Welcome to Year 10 of the annual “Prospects the UFC Should Sign” series, in which we’ll examine five MMA prospects per division the UFC should sign in the upcoming year.
This series started during my time as a writer for Bleacher Report, continued through my tenures at Today’s Knockout and FanSided, and now it stays alive another year here at Combat Press.
Let’s examine the women’s flyweight division, a more recent addition to the UFC. It’s been inhabited by fighters who have departed the strawweight and bantamweight divisions, but it could easily add even more depth by adding existing flyweights from outside of the promotion.
In picking these prospects, I’ll try my hardest to stay away from fighters who are currently in top organizations, such as ONE Championship or the Professional Fighters League, but a couple may pop up. In the past, I’ve had some great picks on the list, and some that haven’t worked out. Below are the previous year’s selections, followed by the five men the UFC should offer roster spots to in the coming year.
2018: Molly McCann, Ariane Lipski, Sabina Mazo, Silvana Gomez Juarez, Karina Rodriguez*
2019: Lara Procopio, Melissa Gatto, Mariya Agapova, Brogan Walker, Stephanie Geltmacher
2020: Mariya Agapova, Victoria Leonardo, Miranda Maverick, Mandy Bohm, Mabelly Lima
2021: Manon Fiorot, Erin Blanchfield, Jamey-Lyn Horth, Stephanie Geltmacher*, Daiana Torquato
2022: Gabriella Hermogenes, Jamey-Lyn Horth, Josefine Knutsson, Karina Rodriguez*, Carolina Jimenez
2023: Ivana Petrovic, Ketlen Souza, Dakota Ditcheva, Corrine Laframboise, Kristina Williams
Note: Bold denotes fighter was signed by UFC; * denotes fighter ineligible due to two years on list.
Canada goes through hot and cold periods when it comes to providing MMA talent. Right now they are a tad cold, but they have one very good prospect in the form of Shannon Clark.
Clark is a physically gifted fighter, having good strength and athleticism. She is a good power striker, but also likes to land with high volume. Three of her four pro wins (and two of her three ammy wins) come by knockout. She went 2-0 in the year of 2023, knocking out countrywoman Tanya Nijjar before scoring an impressive decision win over Nejra Repp.
Clark is 31 years old, which makes her prime right now. Her window is not as wide as the younger fighters on this list, so she will likely need to turbocharge her efforts to get into the UFC. That could start with getting a more marquee win on her resume, which could happen seeing as she fights for the LFA.
The biggest dark horse and project-type fighter in this entire prospect series, Beatriz Consuli is a definite blue-chip prospect with a lot of upside. She’s a project worth working on because she has potential world-championship talent in 4-5 years.
Consuli is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner that is absolutely dominant on the mat. She has slick grappling and solid submissions, though she does fight a majority of time to decision. She has just two pro fights, but that followed a long and successful amateur career. Those two wins came in 2023, where she scored decision ins over Carol Rissato and Talia Amanda, the latter of which came under the LFA banner.
Like I said, she’s definitely a project who should be built up slowly. She’s just 23 years old and this good already, so I cannot wait to see how good she will be when she’s 26-27 years old. She’s got a high ceiling.
Dakota Ditcheva is a prodigy of martial arts. The daughter of Lisa Howarth, a legendary British Muay Thai fighter, Ditcheva was born and bred to be in this game. Now, she’s a top female prospect in the all of the sport, and with American Top Team as her new home, she’s looking to push herself to the top of the sport.
Ditcheva’s background is obviously in Muay Thai, where she scored a silver medal in the world championships. She’s an outstanding athlete with excellent striking and movement, which makes her too much to deal with on the feet. She spent her 2023 in the PFL Europe season, where she choked out Malin Hermansson and Cornelia Holm before making the season final. There, she destroyed Valentina Scatizzi to a doctor stoppage to win the 2023 season.
Ditcheva is only 25 years old and she has a very bright future in this sport. She could be a world champion in the next three to four years, especially now that she’s rounding her game out at American Top Team. The UFC needs her in their flyweight division immediately.
Australia/New Zealand has become a major hotbed for MMA talent in recent years, providing champions like Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski, as well as top prospects like Jack Della Maddalena. They also have some female talent that are on the up-and-up, including prospect Lisa Kyriacou.
Kyriacou is a solid all-around fighter who has been working her way up in the Australian regional scene. Her best work is done on the ground, though her striking has noticeably improved. Since her loss in her pro debut, she has rattled off seven-straight wins which includes her winning the Hex Fight Series Flyweight Championship in 2023 over Amena Hadaya. She capped off her 2023 with a win over Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak on the ONE Friday Fights series, though she’s not currently under contract with ONE. That should open her up to a UFC contract.
Kyriacou has consistently worked her way up as a pro, so it looks like she’s ready to test herself further at the next level. She has fought to decision in most of her fights, which may be a turn off to Dana White and company, but her ability to score wins is really what matters. They should give her a shot in a flyweight division in need of talent.
There have been a number of siblings that have graced the UFC in the company’s. However, I don’t believe there has been a brother-sister combo in the UFC yet, but it’s possible the sister of Shavkat Rakhmonov, Sora Rakhmonova, could make that happen.
Rakhmonova is a lot like her brother in that she has good boxing and wrestling, though she’s far less experienced than her brother. She opened up her 2023 in scoring a knockout over Valeria Karygina, which earned her an invitation to the Dana White’s Contender Series. Unfortunately for Rakhmonova, that bout had to be cancelled on her end, so she was unable to perform in front of the UFC brass.
Rakhmonova is 25 years old, so she has some time to get into the UFC. I don’t think she signs straight to the UFC this year, but if she’s able to notch a win and/or get invited back to the Contender Series, I think you could see her ink a contract before 2024 is over.