July 2026 gave the UFC calendar a lighter schedule, with three events spread across Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, and Abu Dhabi.

The month still carried plenty of weight.

Conor McGregor’s long-awaited comeback lasted barely one minute. Dricus Du Plessis returned to form against Kamaru Usman. Magomed Ankalaev rebuilt his position at light heavyweight. Meanwhile, Paddy Pimblett, Gable Steveson, Christian Leroy Duncan, Tommy McMillen, Ramazan Temirov, and Magomed Zaynukov all pushed themselves further into the UFC’s future.

July became a month where familiar names attracted the attention, but the next wave often left with the momentum.

UFC July 2026 at a Glance

Date	Event	Main Event Result
July 11	UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway 2	Max Holloway defeated Conor McGregor by injury TKO
July 18	UFC Fight Night: Du Plessis vs. Usman	Dricus Du Plessis defeated Kamaru Usman by unanimous decision
July 25	UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Guskov	Magomed Ankalaev defeated Bogdan Guskov by fifth-round TKO

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UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway 2 📆

👉🏻 UFC 329: McGregor’s Return Ends Before It Begins

Conor McGregor returned to the Octagon for the first time in five years to face Max Holloway in a rematch thirteen years after their first meeting.

The comeback lasted 69 seconds.

McGregor landed awkwardly after attempting a kick and immediately appeared unable to trust his knee. Holloway briefly attacked before the referee stopped the fight, awarding him the injury TKO.

McGregor later confirmed damage to his ACL and meniscus.

The official result belongs to Holloway, but the fight answered almost none of the technical questions surrounding McGregor’s return. We never learned how his timing had survived the layoff, whether his cardio could support a longer fight, or how he would handle Holloway’s modern pressure game.

Instead, another major McGregor comeback ended with his body betraying him.

👉🏻 Paddy Pimblett Steals the Moment

With the main event disappearing almost immediately, Paddy Pimblett produced the card’s clearest statement.

Pimblett submitted Benoît Saint Denis with a D’Arce choke in only 52 seconds. Saint Denis normally creates exhausting fights through forward pressure, clinch work, and scrambling, but Pimblett caught him before that engine could start.

The victory rebuilt Pimblett’s momentum following his loss to Justin Gaethje and returned him to the lightweight contender conversation.

👉🏻 Gable Steveson Introduces Himself With Violence

UFC 329 also marked the arrival of one of the most decorated wrestling prospects ever to enter the heavyweight division.

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson defeated Elisha Ellison by first-round knockout, needing only two minutes and 31 seconds to complete his UFC debut.

Surprisingly, Steveson’s wrestling was not the main story.

He attempted an early takedown, but Ellison responded with a guillotine attempt and forced him to disengage. Steveson then switched to striking, hurting Ellison with a heavy left hand before adding knees and a barrage of punches.

The finish showed why Steveson is such an unusual heavyweight prospect. His Olympic wrestling background gives him an elite foundation, but his speed and explosiveness may become equally important in MMA.

There were still signs of inexperience. Steveson entered exchanges aggressively, absorbed an elbow, and occasionally relied on athleticism more than clean defensive structure.

That is normal for a fighter this early in his career.

Steveson is still developing, but heavyweight rarely receives prospects with this combination of credentials, athletic ability, and time to improve. With Jon Jones and Gordon Ryan involved in his training, the UFC may have found a fighter capable of becoming a major divisional figure.

Robert Whittaker also made a successful light heavyweight appearance by stopping Nikita Krylov in Round 3, while Mario Bautista defeated Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision.

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UFC Fight Night: Du Plessis vs. Usman 📆

👉🏻 Dricus Du Plessis Gives Usman No Route Back

One week later, two former champions met in Oklahoma City.

Kamaru Usman moved up to middleweight hoping to revive his title ambitions. Instead, Dricus Du Plessis controlled the fight across five rounds and won a clear unanimous decision.

Du Plessis looked more patient than the chaotic version fans usually expect. He defended the wrestling, attacked Usman’s movement, and maintained a pace that the 39-year-old former welterweight champion could not reverse.

Usman later revealed that he had entered the fight with a torn pectoral muscle, although he refused to use it as an excuse.

The defeat leaves his future uncertain. Usman’s experience, durability, and championship knowledge remain valuable, but his body has accumulated years of wrestling, weight cutting, injuries, and five-round fights. At this stage, every performance becomes part of a larger question about how much of “The Nigerian Nightmare” remains.

