MMA mid-year awards: Biggest winners and losers at the halfway mark of 2026

It’s been an eventful year so far in the wild world of MMA. UFC fights in unexpected, historic places. Fresh MMA offerings on Netflix, showing off some familiar faces from the sport’s past.

We’ve seen champs rise and fall in the first half of 2026. We’ve seen legacies built and broken. And it all happened just in the past six months, which is a little weird to stop and consider.

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But rather than let time slip through our fingers like grains of sand, we decided to stop and consider the highs and lows of the first half of the year. So here, let the Uncrowned staff guide you through 2026 so far. Enjoy the ride, friends.

FIGHTER OF THE HALF-YEAR: Justin Gaethje

Twice in the first half of 2026 this man showed up for a UFC title fight as a heavy underdog. Twice he went home with brand new hardware and some choice words for the doubters. Not bad for a 37-year-old lightweight who many never expected to be anything beyond a good-time slugger.

Honestly, Gaethje would have probably been deserving of this honor just by his last fight alone. A TKO victory over Ilia Topuria (our early pick for this category last year) in a fight where the odds said he’d be lucky to see the second round? Yeah, that’s a big deal. To pull it off at the White House, in the main event of what’s probably the most-watched UFC fight of all time, that only makes it bigger.

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But let’s not forget that this was Gaethje’s second big win of the year. The first came in January, when he beat Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight strap. Granted, even at the time there were those of us (ahem, me) saying that Gaethje should have been the betting favorite and not the underdog. But he fended off Father Time and set himself to get the undisputed hardware he once seemed destined to forever chase but never catch.

That’s about as good a six-month stretch as any fighter his age has ever had. And it’s going to be tough for any others to beat.

— Ben Fowlkes

Honorable mentions:

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KNOCKOUT OF THE HALF-YEAR: Alexa Grasso def. Maycee Barber 2 (UFC Seattle)

If you have Carlos Ulberg on one leg, throwing out a Hail Mary left hook at an oncoming Jiri Prochazka as your knockout of the half-year, I completely get it. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, even if the guy on the receiving end of it claims he was showing mercy in the aftermath, is unquestionably badass and equally spectacular. Long story short, I will not argue with you.

However, it just so happens that Alexa Grasso executed one of the most beautiful demonstrations of mixed martial arts the world has ever seen three weeks prior to the Kiwi’s heroic triumph.

Grasso went into her second meeting with Maycee Barber on the back of two losses and was the sportsbooks’ underdog. Just in case we forgot about the well-rounded display that saw her dethrone Valentina Shevchenko in Round 4 of their UFC 285 co-main event clash, she syncopated her arsenal into a three-second explosion.

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A right-left combo spun the heavy-handed Barber around, sitting her down on her backside. Not knowing Barber was already unconscious, Grasso jumped on her back like a seasoned jockey and immediately applied a fully locked rear-naked choke.

Technically, it was a knockout. But it was so much more than that.

Uncrowned’s Drake Riggs remarked that he wouldn’t mind if Grasso was awarded both submission and knockout of the half-year for the dynamic display.

I’d tend to agree.

— Petesy Carroll

Honorable Mentions:

• Carlos Ulberg vs. Jiri Prochazka at UFC 327

• Uros Medic vs. Geoff Neal at UFC Houston

• Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brunno Ferreira at UFC 326

• Manoel Sousa vs. Bolaji Ok at UFC Apex

SUBMISSION OF THE HALF-YEAR: Alice Ardelean def. Polyana Viana via capsule lock (UFC Vegas 117)

As much as we could have given both the knockout and submission to Alexa Grasso, it’s much better to spread the love. I mean, does anyone even know what a capsule lock is?

After piecing up Polyana Viana on the feet in their UFC Apex clash in May, Alice Ardelean took the action to the mat early into Round 2. Viana, a comfortable guard player, tossed her legs up in full guard to apply a body triangle, seemingly free of any danger.

