UFC October 2026 Recap: Results, Champions & Biggest Moments

October was quite a month for MMA fans, especially in the theme of Halloween 🎃.

Five UFC events, a new champion, two successful title defenses, and several nights where the fighters seemed determined to keep the judges unemployed.

We had Natalia Silva finally reach the top of the women’s flyweight division. Brendan Allen survived a difficult fight against a rising contender. Mike Malott gave Canada a knockout to remember.

And, of course, there was UFC 333, where Alexander Volkanovski and Petr Yan reminded everyone why experience still matters in a sport that never stops producing younger, faster challengers.

Even the final Halloween event had for fans something to say, or debate about.

There was plenty to talk about this month, so let’s go through the biggest stories and what they mean for the divisions moving forward.

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UFC October 2026 Results at a Glance

Date	Event	Main Event Result
October 3	UFC 332: Silva vs. Wang	Natalia Silva def. Wang Cong, unanimous decision
October 10	UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Duncan	Brendan Allen def. Christian Leroy Duncan, R5 submission
October 17	UFC Edmonton: Buckley vs. Malott	Mike Malott def. Joaquin Buckley, R2 KO
October 24	UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev	Alexander Volkanovski def. Movsar Evloev, R2 TKO
October 31	UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. Nolan	Tom Nolan def. Renato Moicano, R3 TKO

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🇺🇸 UFC 332: Silva vs. Wang

Natalia Silva Finally Has Her Moment

The month opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the fighters apparently had no intention of staying inside the Octagon longer than necessary.

Even when being considered as the most underrated among number events, UFC 332 still delivered eight first-round finishes and eleven knockouts, setting new UFC records in both categories.

Yet, after all that violence, the evening ended with a technical five-round battle for the vacant women’s flyweight championship.

Natalia Silva faced Wang Cong, with both women carrying impressive winning streaks into the biggest fight of their careers.

Silva started well, using the footwork and quick combinations that have made her one of the division’s most difficult fighters to approach. Her ability to attack while remaining outside the opponent’s preferred range has been a major part of her success.

Wang certainly had her moments, particularly as she became more comfortable pressing forward in the later rounds.

However, Silva had already done enough to secure the decision, winning 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 on the judges’ scorecards.

After years of working her way through the flyweight division, Natalia Silva finally became UFC champion. Now comes the interesting part: defending it.

Silva has built her career around movement, timing and accuracy. Future challengers will have to find ways to take those advantages away from her.

Payton Talbott Makes Another Statement

Another performance worth mentioning came from Payton Talbott, who stopped former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo in just 2:09 of the opening round.

Figueiredo has spent years competing against the best fighters in the world, which makes this a significant result for Talbott.

The young bantamweight attacked aggressively, hurt Figueiredo and finished the fight against the fence.

Talbott has been building momentum for some time. A victory over a former champion makes it increasingly difficult to treat him as just another promising prospect.

Elsewhere, Roberto Soldić made a successful UFC debut against Khaos Williams, while Roman Kopylov stopped Ateba Gautier in the first round.

It was a strong opening to October, and we were only getting started.

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🇺🇸 UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Duncan

Brendan Allen Reminds Duncan Why Grappling Changes Everything

One week later, Brendan Allen faced Christian Leroy Duncan in a middleweight main event.

This was an interesting matchup from the beginning.

Allen had far more experience against elite middleweights, but Duncan was arriving with momentum, dangerous striking and an opportunity to break into the division’s upper rankings.

And for long stretches, Duncan made a convincing case.

His movement and striking variety caused Allen problems, particularly when he could keep the exchanges at his preferred distance. Allen, however, continued looking for ways to bring the fight into his grappling world.

The two men traded momentum throughout the contest. Duncan found success on the feet, while Allen had his strongest moments when he could close the distance and work from dominant positions.

By the fifth round, the fight was still demanding answers from both men, and Allen finally secured the opportunity he needed.

