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UFC® AND META UNVEIL META UFC RANKINGS

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UFC offers innovative approach to athlete rankings with new Meta UFC Rankings.

June 22nd, 2026

UFC®, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization and a subsidiary of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), alongside its Official Fan Technology Partner, Meta, today announced the introduction of Meta UFC Rankings – a new athlete evaluation system transforming how fighters are assessed; offering fans, athletes and media, an objective, data-driven view of the sport’s competitive landscape. The introduction of Meta UFC Rankings builds upon Meta and UFC’s shared commitment to elevating the fan experience through innovative technology.

As of June 22, 2026, the UFC will begin the transition of its official rankings from the traditional media panel towards Meta UFC Rankings, offering an innovative new approach to rankings determined entirely by fight data. In close collaboration, the two organizations came together to develop a new methodology for an objective and clear UFC athlete ranking system that fans and athletes can understand and trust.

“I’ve been unhappy with the rankings and always believed there had to be a better way,” said UFC President and CEO Dana White. “We’ve always been a company that runs toward technology and innovation and now we’ve worked with Meta to integrate it directly into our rankings system. I’m excited to see how this innovation can help change the sport for both the fans and the athletes.”

“I’m excited to work with Dana and the UFC to build a system that analyzes fighter performance at a much deeper level, helping create more transparent and accurate rankings,” said Meta Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

Meta UFC Rankings will be automatically calculated and updated by Monday following every official UFC event. To determine individual athlete ranks, the system combines statistical modeling and machine learning with the deep domain expertise of the UFC. It evaluates a comprehensive set of objective metrics, including outcome probability, win type, fighter trajectory, and weight-class sensitivities.

Not all wins or losses are treated equally: Under the Meta UFC Rankings, beating a higher-ranked opponent carries more weight than defeating a lower-ranked one, and a dominant finish against a Top 5 ranked contender is a stronger signal than a close decision over an unranked opponent. The system also accounts for recency, with more recent fights carrying greater weight while applying inactivity penalties for fighters who go extended periods without competing. By relying exclusively on measurable fight data, the Meta UFC Rankings ensure a fighter’s placement accurately reflects their true competitive performance inside the Octagon – nothing else.

By introducing these advanced metrics, the Meta UFC Rankings deliver the most consistent and clear assessment of fighter placement available today. This consistent, data-informed approach is designed to foster greater fan engagement and debate, providing a neutral and sophisticated benchmark for comparing the world’s best athletes. Meta UFC Rankings can be viewed at ufc.com/rankings.

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About UFC®

UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization (MMA), with more than 700 million fans and approximately 363 million social media followers. The organization produces more than 40 live events annually in some of the most prestigious arenas around the world while distributing programming to an estimated 1 billion broadcast and digital households across 210 countries and territories. UFC’s athlete roster features the world’s best MMA athletes representing more than 75 countries. The organization’s digital offerings include UFC FIGHT PASS®, one of the world’s leading streaming services for combat sports. UFC is part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC and @UFC on X, Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok: @UFC.

Press Releases

Palace Miami Beach Is Going All Out for LGBTQ+ History Month

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Drag brunches, rooftop parties, a Courage Wall, Halloween chaos and meaningful moments of community are taking over Ocean Drive this fall.


October 1, 2026

There are some places in South Florida that just feel like Miami, and Palace is absolutely one of them.

The drag. The music. The brunch. The people walking down Ocean Drive who suddenly realize they’re part of the show. If you’ve been, you know.

But Palace Miami Beach has also spent nearly four decades being something much bigger than a fun place to spend a Sunday afternoon. For generations of South Florida’s LGBTQ+ community, it has been a place to show up, be seen, find your people and celebrate exactly who you are.

And this October and November, Palace is leaning into all of it.

For LGBTQ+ History Month, the Ocean Drive icon is rolling out nearly two months of events that somehow manage to include drag, dating, voter registration, comedy, rooftop pool parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving and some genuinely meaningful community moments.

It is a lot. In the best possible way.

First Up: Love, Drag and a Very Palace Start to October

October 1 kicks things off with Love Is a Drag, Palace’s first singles dinner club and networking mixer.

Because apparently even dating is more fun with Palace involved.

Guests can meet over dinner, drinks and conversation before the evening rolls right into Welcome to the Family: Drag Turnabout, a three-night event where Palace staff get their own full drag transformations and compete onstage. Poizon Ivy Lords, CC Glitzer and Tiffany Fantasia will each host a night from October 1 through 3.

Already, we’re off to a very strong start.

But what we really like about this entire lineup is that Palace isn’t treating LGBTQ+ History Month as just another reason to throw a party. The parties are definitely happening, but there’s purpose behind them too.

