Austin Bashi
Bantamweight | 21 | West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, US | 8-0 | 2 KO/TKOs, 1 Submission | Combined Opponent’s Record: 29-9
Bashi started off last year winning the Shamrock FC title and ended the year winning the Lights Out Championship title and won a fight in between. Beating Chris San Jose, Erion Zekthi, and Joe Penafiel all in one year is pretty good for small regional competitions. Outside of that he’s never lost as a pro and amateur and is arguably the best prospect out of the US. Bashi is very deserving of this opportunity and should be a main event if he was to get a Contender Series fight.
Fatima “The Archangel” Kline
Strawweight | 22 | Wappinger Falls, New York, US | 4-0 | 1 KO/TKO, 1 Submission | Combined Opponent’s Record: 8-1
Kline came to MMA from an extensive jiu-jitsu background. Kline is a BJJ black belt with much success in the sport. She may be new to MMA bet she’s looked great. Only 4-0 but Kline will be in the UFC one way or another so why not do it through Dana White’s Contender Series? Beating Sidney Trillo, Laura Gallardo, and Natasha Kuziutina are all dang good wins for a young pro. She could very well bypass the Contender Series and go straight to the UFC but it would be a good way to introduce her to a larger audience first.