He brought Duncan to the canvas, worked into a favorable position and locked up a rear-naked choke, forcing the submission at 2:46 of the final round.

What interested me most about this fight was how Allen continued to trust his grappling despite the difficulties he experienced in the striking exchanges.

Duncan demonstrated that he belongs at this level, but Allen’s experience allowed him to recognize and capitalize on the opportunities that eventually appeared.

It also shows why striking statistics alone can leave out important parts of a fight.

Duncan could be winning exchanges on the feet while still having to deal with the consequences of Allen’s grappling threat. Once Allen secured the final submission, the previous striking success could no longer save him.

The victory extended Allen’s winning streak to four and kept him firmly in the middleweight title conversation.

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🇨🇦 UFC Edmonton: Buckley vs. Malott

Mike Malott Delivers for Canada

There is something special about seeing a fighter produce a career-defining finish in front of a home crowd, Mike Malott gave Canadian fans exactly that.

UFC Edmonton was already having an extraordinary night before the main event began. Twelve of the thirteen fights ended inside the distance, tying the UFC record for the most finishes on a single card.

The main event featured Malott against Joaquin Buckley, a dangerous welterweight with the power to end a fight whenever an opponent makes a mistake.

The opening round was cautious, both men seemed aware of the danger standing across from them, with neither willing to give away an easy opening.

Then, in Round 2, everything changed. As Buckley moved forward and dipped into range, Malott caught him with a perfectly timed knee to the chin.

The impact ended the fight at 2:32.

It was a spectacular finish, but the timing made it particularly impressive.

Malott recognized Buckley’s movement and attacked the space his opponent was entering. At that distance, the knee became extremely difficult to avoid.

With the victory, Malott extended his winning streak to five and added a major name to his résumé.

The Canadian now has a much stronger argument for facing opponents near the top of the welterweight division.

Jasmine Jasudavicius Joins the Flyweight Title Discussion

The co-main event gave the Canadian crowd another reason to celebrate.

Jasmine Jasudavicius defeated Erin Blanchfield by unanimous decision, using her wrestling and positional control to frustrate one of the division’s most respected grapplers.

Blanchfield had entered the fight as an established contender, so defeating her was a significant achievement.

And with Natalia Silva having won the vacant championship just two weeks earlier, the timing could hardly have been better for Jasudavicius.

October opened with a new women’s flyweight champion. And by the middle of the month, we already had another serious contender asking for her opportunity.

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🇦🇪 UFC 333: Volkanovski vs Evloev

Volkanovski Remind Everyone Why He Is Champion

At the main event, we saw Alexander Volkanovski defend his featherweight championship against undefeated Movsar Evloev.

This was the kind of matchup that had people questioning whether Volkanovski could continue his reign at 38. Evloev had spent his entire professional career building a reputation around wrestling, control and the ability to win difficult positional exchanges.

He presented a serious challenge, and early in the fight, we could see why:

Evloev had success with his grappling and was competitive through much of the second round. Volkanovski had to work for his positions, defend the wrestling and find opportunities to create offense.

But one exchange changed everything.

Late in Round 2, Volkanovski connected with a clean right hand as Evloev attempted to disengage.

The challenger turned away, and Volkanovski immediately followed him with more punches, eventually putting him on the canvas and forcing the stoppage with just six seconds remaining.

Evloev suffered the first defeat of his professional career.

For Volkanovski, the victory also pushed him ahead of José Aldo for the most featherweight title-fight wins in UFC history.

Think about that for a moment.

At an age when many fighters have already begun declining, Volkanovski is still defending his championship against a younger, undefeated contender who was supposed to represent one of his most difficult remaining challenges.

The most impressive part of his performance was the ability to remain composed during the grappling exchanges and recognize the moment when offense became available.

Another reminder that timing and positional awareness can be just as valuable as athleticism.

Petr Yan Wins the Final Chapter Against Merab

The co-main event had a completely different story: Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili entered their third fight with one victory each.

