If things go his way, Justin Gaethje will receive another honor this year. Less than two weeks after ‘The Highlight’ caused a massive upset by violently beating the lightweight champion Ilia Topuria at the UFC Freedom 250 event to become the new undisputed lightweight champion, the Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the 37-year-old is now nominated for ESPN’s 2026 Fighter of the Year ESPY award.

Gaethje is one of four combat sports athletes nominated for the prestigious award and the sole representative from MMA. Joining him on the shortlist are boxing’s three-division undisputed champion Terence Crawford, women’s undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora, and women’s undisputed champion across three weight classes Claressa Shields.

The award recognizes accomplishments from July 1, 2025, through June 1, 2026. Excluding Crawford, who only fought once, the other three nominees competed twice during that period. ‘The Highlight’ defeated Paddy Pimblett to capture the interim lightweight title before facing Ilia Topuria in the biggest combat sports event in recent memory, which also saw him beat incredible odds to secure the win.

Crawford, even though he fought only once during that period, faced incredible odds against Canelo Alvarez. Pegged as a massive underdog ahead of the bout, many expected him to lose the megafight against Canelo due to his age, as well as his coming from a lower weight class. Still, he utterly dominated the Mexican boxing great to become the undisputed super middleweight champion in September last year. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Gabriela Fundora, during this time, defended her undisputed flyweight titles twice, knocking out both her opponents.

Claressa Shields, in the meantime, also fought twice to defend her undisputed heavyweight status, scoring two unanimous decisions. Purely based on the fights in the period and the quality of opponents, it’s undeniable that UFC’s Justin Gaethje should be the one to receive the Fighter of the Year award, given that, like Crawford, he was the heavy underdog going up against an undefeated knockout artist and the significantly older fighter going into the bout. And he got the win on the biggest night in UFC history. So a win here would be a good way to cap off that achievement. But that decision is up to the jury.

Notably, Crawford has won the award twice before in 2018 and 2024, while Shields won it in 2023. And like Gaethje, Fundora is yet to win one. Also, remember that between 2019 and 2025, the Fighter of the Year award was split into two: Best Boxer and Best MMA Fighter. However, ESPN has now reverted to a single combined award. 

Voting for the award is currently underway. The ceremony will take place at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Fans can watch the event live at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, with a simultaneous livestream available on the ESPN app.

If you were wondering, which MMA fighters won the award in the past few years, there are several names from the UFC.

Justin Gaethje could join a list of MMA legends

Between 2019 and 2025, several UFC fighters have managed to pick up the best MMA Fighter of the Year award. Daniel Cormier won the award in 2019, Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2021, Charles Oliveira in 2022, Jon Jones in 2023, Sean O’Malley in 2024, and Merab Dvalishvili in 2025.

But winning the award was an even tougher challenge before 2019, as boxers were also in contention for the same award. Despite the stiff competition, some MMA fighters did manage to clinch the honor: Ronda Rousey in 2015, Conor McGregor in 2016, and Demetrious Johnson in 2017. 

Prior to 2015, boxers mostly dominated the award, but MMA legends like Randy Couture and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson were nominated in 2007. Meanwhile, Georges St-Pierre was nominated in 2008. Former five-division champion Floyd Mayweather had won the award in both 2008 and 2007. Anderson Silva, too, was nominated three times, in 2009, 2012, and 2013.

That said, despite delivering two impressive victories during the eligibility period, Justin Gaethje faces stiff competition for this year’s ESPYs. If he wins, it’ll be another feather on the cap of this UFC veteran.