Throughout October, Palace will host nonpartisan voter registration and civic engagement events, with Miami Beach commissioners joining Tuesday programming throughout the month. The goal is simple: make it easy for people to get registered, find voting resources and connect with local leaders in a space where they’re already comfortable gathering.

We love that.

The Courage Wall Might Be Our Favorite Part

Then comes October 11, National Coming Out Day, and this is where the calendar gets especially meaningful.

At exactly 10:11 a.m., Palace will unveil The Courage Wall, a community installation built around one sentence:

“I found the courage to…”

That’s it.

Guests get to decide how the sentence ends.

Maybe it’s coming out. Maybe it’s finally being yourself. Maybe it’s supporting someone you love, leaving something behind, starting over or speaking up when it would have been easier not to.

There’s something really lovely about taking all of those individual stories and putting them together in one place.

Later that day, Palace is teaming up with SAVE for a special National Coming Out Day Drag Brunch bringing together Palace performers, community members, supporters and local leaders. A featured cocktail during the weekend will also benefit SAVE.

And because emotional reflection and a rooftop pool party can absolutely exist on the same day in Miami, Palace will also host its National Coming Out Day Rooftop Pool Party from noon to 10 p.m. with DJs Jesus Montanez and Jrny.

Honestly, that’s kind of the whole Palace experience in one day.

 

And Then Palace Goes Full Halloween

Before we even get to Halloween, there’s Love Out Loud Weekend from October 16–18, celebrating couples, friends, allies and chosen families.

Then Tiffany Fantasia is taking over the rooftop on October 23 for the debut of Laughs on Top: Tiffany & Friends, a new monthly comedy series. South Florida comedian and actor Lisa Corrao joins the first show.

And then things get wonderfully ridiculous.

From October 26 through November 1, Palace transforms into Camp Palace: The Final Slay.

Yes, that’s the real name. No notes.

The week includes Deadly Dolls, Secrets from the Crypt, Slasher Night, Noche de los Muertos and The Final Girls before everything culminates with The Final Slay on Halloween night. Expect drag, costumes, themed entertainment, cocktails, food and exactly the amount of Halloween drama you’d hope for from Palace.

Palace isn’t even staying in Miami Beach for the night. The team is also heading to Wilton Manors to produce Halloween entertainment at Wicked Manors, complete with its own Mayhem Masquerade programming and costume competitions.

November Brings an Important Moment of Visibility

Once Halloween is over, Palace shifts the focus.

Transgender Awareness Week runs November 13–19, followed by Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, and Palace will use its programming to highlight transgender talent, visibility and community.

On November 20, Palace will host a special Transgender Day of Remembrance Brunch featuring an all-trans cast.

This one isn’t simply another themed brunch.

The event is designed to create space for performance and visibility while also making room for remembrance and reflection. A portion of the proceeds will benefit a local trans-inclusive organization.

Later that evening, Laughs on Top returns with comedian Brad Loekle.

Oh, and There’s Food. Obviously.

Palace’s fall isn’t only about what’s happening onstage.

The culinary team heads to Lummus Park on October 24 for Seafood Slam at the South Beach Seafood Festival, while Palace’s seasonal menu gets very into fall with a Pumpkin Espresso Martini, Harvest Pumpkin Margarita, Pumpkin & Burrata Arepa, Brown Butter Pumpkin Gnocchi and seasonal desserts.

November keeps going with an Official Latin GRAMMY Watch Party in partnership with Gilead on November 12 and, because Miami apparently needed this and we just didn’t know it yet, a Coffee Party with Oscar G on November 23.

Then Thanksgiving week brings the whole season back to one of its sweetest themes: chosen family.

Palace is planning Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving dining centered around turkey, traditional holiday favorites and a table meant for friends, relatives and the families we create for ourselves. Thanksgiving weekend closes with a November 27 rooftop pool party featuring DJ Oscar Velazquez.

This Is Why Palace Is Still Palace

What makes this lineup fun isn’t just that there is so much happening.

It’s that somehow it all makes sense together.

You can register to vote and then watch a drag show. You can write something deeply personal on the Courage Wall and spend the afternoon dancing on a rooftop. You can remember people the community has lost while also celebrating the people who are here.

That’s what LGBTQ+ spaces have always been capable of being: joyful and serious, loud and safe, ridiculous and meaningful, sometimes all at once.

After nearly four decades on Ocean Drive, Palace seems to understand that better than most.

As General Manager AJ Prasaguet put it, Palace has always been about more than what happens on its stage. It’s also about the people who walk through the doors and find community there.

And this fall?

They’re giving everyone plenty of reasons to walk through those doors.

Keep Up With Palace

With this much happening over the next two months, there’s a pretty good chance Palace will give us even more reasons to head to Ocean Drive.

Follow @palacesobe on Instagram and visit the Palace Miami Beach website for the latest events, reservations, performers and everything else they have coming up.

And if October and November are any indication, we have a feeling there’s still more to come.

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