ESPN Gives UFC Lightweight, Men’s Flyweight A+ Midyear Grades for 2026

Q: Can returning GOAT Amanda Nunes single-handedly rescue the UFC’s F-rated women's bantamweight division?

No. Amanda Nunes can revive interest in women’s bantamweight, but she cannot by herself fix the division’s deeper problems. The case for her impact is obvious. Nunes remains the division’s biggest name and the sport’s most accomplished women’s fighter. Her expected title fight with Kayla Harrison is one of the few matchups that can immediately draw mainstream attention, lift pay-per-view value and give the weight class a clear marquee event. In a division ESPN graded an F because established names are fading and the new wave has not connected, that matters. But the same reporting makes clear why one star is not enough. The division’s weakness is structural: thin depth, low activity and limited momentum beyond the top. Even with Nunes back, the class still needs active contenders, meaningful matchmaking and fresh names who can win consistently and build followings. A single super fight can change perception for a night; it does not create a healthy contender pipeline. The Harrison injury underlines that point. Their bout was already postponed once, showing how fragile the division’s revival is if it depends on one matchup. If Nunes beats Harrison and leaves again, the UFC is back where it started. If Harrison wins, that helps more long term only if the promotion quickly builds challengers around her. So Nunes can be the catalyst, not the cure. She can rescue the division’s visibility in the short term, but the UFC must do the real rebuilding work afterward.

1 articles · Updated · ESPN · Jul 1

ESPN’s midyear 2026 UFC review put lightweight and men’s flyweight alone at A+, citing the strongest mix of fight quality, depth and activity through the first half.
Lightweight earned top marks behind Justin Gaethje’s two fight-of-the-year contenders, including his fourth-round stoppage of Ilia Topuria, while men’s flyweight was driven by 24-year-old champion Joshua Van and Manel Kape’s recent finish of Kyoji Horiguchi.
Middleweight and featherweight landed solid B grades, with ESPN highlighting Sean Strickland-Khamzat Chimaev, Volkanovski’s title run at age 37 and a growing pool of contenders.
Several divisions were dragged down by injuries or inactivity: light heavyweight got a D after Carlos Ulberg won the belt but tore his ACL, men’s bantamweight had no title fights, and women’s strawweight and flyweight lacked appearances from top names.
Women’s bantamweight ranked last with an F despite a likely Kayla Harrison-Amanda Nunes rebooking, underscoring ESPN’s broader view that 2026 has produced elite action in some UFC classes but sharp imbalance across the roster.