Week 8 of the 2026 UFL season is here, and no teams are yet eliminated from the playoff race with 3 weeks left to play. The week will open with the Orlando Storm looking to keep their pace tied for first in the league on the road against the Dallas Renegades, who are looking to end a 4-game losing streak. The week will close out with the Columbus Aviators desperately needing a win on the road against the Birmingham Stallions, who currently hold the final playoff spot.
Matchup | Consensus | Writers’ Split |
Orlando Storm at Dallas Renegades | Dallas Renegades | 4–3 |
DC Defenders at Louisville Kings | DC Defenders | 5–2 |
Houston Gamblers at St. Louis Battlehawks | St. Louis Battlehawks | 7–0 |
Columbus Aviators at Birmingham Stallions | Birmingham Stallions | 4–3 |
This article is NOT gambling advice. If you do place bets, please do so responsibly and seek help if you have a gambling problem.
ORLANDO STORM at DALLAS RENEGADES
Friday, May 15 | 8:00 PM EDT | Phantom Warrior Stadium, Fort Hood, TX | FOX
The 5-2 Orlando Storm travel to face the 3-4 Dallas Renegades in a Friday night matchup. Dallas is coming off a hard fought loss to Birmingham 17-21 in overtime. Austin Reed still leads the league in passing yards with 1,526 and 13 touchdowns with 7 interceptions despite some recent drops in production.
Orlando is also coming off a game that came down to the final moment in a 24-23 win over Houston. Jack Plummer is 2nd in the league in passing yards with 1,472, accompanied by 12 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Writer's Pick: 57.1% Dallas Renegades
DC DEFENDERS at LOUISVILLE KINGS
Saturday, May 16 | 12:00 PM EDT | Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, KY | ABC
The DC Defenders will look to start up another winning streak after a tough 13-30 loss to Louisville at home ended a 5-game win streak. Now they will have a chance to immediately rematch Louisville and hand them a loss at home. Louisville needs to win now as they are in a 5-team pack racing for the 4th place playoff spot.
Jordan Ta’amu is third in the league in passing yards with 1,225 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions for DC.
Chandler Rogers is coming off a strong game against DC in which he completed 17 of his 26 passes for 201 yards with 2 touchdowns.
Writer's Pick: 71.4% DC Defenders
HOUSTON GAMBLERS at ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS
Saturday, May 16 | 3:00 PM EDT | The Dome at America's Center, St. Louis, MO | ABC
The 2-5 Houston Gamblers travel to face the 5-3 St. Louis Battlehawks Saturday afternoon. Houston dropped to 2-5 after a narrow 23-24 loss to Orlando and continues to struggle to get offensive consistency in a season impaired by quarterback injuries. Last week, Hunter Dekkers completed 24 of his 41 passes for 268 yards with 1 interception in his first appearance since week 2.
St. Louis is coming off a 31-20 home win over Columbus. Luis Perez made his first start of the season and did enough while the defense was elite once again. St. Louis is poised to be very dangerous when Luis Perez gets back into his rhythm.
Writer's Pick: 100% St. Louis Battlehawks
COLUMBUS AVIATORS at BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS
Sunday, May 17 | 1:00 PM EDT | Protective Stadium, Birmingham, AL | FOX
The 2-5 Columbus Aviators travel to face the 3-4 Birmingham Stallions Sunday afternoon. Columbus is coming off a 20-31 loss to St. Louis last week. Jalan McClendon is one of 4 quarterbacks to have started all 7 games, so far he has 1,225 passing yards and 8 touchdowns with 4 interceptions.
Birmingham picked up a critical overtime win over Dallas last week at home and currently holds the final playoff position. Birmingham holds critical tie breakers over Louisville and Dallas, who are also 3-4. Dorian Thompson-Robinson completed 12 of his 26 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown with 1 interception, making some nice plays along the way, and found the endzone on the ground to win the game in overtime last week. The Stallions control their own destiny right now and will host a desperate Columbus team twice before the season ends.
Writer's Pick: 57.1% Birmingham Stallions
Crown Holder 👑: St. Louis Battlehawks
The St. Louis Battlehawks stole the Crown with a 31-20 home win over Columbus in Week 7. They will host Houston in Week 8.Court Jester 🃏: Dallas Renegades
The Dallas Renegades remain the Court Jester after another tough road loss. They will host Orlando in Week 8.
If a team defeats the Crown Holder, they steal the Crown and become the new Crown Holder. If a team loses to the Court Jester, they become the new Court Jester, freeing the previous holder.