The future of the UFC’s lighter divisions appears to be very bright indeed.
A year has passed since the last time we counted down our top UFC rising stars under the age of 25. With 90% of that list now past the quarter-century mark, we decided to do an updated version highlighting some fresh talent in the world’s largest MMA promotion.
Before you complain, every fighter on this list has yet to reach their 25th birthday by October 26, 2017. So if you think we missed anyone, make sure that fighter is still 24 or under before informing us.
10. Aspen Ladd
The 22-year-old had a phenomenal promotional debut at UFC Gdansk to maintain her pristine professional record and extend her win streak to six. Our only criticism of her shrieking TKO victory over Lina Lansberg was that it was perhaps stopped a tad early by the referee.
BIG debut for @AspenLaddMMA!
Picks up the TKO win at #UFCGdansk pic.twitter.com/pyFJqPLEnK
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) October 21, 2017
9. Arnold Allen
The British youngster is undefeated under the UFC banner, having racked up three wins on the bounce. His last fight was a highly-entertaining grappling battle with fellow European rising star Makwan Amirkhani. Allen took pipped him to a split decision to extend his win streak to five.
8. Marc Diakiese
You know a fighter is desperately young if they walk out to Stormzy. After Googling who Stormzy is, we discovered that’s what’s down with the kids these days.
This kid from Doncaster has a habit of putting his opponents down with six of his 12 victories coming by way of knockout. Diakiese didn’t have the best performance of his career against Drakkar Klose in his last trip to the Octagon, but the former BAMMA champion has shown a lot of promise in his three UFC victories.
✅ Walk out to @Stormzy1
✅ HUGE "30-second" KO"Tell my man shut up…" @Marc_Diakiese is back tomorrow! 👊🇬🇧 👊 pic.twitter.com/rvFPh5Nyfw
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) July 6, 2017
7. Tom Duquesnoy
The ‘Fire Kid’ had a lot of hype surrounding him entering into the UFC as a two-weight world champion at BAMMA. He has yet to really live up to that promise, but it’s still early days. He had a good TKO victory in his promotional debut for the big leagues against Patrick Williams before dropping a split decision to Cody Stamann.
6. Brandon Moreno
Some really exciting fighters have emerged from Mexico over the last few years. Moreno is right up there at the top of the pile.
Moreno entered the promotion after being booted out of the Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions in the first round. He bounced back perfectly by winning three fights on the trot to solidify his position as one of the top contenders at 125 lbs. ‘The Assassin Baby’ may very well have earned himself a title eliminator had he not dropped that unanimous decision to Sergio Pettis.
FREE FIGHT: Watch @TheAssassinBaby burst on the scene with a stunning win over Smolka#UFCMexico pic.twitter.com/EmMV2FfBJT
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) August 3, 2017
5. Alexa Grasso
Another one of the highly-touted Mexican prospects. Grasso has a fan-friendly style centred around her striking game and, more often than not, it works. After suffering the first defeat of her career to Felice Herrig, she passed a very tough test by beating grappler Randa Markos to a split decision.
4. Ray Borg
This guy is one tough motherfucker. he amassed six UFC wins before he hit 24 before getting his crack at the great Demetrious Johnson. While he was completely outclassed by the P4P king, he hung in there for over four rounds before falling victim to the woefully-named ‘Mighty Whiz Bar.’
He’s only just turned 24 and he’s already fought the best. If he can learn from that experience and sort out his issues making weight, the future will be very bright for the ‘Tazmexican Devil.’
#UFC215 FREE FIGHT: @TazMexUFC's impressive win over Kelades pic.twitter.com/YM21n5fk5Y
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) August 30, 2017
3. Sergio Pettis
Let’s see how he does against Henry Cejudo first, but so far so good for the younger Pettis brother. Funnily enough, Sergio actually has the same number of wins (7) inside the Octagon as former lightweight champion Anthony. Admittedly, flyweight has far less depth than the 155 and 145 lb divisions, but Sergio has already surpassed prospect status to become a serious contender.
2. Ion Cutelaba
Since fighters like Nikita Krylov, Ryan Bader, Phil Davis and, for the time being, Jon Jones, have left the UFC’s light heavyweight division, it has been crying out for new talent. This Moldovan savage might just inject new life into this weak weight class.
Cutelaba doesn’t have the look, fighting style or record that your average 23-year-old fighter has. Although he’s 2-2 inside the Octagon, those losses came to Misha Cirkunov in his promotional debut, and to Jared Cannonier in a fiercely competitive battle. Absolutely no shame in losing to those two.
https://twitter.com/UFCTRVideos/status/885836478495981568
1. Darren Till
He was 10th on our first list, but that stunning first-round TKO victory over Donald Cerrone has catapulted him into the top spot. The Liverpudlian is undefeated in 17 contests and is being pegged by Dana White as the future of the welterweight division.
He reckons he’s the best striker in the UFC and considering that he’s in an absolute murderers’ row at 170 lbs, there are plenty of match-ups they can set up to see if his skillset matches his confidence. Pick anyone in that top 20 and it’s bound to be a great fight.
