MMA Fighting’s UFC Fantasy League is back for Season 5!
2026 is halfway over, which means it’s time to get drafting. If you’re new here, for the past couple of years, every six months, we do a UFC fantasy league, drafting 12 fighters across the 11 UFC weight classes in the hopes of claiming victory over our fellow MMA Fighting staffers.
Season 4 of this experiment wrapped up with UFC Baku, leaving a perfect off week for all six competitors to reset and refocus before drafting our Season 5 teams. Well, five of them anyway. Alexander K. Lee doesn’t need to reset anything, as he ran roughshod over the rest of the MMA Fighting staff en route to scoring the most points ever amassed in a season, largely thanks to Season 4 MVP Josh Hokit. Meanwhile, the race to the bottom was hotly contested in Season 4, but ultimately, Guilherme Cruz takes the Cone of Shame from Jed Meshew, meaning he gets first dibs in this season’s draft.
Congratulations to AK, Canada reigns supreme. Brazil, meanwhile, is looking to rebuild.
But now, on to new business! UFC 329 is right around the corner, and with it, the next season of the MMA Fighting UFC Fantasy Draft. The rules are the same as last time: this is not a daily fantasy league, but one that will play out over the next six months. Alexander K. Lee, Damon Martin, Guilherme Cruz, Jed Meshew, Mike Heck, and José Youngs draft teams of 12 fighters — one in each of the major weight classes and one wild card — with each fighter earning points for their team based on the scoring criteria below, with the season ending at the end of the year.
- +100 points for a win
- +50 points for a finish
- +50 points for a Performance of the Night or Fight of the Night bonus
- +50 points for beating an opponent in the UFC rankings
- +25 points for being in a title fight
- +25 points for being in a main event fight
Easy enough? We sure hope so.
Like last season, we’re doing a snake draft with draft positions decided by reverse finishing order from Season 4, and each player may designate two keepers from their previous team.
So without further ado, let’s get drafting!
Guilherme Cruz — Valter Walker, Paddy Pimblett
Heavyweight is a thin class this year, so Gui keeps a top-scoring heavyweight with a fight already on the books, and supplements that by boldly selecting “The Baddy,” who is an underdog to Benoit Saint Denis next weekend.
José Youngs — Umar Nurmagomedov, Carlos Prates
José keeps Nurmagomedov, who has a tough fight scheduled against David Martinez at UFC Abu Dhabi later this month, and could get a second fight in this season. He also retains Prates, who has been a reliable scorer, but has also suggested he might hold out for a title shot, which probably won’t happen this year.
Damon Martin — Islam Makhachev, Alexander Volkanovski
Damon retains two champions on his roster, locking him in for at least some points when they fight. Makhachev is currently set to face Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330, while Volkanovski is not booked, but is expected to fight Movsar Evloev sometime in the next few months.
Mike Heck — Gable Steveson, Iwo Baraniewski
Mike made a heads-up pick of Steveson last season under the belief that the Olympic gold medalist would fight at UFC White House. That didn’t happen, but he is booked for UFC 329 and will probably get another fight in this year. Baraniewski, meanwhile, got two quick finishes and two POTN bonuses in Season 4, and though he’s not booked now, should get at least one more fight this year.
Jed Meshew — Carli Judice, Fatima Kline
I’ve kept the same energy as last season, retaining the same two women as in Season 4, because they continue to deliver results. Well, Kline didn’t, but she’s booked against Tabatha Ricci this month and is a proven scorer, much like Judice, who is booked for August.
Alexander K. Lee — Kevin Vallejos, Gillian Robertson
Vallejos is one of the brightest prospects in all of MMA, and should be poised for a big opportunity over the next few months, while Robertson has a big opportunity already — a title shot against Mackenzie Dern at UFC 330.
Cruz — Max Holloway (wild card)
Martin — Mackenzie Dern
Heck — Dricus du Plessis
Meshew — Benoit Saint Denis
A lot of expected names off the board in the first round, with perhaps a few surprises. Gui immediately uses his wild card spot to take Holloway, who is heavily favored against Conor McGregor next weekend, and could fight again, too. José fills out heavyweight with the possible future undisputed champ. Damon backs Dern to beat Robertson — the first head-to-head pairing of the draft, going against AK. Mike believes DDP will beat Kamaru Usman in their main event fight. I feel like I was gifted BSD, who I expect will demolish Paddy Pimblett and then main event UFC Paris in September. And AK takes one of the few good women’s bantamweight options.
Martin — Erin Blanchfield
If wrestling matches counted, Tsarukyan would be the most valuable player in the league. Sadly, they don’t, so AK is hoping Tsarukyan gets his lightweight title shot this season. I believe Yañez is going to demolish Cody Garbrandt, and then maybe get another fight this year. Heck makes a crafty selection, picking highly-touted prospect Milosevic, who should demolish Hailey Cowan in August. Damon continues consolidating his women’s divisions with Blanchfield, the first non-champion he’s selected. José adds Vicente Luque at middleweight, as the finisher is booked against Tresean Gore. And Gui fills out his 205 spot with Nikita Krylov, who is booked against Robert Whittaker in his light heavyweight debut.
