2026 might as well be remembered as the year UFC rewrote its record books. From the year-opening card that marked the Paramount deal debut to the Freedom 250 card at the White House, the promotion has been setting new benchmarks never before seen in its history. Last month’s card at the T-Mobile Arena also joined that list. Headlined by Conor McGregor and Max Holloway, the event, despite its dramatic conclusion, achieved the rare distinction of producing seven opening-round finishes.

Yet, the McGregor show has already slipped into the background. The challenge came from far away, Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, where the UFC staged an event for the first time. With the main event bout between Uros Medic and Daniel Rodriguez also ending in the opening round, the event broke every previous record, not only for the highest number of first-round finishes but also for 86% of the fights ending inside the distance – the highest percentage in UFC history.

“This record stood for years. Now 2 of the last 4 events have had 8 first-round finishes. UFC Belgrade,” wrote Jed I. Goodman, who had earlier posted, “UFC Belgrade ties #UFC329 for the modern-era #UFC record for the most first-round finishes at a single event, with eight.”

That, however, was only part of the story because, when Goodman reported, the event was still winding down during the main card. By the end of it, the first-ever card in Serbia had racked up a record-breaking 10 first-round finishes, the highest ever for a UFC event in the modern era.

Goodman’s comments reflected how UFC Belgrade unfolded through the night. At Belgrade Arena, the card, headlined by Medic and Rodriguez, took a dramatic turn after the opening preliminary bout between Stephanie Luciano and Marina Spasic ended with a first-round submission.

The pattern continued over the next three fights until the bout between Bogdan Grad and Dennis Buzukja finally shifted to a second-round finish by Grad via arm-triangle choke.

The next fight between Borislav Nikolic and Mark Vologdin also proved an exception, going the full distance before Nikolic earned a unanimous win.

The penultimate preliminary fight between the Brazilian Michael Oliveira and Welshman Oban Elliot returned to the trend with another first-round finish before the final preliminary fight between Tofiq Musayev and Ludovit Klein, which extended into the second round. From there on, punctuated only by Aleksander Rakic’s unanimous victory over Marcin Tybura, every remaining main card bout, including the co-main event and the headliner, ended in the first round.

In comparison, the Conor McGregor-Max Holloway card produced seven first-round finishes.

Including the headliner between the two former champions and the co-main event fight between Paddy Pimblett and Benoit Saint-Denis, which ended less than a minute into the opening round, the event produced seven first-round stoppage victories.

The achievement becomes more remarkable in its historical context. The last UFC event to produce seven opening-round finishes came three years ago.

When the first round is all the UFC needed

In 2023, the UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. dos Anjos, or UFC Vegas 78, matched the mark with seven fights ending in the first round.

A year earlier, UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira produced the same feat. Held at Madison Square Garden and marking the first UFC meeting between the two legends, it tied the record for seven first-round stoppage victories. Before that, UFC Fight Night: Pettis vs. Moreno in 2017 also produced seven first-round finishes.

Earlier still, UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs. Henderson, or UFC Fight Night 68 in 2015, also reached seven first-round finishes. A year before that, UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bisping, or UFC Fight Night 55, featured five bouts that ended in the opening round.

Taken together, with all but two of its fourteen scheduled fights ending inside the distance, the record set at UFC Belgrade might prove difficult to surpass and could stand for years.

For the UFC, which is expanding into uncharted territories, it could hardly have asked for a better showcase, one that kept the spectators on the edge of their seats from start to finish.