Ranking the 5 Best UFC Fights From January 2026

UFC fans had to endure something pretty unfamiliar through the end of 2025 and beginning of 2026. From Dec. 13 to Jan. 24, the organization didn't promote a single fight card.

That's six weeks without any action from the leader in MMA. Even with some boxing events and offerings from smaller MMA promotions in that stretch, it wasn't easy.

Thankfully, the UFC followed this lull with an equally rare but far more enjoyable anomaly: numbered fight cards on back-to-back weekends.

It started with UFC 324 on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas, an 11-fight card topped by an interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett. The fun continued this past weekend with UFC 325 in Australia, which featured 13 fights and an Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes featherweight title bout in the main event.

It's unlikely either card will end up in the 2026 Fight of the Year conversation, but both included some meaningful matchups and memorable moments.

Here are the five best fights from the UFC's first two cards of the year, ranked from fifth to first.

5. Mauricio Ruffy vs. Rafael Fiziev

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We all knew this one was going to be good, no matter how it ended.

Mauricio Ruffy and Rafael Fiziev, both ranked in the lightweight top 15, met on the main card in Australia. The appeal of the matchup was that they are two of the sharpest strikers in the lightweight division. It was obvious we were in for a firefight.

Heading into the contest, fans were divided on who would emerge victorious. The majority, though, seemed to favor Fiziev's brand of tight and technical muay thai over Ruffy's rangy, flashy, karate-inspired style.

In the end, Ruffy defied those expectations—and the oddsmakers—by knocking Fiziev out in Round 2. Despite a stunning win over Bobby Green last year, it was far and away the biggest and most important victory of the Brazilian's career to date. It also held extra significance as it was his first since he was dominated by Benoit Saint Denis in his last fight, which marked his first UFC loss.

The victory won't push Ruffy right into lightweight title contention, but it will send him into the division's top 10, where nothing but huge matchups await.

4. Jean Silva vs. Arnold Allen

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Jean Silva vs. Arnold Allen, a featherweight matchup on the UFC 324 main card, is another fight that had high potential for violence from the moment it was announced.

Brazil's Silva, while relatively new to the UFC, has developed a reputation as one of the most ferocious finishers in his weight class. Allen, meanwhile, is a battle-tested veteran with a well-rounded arsenal and a proven willingness to engage in wild brawls.

The fight lived up to expectations. For three rounds, the two featherweight contenders traded heavy artillery on the feet, both enjoying moments of success in the process. Perhaps most memorably, we saw Silva step onto Allen's back like a surfboard and leap into the air—a maneuver that served basically no purpose but was bizarre enough to thrill everyone watching.

In the end, Silva won a close decision victory that left room for some debate without being a robbery. It was a crucial win for him.

Just like his training partner, Mauricio Ruffy, he suffered his first UFC loss in his last fight, losing via TKO to Diego Lopes. Now back in the win column, he'll push into 2026 as one of his division's top contenders—perhaps just one more impressive win away from a title shot.

3. Benoit Saint Denis vs. Dan Hooker

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We always know what we're going to get from UFC lightweight contenders Benoit Saint Denis and Dan Hooker. Both men always leave everything in the Octagon, whether the fight goes their way or not.

So, when it was announced they would meet in the UFC 325 co-main event, there was a lot of excitement.

As far as the result was concerned, most fans seemed to see it going one of two ways: either Saint Denis would use his grappling to set up a submission or Hooker would keep the fight standing and win by stoppage.

In the early going, it looked like the second option would prevail, as Hooker repeatedly stung the Frenchman with kicks to the midsection—enough that the always excitable cage-side commentators made quite a fuss over it.

However, Saint Denis showed a lot of toughness in the face of the attack and quickly took control of the fight with his grappling.

A submission didn't materialize, but it didn't need to, as the Frenchman battered his foe to a second-round TKO on the ground.

With the win, Saint Denis is now riding four straight wins over Kyle Prepolec, Mauricio Ruffy, Beneil Dariush and Hooker—all finishes. That streak has made him one of the top contenders in the lightweight division, which seemed unthinkable after he suffered back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano in 2024.

Talk about a comeback.

2. Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett

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When news surfaced that undisputed UFC lightweight champ Ilia Topuria would be out of action for the foreseeable future, the promotion's decision-makers elected to book an interim title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett to keep the division moving.

While there was quite a bit of head-scratching as to why top contender Arman Tsarukyan didn't get a call to participate, it was still a very exciting matchup on paper, and it lived up to the hype.

Given Gaethje and Pimblett's finishing abilities, the probability of the fight ending inside the distance seemed quite high. Instead, both men showed off plenty of durability and went to war for 25 minutes.

By the time the fight was over, it was clear Gaethje would win a decision, as he had rocked Pimblett multiple times.

It was a pretty remarkable performance from the American, who is now 37 years old and with a long list of brutal fights behind him. More importantly, it will set him up for one final bid at undisputed gold, as he's now expected to take on Topuria later this year.

He's failed on his two previous opportunities, suffering losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira, but if he somehow pulls it off against Topuria, it will be one of the most stunning achievements in lightweight history.

1. Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes II

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It's difficult to talk about last Saturday's Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes main event without first acknowledging how pointless it was.

Volkanovski beat Lopes decisively less than a year ago, and at 37 years old, is clearly short on time as far as a fighting career goes. We all would have rather seen him defend his featherweight belt against Movsar Evloev or Lerone Murphy—either of whom would have been far more valuable conquests than a man he'd already beaten.

The saving grace of this surprising matchup is that it turned out to be very entertaining, much like the pair's first fight last year.

That's partly because Lopes had a couple of big moments—notably wobbling the champion at one point in the fight—but more so due to Volkanovski's sheer technical brilliance. At his age, he should be slowing down and getting outclassed by the likes of Lopes, who is considerably younger and also bigger.

However, he was completely dominant in the fight, hammering his oncoming challenger with sizzling combinations and controlling the action for all 25 minutes of the fight.

As silly as the booking was, it was an affirmation of what we've long known about Volkanovski: he is one of the most brilliant fighters in MMA history. It is because of that brilliance that his rematch with Lopes gets the top spot on this list over Gaethje vs. Pimblett.

The Gaethje vs. Pimblett contest was a lot of fun, but it was far from technical. Beside Volkanovski's latest masterpiece, it looked like a finger-painting.