Top-10 UFC Fighters of 2026
- Zak Drapeau
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
by Zak Drapeau 12/13/2025
Sportz Nation
Honorable Mentions: Jack Della Maddelena, Mackenzie Dern and Nassourdine Imavov
10. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
With a record of 3-1 in 2025 alone, Cortes-Acosta was not only the most active Heavyweight in the division but it wasn't even close. In a division that has been held up almost as much as Francis Ngannou's final days, "Salsa Boy" has said he will fight anyone and then he did.
Starting the year with a win inside the Top-10 against Serghei Spivac, WCA was looked poised to shoot up the rankings. He would unfortunately fall short against a Top-3 opponent when Sergei Pavlovich took him to a decision but that's where the fun would start. Fighting twice in November alone, Cortes-Acosta would knock out two other up-and-comers in the Heavyweight division in Ante Delija and Shamil Gaziev.
With another huge clash against Derrick Lewis set for the first PPV of 2026, WCA will be one of the most active fighters in the UFC roster and one more knockout will put him in serious talks atop this division.
9. Jiri Prochazka
When all hope seemed lost for Jiri after falling twice to Light Heavyweight champ Alex Pereira, he comes back with the old, "I'm not going anywhere". When losing to the champion and staying close to the top of the rankings, you are going to be tested with the very best of the division and Jiri basically laughed at them.
In 2 fights in 2025, Prochazka earned 2 dominant victories by knockout. First up was former champion Jamahal Hill in the first card of the year. After Prochazka cleared him and retook his #1 challenger ranking, he would have to go through another title contender in Khalil Rountree, which Jiri would dispatch in the same dominant fashion.
Clearing two of 205's best contenders by knockout is good enough to get on this list but 2026 may hold more prizes for the man that has only lost to Pereira in the UFC. If recent rumors are to be believed, Pereira will be jumping to Heavyweight next year and vacating his belt. Any discussions of making a match for the next champion has to start with Prochazka after his dominant 2025.
8. Michael Morales
In the most exciting and talented division in the sport, Michael Morales may be the boogeyman. Only being eclipsed by the new champion of the division, Morales' 2025 was special.
The undefeated 25 year-old was an up-and-comer when the year started with a #9 ranking. First up was legendary fighter and former title challenger Gilbert Burns. Spanning back to 2024, this fight would be Morales' 2nd fight in a row ending by a 1st-round knockout.
After this huge win, the UFC was ready to really put Morales in the deep end and gave him the #2 ranked challenger Sean Brady. Brutally, Morales would extend his 1st-round knockout streak again and move to #4 in the division. 2025 was Morales turning the perception of him from "Full of Potential" to "Future Champion" and I have a feeling 2026 may see him returning on this list.
7. Khamzat Chimaev
Having only fought once this year in a pattern that has divided some fans about his activity level may look bad to some but I'm not one of them. In my opinion, there was no other fight in 2025 that shocked me the way Chimaev's win over DDP did.
Du Plessis was a decorated champion and showed promise as a boxer but also i wrestling and Chimaev made him look like an amateur.
Continuing his undefeated record as well as earning his first Championship got Khamzat on this list but I will say there is something to the inactivity of him. With 6 fights in the last 5 years, Chimaev might need to have more appearances now that he has a belt to defend.
6. Ilia Topuria
Topuria also had only one fight this year but the Championship he won can be claimed to give him "Champ-Champ" status and thus he gets ahead of Chimaev on the list. What a win it was by the way in the wake of Islam Makhachev vacating his belt, Topuria jumped up to Lightweight to fight the ever-dangerous Charles Oliveira and flatlined him.
This knockout was the pop that Topuria's career has been heading toward for years. The biggest win of his career and one that has catapulted him from Top-10 to Top-3 draws in the sport. With the Lightweight division creating an interim-champion in January because of Topuria's leave, his 2026 has questions around it. That being said, everything is pointing to a Superfight with Makhachev next year which means we could see another 1-and-done from Topuria in 2026.
