With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from June 2026: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for June.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
Advertisement
Nominee: Brendan Allen def. Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Fight Night 278
Edmen Shahbazyan gave a good account for himself, but ultimately he could not steal Brendan Allen’s ranking.
Allen (27-7 MMA, 15-4 UFC) took a major risk on when the highly ranked middleweight contender fought the unranked Shahbazyan (16-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC). It was more competitive than Allen would have hoped, but he emerged with the unanimous decision win by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Nominee: Diego Lopes def. Steve Garcia at UFC Freedom 250
Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia was the fight that many fans thought had the greatest potential for Fight of the Night honors. It didn’t capture that, but it did deliver.
Advertisement
Lopes (28-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC) knocked out Garcia (19-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) with punches to top off a frantic sequence of violence. It seemed like Garcia was poised to continue his winning streak early, but then Lopes caught him with a big shot and left nothing to chance as he closed the show with heavy ground strikes.
Nominee: Vinicius Oliveira def. Andre Fili at UFC Fight Night 279
Vinicius Oliveira was tested by Andre Fili in his featherweight debut, but ultimately emerged with a stoppage win.
After changing weight classes from bantamweight, Oliveira (23-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) got off to a tough start against Fili (25-14 MMA, 13-13 UFC). In the second round, however, the Brazilian turned it around and slowed his opponent down with body shots before a blitzing flurry combination of blows to force the TKO stoppage at the 4:56 mark of Round 2.
Nominee: Manel Kape def. Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Fight Night 279
A rematch nearly a decade in the making, Manel Kape got revenge on Kyoji Horiguchi in comeback fashion.
Advertisement
Kape (23-7 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Horiguchi (36-6 MMA, 9-2 UFC) showed why they are both among the top fighters in the division with a potential shot at the flyweight title on the line. Although he had to navigate a tough path, Kape found a way to finish Horiguchi at 2:42 of Round 3 with strikes to pull off a great come-from-behind win.
A new American UFC champion was crowned on the White House lawn.
Justin Gaethje pulled off a stunning upset as he damaged Ilia Topuria so severely over the course of four rounds, he was unable to get off the stool for the fifth round. In doing so, Gaethje (28-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) finally achieved the accolade that long escaped his career and was crowned undisputed UFC lightweight champion.
Through two rounds, Topuria (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) found much success, particularly in Round 2. He dug Gaethje repeatedly to the body and crumpled him to the canvas. Gaethje hung tough and flipped the script in Round 3 as he disfigured Topuria’s face badly. Topuria was bloodied, swollen (and very likely) broken as he went to the stool.
Advertisement
The cageside doctor was called in as Topuria and his team pushed the limits of his allotted time for examination. The doctor initially recommended the fight be stopped but after consultation with Goddard and one of the UFC’s doctors, the fight was allowed to continue. Topuria seemed to have found a second wind, perhaps from the two minutes between rounds.
But ultimately it was Gaethje who would do the most important damage. He drilled Topuria with a brutal knee to the body as the round was ending. After Topuria returned to the stool, Goddard waved off the fight.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month for June: An epic upset at White House
