Fighters poised for huge second half of 2026: Mac is back, Steveson to debut

Now that the first half of the UFC’s 2026 calendar is complete, it’s a good time to look ahead to the next six months and the fighters poised to have a massive second half of the year.

Keep in mind the UFC has only announced fights up to the end of August, so there are still several months at the end of the year which are unaccounted for. 

For now, we’ll be basing our list on what fights have been made official for upcoming UFC cards.

Without further ado, here are 10 fighters ready to make a mark in the second half of 2026.

The biggest superstar in UFC history makes his long-awaited return to the Octagon when he takes on Max Holloway in a welterweight rematch set for five rounds. This blockbuster fight headlines UFC 329 on July 11 in Las Vegas. McGregor has not fought since UFC 264 on July 10, 2021, so it will be almost exactly five years to the day that he last competed when he fights Holloway.

The Irishman enters this rematch against Holloway as a big underdog, even though he previously beat the Hawaiian in their first fight back in 2013 when they were both featherweights in their mid or early 20s. But given McGregor is now 37 and hasn’t fought in half a decade, it makes sense why the oddsmakers and betting public are counting him out. That being said, they say power is the last thing to go in a fighter, and McGregor is one of the most powerful pound-for-pound knockout artists the sport has ever seen.

A lot is riding on McGregor in this fight, because if he wins, he could realistically call for a UFC welterweight title shot against Islam Makhachev or a UFC lightweight title shot against Justin Gaethje. After all, McGregor is the UFC’s biggest cash cow, and although he doesn’t deserve a title shot more than some of the other top contenders at 170 or 155 pounds, he has so-called “Dana White privilege” and might skip the line to get a title shot if he beats Holloway at UFC 329. It’s a massive fight for McGregor, as a win potentially sets him up for a title shot before 2026 is over.

The best heavyweight prospect on the MMA regional scene makes his UFC debut at UFC 329 when he battles Elisha Ellison in what is a mismatch of epic proportions.

The 26-year-old Steveson is an Olympic gold medallist in freestyle wrestling, a former NFL practice squad player for the Buffalo Bills, and a former WWE athlete. Oh, and he’s 3-0 in mixed martial arts with three first-round knockout wins since he made his debut last September.

Training alongside UFC legend Jon Jones at Albuquerque’s Jackson-Wink MMA Academy, the sky is the limit for Steveson. Many MMA analysts believe he has all the skills necessary to be the UFC heavyweight champion one day, but the UFC matchmakers are building him slowly by giving him Ellison, one of the weakest heavyweights on the roster. It should be a quick, easy, and violent win for Steveson, and one that sets him up for a return later this year on another numbered card as the UFC continues to build up one of their best heavyweight prospects.

Also at UFC 329, keep your eye on this middleweight prospect. The 24-year-old Aruba native won a contract last summer on Season 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series, and he made his UFC debut earlier this year with a nasty knockout win over Wes Schultz. Pinas, who has won five straight fights by knockout, next battles veteran kickboxer Cesar Almeida on the UFC 329 undercard in what should be an absolute striking clinic between two heavy hitters.

Last November at UFC 322, Ethyn Ewing made his Octagon debut with little fanfare as he fought top bantamweight prospect Malcolm Wellmaker in a fight he was supposed to lose, given Wellmaker’s insane KO power and the fact that Ewing was taking the bout on only a couple days’ notice. But the 28-year-old from California pulled off a huge upset as a +330 underdog as he dominated Wellmaker en route to a decision win. He then returned to the cage in April 2026 and picked up a brutal KO win over Rafael Estevam with a body shot.

Next, Ewing gets his chance to break into the top 15 at 135 pounds when he battles Farid Basharat in a battle of talented bantamweight prospects on the UFC 329 preliminary card. If Ewing wins that fight, look for him to get a top-10-ranked foe later this year, as he continues to work up the rankings.

After an up-and-down UFC career at featherweight, Quebec’s Jourdain decided to go down to bantamweight in 2024, and it has turned out to be the best choice he’s ever made in his MMA career. Since dropping to 135 pounds, Jourdain has won three straight fights, including a Fight of the Night decision win over Kyler Phillips in April at UFC Winnipeg. He returns to the Octagon at UFC Oklahoma City when he battles Marlon Vera in what should be an absolute war between two bantamweights who love to stand and trade. If you’re an MMA fan, you can’t miss this fight.

This is a middleweight poised to make a breakthrough in the second half of 2026. He battles grizzled veteran Jared Cannonier at UFC Oklahoma City on July 18. Duncan enters this bout on a four-fight win streak, including a decision win over Roman Dolidze in his last fight that saw him enter the top 15 at 185 pounds. Though Cannonier is 42 years of age, he is still a tough test for any middleweight. If Duncan can pass this test, then he’ll inch one step closer to the middleweight division’s elite.

The German welterweight prospect was one of the standouts on Season 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024, as he scored a vicious KO win on the show to earn a UFC contract. The 27-year-old made his UFC debut last summer when he knocked out Adam Fugitt in a devastating fashion at UFC 318. However, he has been off for a year since then due to injuries.

Thankfully, Dulatov returns at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25 when he battles veteran Wellington Turman. It’s a fight that Dulatov will be heavily favored to win, as he’s scored 12 straight stoppage victories. If he can get his hand raised and if he can stay healthy, look for the UFC to try to get him another fight before 2026 is up.

The UFC makes its debut in Belgrade, Serbia on Aug. 1 and one of the fighters to keep your eye on that card is Milos Janicic, the first fighter from Montenegro in UFC history. A KSW and Oktagon MMA veteran from Europe, Janicic, enters the UFC with a 19-3 pro record, with all 19 of those wins coming by stoppage. He has won eight fights in a row, including a notable TKO win over UFC veteran Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira in his last fight.

At UFC Serbia, the 29-year-old Janicic takes on another UFC newcomer, Noah Gugnon, in what should be a fun lightweight bout. While both fighters are solid prospects, Janicic is the A-side in this matchup, so make sure to keep your eye on him when you watch this card.

Tresean Gore entered 2026 on a two-fight losing skid, and he was a +450 underdog when he fought Azamat Bekoev at Vegas 115 in April. But despite entering that bout as a massive underdog, Gore pulled off one of the biggest upsets so far this year when he dominated Bekoev and choked him unconscious in the third round. It was a huge win for Gore, the former Ultimate Fighter standout, who likely would have been cut with a loss. Instead, he got his hand raised, and now he takes on longtime UFC veteran Vicente Luque in an exciting middleweight bout at August’s UFC 330 in Philadelphia.

Finally, don’t forget about women’s flyweight fighter, Jasmine Jasudavicius, the pride of St. Catharines, Ont. At UFC Winnipeg, Jasudavicius got back into the win column with a decision victory over Karine Silva, bouncing back nicely following her knockout loss to Manon Fiorot last October. At UFC 330, Jasudavicius will battle Erin Blanchfield in a battle between the No. 4- and No. 6-ranked women’s flyweights. While Blanchfield will likely enter the bout as the betting favourite, Jasudavicius will hold a significant size advantage, so don’t count her out of winning the fight. If she can get her hand raised, it would bode well for the Canadian’s chances of getting back into the title mix in the 125-pound division.