5. Petr Yan
Not only did Petr Yan shock the world by winning the Bantamweight Championship this weekend, not only did he do so by dethroning the #4 Pound-for-Pound fighter Dvalishvili's 14-fight win streak but he did it in a fashionably end of the year fight that could very well have been fight of the year.
So much noise at the very end of the year will do wonders to a fighter's stock and that is evident with Yan's #5 ranking on this list. Having only beaten Marcus McGhee besides the title win, you could make an argument that Yan too had only one fight this year. But what a meaningful fight and win it was.
4. Joshua Van
Another fight of the year candidate, Joshua Van had the best year of any fighter on paper. His Flyweight Championship win over Alex Pantoja should have been a monumental moment but wasn't. While Joshua Van was becoming the 2nd-youngest UFC Champion ever, he was doing so because of an extremely early elbow injury to the champ and not because he had actually beaten him.
If Van had earned his belt from a hard fought, 5-round decision or by being the first person to knockout Pantoja he would undoubtedly be #1 on this list. However, without that huge notch on his belt his resume for 2025 is great but not the best. A fight of the year contender with Royval and a knockout of #14 Flyweight Bruno Silva is good, but he is just shy of reaching the S tier.
3. Islam Makhachev
Makhachev had two title fights in 2025 including a completely dominant display against Jack Della Maddelena when securing his 2nd-divisional Championship. Makhachev's win and "Champ-Champ" status also put him back to his #1 Pound-for-Pound ranking and has even lifted him in certain "All Time" debates.
Makhachev's other win was a short notice defense against Renato Moicano and to be honest even though it was a 1st-round Submission, the fight may have cost him a higher ranking based on Moicano's lower ranking. Still, Makhachev faced a Top-10 Lightweight and finished him early then moved up a division to utterly destroy the siting Champion.
Makhachev has long been one of the best fighters in the UFC and solidifying his #1 P4P ranking as well as Champ-Champ makes him the first fighter in the "Elite Tier" but just short of the other two on the list.
2. Valentina Shevchenko
Somehow Valentina is a lot lower on most lists than mine including a #13 ranking on Tapology's list. In 2024, Shevchenko reclaimed her title from Alexa Grasso after their famous trilogy and in 2025 she set out to remind everyone that she is one of the greatest to ever do it.
Starting in May when she narrowly beat top contender Manon Fiorot by a unanimous 48-47 decision, Shevchenko would continue her "strength of schedule" when she took on the P4P greatest Woman fighter on Earth in Weili Zhang. Their "champ-champ" Co-Main Event would end not only by Shevchenko winning but doing so in the most dominant fashion Zhang had ever seen, the former winning by unanimous 50-45 decision.
Shevchenko beat the P4P best woman in the UFC in such dominant fashion after defending her belt against the top contender. While most have brushed off the Zhang fight already, I'm here to tell you that that fight was one of the most impressive feats we've seen all year and to put in terms of her ranking... if Islam Makhachev deserves a Top-1 or 2 ranking as most have given him when defending against Renato Moicano and the champion of another weight class, then how doesn't Shevchenko deserve higher?
1. Merab Dvalishvili
Even though he just lost his title and 14-fight win streak there is no other name that should atop this list than Merab Dvalishvili. With 4 title fights, 3 title defenses, 2 legitimate Fight of the Year candidates and becoming only the 2nd fighter in UFC history with 20+ takedowns in a fight, this was the year of Merab.
His loss to Petr Yan did hurt his stock a bit but that only goes to show you how great of a year he had. Defenses against Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O'Malley and Cory Sandhagen were works of art that displayed how dominant and complete of a fighter Merab is. A loss against Petr Yan may have hurt him but also showed that it takes a herculean effort to beat him which is exactly what happened.
There is no doubt that a trilogy will occur in 2026 between Merab and Yan and when it does, it wouldn't surprise me too see Merab move on to more top-division fights one way or the other as he continue to be one of the very best in the UFC today and one of the greatest Bantamweights of ALL TIME.
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