It’s a new year, and that means a wide-open slate full of potential for big UFC fights.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is as big a fight fan as anyone, and has his own wishlist of fights for 2026. Among them are the long-awaited return of “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and at least one more appearance from Jon Jones. Others are relevant title matchups and rematches, one including his close friend and training partner, Merab Dvalishvili.
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Check out Sterling’s list below, along with his thoughts on why they are important matchups to take place in the year ahead (via Sterling’s YouTube video).
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“The final unification of the heavyweight division, to give us some clarity on who’s really the best heavyweight in the UFC, ’cause it’s still one guy missing in (Francis) Ngannou – the one that got away. But for the UFC, Jon Jones vs. Tommy Aspinall. Big fight, should have happened. A lot of people said Jones was ducking, a lot of people said all these things. He didn’t want the smoke, he’s too young and hungry, and I disagreed.
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“I thought it was a dangerous fight, but a very winnable fight, just because there was so many question marks about Tommy Aspinall, who is a phenomenal talent, but you’re talking about one of the greatest of all time, despite all of the other stuff that people have mentioned, like with PEDs and whatnot.”
Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili 3
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 06: Petr Yan (R) punches Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia in a bantamweight title bout during UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena on December 06, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
“I would just love to see this fight in 2026, hopefully, sooner rather than later. When I say that, meaning neither of these guys have to take a fight in between the trilogy. That’s where I’m at for that. I think that would be a great fight, because both of them had – the first one was a landslide Merab. No one scored that other than a 50-45, and then you had the rematch where one judge, even myself, I had it 3-2. Just depending on which way, however you’re looking at it.
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“There were some parts in the fight you don’t really remember when you’re watching, you’re in the corner, you’re in the moment, and you’re kind of like, ‘I think we got that round.’ But you’re not sure. I thought 3-2 was closer than what it should have been in comparison to the two judges that had it 49-46. So, relatively a close back-and-forth battle, with Yan looking better in most instances, most exchanges. So, I’ll give him that, but it makes it very exciting for a trilogy fight to see how that fight would play out, who’s gonna win the rubber match. … a lot of history, man.”
Michael Chandler vs. Conor McGregor
“People are gonna call me crazy for this, but this man has gone on a spiritual journey, and I would love to see Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler finally happen 20 years later. This is the year. … (McGregor) seems like he’s in a better place now. Chandler just had that big win over Chad Mendes at RAF, so it seems relatively positive. I’m just hoping that he does what he says he’s gonna do and comes back, and gives us one more – gives us a vintage Conor McGregor performance.”
“… I’d like to see it. Hopefully, this is not with grey hairs by then. Their kids might fight before they fight.”
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“For me, another big one, it has to be Arman (Tsarukyan) vs. (Ilia) Topuria. This has to happen. One got away when Islam (Makhachev) went up a weight class, won the belt, now we got another top contender. I would have loved to have seen Islam vs. Arman before he went up, but unfortunately, the ‘backgate’ happened. This is where we’re left with a little bit of a mess, right? So, hopefully that fight does happen, and we get to see who is the pound-for-pound guy at 155.
“It’s a tough matchup, too. I really can’t call it. I think Arman is smart enough on the feet defensively, and uses great lateral footwork, where it would be harder to trap him against the cage. And then I think we get to see glimpses of Ilia’s grappling and we get to see some forced exchanges. Maybe the fight goes into the later rounds, Rounds 4 and 5, and we get to see some real championship caliber fight IQ when both guys are a bit tired. Who’s gonna dig deep and get that win?”
“(Kyoji) Horiguchi vs. – I wanted it to be (Alexandre) Pantoja, but now at this point, he’s not the champ, but that’s who I would want to see: Pantoja vs. Horiguchi. Two teammates and training partners that said they would fight each other for the belt. I’m here for it. … I said I would never do that type of thing. I’m not against it. I’m not against it at all.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Former UFC champ’s 2026 wish list includes Conor McGregor return
