The article discusses potential New Year’s resolutions for the UFC in 2026, suggesting improvements like reducing reliance on the APEX venue, enhancing meritocracy in title shots, and revitalizing production to enhance fan engagement.
2026 is finally here, and with it comes the opportunity to start over. Every January, people worldwide make promises about how they’re going to change in the coming year. So let’s do that for the UFC, plus answer some other random questions.
New Year’s Resolutions for the UFC
With New Year’s around the corner, many people try to set resolutions to better themselves. What are three resolutions, in your opinion, that the UFC should make to improve in 2026?
By the time this comes out, New Year’s will already have happened, and we’ll be into 2026. Still, the first UFC event is weeks away, and there are some things I’d love to see from the UFC (though I’m not confident we will see any of them) that are at least theoretically possible. I’m not naive enough to believe they’ll start paying fighters appropriately (which would make the sport better as a whole and improve the viewer experience, but not getting on that soapbox here), but these resolutions are all doable.
Resolution One: We will actually try this year. The UFC has a stranglehold on MMA, and over the last few years, that’s led to a lessening of the product. There are fewer stars, more APEX shows, and almost no fights that feel culturally significant. It’s tough, as a fan, and it’s made worse by the cookie-cutter promotion of everything, every weekend. Part of the reason Noche UFC at Sphere felt so big was that it was different than the standard fight week promotion we get 42 weeks a year.
I have several ideas on how to fix this generally, but none of those are feasible for the UFC’s business model. But bringing in some new production teams is not a huge lift and would at least make things not as monochromatic, which would be a welcome change from the paint-by-numbers way they do things now. Plus, they’ve got a new TV deal! You always try to put your best foot forward in a new relationship.
Resolution Two: We will minimize using the APEX, and when we do go there, it will have crowds. I know people get tired of us bashing the APEX, but it’s hard not to. It’s a lifeless place to hold events. One of the reasons 2025 felt like a better year of MMA (to me, at least) was because the UFC went to the APEX less than it had before. We probably are never getting fewer than 12 APEX cards, but I can live with one trip there a month; it’s two or three that hurts. And since it seems like they’re adding seating to the APEX, maybe even those won’t be as bad. We can hope, at least.
Resolution Three: We will return to some semblance of meritocracy. The UFC is starting off on a bad foot with this one, as the first few events of 2026 are headlined by some very dubiously “earned” title shots. But that’s the point of this. Sometimes you get started late on losing that weight, but just because it’s not Jan. 1 doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start.
Anyway, it was always a bit of a bad look for Conor McGregor to get super special treatment when he was fighting, but at least you could justify it by saying he’s the exception because he’s the biggest star in the sport. But now it’s overt favoritism for people who barely move the needle. That’s going to have some consequences somewhere down the line if it keeps up.
Of Jiri’s six finishes in the UFC, where do you rank his debut KO against Volkan Oezdemir? That fight doesn’t get talked about enough IMO. For those interested, I answered the rest of this in the Feed, so you can go there if you’d care to read some of my thoughts on Game of Thrones and The Wire.
As for Jiri and Volkan, yes, that probably is a forgotten gem, but that’s sort of the problem with Jiri — when every time you fight something insane happens, some stuff falls out of memory.
In my opinion, Justin Gaethje is the most exciting fighter in the history of MMA (with Robbie Lawler right behind him), but Prochazka is making a run at him. I think Jiri already has “most exciting fighter over 170 pounds” locked up, and he’s still got plenty more to give in his career. Just look at what he’s done in five short years in the UFC: eight fights, six wins, six finishes, eight bonuses. And in his two losses to Alex Pereira, “Poatan” won a bonus as well. When Jiri fights, someone is getting $50,000.
So, with that said, ranking his finishes is a fool’s errand. However, I am a fool, so I shall try.
- Submitting Glover Teixeira at UFC 275. It’s not just that Jiri won the title in the Fight of the Year; I think people are already starting to forget how great this fight was. It has a legitimate case for the most exciting fight of all time, and if he didn’t get the submission, Jiri was probably going to lose. Has to be No. 1.
- KOing Dominick Reyes at Vegas 25. Another Fight of the Year contender that ended with a KO of the Year contender.
- KOing Khalil Rountree at UFC 320. I had this as one of the best fights of 2025 and one of the best KOs. It’s a terrific comeback via Jiri going full Jiri.
- KOing Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 251. Shows just how good Jiri’s résumé is that this is this low.
- KOing Jamahal Hill at UFC 311. Another one of the better KOs this year.
- KOing Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 300. Kind of insane that one of the best highlights on one of the biggest cards of all time is his least memorable KO, but that’s Jiri for you.
Is it time for the UFC to use the Contender Series as the old-school version of Bellator tournaments with the number of events proposed? With the number of possible shows and contenders, you would think they would need an easy way to bring up the “new” show winners. Would be an actual reason for me to go back to watching again personally speaking.
Frankly, I would love this. I grew up watching tournament MMA, and I am always interested in ways to bring it back. And while doing tournaments at the highest levels of the sport doesn’t work (too many injuries), doing it for guys trying to break in would be totally fine.
Unfortunately, that’s not what the UFC wants. Contender Series is cheap labor. It’s why they basically sign every winner, regardless of performance. If the UFC truly wanted Contender Series to serve as a launching pad for fighters, they’d only sign the good ones off it. Also, tournaments are chaotic by nature, so they definitely don’t want to do that and risk losing the guy they were intending to sign anyway.
How will Israel Adesanya’s career be looked back on?
Quite well. That’s the thing about long title reigns, they tend to age well, especially in this day and age where people don’t want to defend belts.
Anderson Silva is the middleweight GOAT. That’s not up for debate (unless you disallow anyone who ever tested hot, in which case, OK, but like, I think you maybe are a bit naive about this sport). But Adesanya is the second-greatest 185er ever, and when “The Spider” is No. 1, No. 2 ain’t half bad.
Adesanya is 10th all-time for wins in title bouts, and one of only 14 fighters with five or more title defenses. And the quality of those wins is high. Two over former champ Robert Whittaker, Yoel Romero, Jared Cannonier, Paulo Costa, and Marvin Vettori, those aren’t bad. The Cannonier, Costa, and Vettori wins might not look amazing in years to come, but they were still extremely valid at the time. Plus, getting one win over Alex Pereira is looking better and better as time goes on.
“The Last Stylebender” is an all-time great fighter and a no-doubt-about-it Hall of Famer.
Thanks for reading, and thank you to everyone who sent in questions. Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck, because you can send them to me. Every Sunday (sometimes I forget and it happens on Monday), I’ll put out a call for questions on The Feed. Doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane; just drop your questions there, and I’ll answer the best ones. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.