Here are my predictions for the ufc in 2026 Champions Men’s divisions Flyweight: Joshua Van🇲🇲🇺🇸 I genuinely think Van is so underrated right now. The entire fanbase loved him then turned on him for something that wasn’t even his fault, it was pantojas fault. I think he beats both taira and kape, and I don’t think Pantoja will comeback and be as good as he used to be, he’ll beat kape/taira and then Pantoja. Bantamweight: Merab dvalishvili🇬🇪🇺🇸 Hot take yet again. I think merab recaptures his belt in the trilogy. I believe they’ll do Yan vs Merab 3 and I think merab will win a very close decision, I then think he proceeds to defend once more vs Umar and beats him yet again in a super close fight. Featherweight: Alexander Volkanovski🇦🇺 Not to much of a hot take but a bit. Volk said he’s not planning to retire anytime soon, if he loses to Diego I believe he retires, but I think he beats Diego, beats Movsar/Lerone and maybe he retires after that but that’ll be towards Q3/Q4 of 2026 meaning he’ll either end the year as champ or the belt will be vacant. Lightweight: paddy pimblett🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Hot take alert! I think paddy ends year as UNDISPUTED champ. I think he beats Gaethje pretty easily by finish, despite things looking good I think ilia will still have court stuff going on so if ilia fights this year I think it’ll be at 170 vs Islam, I do see paddy defending late in the year vs Arman and yes I do believe he beats Arman by a close decision. Welterweight: Islam makhachev🇷🇺 I think islam will defend vs kamaru in April-june and he’ll win that fairly comfortably, probably a 49-46 UD. Then he’ll defend once more either vs ilia or Garry forcing morales or prates to sit out, if it’s ilia I think he dominates him by decision a wrestling clinic, if it’s Garry I think it’ll be a very competitive close fight but Islam wins a close 48-47. Middleweight: Khamzat Chimaev🇷🇺🇦🇪 I think Khamzat defends vs imavov in the middle of the year and that’s it, I don’t think he fights again for the rest of the year after that. He’ll beat imavov comfortably and then sit out for the rest of the year, he’ll fight early 2027 vs either fluffy or for the LHW belt. Light heavyweight: Jiri prochazka🇨🇿 I think Alex moves up to HW and after that Jiri and Ulberg will fight for the vacant belt, Jiri wins by late stoppage. After that jiri might defend once more vs ank or murzakanov depending on who can win that fight as I think they’ll make that. If it’s murzakanov, i think it’s 50-50 but id still give jiri the edge, if ank fights for the belt which I doubt i’d pick jiri. But he might also not defend for the rest of the year. Heavyweight: Tom aspinall🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ciryl gane loses to Alex pereira by close decision in an interim fight, Tom returns late 2026 and beats Alex by submission. Female divisions. Strawweight: Zhang Weili🇨🇳 Weili returns mid-late 2026 to beat Mackenzie Dern pretty easily for the belt to recapture what belongs to her. Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko🇰🇬 I’m done doubting her, despite her age she’s a beast. She’s elite everywhere, I think she beats Natalia (if she beats rose which i think she does) even tho Natalia vs shev is close, Valentina wins. Then if she defends again in 2026 she’ll win vs Blanchfield or barber or whoever it is. Bantamweight: Amanda Nunes🇧🇷 Hot take! I think Amanda beats Kayla, yes i know inactivity is a big factor but Amanda is the only one who can give Kayla a challenge in strength and size, Amanda is a big 135er with lots of power. I think she’ll get taken down a bit and lose the first 2 rounds but after that she’ll start stopping the takedown and when that happens Kayla will be a fish out of water, she doesn’t belong with Amanda on the feet, Amanda will light her up with the 1-2s and either get a late stoppage or decision win. Then she’ll maybe defend on the White House card or late 2026 and if she does I think she wins vs whoever it is. (Made this before the cancellation, still think Amanda wins) FOTY: Joshua van🇲🇲🇺🇸 2-3 title defences in a division where most people thinks he loses his first defence. Women’s FOTY: Fatima kline🇺🇸 Maybe she doesn’t get the official award, but I predict Kline to go 3-0 and end the year at around the #5 spot. Breakthrough fighter of the year: Felipe Lima🇸🇪🇧🇷 Might be a bit biased but I think Felipe will get 2-3 wins here winning all of his fights and he’ll end the year as either 15-12 or due for a ranked opponent depending on if he fights 2 or 3 times. Disappointment of the year: Petr yan🇷🇺 I think people believe Petr yan will go 2-0 with 2 defences, personally I think he goes 0-1 losing the belt to merab and prolly not fighting again.