Mixed Martial Arts is a sport where the majority of the fighters seem to have a short shelf life. There are always exceptions, but it's rare that a champion like Anderson Silva or Jon Jones, both kings in this sport until just recently, holds a belt for an extended period of time. Looking at several of the title-holders in the UFC right now, Conor McGregor and Joanna Jedrzejczyk were virtual unknowns just a couple of years ago. Rewind less than a decade, and Conor McGregor was training to be a plumber back in Dublin. Now, McGregor is one of the most recognizable fighters in the sport, while Jedrzejczyk appears poised to hang on to her strawweight belt for the foreseeable future. The bottom line is that many little-known fighters are going to be household names in the coming months and years. The fighters below, broken down by division, represent the future of the UFC.
Women's Strawweight
Tecia Torres: No one ever talks about Torres, but she is already a legitimate top-five fighter in the strawweight division. She stands only 5-foot-1, but Torres is a black belt in both karate and taekwondo and a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She has an undefeated professional record of 6-0, and the only concern is her lack of finishes (all six wins have come via decision). The only fighters in the strawweight division that I would pick over her right now are champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and top contender Claudia Gadelha. If Torres can defeat Michelle Waterson in December, she is going to be talked about as one of the top strawweight fighters in the world. That should already be happening.
Paige VanZant: The marketability of VanZant is off the charts. Of all the fighters in the UFC, she has the best chance to eventually turn into a Ronda Rousey-type star. As a fighter, her constant pressure and seemingly endless gas tank are her biggest strengths. We haven't seen a fighter yet who can keep up with the pace that PVZ sets. And the scary part is that she is still just 21 years old. Hopefully the UFC continues to take things slow with VanZant. It would be a shame to rush someone with so much potential.
Women's Bantamweight
Julianna Pena: Although no fighter has proven to be a significant challenge to current champion Ronda Rousey, the UFC's 135-pound female division has actually become fairly deep. Many of these fighters have been well known for an extended period of time, but remain stagnant in their quest for a belt. Pena has the potential to be the exception. A career-altering knee injury cost Pena over 16 months worth of action from November 2013 to April 2015, but she returned to pick up a first-round TKO win over Milana Dudieva. If Pena can finish the popular Jessica Eye next month, she is going to be on a short list for a title shot against Rousey.
Flyweight
Ray Borg: Borg dropped a split decision to Dustin Ortiz in his UFC debut in April 2014, but he has been unstoppable since. An elite wrestler and ground specialist, Borg has picked up 14 takedowns in just four UFC fights. It doesn't always make for the most entertaining fights, but it sure is effective. If Borg can develop his stand up game even a little bit, the 22-year-old is almost certainly a future title challenger in a thin division.
Henry Cejudo: Cejudo was offered a title shot against current flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson earlier this year and he turned it down. It was a wise call. Cejudo is a former Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, and that skill set alone will give him a chance to become a champion. He lacked experience at the time, however, as Cejudo only had nine MMA fights under his belt and was still learning the sport. "The Messenger" is now set to face Jussier Formiga, who is currently ranked as the No. 3 flyweight by UFC.com, in November. If Cejudo can handle Formiga, he is will probably be offered another title shot. It will be interesting to see if he thinks he is ready the second time around.
Bantamweight
Thomas Almeida: Almeida has a perfect 20-0 record as a professional, and is 3-0 since joining the UFC. His last fight against a more-than-respectable Brad Pickett in July was his most impressive performance. Almeida was dropped with a huge shot in the first round, and he very easily could have packed his tent and given up. The 24-year-old instead struggled through the round, and came back with a vengeance in round 2, destroying Pickett with a devastating flying knee to pick up the KO victory. Almeida's next opponent will be Anthony Birchak in November. It would have been easy to give him a higher profile opponent, but Almeida appears to be another huge prospect that the UFC is taking things slowly with.
Cody Garbrandt: Garbrandt is short on experience, but long on potential. He turned pro in 2012, so he has just seven professional fights under his belt. He made his UFC debut with an impressive TKO win over Marcus Brimage in January and followed that up with a unanimous decision win over Henry Briones in July. Garbrandt was a former wrestling state champion in high school and had a record of 32-1 as an amateur boxer. Training with the well-respected Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Garbrandt will be able to fine-tune his all-around game and jump on the fast track to being a potential title contender.
Chris Holdsworth: The only thing holding Holdsworth back is a lack of activity. He has been dealing with concussion-related symptoms since May 2014, but has seen his condition improve and still has aspirations of returning to relevancy in the division. The former Ultimate Fighter season 18 winner has earned five of his six career victories via submission. His ability to control a fight on the mat is virtually unmatched in the bantamweight division. Holdsworth also has the advantage of being 5-11, which is extremely tall for the 135-pound weight class.
Aljamain Sterling: "The Funk Master" is flying up the bantamweight rankings. He is already 3-0 in the UFC and is coming off a terrific performance in a submission win over Takeya Mizugaki in April. Sterling has since been linked to matchups with Urijah Faber and Bryan Caraway, but he doesn't have a fight currently scheduled. Fighting out of the Serra/Longo team on Long Island, Sterling is a terrific wrestler and his standup game is coming along. Out of the four bantamweight fighters profiled on this list, he just may be the closest to facing top-tier competition.
Featherweight
Makwan Amirkhani: Amirkhani has a heck of a back-story and is a terrific fighter. A native of Iran, Amirkhani grew up in Finland after his family left in the aftermath of the Iraq/Iran war. "Mr. Finland" made his UFC debut in January of this year and has picked up first-round stoppage victories in his first two fights with the company. Amirkhani's wrestling and submission games are, without a doubt, world class. All he needs to do is clean up his striking and he will be a force in the featherweight division.
Mirsad Bektic: Bektic is another guy who left his home country (Bosnia) to flee an ongoing war. He grew up in Germany before moving to the United States at the age of 10. Now 24, he was able to handle Chas Skelly, Paul Redmond and Lucas Martins in his first three UFC fights. In his next scheduled bout, he will get a step up in competition against Tatsuya Kawajiri in December. Bektic fights out of American Top Team and he is one of the few fighters on this list who have absolutely no weaknesses in their respective games. All Bektic needs is more experience. He may very well be the top young prospect in all of MMA.
Check back later this week for Part 2 of Jon's list of prospective title contenders, when he'll profile the lightweight through heavyweight divisions.