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But Ardelean had learned this rare modified calf slicer when scrolling Instagram a few years back. After nearly a full round of seeking a move that looked like a complete accident, she pulled it off — with a torn meniscus.

It took several replays to understand exactly what had happened, but Viana was in pain, having her own legs used against her while wrapped around Ardelean. The best submissions are the ones that look like they don’t make sense. This was the first time — and possibly last — that the capsule lock has worked in the UFC.

— Drake Riggs

Honorable Mentions:

• Murtazali Magomedov def. Melsik Baghdasaryan via Scottish twister

• Asu Almabayev def. Charles Johnson via Suloev stretch

• Adriano Moraes def. Phumi Nkuta via rear-naked choke

FIGHT OF THE HALF-YEAR: Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje

If you needed any reminders, UFC Freedom 250 entirely proved Justin Gaethje is that dude.

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The most exciting fighter of all time walked into the White House as a hefty underdog and unseated a pound-for-pound undefeated champion in a duel of epic proportions. I still can’t believe that’s a real sentence for multiple reasons, but Gaethje showed up more polished than ever, ready for war with “El Matador.”

Despite his thrilling ability to slug it out at any distance, Gaethje pieced up Topuria early with his jab in Round 1, finding moments for big uppercuts. The champion rallied in the subsequent round, integrating some competitive scrambles and monster body work to even up the fight.

But Gaethje was too much down the stretch. Too battle-ready. Topuria had been in competitive bouts before, but none so damaging. Meanwhile, Gaethje barely had a scratch on him by the end of his masterclass. And so Gaethje turned Topuria’s guts into a puddle with one of the more devastating knees to the body you’ll ever see. The corner called the action off, and we had a new champion after a thriller. The third time was the charm for the American in the nation’s capital, making it truly a scene straight out of a movie.

— Drake Riggs

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Honorable Mentions:

• Curtis Blaydes vs. Josh Hokit

• Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira

• Movsar Evloev vs. Lerone Murphy

EVENT OF THE HALF-YEAR: UFC Freedom 250

This was a high-risk, high-reward venture if ever there was one. Taking the UFC road show to the White House lawn — not traditionally known as a much of a sports venue — for an outdoor event inside an enormous custom-built “claw” structure? Let’s just say there were no shortage of ways this could have gone very, very wrong.

Which is not to say this event was flawless or beyond criticism. The UFC has increasingly made support for Donald Trump and his entire presidential administration an inescapable part of its brand, and viewers of this event weren’t given much of a chance to ignore that. Add in some lazy AI history lessons and Josh Hokit’s best attempt to embarrass the sport of MMA on the one night we had company over, and you have an event with both positives and negatives.

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Still, the massive viewership numbers (not Super Bowl massive, as promised, but that was always a ridiculous hope) and excellent individual performances made this a watershed moment for MMA and the UFC. Whatever your opinion might be of this event, you were forced to form one. And, with a big assistant from the U.S. Marine Band, the presentation of it all actually managed to feel a lot of classier than many of us expected.

— Ben Fowlkes

Honorable mentions:

• MVP MMA: Rousey vs. Carano

BREAKOUT STAR OF THE HALF-YEAR: Josh Hokit

What springs to mind when you think of a modern-day star?

In the spirit of the World Cup currently taking place, it might be images of thousands of people wearing the blue and white stripes of Argentina with “Messi 10” proudly printed on the back. Maybe it’s tearful fans singing along with Taylor Swift as she performs in a live venue.

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Well, in mixed martial arts, stars can come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with various (sometimes outlandish, perhaps even offensive) opinions.

There may be no better example of how unhinged stars can be than the breakout MMA star at the midway point of 2026, Josh Hokit.

