5 exciting up-and-comers who could break out in the UFC in 2018
With the level of fighter in the UFC now higher than ever, it’s becoming harder than ever for top prospects to succeed and make it to the top and into title contention, regardless of which division they’re fighting in.
Last year saw some fall (Misha Cirkunov and Yair Rodriguez, for instance), while others – such as Colby Covington, Kamaru Usman, and Volkan Oezdemir – certainly succeeded and rose right into the top ten of their divisions.
Who will make it through to the top this year? It’s always a tricky thing to predict, but here are five fighters I suspect we should be keeping an eye on.
#1 Mirsad Bektic
Bosnian ground-and-pound machine Bektic was already recognized as a top prospect going into 2017, and with a record of 11-0 – 4-0 in the UFC – it was expected that he’d rise into the top ten. It wasn’t to be though, courtesy of one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history from a true master of them in Darren Elkins. Bektic hasn’t fought since, but he’s scheduled to take on Godofredo Pepey this weekend in a key match for him.
If Bektic can get back on the horse and defeat Pepey – and really, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t, given the Brazilian’s defensive liabilities and tendency to leave himself wide open – then he should regain a lot of the ground he lost when he was stopped by Elkins. After all, Elkins is currently on one of the best winning streaks in the UFC and looks like a genuine contender.
And Bektic could still be a genuine contender, too, assuming he can stay injury-free. He’s got the kind of explosive physicality that can apparently ground any opponent, and when he gets on top of a foe he’s absolutely relentless with his strikes from the top. With 145lbs being a division in flux right now, Bektic could easily find himself in contention with two or three wins in 2018. Forget him at your peril.