With half the year in the books, theScore hands out the gongs to the best of the best in mixed martial arts across five categories.
Male Fighter of the Half-Year
Winner: Justin Gaethje
Gaethje is the no-brainer pick through the first six months of 2026. His win over Ilia Topuria at the UFC's White House event in June was one of the biggest upsets and most impressive performances in recent memory. The 37-year-old finally captured the undisputed lightweight title that had eluded him throughout an otherwise stellar career, becoming the oldest 155-pound champion in UFC history. He also handed Topuria, one of the biggest stars in the sport going into the fight, the first loss of his career. On top of that, we can't forget about Gaethje's thrilling win over Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 in January, in which he claimed the interim title. "The Highlight" is having a banner year, and it'll be hard for anybody to top it.
Female Fighter of the Half-Year
Winner: Alexa Grasso
It's been a slow year in women's MMA so far, with no title defenses from Kayla Harrison, Valentina Shevchenko, or Mackenzie Dern, and few contenders have stepped into the cage more than once. Grasso stood out from the rest, delivering one of the wildest finishes ever against Maycee Barber at UFC Seattle in March. The former women's flyweight champion badly needed a win, as she was coming off back-to-back losses to Shevchenko and Natalia Silva and hadn't won since dethroning Shevchenko in 2023. There was a lot of doubt about Grasso's future after those defeats, but the Mexican silenced the critics against Barber and looked like a contender again.
Fight of the Half-Year
Winner: Josh Hokit vs. Curtis Blaydes, UFC 327
There are entertaining fights, and then there are balls-to-the-wall, absolutely crazy fights. Hokit's unanimous decision win over Blaydes in April was one of the latter. The heavyweights traded heavy blows for 15 minutes, smashing the divisional record for most significant strikes landed in a fight. Neither walked away unscathed, but Hokit ultimately got the better of Blaydes in the all-time slugfest, catapulting himself into the upper echelon of the division.
Knockout of the Half-Year
Winner: Carlos Ulberg takes out Jiri Prochazka on one leg, UFC 327
Ulberg tore his ACL in the opening moments of his light heavyweight title fight against Prochazka, but that didn't stop him from pulling off the biggest win of his career. Ulberg, on one leg, caught Prochazka with a picture-perfect left hook and put him to sleep with vicious shots on the ground. Given the circumstances, it was one of the most dramatic and improbable wins we've seen in a while - and the best knockout of the year so far.
Submission of the Half-Year
Winner: Asu Almabayev's Suloev stretch of Charles Johnson, UFC Baku
The best submission so far in 2026 came at the UFC's final event in June. Almabayev dominated the first two rounds of his flyweight matchup against Johnson, and in the third round, he tangled his opponent up on the ground in a rare Suloev stretch. It was just the fourth submission win of that kind in UFC history.
