Featherweight, Ilia Topuria (11-0)
Topuria is someone that has had the attention of fans for a while. So far he’s beat Youssef Zalal in his debut, knocked out veteran Damon Jackson, and knocked out TUF 22 winner Ryan Hall. He’s a Greco-Roman wrestler with a jiu-jitsu black belt who has surging striking. His grappling is his bread and butter and the wrestling to get to that point has been perfect. Not just a wrestler/grappler at all as he has some pop in his hands and goes body-head so well. No doubt Topuria will be ranked if he stays healthy.
Lightweight, Damir Ismagulov (23-1)
Damir Ismagulov was the M-1 Challenge lightweight champion before signing with the UFC in late 2018. Ismagolov isn’t really talked about among all the rising up-and-comers and he’s quietly gone 4-0 for the promotion. Mainly the reason is that he hasn’t fought much. Highlighted wins in the octagon are Joel Alvarez and Thiago Moises that look really good. Talent-wise he’s going to be a problem in the division being able to do it all.
