Next round of prospects

ZafroTexas

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Who are the next up and coming fighters that aren’t ranked yet in each division. I can’t really think of any except for maybe Bo Nickal(he may actually already ranked)Whose got a list of some fighters that will rise through the ranks in 2025.

I remember watching guys like Topurai early in his ufc career and knowing he was going to be a champion one day. I can’t think of anyone unranked now that’s going to rise through the ranks, whose got some?
 
Talbott and Silva seem to be the 2 main ones, Bo really didn't impress me last fight and his stock fell.

I'll throw in Morgan Charriere as a sleeper pick. Not the prettiest record or someone I expect to be champ but I could see as a quality top 10 fighter. I thought he should've won the Mariscal fight which would've put him at 4-0 in the UFC with 3 finishes.
 
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A lot of love for Payton Talbott, I need to go back and watch him fight clearly. Google story said he preferred going for MMA over wrestling in college where he was described as an accomplished record. From what I can see he was like 24-7 record as a senior in high school in Nevada (not a great wrestling State).

Unless he has out of this world natural striking it's hard for me to to think he could be a above average wrestler from America who reported didn't like watching or care about MMA until his senior year of high school and didn't have a youth background in striking or jitsu and yet at a young age is being viewed as a potential champ already.

I'll throw on some tapes I'm sure and change my mind I'm sure but.... by his reading the bio he doesn't have anything that jumps out as a young future champ status. (Also graduated college so increased odds he didn't have some rough upbringing to harden him).
 
A lot of love for Payton Talbott, I need to go back and watch him fight clearly. Google story said he preferred going for MMA over wrestling in college where he was described as an accomplished record. From what I can see he was like 24-7 record as a senior in high school in Nevada (not a great wrestling State).

Unless he has out of this world natural striking it's hard for me to to think he could be a above average wrestler from America who reported didn't like watching or care about MMA until his senior year of high school and didn't have a youth background in striking or jitsu and yet at a young age is being viewed as a potential champ already.

I'll throw on some tapes I'm sure and change my mind I'm sure but.... by his reading the bio he doesn't have anything that jumps out as a young future champ status. (Also graduated college so increased odds he didn't have some rough upbringing to harden him).
mods! Please erase me reading that.
 
FLW

Rei Tsuruya
Clayton Carpenter
Lone'er Kavanaugh

FW

Youssef Zalal
William Gomis
Joanderson Brito

LW

Ignacio Bahamondes
Esteban Ribovics
Chase Hooper
Daniel Zellhuber
Ismael Bonfim

WW

Gabriel Bonfim
Oban Elliott
Bryan Battle

MW

Bo Nickal
Shara Bullet
Rainier De Ridder (maybe)

LHW

Oumar Sy
Ibo Aslan
Rodolfo Bellato

HW

Kennedy Nzechukwu 2.0
Jhonata Diniz (maybe)

WFLW

Eduarda Moura
Tereza Bleda
Ernesta Kareckaite

WSW

Fatima Kline
Jacqueline Amorim
Piera Rodriguez
Melissa Martinez
Josefine Knutsson
 
Flyweight: Tagir - typical dagestani from khabib's crew, good wrestling against the fence, great BJJ, decent striking defense, I think he's the only interesting contender right now, Joshua Van is considered a prospect but he got ko'd by Charles Johnson and is small for the division so his wrestling and power isn't enough to crack top 5

Bantamweight - Talbott, very accurate and clean striking, 1 punch KO power at BW, good wrestling and variety of strikes. Omalley comparison seems fair considering their styles. I also think Montel Jackson is a good prospect, he has hands bigger than Ngannou in size and 1 punch ko power, he made a solid BW like Blackshear go to sleep in 20 seconds

Featherweight - Youseff Zalal

Lightweight - I was gonna say Orolbai but after his last performance it's probably Joel Alvarez, he ko'd klose and Brenner who are 2 of the best unranked LW's, his only loss recently is to Arman who is the 2nd best LW rn. I think Alvarez is like a better version of Jailin Turner, better IQ and finishing ability, better BJJ, better wrestling defense and variety of strikes

Welterweight - Michael Morales is the best, judo background and great BJJ, dominated magny and finished him in round 1, he's good everywhere and has a big frame for WW. I think he's better than Prates who's wrestling is still untested

Middleweight - I think Ikram is still someone to watch despire his last performance

Lightheavyweight - Mingyang Zhang - Chinese guy with nasty power and good boxing, destroyed his last 2 UFC opponents and has a record outside the UFC of entirely finishes

HW - Dead division, the only interesting unraked guy is Hamdy Abdelwahab who is a former olympian wrestler, he popped for roids and got banned for 2 years but he's coming back on the Izzy vs Imavov card, he has KO power and great wrestling, kind of like a discount DC
 
HW - Dead division, the only interesting unraked guy is Hamdy Abdelwahab who is a former olympian wrestler, he popped for roids and got banned for 2 years but he's coming back on the Izzy vs Imavov card, he has KO power and great wrestling, kind of like a discount DC
Danylo Voievodkin (maybe)

6'4, 265, 24 years old

He passed the eye test on Contender Series. You could tell what was going to happen within 5 seconds of the fight starting because his technique was so much better looking. And the guy he did it against was apparently considered a prospect.
 
I also think Montel Jackson is a good prospect, he has hands bigger than Ngannou in size and 1 punch ko power, he made a solid BW like Blackshear go to sleep in 20 seconds
Yeah he's a really gifted fighter. I rated Blackshear pretty highly.
Lightweight - I was gonna say Orolbai but after his last performance it's probably Joel Alvarez, he ko'd klose and Brenner who are 2 of the best unranked LW's, his only loss recently is to Arman who is the 2nd best LW rn. I think Alvarez is like a better version of Jailin Turner, better IQ and finishing ability, better BJJ, better wrestling defense and variety of strikes
Not sure how much longer Alvarez can make 155. He is gigantic. I'm very impressed with his skill set.
Welterweight - Michael Morales is the best, judo background and great BJJ, dominated magny and finished him in round 1, he's good everywhere and has a big frame for WW.
He's a beast. Future contender with champion potential.




I was going to say all of these guys, and Marcus McGhee, but they're all ranked.
Jackson is #15, McGhee is #14
Alvarez is #15
Morales is #12


They are all great fighters. Looking forward to seeing how far they can go.
 
Danylo Voievodkin (maybe)

6'4, 265, 24 years old

He passed the eye test on Contender Series. You could tell what was going to happen within 5 seconds of the fight starting because his technique was so much better looking. And the guy he did it against was apparently considered a prospect.
Yeah I was expecting Schoenfelder to roll right over him. That did not happen.

Voievodkin is legit, and Schoenfelder needs to cut to 205.
 
FLW

Rei Tsuruya
Clayton Carpenter
Lone'er Kavanaugh

FW

Youssef Zalal
William Gomis
Joanderson Brito

LW

Ignacio Bahamondes
Esteban Ribovics
Chase Hooper
Daniel Zellhuber
Ismael Bonfim

WW

Gabriel Bonfim
Oban Elliott
Bryan Battle

MW

Bo Nickal
Shara Bullet
Rainier De Ridder (maybe)

LHW

Oumar Sy
Ibo Aslan
Rodolfo Bellato

HW

Kennedy Nzechukwu 2.0
Jhonata Diniz (maybe)

WFLW

Eduarda Moura
Tereza Bleda
Ernesta Kareckaite

WSW

Fatima Kline
Jacqueline Amorim
Piera Rodriguez
Melissa Martinez
Josefine Knutsson
This guy gets it
 
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