Welcome to Year 12 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 look at the light-heavyweight division. The UFC has added new talent at the weight class, but it could always use even more new blood.
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.
2012: Jimi Manuwa, Jan Blachowicz, Wagner Prado, Tom DeBlass, Roy Boughton
2013: Jan Blachowicz, Linton Vassell, Angel DeAnda, Moise Rimbon, Carlos Eduardo
2014: Maxim Grishin*, Philipe Lins, Viktor Nemkov, Brandon Ropati, Marcus Vanttinen
2015: Maxim Grishin*, Josh Stansbury, Aleksei Butorin*, Stephan Puetz, Ken Hasegawa
2016: Jiří Procházka*, Ion Cutelaba, Paul Craig, Joachim Christensen, Mikhail Mokhnatkin*,
2017: Jiří Procházka*, Jordan Johnson, Magomed Ankalaev, Mikhail Mokhnatkin*, Tomasz Narkun*
2018: Ivan Shtyrkov*, Batraz Agnaev, Karl Moore, Kyle Noblitt, Rashid Yusupov
2019: Klidson Farias, Roman Dolidze, Tomasz Narkun*, Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov*, Karl Albrektsson*
2020: Modestas Bukauskas, Jamal Pogues, Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov*, Alex Polizzi, Emiliano Sordi
2021: Jailton Junior, Nick Maximov, Armen Petrosyan, Muslim Magomedov*, Nasrudin Nasrudinov
2022: Zac Pauga, Vitor Petrino, Anton Turkalj, Muslim Magomedov*, Bruce Souto
2023: Bruno Lopes, Oumar Sy, Simeon Powell, Josh Silveira*, Lukasz Sudolski
2024: Oumar Sy, Karl Albrektsson*, Ibragim Chuzigaev, Grigor Matevosyan, Jakob Nedoh,
Note: Bold denotes fighter was signed by UFC; * denotes fighter ineligible due to two years on list.
Four fights into one’s career, it’s really hard to tell if they are ready for the UFC or not. For CFFC Light Heavyweight Champion and 4-0 fighter Luke Fernandez, the fast track to the big leagues seems to be the way to go, as he’s already proven a top light heavyweight prospect in the sport.
A collegiate wrestler from the unheralded Elizabethtown College, Fernandez used that base to get into MMA while also adding some solid boxing and jiu-jitsu to his arsenal. Under the tutelage of UFC vet Dante Rivera, Fernandez has become an all-around threat, which is why his ascent in the light heavyweight prospect ranks has been so rapid. He had multiple CFFC title fights fall through this year, but was able to fight once, scoring an impressive knockout over Gregg Ellis. The other major event of his year was besting UFC fighter Eryk Anders in a grappling match for Fury Pro Grappling.
Fernandez is 29 years old, which means he’s in his athletic peak and should be considered as soon as possible by the UFC. He’s a major regional champion and clearly has what it takes to compete at the highest level. Expect to see him on the Contender Series and/or the UFC roster in 2025.
Kicking off the light heavyweight list is a fighter who really pumped his stock up this year in Elmar Gasanov. The Russian fighter went 3-0 in the year, adding wins over respectable opponents and really strengthening his resume to make it to the next level.
Gasanov is a dominating wrestler who uses his striking effectively in setting up the rest of his game. His domination of fellow top light heavyweight prospect Grigor Matevosyan in his most recent fight really showed that Gasanov has brought his game to the next level. His other two 2024 wins came over veteran Jorge Gonzalez and Russian regional staple Oleg Olenichev. He also owns a notable win over Evgeny Erokhin and an amateur win over Andrey Pulyaev, the latter of whom won a UFC contract on the Contender Series this year.
Gasanov is another Russian prospect in what seems to be in competition with Brazil as the country with the deepest prospect bench. With light heavyweight constantly in need of talent, the UFC should look no further than Gasanov.
It seems in recent times, the country of Kyrgyzstan has started to become a hotbed of MMA talent that are getting more exposure. One of the best prospects the country has to offer right now is Uran Satybaldiev, the LFA Light Heavyweight Champion.
Satybaldiev is your typical Central Asian, Soviet bloc fighter. He has very good wrestling and top-game grappling. All but one of his fights are finishes, which mostly come from ground-and-pound. The 6’4” light heavyweight was not super busy in 2024, fighting just once. In that fight, he TKO’d Bruno Assis to capture that LFA Championship.
Satybaldiev was to compete on the Contender Series in 2024, but was forced to withdraw due to injury. Obviously, he’s on the UFC’s radar, so I expect to see him in a UFC fight kit or getting another Contender Series show in 2025.
The legendary Chute Boxe gym has produced a seemingly unending amount of top-level fighters that have graced the highest levels of MMA. One of Chute Boxe’s young guns who looks to have a bright future is Rafael Tobias, an aggressive finisher who embodies the gym’s legendary style.
Tobias is a tall, long 205er who uses his aggressive striking well, but also has a strong submission game on the ground. He has four wins by knockout and five by submission, most of which have come in the first round. The one question is his gas tank, as seen in his lone loss. He was busy in 2024 in the South American regional scene, running a 3-0 record with a submission of 0-0 fighter Guilherme Cunha, a convincing verdict over journeyman Willyanedson Paiva and a first-round knockout over Marcelo Nunez Sparling for FFC. Those wins helped revitalize the hype for Tobias after his 2023 upset loss in LFA.
Tobias is shockingly just 21 years old, so he’s going to continue to build grow into his 6’2” frame, which means he is only going to become a bigger light heavyweight. The light heavyweight division is one of the older divisions in the sport, so injecting a young gun like Tobias into the UFC’s 205-division would add a good fighter for many years to come.
Owning multiple regional championship titles is a great way to get noticed and signed to the UFC. For multi-promotional champ Julius Walker, it should get him to the UFC sooner than later.
A pro since 2023, Walker has quickly amassed wins and emerged as a blue-chip prospect in a weight class dying for talent. Walker is a great athlete with a rounded skillset, though his best work is done on the ground with his ground-and-pound and submission game. Walker went 4-0 in 2024, amassing some impressive scalps in the process. After submitting Mike Cook with strikes, Walker bested TUF veteran Nyle Bartling with a triangle armbar to win the Synergy FC Championship. He defended that belt with a TKO over UFC vet Bevon Lewis in his follow-up fight. He ended the year winning some more gold, besting another TUF vet in Myron Dennis to win the Peak Fighting Championship.
Walker is only 25 years old, so he’d bring youth to an aging division. He’s a proven finisher that has a very high ceiling. He could eventually challenge for a UFC title.