Their rivalry had already produced two important results, but this final meeting gave us the most competitive contest of the trilogy.

Merab started exactly as we expected. He pressured Yan relentlessly, forcing him to defend repeated takedown attempts and preventing him from establishing a comfortable striking rhythm.

After the first two rounds, things were looking difficult for the champion.

However, Yan gradually began to make adjustments.

His takedown defense became increasingly effective, and he started finding opportunities to attack Merab’s body during the striking exchanges.

By Round 3, the momentum was beginning to shift.

Yan was making Merab work harder for his wrestling attempts while finding more success with his own offense, as the fight progressed into the championship rounds, those changes became more significant.

The champion was now landing the cleaner strikes and forcing Merab to pay for his repeated entries.

After 25 minutes, all three judges scored the fight 48-47 for Yan, an impressive comeback.

What makes this performance so interesting is the relationship between defensive wrestling and striking opportunities.

Every defended takedown required Merab to expend energy without securing the control he wanted. As those attempts became less effective, Yan gained more freedom to establish his striking.

The defensive work gradually created the conditions for his offensive success. For a fighter facing someone with Merab’s relentless wrestling pressure, that is easier said than done.

With the victory, Yan successfully defended his bantamweight championship and brought the trilogy to a close.

More Names Worth Remembering From UFC 333

Beyond the championship fights, several fighters delivered impressive performances:

• Lone’er Kavanagh stopped Ramazan Temirov in the opening round, continuing his rise in the flyweight division.
• Aaron Pico defeated Losene Keita by first-round TKO, while Alexander Volkov earned a unanimous decision over Rizvan Kuniev at heavyweight.
• Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev also continued building momentum, finishing Nikita Krylov with a knee in Round 1.

It was a strong card from top to bottom, with several results likely to influence matchmaking over the coming months.

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🇺🇸🎃 Halloween Fight Night: Moicano vs. Nolan

The UFC closed October on Halloween night, with Renato Moicano facing rising Australian lightweight Tom Nolan. And Nolan certainly earned his biggest career victory the hard way, and with a controversy support.

Moicano began the fight by doing what he does best: He brought Nolan to the ground, established back control and repeatedly searched for the rear-naked choke.

The Australian spent much of the first round fighting hands, defending submissions and carrying Moicano’s weight. It was a difficult introduction to his first UFC main event.

Nolan began finding his striking range in Round 2, but Moicano still managed to take him down again and establish another dominant position with a body triangle.

Then came a controversial moment. Despite Moicano maintaining back control and secured dominant position, referee Dan Miragliotta stood both fighters up.

That decision immediately changed the situation.

Nolan took advantage of the restart, hurting Moicano with punches and coming close to finishing him before the round ended.

By the third round, Moicano had clearly absorbed significant damage.

He attempted another takedown, hoping to return the fight to his preferred territory. But this time, Nolan reversed the position, landed on top and attacked with punches and elbows until the referee stopped the fight at 1:28.

The result was a major breakthrough for Nolan, extending his winning streak to six.

There is also an important point worth acknowledging: the referee’s stand-up had a significant influence on the second round, and it should remain part of any discussion about the fight.

Still, Nolan deserves credit for surviving dangerous submission positions and taking advantage of the opportunities he eventually created. Especially against a grappler as experienced as Moicano, that kind of composure matters.

The co-main event also saw undefeated welterweight Jacobe Smith dominate Randy Brown through wrestling and top control, earning a unanimous decision with three identical 30-26 scorecards.

And with those results, October finally came to an end.

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Ending

October 2026 offered several different versions of what it means to win a difficult MMA fight:

Natalia Silva used movement and technical discipline to become champion.
Brendan Allen trusted his grappling when the striking exchanges were going against him.
Mike Malott found the perfect moment to punish an opponent entering his range.
Volkanovski turned competitive wrestling exchanges into a finishing opportunity.
Petr Yan spent two rounds dealing with Merab’s pressure before gradually taking control of the fight.