{"id":777063,"date":"2026-07-03T19:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T19:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/777063\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T19:28:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T19:28:18","slug":"mma-fightings-2026-fight-of-the-midyear-2-all-time-battles-share-top-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/777063\/","title":{"rendered":"MMA Fighting\u2019s 2026 Fight of the Midyear: 2 all-time battles share top spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re only halfway through 2026, and there\u2019s already been more than a few thrilling moments inside the octagon, and some incredible battles that took place that left UFC fans wanting more.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s a plethora of great fights to remember from the past six months, the drama that unfolded in the cage included the more traditional slugfests that always get remembered but there were also some technical juggernauts, and two all time fights that will certainly find their way onto the year-end list, and beyond.<\/p>\n

So with that said, here\u2019s our selections for the best fights in 2026 thus far.<\/p>\n

No. 1: TIE – Justin Gaethje vs. Ilia Topuria (UFC White House)<\/p>\n

\"WASHINGTON,<\/a><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 14: Justin Gaethje strikes Ilia Topuria of Spain in the UFC lightweight championship fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn at the White House on June 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

In a rarity, the MMA Fighting voting panel could not come to a majority in the Fight of the Midyear category, so two fights share the top spot \u2014 including Justin Gaethje\u2019s moment of all moments against Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC White House.<\/p>\n

Gaethje is, obviously, used to being in this position, but this time he did the one thing that eluded him, and the one thing 95 percent of the MMA community deemed impossible: He defeated Topuria to become the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, and may have changed Topuria\u2019s career forever in the process. Gaethje said it best when calling it his \u201cMiracle on Ice\u201d moment, and it was. What \u201cThe Highlight\u201d accomplished is one of the greatest moments in UFC history.<\/p>\n

But as we\u2019re all aware, it takes two to tango, and Topuria held up his side of the bargain. \u201cEl Matador\u201d had Gaethje on the ropes in Round 2, and made a mental blunder that allowed Gaethje to stay in the fight. Additionally, Topuria went through the fire like never before and he fought through it until he simply no longer could.<\/p>\n

These two men put it all on the line, and it was the American who celebrated one of the biggest upset victories in UFC history on the White House South Lawn.<\/p>\n

No. 1: TIE – Josh Hokit vs. Curtis Blaydes (UFC 327)<\/p>\n

\"MIAMI,<\/a><\/p>\n

MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 11: (L-R) Josh Hokit punches Curtis Blaydes in a heavyweight fight during the UFC 327 event at Kaseya Center on April 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Ed Mulholland\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

The Josh Hokit story took a big turn in his biggest test to date at UFC 327 (am I right, Miami?).<\/p>\n

After defeating some of the lower-level talent in the not-very-deep UFC heavyweight division, and delivering some questionable material on the microphone, Hokit was given an opportunity by the UFC brass for a huge step up in competition against perennial contender and recent interim title challenger Curtis Blaydes. Throughout fight week, Hokit was not getting the kind of heat one would want from the fan base. It wasn\u2019t that \u2018We don\u2019t like this guy\u2019 heel heat, but more of, \u2018Get this guy off of my TV screen\u2019 heat.<\/p>\n

And then, that damn bell rang, and all hell broke loose in ways nobody could have ever expected.<\/p>\n

Hokit got right in Blaydes\u2019 face and the two fighters teed off on the other for 15 minutes, both getting hurt multiple times throughout the insane bout. The Miami crowd couldn\u2019t believe it, and heck, neither could we watching it live.<\/p>\n

In the end, Hokit got the nod in one of\u2014if not the\u2014greatest fights in UFC heavyweight history, and one that got him on the UFC White House card less than an hour later. Plus, he did what very few have been able to do: He turned UFC CEO Dana White into a fan.<\/p>\n

No. 3 – Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira (UFC 328)<\/p>\n

\"NEWARK,<\/a><\/p>\n

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – MAY 09: Joshua Van of Myannmar, (R), strikes Tatsuro Taira of Japan in a flyweight title bout during UFC 328 at the Prudential Center on May 09, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Ishika Samant\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n

Forgotten among the chaos of the top fights was an instant flyweight championship classic between two of the youngest and most talented fighters on the UFC roster.<\/p>\n

Joshua Van put his newly won flyweight title on the line\u2014a championship he certainly earned, but not in the way anyone would have liked\u2014for the first time against Tatsuro Taira. Of course, the fight that needed to be made was the rematch with Alexandre Pantoja, but with the former champ on the sidelines rehabbing the injury he suffered in his loss to Van, Taira got the call in an intriguing piece of matchmaking.<\/p>\n

The fight started off with Taira using his incredible grappling prowess, but Van doing a fantastic job defending and making it to the second round.<\/p>\n

And then Taira said, \u201cLet\u2019s just throw heaters.\u201d Van was happy to oblige.<\/p>\n

It was a slugfest and the longer the fight went on, the more momentum went in Van\u2019s direction, with the champion nearly getting the finish in Round 3. Taira battled back in the fourth, but Van put a stamp on it with a fifth-round TKO win.<\/p>\n

What a fight, what a performance, and the Van vs. Pantoja rematch, when it happens, could make the year-end list as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019re only halfway through 2026, and there\u2019s already been more than a few thrilling moments inside the octagon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,1347,785,85,787,1396],"class_list":["post-777063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}