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 examine the middleweight division, a weight class that has been filling up with talent. It’s been a roller-coaster ride in terms of title changes and growth in this weight class.
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: Uriah Hall, Tom Watson, Elvis Mutapcic, Jake Rosholt, Chaun Sims
2013: Sean Strickland, Marcos Rogerio, Elvis Mutapcic, Michal Materla, Wes Swofford
2014: Ramazan Emeev, Scott Askham, Vyacheslav Vasilevsky*, Ben Reiter, Max Nunes
2015: Jack Hermansson, Alberto Uda, Vyacheslav Vasilevsky*, Anatoly Tokov*, Igor Svirid
2016: Ramazan Emeev, Khalil Rountree, Alberto Uda, Phil Hawes, Aleksei Butorin*
2017: Trevin Giles, Oskar Piechota, Rob Wilkinson, Rafael Lovato Jr., Mattia Schiavolin
2018: Albert Duraev, Vladimir Mineev*, Mike Shipman, Artem Frolov, Damian Janikowski
2019: Roman Kopylov, Shamil Gamzatov, Puna Soriano, Bruno Silva, Albert Duraev
2020: KB Bhullar, Kyle Daukaus, Dustin Stoltzfus, Vladimir Mineev*, Salamu Abdurakhmanov*
2021: Alex Pereira, Abus Magomedov, Josh Fremd, Salamu Abdurakhmanov*, Aaron Jeffrey
2022: Josh Fremd, Abdul-Rakhman Dzhanaev*, Magomedrasul Gasanov*, Cezary Kesik, Josh Silveira*
2023: Christian Duncan, Shara Magomedov, Magomedrasul Gasanov*, Raimond Magomedaliev, Shamil Magomedov
2024: Marco Tulio, Abdul Rakhman Dzhanaev*, Azamat Bekoev, Dauren Ermekov, Ibragim Magomedov
Note: Bold denotes fighter was signed by UFC; * denotes fighter ineligible due to two years on list.
When it comes to fighters I was certain the UFC would sign in 2024, nobody ranked higher on that list for me than Azamat Bekoev. The LFA Middleweight Champion has been the best middleweight prospect outside the UFC at this point and has settled at American Top Team, arguably the best camp in MMA.
Bekoev is a strong wrestler and grappler who possesses good ground-and-pound, excellent ground control and strong submission skills. He won the LFA Middleweight Championship in 2023 with a in over now-UFC fighter Dylan Budka and defended it with a win over Contender Series vet Lucas Fernando. In 2024, he fought just once, knocking out Chauncey Foxworth.
Bekoev should be the #1 middleweight prospect on the UFC’s target list, and at just 28 years old, he’s hitting his stride as a fighter. He would be in the top-40 in the UFC middleweight division right now and could fight his way toward the top successfully.
It’s hard to believe a 25-fight veteran who has dominated the European regional scene hasn’t been a blip on the radar for the UFC. However, given he’s still fighting in the Euros and doing so at a high level, I think the time is now for a serious look at Germany’s Kerim Engizek, a multiple-promotion champion including top European promotion Oktagon.
Engizek is a very well-rounded fighter that has a strong track record of wins over a number of notable fighters such as Patrik Kincl and Matias Juarez. His last loss occurred in late 2014, meaning he hasn’t lost in over 10 years. He only lost once in 2024, scoring a unanimous decision win over Kincl, which earned him the Oktagon Middleweight Championship.
The window is closing faster for a guy like Engizek, as he’s now 33 years old. He’s already got 25 professional fights, so the wear and tear will come harder on him in the coming years. However, he’s a guy that, if signed now, could really be a problem in the UFC middleweight division.
The Contender Series seems to absolutely decimate the American regional prospect scene, as it attracts the best it has to offer and gets them on the roster if they win. One American fighter that has not had that pleasure yet that is a top American prospect is Eric McConico, another MMA Lab prospect that looks ready to take on the big leagues.
McConico is a strong mix of power striking and solid grappling, even possessing some professional jiu-jitsu bouts. He’s also a finisher, putting away seven of his nine opponents by knockout or submission. After finishing 2023 by brutally finishing UFC vet Maki Pitolo, McConico went 2-0 in 2024, scoring a convincing decision over former prospect Tyler Ray and a submission at light heavyweight against journeyman Jarome Hatch.
McConico is a big, strong middleweight that is a tough out for anybody in the division, especially given his mixed bag of skills. Throw in the fact that he has the prominent MMA Lab behind him to help shape his game, and you have a guy that could make some waves.
In 2022, a 20-year-old Jose Henrique Sousa took to the Dana White’s Contender Series in an attempt to earn a UFC contract. In doing so, he would have been one of the youngest fighters on the UFC roster. However, after an exciting fight, he was TKO’d in the third round, sending him back to the drawing board.
Sousa went back to his training camp, the world famous Nova Uniao, and continued to work on his skills. Sousa is a tall, rangy striker with big-time power to finish fights with his fists, kicks, knees or elbows. He scored two wins in 2024, scoring a decision over Alexandre Silva and an impressive knockout over Porfirio Alves.
Sousa is now 22 years old, so he’s still young like he was on the Contender Series, but he’s got two more years of experience under his belt. He’s a brutal striker that loves engaging in fan-friendly fights, and he’s a big guy that is growing into his frame, seeing as he used to be a welterweight but has put on more size/muscle and is now a middleweight. I think he’s ready for another shot at the UFC.
Alain van de Merckt was set to compete on the Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024, but for some unknown reason, he pulled out of that fight. He then signed with KSW, which will hold him under contract for the foreseeable future, but given his talent, the UFC should be pursuing this guy straight to their roster as opposed to staging him on the Contender Series.
A well-rounded guy, van de Merckt is best known for his grappling, though he does have solid striking as well. All eight of his fights have been finishes, half by knockout and half by submission. He was a busy man in 2024, scoring finishes by strikes over Zoran Dod, Giorgi Kvelidze and Marcos Silva. He has one more fight in 2024, which will be a late December meeting under the KSW banner against Laid Zerhouni.
I realize it will likely not happen in 2025 given his contractual status with KSW, but van de Merckt should be proving himself on the UFC roster. He’s immensely skilled and would be a threat to many in the company’s middleweight division. If he gets by Zerhouni and any impending KSW fighters, he needs to be a fighter heavily pursued.