For Du Plessis, the win puts him back near the top of the middleweight division. It was less chaotic than his usual work, but perhaps more sustainable.

👉🏻 Christian Leroy Duncan Passes His Veteran Test

Christian Leroy Duncan recorded the biggest victory of his career by outworking Jared Cannonier over three rounds.

Cannonier remained dangerous, but Duncan used his range, movement, and variety to win a unanimous decision and extend his winning streak to five.

The result moves Duncan from interesting prospect to genuine ranked contender. Middleweight has needed younger fighters capable of disrupting its veteran layer, and Duncan has now defeated one of the division’s most established names.

👉🏻 Tommy McMillen Breaks the Calculator

Tommy McMillen delivered July’s best statistical curiosity.

The featherweight landed 252 significant strikes against Alberto Montes, breaking the UFC record for the most landed in a three-round fight. He still found enough energy to secure the third-round TKO.

That number explains the fight better than any dramatic adjective could.

McMillen did not land one perfect shot. He built the finish through repeated volume until Montes’ defense collapsed under hundreds of small problems.

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UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Guskov 📆

👉🏻 Ankalaev Finishes Late in Abu Dhabi

Magomed Ankalaev closed the month against short-notice replacement Bogdan Guskov.

The fight developed slowly. Guskov respected Ankalaev’s counters and wrestling, while Ankalaev refused to give the dangerous finisher easy exchanges. The result was several cautious rounds before Ankalaev finally increased the pressure and earned a fifth-round TKO.

It was not the explosive statement that instantly demands another title shot. Still, Ankalaev returned to the win column and reminded the division that very few light heavyweights can beat him across every phase.

With champion Carlos Ulberg recovering from injury, Ankalaev remains close enough to the belt that one more strong performance could place him directly back into the title picture.

👉🏻 Chanco Arrives in the UFC

Magomed “Chanco” Zaynukov defeated Damian Rzepecki by unanimous decision in one of the month’s most interesting debuts.

Zaynukov entered with attention from the Nurmagomedov camp and “John Pork” meme, but his striking stood out more than his wrestling. He pressured without rushing, maintained his stance while exchanging, and landed sharp punches and elbows as Rzepecki tried to force a faster fight.

He won all three rounds on every scorecard.

There are still areas to develop. Zaynukov could mix his wrestling into combinations more often, and he occasionally stayed close enough for Rzepecki to answer. However, the foundation already looks UFC-ready.

He appears comfortable controlling space, fighting at a steady pace, and punishing opponents who become desperate.

For a debut, that is a strong picture of where he is now and why his future at lightweight deserves attention.

👉🏻 Temirov and Walker Deliver the Violence

Ramazan Temirov produced the loudest finish in Abu Dhabi by knocking out former title challenger Steve Erceg in the opening round.

The victory extended Temirov’s winning streak to twelve and introduced another dangerous finisher into the flyweight rankings.

At heavyweight, Valter Walker submitted Thomas Petersen with a calf slicer. It was Walker’s fifth consecutive first-round submission, an absurd sequence in a division where many fighters treat the ground like an unfamiliar software update.

Walker remains raw in some areas, but his leg-lock attacks have become one of heavyweight’s strangest recurring threats, remind of Fabricio Werdum back in old day at heavyweight.

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What July Changed

July did not crown a new champion, but it shifted several divisions.

Du Plessis returned to the middleweight title race. Pimblett rebuilt his lightweight momentum. Duncan crossed into contender territory. Temirov announced himself at flyweight, Steveson and Zaynukov began his UFC career with a composed performance.

The month also raised harder questions about McGregor and Usman.

One could not survive the opening minute without another major injury. The other survived all five rounds but struggled to create a path toward victory.

July’s biggest story was therefore larger than any single result.

The UFC is still selling events around famous names from the previous era. Inside the cage, however, the next generation is already moving into their rooms and rearranging the furniture.

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Final Thoughts

July 2026 was smaller than June, where we had the UFC White House event, but the month still moved several important stories forward.

McGregor’s comeback became another recovery journey. Usman reached another career crossroads. Du Plessis and Ankalaev returned to winning form.

Behind them, fighters such as Pimblett, Duncan, McMillen, Temirov, Walker, Steveson and Zaynukov continued climbing.

The legends brought the spotlight.

The next wave quietly walked away with most of it.