Martin — Khazmat Chimaev
Heck —Valentina Shevchenko
Gui takes Medic, who is currently booked for a main event against Daniel Rodriguez in a few weeks. José takes Silva, who is not yet booked, but like Prates, tends to deliver results. Damon believes Chimaev is going to get another crack at Sean Strickland and reclaim his middleweight title. Mike takes the women’s flyweight GOAT to keep on keeping on whenever she is booked against Natalia Silva. I finish the drill, bringing back Mesquita to run back the same women’s lineup as last season. And AK believes Aspinall will fend off Gane this time around,
Lee — Movsar Evloev (wild card)
Meshew — Lone’er Kavanagh
Youngs — Tatiana Suarez
Cruz — Christian Leroy Duncan
AK becomes the second to use his wild card spot, taking the possible future featherweight champion. I retain Kavangh’s services as he’s poised to bash Brandon Royval next weekend. Heck finishes out his women’s divisions with Thainara, an outright fade of Amanda Lemos. Damon picks Yan to retain his bantamweight title whenever he fights, adding to his team of champions. José keeps Tatiana Suarez on his team as good women’s selections are starting to dry up. And Gui picks CLD to beat up Jared Cannonier when they face off this month.
Cruz — Alessandro Costa
Youngs — Alexandre Pantoja
Gui takes Costa, who is a favorite against Cody Durden at UFC 329. José picks Pantoja to reclaim his flyweight title. Martin again adds to his team of champions and keeps the run on flyweights going. Mike picks Turner, who is booked against Kauê Fernandes at UFC 330. I take Luke Riley, who should throttle Kai Kamaka III next weekend. And AK rounds out the halfway mark with Sandhagen, who is booked in a tough fight with Mario Bautista this weekend.
Lee — Mansur Abdul-Malik
Abdul-Malik is booked against Dustin Stoltzfus at UFC 330 and should win emphatically. Smith is in a similar position against Kevin Holland in a couple of weeks. Lopes isn’t booked, but the man likes to fight as often as possible. Guskov is set to run things back with Jan Blachowicz. Grasso is also unbooked, but is a virtual certainty to compete at Noche UFC in September. Barbosa should run through Veronica Hardy in a couple of weeks.
Youngs — Magomed Ankalaev
Martin — Brando Pericic
Heck — Merab Dvalishvili
Meshew — Jiri Prochazka
Lee — Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev
Some contention here as Shi Ming has been fighting on Road to UFC cards, but if that happens again, we’ll allow it, I guess. Ankalaev is booked against Khalil Rountree at UFC Abu Dhabi. Pericic is unbooked but had a pair of good finishes in Season 4. Dvalishvili seems like he’ll be fighting Yan in a trilogy bout next. Prochazka is unbooked, but he’s always gas, plus, every team needs a crazy guy on it. Yakhyaev is coming off an easy mauling and probably gets another setup fight this year.
Heck — Conor McGregor (wild card)
Martin — Magomed Zaynukov
A lot more shots in the dark once we get this far into the draft. Coria is set to face Stewart Nicoll in a couple of weeks. Pinas should destroy Cesar Almeida this weekend. Zaynukov, AKA John Pork, is finally getting his UFC debut. José was running out of options, so he was kind of priced into taking Pereira on spec. Amanda Nunes will, theoretically, fight Kayla Harrison this year. But the big shocker is McGregor, who hasn’t fought in 5 years, and is a big underdog to Holloway.
Cruz — Charles Jourdain
Youngs — Quillan Salkilld
Martin — Michelle Montague
Heck — Myktybek Orolbai
Jourdain is not officially booked, but is rumored to be fighting Chito Vera in a few weeks. Salkilld was just booked to fight Mateusz Gamrot at UFC Vegas 120. Montague isn’t booked currently. Orolbai should continue to add to his win total against Jeremiah Wells. Kuniev fights Tyrell Fortune in a few weeks, in what is sure to be an awful thing to watch. Wang Cong is taking on Tracy Cortez next weekend.
Lee — Ian Machado Garry
Meshew — Anthony Hernandez (wild card)
Martin — Islam Dulatov (wild card)
Youngs — Ateba Gautier (wild card)
Cruz — Vinicius Oliveira
AK rounds out his roster by believing Garry will upset Makhachev at UFC 330. I believe “Fluffy” is going to survive early against Gregory Rodrigues and then overwhelm him late when they fight in August. Mike was so impressed by Almabayev’s win over Charles Johnson that he’s backing him to keep moving up the rankings. Damon picks Dulatov to bash Wellington Turman at the end of this month. José gets a steal in Gautier, who isn’t booked, but has been a guaranteed earner when he does fight. And Gui wraps up the draft by taking Lok Dog in his featherweight spot.
And there you have it! The fifth MMA Fighting UFC Fantasy Draft is in the books! A couple of surprises this season as nobody drafted Season 4 MVP Josh Hokit, nor runner-up Justin Gaethje. Also, middleweight champion Sean Strickland was left on the sidelines, too.
Who got snubbed, and which picks were reaches? Let us know in the comments, and vote on who you think takes the trophy this season below.
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