With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from February 2026: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for February.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
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Nominee: Ramazan Kuramagomedov def. Shamil Musaev at PFL Road to Dubai
Ramazan Kuramagomedov vs. Shamil Musaev didn’t surprise the experts in terms of the high-level action. What did come as a shocker was after Kuramagomedov (14-0) defeated Musaev (20-1-1) by unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46), he announced the fight would be his last.
Kuramagomedov showed a well-rounded attack. He made it ugly when he needed to and avoided the fight-finishing abilities of the heavy-handed Musaev. In the championship rounds, Kuramagomedov absorbed a brutal illegal knee that was believed by the broadcast to have caused a significant arm injury. Still, Kuramagomedov persisted. When the dust settled, he was champion and he can add a PFL title to a trophy case that already housed Bellator gold.
Nominee: Carlos Leal def. Chidi Njokuani at UFC Fight Night 267
Carlos Leal and Chidi Njokuani delivered on expectations in their welterweight bout with tenacious exchanges at many points throughout their 15-minute affair.
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In the end, the judges felt Leal (23-7 MMA, 2-2 UFC) had the more effective damage and offense. Njokuani (25-12 MMA, 5-5 UFC) fought well and pushed forward through some difficult moments, but he couldn’t fend off the might of Leal, who left with the unanimous decision triumph.
Nominee: Regina Tarin def. Ernesta Kareckaite at UFC Fight Night 268
Regina Tarin (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) didn’t have a UFC deal when she got to Mexico City, the story goes. She simply was hoping someone might fall off the card. Then it happened.
Tarin (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) jumped in for a 130-pound fight instead of flyweight, and beat Ernesta Kareckaite (6-2-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) for a unanimous decision in a fight with a combined 219 significant strikes landed between the pair.
Nominee: Imanol Rodriguez def. Kevin Borjas at UFC Fight Night 268
Imanol Rodriguez and Kevin Borjas battled for nearly two full rounds in a chippy brawl with twists and turns.
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Despite being tagged around the cage early, Rodriguez (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) rallied to finish Borjas (10-5 MMA, 1-4 UFC) with punches at the 4:21 mark of Round 2.
The winner: Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC Fight Night 266
Michal Oleksiejczuk kept rolling since he joined the Fighting Nerds team in Brazil.
Oleksiejczuk (22-9 MMA, 10-7 UFC) put on a 15-minute slugfest with Marc-Andre Barriault (17-11 MMA, 6-10 UFC) and won for the third straight time after a stretch of four losses in five fights.
Both men dug in from the outset, connecting with hard kicks and punches but refusing to back down. Oleksiejczuk admitted post-fight that he was in awe of his Canadian foe’s toughness, and it was obvious Barriault didn’t intend to go home with a defeat in this one.
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Ultimately he did, because he could not muster enough effective offense as Oleksiejczuk was awarded the unanimous decision win.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Fight of the Month for February 2026: Middleweights throw down