His insults can be so cringeworthy, they make Dana White recoil as he stands alongside him on the dais. After President Donald Trump requested him to be on the White House card, “The Incredible Hok” gifted Trump with his rookie card on a necklace after dispatching Derrick Lewis. Minutes later, Trump parted ways with the gift after the former NFL fullback made a distasteful remark about former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Hokit isn’t for everyone, but as he recently told Ariel Helwani in a roundabout way, he purposely says provocative things so everyone is forced to have an opinion on him. It’s hard to argue with his thesis that such comments have helped fast-track his trajectory, but they do make his skill set a secondary topic of discussion.

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His three wins in 2026 have proved that he is a viable contender for the UFC’s heavyweight crown. His athleticism is arguably second to none in the division, and with his most recent wins over Curtis Blaydes and the aforementioned Lewis, his critics may as well get used to the bile-inducing feeling they get when he hits the mic, because Hokit — and his many alter egos — are going nowhere.

— Petesy Carroll

Honorable mentions:

STORYLINE OF THE HALF-YEAR: UFC begins its Paramount era

The past six months brought a development that I’ve never experienced in roughly three decades of MMA fandom: The price to watch UFC events went down. By a lot. The UFC’s move to Paramount+ as the streaming home for every event going forward means that, for the first time ever, fans here in the U.S. have access to every tier of UFC programming for one monthly subscription price — and that price is honestly pretty cheap, compared to what those ESPN+ pay-per-views used to cost.

But this development has been an MMA earth-shaker in more ways than one. Paramount paid a whopping $7.7 billion for seven years’ worth of UFC rights, which signals either a serious commitment to and belief in this sport and brand, or else exceptionally poor longterm financial planning. Events like the UFC’s White House extravaganza maybe don’t happen without that extra impetus to bring in new Paramount+ subscribers, and the event itself probably would have brought in a fraction of the viewers if it had cost 80 bucks as an ESPN+ pay-per-view.

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But the UFC’s move to an all-streaming home is also part of a broader picture. Over on Netflix, we’re seeing that combat sports can do huge numbers when the right fighters get on the right platform. That whole ecosystem probably only encourages other would-be competitors, like Strikeforce founder Scott Coker’s new venture, which is currently slated for a 2027 debut.

The UFC’s leap to this one-price-fits-all streaming structure also has the power to reshape incentives in a major way. Gone is the hope of pay-per-view points for UFC champions. Gone too is the need for fans to perform the tortured math around each numbered event, wondering if it’s worth ordering. The UFC also has no immediately urgent need to ensure that every lineup is good enough to persuade fans to part with those pay-per-view dollars. Now as long as it keeps the subscription meter running, that’s good enough.

We probably still haven’t seen all the ways this deal will reshape our little corner of the sports world, but the first six months have been eventful. They’ve also been relatively cheap — unless you’re Paramount.

— Ben Fowlkes

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Honorable mentions:

• Rise of UFC competitors like MVP MMA

• UFC White House event brings mainstream scrutiny

• MMA refs under the microscope

MOST SURPRISING DEVELOPMENT: MVP MMA

If you’d told us before the year that MMA would be hosted on Netflix in 2026, we would’ve expected it to be with the UFC. Obviously, right? There was no other fathomable option. Then Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions decided the time was now.

Paul and company have always had links to MMA since his entry into the boxing world, whether with Paul’s opponents or his involvement in PFL (for whatever that was). So when it was announced that both Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano would be returning to fight each other on Netflix under the MVP banner, the MMA world was collectively shocked. It still doesn’t feel real, and after a successful 17 million-viewer count, there’s promise for future MVP MMA events, according to co-founder Nakisa Bidarian.

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The possibility of MVP’s MMA investment becoming nothing more than a flash in the pan is still there. But another major home for big fights couldn’t be more needed in the sport as the 2030s near. Competition is always good, and rising tides lift all boats.

— Drake Riggs

Honorable Mentions:

• Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Talent Agency get involved with Tom Aspinall

• Alex Pereira goes scorched earth on Herb Dean