in 2026: Month Day Fighter Division Event Ref January 24 Ty Miller Welterweight UFC 324 February 1 Dom Mar Fan Lightweight UFC 325 Kim Sang-wook Keiichiro Nakamura Featherweight Sebastian Szalay Lawrence Lui Bantamweight Sulang Rangbo 7 Gianni Vázquez UFC Fight Night 266 21 Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani Welterweight UFC Fight Night 267 Josiah Harrell 28 Damian Pinas Middleweight UFC Fight Night 268 Wesley Schultz Regina Tarin Women's Flyweight Javier Reyes Featherweight Ryan Gandra Middleweight Imanol Rodríguez Flyweight March 7 Luke Fernandez Light Heavyweight UFC 326 Rafael Tobias Alberto Montes Featherweight 14 Hecher Sosa Bantamweight UFC Fight Night 269 Manoel Sousa Lightweight Marwan Rahiki Featherweight 21 Shanelle Dyer Women's Strawweight UFC Fight Night 270 Mantas Kondratavičius Middleweight Felipe Franco Heavyweight Losene Keita Featherweight Kurtis Campbell 28 Tyrell Fortune Heavyweight UFC Fight Night 271 Lerryan Douglas Featherweight April 4 Dakota Hope Lightweight UFC Fight Night 272 José Mauro Delano Featherweight Tommy McMillen 18 Jamie Siraj Bantamweight UFC Fight Night 273 Mark Vologdin Gökhan Saricam Heavyweight Julien Leblanc Middleweight Márcio Barbosa Featherweight Mandel Nallo Lightweight 25 Lucas Brennan Lightweight UFC Fight Night 274 Victor Valenzuela Welterweight Adrián Luna Martinetti Bantamweight May 2 Ben Johnston Middleweight UFC Fight Night 275 Ollie Schmid Featherweight 16 Thomas Gantt Lightweight UFC Fight Night 276 Artur Minev Christian Edwards Light Heavyweight Juan Díaz Bantamweight 30 Rodrigo Vera Featherweight UFC Fight Night 277 Zhu Kangjie Xiong Jingnan Women's Strawweight Ding Meng Welterweight José Henrique Souza Luis Felipe Dias Middleweight Lee Yi-sak June 6 Jeisla Chaves Women's Flyweight UFC Fight Night 278 20 Shane Collins Featherweight UFC Fight Night 279 Otari Tanzilovi Levan Chokheli Welterweight Leon Shahbazyan Murtazali Magomedov Featherweight 27 Tahir Abdullayev Welterweight UFC Fight Night 280 Jefferson NascimentoTheodor Berggren Farman Hasanov July 11 John Garza Bantamweight UFC 329 Gable Steveson Heavyweight 18 Anna Melisano Women's Flyweight UFC Fight Night 281 RJ Harris Heavyweight Damien Anderson Featherweight Ezra Elliott Levi Rodrigues Jr. Light Heavyweight 25 Abdul Hussein Bantamweight UFC Fight Night 282 Magomed Tuchalov Light Heavyweight Muhammad Saidov Abubakar Vagaev Welterweight Magomed Zaynukov Lightweight Damian Rzepecki August 1 Marina Spasić Women's Strawweight UFC Fight Night 283 Jovan Leka Heavyweight Alexander Poppeck Nina Nikolija Milošević Women's Bantamweight Borislav Nikolić Bantamweight Michael Oliveira Welterweight Miloš Janičić Lightweight Noah Gugnon Vlasto Čepo Middleweight 8 Giovanna Canuto Women's Strawweight UFC Fight Night 284 Carol Foro Richie Miranda Lightweight José Luiz Heavyweight 15 Lucas Fernando Light Heavyweight UFC 330 Eduardo Henrique Flyweight 22 Stanley Dorsainvil Lightweight UFC Fight Night 285 Ryan Kuse Featherweight Anthony Wint Heavyweight Terrance Chatman 28 Yilizhati Maimaitijiang Middleweight Road to UFC Season 5: Semifinals 29 Cameron Nelson Welterweight UFC Fight Night 286 Hector Santiago Bantamweight Francesco NuzziNamsrai Batbayar FlyweightBilal Hasan Nilson Rojas Liu Ce Light Heavyweight September 5 Sofia Montenegro Women's Strawweight UFC Fight Night 287 Delphine Benouaich Matthieu Letho Duclos Middleweight Michael Aljarouj Flyweight Fabià Sintes Pavel Andrusca Featherweight Salahdine Parnasse Lightweight 12 Jessie Rosas Featherweight UFC Fight Night 288 Sean King III 26 Valesca Machado Women's Strawweight UFC Fight Night 289 Melissa Amaya Ilimbek Akylbek Uulu Bantamweight Mehemmedeli Osmanli Luis Hernandez Light Heavyweight October 3 Bruce Whitehead Welterweight UFC 332 Lucas Armand Heavyweight Anthony Romero Featherweight Roberto Soldić Welterweight
Suspended fighters The list below is based on fighters suspended either by (1) United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) or World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for violation of taking prohibited substances or non-analytical incidents, (2) by local commissions on misconduct during the fights or at event venues, or (3) by the UFC for reasons also stated below.
NameNicknameDivisionFromDurationTested positive for / InfoByEligible to fight againRef.NotesConor McGregorNotoriousLightweight18 monthsThree anti-doping whereabout failures on June 13, September 19, and September 20, 2024.CSADRamazan TemirovTemurlanFlyweight1 yearTrimetazidineCSADMohammed UsmanThe MotorHeavyweight30 monthsTestosterone and BPC-157CSADIasmin LucindoWomen's Strawweight9 monthsMesteroloneCSADLevi RodriguesLight Heavyweight9 monthsNandroloneNSACAlibi IdirisFlyweight12 monthsHydrochlorothiazideCSADBassil HafezThe HabibiWelterweight12 monthsIpamorelinCSADNo TimeLight Heavyweight16 monthsErythropoietinCSAD
The Ultimate Fighter The following The Ultimate Fighter season is scheduled for broadcast in 2026: SeasonDivisionWinnerRunner-upRefThe Ultimate Fighter 34BantamweightIlimbek Akylbek UuluMehemmedeli OsmanliWomen's StrawweightValesca MachadoMelissa Amaya
Title fights
Events list
Scheduled events Event Date Venue City Country Ref.UFC 335: Oliveira vs. Lopes T-Mobile ArenaLas Vegas, NevadaUnited StatesUFC Fight Night: Procházka vs. StirlingAli Bin Hamad al-Attiyah ArenaAl RayyanQatarUFC 334: Gane vs. HokitMadison Square GardenNew York City, New YorkUnited StatesUFC Fight Night: Bonfim vs. BradyMeta ApexLas Vegas, NevadaUFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. NolanUFC 333: Volkanovski vs. EvloevEtihad ArenaAbu DhabiUnited Arab EmiratesUFC Fight Night: Buckley vs. MalottRogers PlaceEdmonton, AlbertaCanadaUFC Fight Night: Allen vs. DuncanMeta ApexLas Vegas, NevadaUnited States
Past events