With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from January 2026: Here are the nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for January.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
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Nominee: Jean Silva def. Arnold Allen at UFC 324
After suffering his first octagon loss in September, Jean Silva is back in the win column. He topped Arnold Allen to kick off the first main card of the Paramount+ era.
Silva (17-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) pick up an impressive unanimous decision victory over Allen (20-4 MMA, 11-3 UFC) in a fight with blood and some heavy exchanges. Silva created a viral moment, too, when in the closing seconds he “surfed” on Allen’s back and spring-boarded into celebration.
Nominee: Mauricio Ruffy def. Rafael Fiziev at UFC 325
Mauricio Ruffy vs. Rafael Fiziev was the high-level striking affair many had anticipated. In the end, Ruffy prevailed with a beautiful finish.
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The matchup of ranked lightweights was a competitive chess match while it lasted. Ruffy (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) found his opening in the second round and landed a huge right hand that put Fiziev on skates. He chased after him and eventually landed enough strikes to get the referee to jump in for the TKO stoppage at 4:30 of Round 2.
Alexander Volkanovski did it again and defended the featherweight title in his rematch with Diego Lopes.
Volkanovski (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) proved his decision victory in April 2025 was no fluke with a unanimous decision triumph over Lopes (27-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC), which marked the first defense in his second reign as 145-pound champ in an entertaining contest.
Justin Gaethje is once again the UFC’s interim lightweight champ, setting him up for a unification bout against Ilia Topuria after a drag-out fight with Paddy Pimblett.
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Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) and Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) put on an incredible battle. After the dust settled, the judges were unanimous, awarding Gaethje the winner with 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46 scores.
Pimblett got the action started with a few hard leg kicks and stiff punches upstairs. Gaethje quickly found his read, though, and began swarming with big punches. A clean right hand sat Pimblett down, and the swarm for a finish was on. Pimblett managed to keep Gaethje under control, and the fight returned to the feet. Gaethje kept the pressure high, smiling through Pimblett’s offense.
Gaethje framed with his left hand along the fence, getting his fingers in the eyes, causing a pause in the fight. Gaethje received a stern warning from referee Marc Goddard. On the restart, Gaethje closed the distance, initiating a heated exchange.
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Early in Round 2, Pimblett continued to chop away with leg kicks while circling on the outside. Gaethje kept marching forward, swinging with power shots once Pimblett neared the fence. After a snap-down front headlock, Gaethje resumed marching forward and dropped Pimblett again with a two-punch combo. Pimblett returned to his stool, bloodied and battered. On the replay, Gaethje got a finger in Pimblett’s eye with the left, before connecting with the right. No point was taken.
Pimblett did well to stay in the center of the cage to start Round 3, and as a result, the striking exchanges were more even. As the round wore on, it appeared Gaethje injured his right hand and was favoring it. Pimblett turned up the volume, but then the momentum was stopped by a switch knee that landed low. After a short pause, Pimblett continued to win most of the exchanges until the horn.
In Round 4, Pimblett came out with an aggressive approach, but was countered cleanly. Gaethje turned up the pressure, putting Pimblett on wobbly legs with clean punches. Even though he was in clear danger again, Pimblett managed to stay in the fight and even put together a nice flurry in the closing seconds.
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With the fight in Gaethje’s control heading into the final round, Pimblett needed to come up with a big moment. A big takedown attempt couldn’t get the fight to the ground. Still determined, Pimblett gave it everything he had in an attempt to finish the fight, but it just wasn’t in the cards.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month for January: Gaethje def. Pimblett
