UFC Half-Year Awards: Magomedov Leads 2026 Newcomer Class

Murtazali Magomedov claimed top newcomer honors at the midway point of 2026 after finishing Melsik Baghdasaryan with a modified twister in his UFC debut, according to UFC.com's newly renamed Thomas Gerbasi Half-Year Awards announced this week.

The undefeated bantamweight needed just 77 seconds to lock up the rare submission and collect a Performance of the Night bonus. Magomedov landed on every ballot submitted by the voting panel, the only fighter to do so, and now sits at 11-0 with a perfect finishing rate. He became only the fourth fighter to hit a twister inside the Octagon.

Contender Series Class Dominates Newcomer Rankings

UFC.com placed undefeated flyweight Imanol Rodriguez second after his February debut finish of Kevin Borjas. Rodriguez trains with Daniel Cormier at The Academy following his run on The Ultimate Fighter 33, where he fell to Joseph Morales in the semifinals before earning his contract through the Contender Series.

Featherweight Rahiki took third with two UFC wins and two finishes in his first six months. The Moroccan-born fighter stopped Harry Hardwick in February after the Brit suffered a broken jaw, then finished replacement Ollie Schmid in Perth seven weeks later to move to 9-0 overall. Diego Diaz ranked fourth after submitting Malcolm Wellmaker in his debut, while Luis Gandra rounded out the top five with a 41-second knockout of Jose Daniel Medina.

All five honorees came from the Dana White's Contender Series Class of 2025. The awards carry the name of late UFC.com editorial director Thomas Gerbasi, who passed away in September. Magomedov's sophomore appearance has yet to be scheduled.

Source: ufc.com