The Knockouts | 2026 Half-Year Awards

A swift one-two from the Mexican southpaw landed clean, but Barber wore it well, continuing to press forward when Grasso reloaded and refired, the straight left spinning Barber to the canvas in an awkward position, out cold, before the former flyweight champion seized her neck and squeezed, making certain the fight was finished as referee Mike Beltran came charging in to halt the action.

Just as Mario Bautista’s transition in his finish of Vinicius Oliveira was a thing of beauty and something coaches should watch with their charges, this too was masterful, as Grasso wasted no time going from landing the fight-ending blow to ensuring Barber was not getting back to her feet, registering a vicious “club and sub” finish where the submission part of the combo wasn’t even needed.

2. Uroš Medić vs Geoff Neal

The second consecutive “southpaw versus southpaw” battle to make this list, Neal represented a step up in competition for the ascending Serbian, who had rebounded from a knockout loss at the start of 2025 with consecutive first-round knockout wins of his own to climb into the rankings.

WATCH: Uroš Medić Post-Fight Interview | UFC Houston

The welterweights spent the first 40 seconds moving around with each other, trying to read distance and timing, neither throwing anything with the intention to land before Neal was the first to push in and look to connect. They traded kicks to the body and the occasional punch as Medic looked to initiate more offense, getting Neal moving backward momentarily, only for the Fortis MMA product to then charge ahead and get hit with a portion of a right hand for his efforts.

That hook backed Neal off and Medic went in pursuit, leading to the two men standing their ground and starting to trade. Neal threw a couple shots in close that were blocked and parried, while Medic did the same, extending his output and landing a massive left hook from Neal’s blind side as the Texan was trying to find another shot to throw.

Neal crashed backwards and Medic rightfully walked it off; his winning streak extended to three and his place in the top 15 solidified.

3. Carlos Ulberg vs Jiri Prochazka

The bronze medalist through the first six months came in April, when Carlos Ulberg snatched the vacant UFC light heavyweight title from the clutches of Jiri Prochazka at UFC 327 in Miami.

RELATED: Carlos Ulberg On The Road To Recovery

Early in the opening round, Ulberg clearly suffered a knee injury and was struggling to move properly around the Octagon. Prochazka was clearly aware of the injury as his adversary from New Zealand took several unsteady steps and buckled at different times, both from being kicked and just simply trying to backup into space and avoid punishment. To his credit, Ulberg remained locked in and looking to fire, knowing that if he didn’t end things before the first round expired, he wouldn’t be allowed to continue, and his championship dreams would have to be put on hold.

With just under 90 seconds remaining in the frame, Ulberg tried to backup quicker than his knee would allow and instead stumbled back towards the fence, prompting Prochazka to come forward in pursuit. Ulberg circled out to his left and the former champion followed, doing his signature “up and down” feinting as he looked to engage.

One left hook was all it took.

Ulberg found Prochazka’s chin and sent him crashing to the canvas, instantly pouncing and pounding out the finish, “winning the title on one leg” as Jon Anik said on the broadcast. This was such an incredible display of focus and resilience in the face of near-certain defeat from “Black Jag” and the kind of effort that also needs to be discussed and dissected by coaches and athletes together.

4. Carlos Prates vs Jack Della Maddalena

We talk about fighters that lack distinct one-punch power but still produce finishes routinely as taking a “death by a thousand cuts” approach, but what do you call it when a southpaw sniper with the ability to end things with a single clean blow puts away a former champion with a non-stop barrage of powerful, highly impactful shots?

WATCH: Carlos Prates Post-Fight Interview | UFC Perth

I think we should call it “Pulling a Prates” because that’s exactly what “The Nightmare” did to Jack Della Maddalena in May, in his own backyard no less.

From the outset, Prates’ power and variety were problems for the Perth man, as the Brazilian chopped away at his legs with heavy kicks, picked at Della Maddalena with his jab and left hands while mixing in knees and elbows in tight, eventually leaving the Australian searching for answers and struggling to have any significant success.

Prates started piling up the punishment and taking full control of the fight in the final 90 seconds of Round 2, a stepping knee to the chin kicking things off before chopping Della Maddalena’s leg out from under him just before the horn. As they came out to start the third, the Fighting Nerd stayed on the gas, busting the former champion up and hurting him multiple times before cutting him down with another low kick and smashing out the finish.

Just a scary-good performance from Prates to extend his winning streak and cement his standing as a legitimate threat in the 170-pound weight class. 

5. TIE: Iwo Baraniewski vs Austen Lane, Melquizael Costa vs Dan Ige, and Rodolfo Bellato vs Luke Fernandez

Each of these finishes earned five points in our voting, so we’re going to speed-run through them here.

Baraniewski has been the less-talked-about light heavyweight menace to emerge from Season 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series compared to Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev, but the Polish judoka has been no less impressive. After winning his debut last December in Las Vegas, he ventured to London in March and dusted Lane in 26 seconds to move to 8-0 and claim another Performance of the Night bonus; he’s since added a third straight first-round win and post-fight bonus to his resume.

Costa came into the year as one of the hottest fighters on the roster and looked to capitalize on that in Houston in late February when he was paired off with Ige, a veteran stalwart in the division who had never been knocked out. “The Dalmatian” changed that by hitting Ige with a spinning back kick as he dropped his level, taking the impact flush to the face. While he’s since dropped a decision to Arnold Allen, Costa remains a top 15 talent and one to continue keeping tabs on in the featherweight division.

Bellato came into his UFC 326 assignment having gone 1-1-1 with one no contest in his first four UFC appearances, while Fernandez was undefeated, having won his DWCS appearance the previous October in just 15 seconds. After a couple minutes of give-and-take in the March numbered event opener, Bellato landed a short-left hand in close that sat Fernandez down, opening the door for the Brazilian to chase down a finish.

Others receiving votes: Kai Asakura vs Cameron Smotherman, Bo Nickal vs Kyle Daukaus, Lerryan Douglas vs Julian Erosa, Quillan Salkilld vs Beneil Dariush, Diego Lopes vs Steve Garcia, Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev vs Julius Walker, Alice Pereira vs Hailey Cowan, Cam Rowston vs Cody Brundage, Mauricio Ruffy vs Rafael Fiziev, Terrance McKinney vs Kyle Nelson, Joshua Van vs Tatsuro Taira, Justin Gaethje vs Ilia Topuria, Gregory Rodrigues vs Brunno Ferreira, Waldo Cortes Acosta vs Derrick Lewis, Manoel Sosa vs Bolaji Oki