Welcome to Year 13 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
2025: Luke Fernandez, Uran Satybaldiev, Rafael Tobias, Julius Walker, Elmar Gasanov
Note: Bold denotes fighter was signed by UFC; * denotes fighter ineligible due to two years on list.
2025 saw a former middleweight Contender Series participant move up to the light heavyweight division, instantly becoming a top 205-pound prospect in the process. That man is Lucas Fernando, who is now the LFA Light Heavyweight Champion.
Fernando is an exciting striker who just so happened to find himself sharing a Contender Series cage with former Glory Kickboxing contender Cesar Almeida, who outstruck Fernando. After losing a fight right after that to now-UFC fighter Azamat Bekoev, Fernando went back to the drawing board and fired off three-straight wins, including his lone 2025 bout against another Contender Series vet in Phillip Latu.
Now that Fernando is at 205, he’s a no-brainer to get on the UFC roster, which desperately needs talent in that division. That LFA title on his waist definitely reinforces that idea.
The first of two Germans on this light heavyweight list, Emilio Quissua has slowly entered scout’s radars in recent years. The big, powerful light heavyweight is a pupil of former UFC fighter Peter Sobotta with a strong, rounded game.
Quissua has solid striking to go with his strong wrestling game, which also includes effective ground-and-pound. He took two fights in 2025. He started the year off under the UAE Warriors banner, where he bested 16-fight vet Juscelino Ferreira via unanimous decision. He followed that up with a TKO over Mateusz Strzelcyzk under the Oktagon promotion, keeping his perfect record in tact.
Quissua’s undefeated record, in unison with his participation in bigger regional promotions, has prepared him to move up to the next level. He has the skills to warrant a call from the UFC, especially if he gets by his scheduled opponent in January under the Oktagon promotional banner.
If there is one thing I can promise you, it’s that not many fighters are eagerly stepping up to fight Russia’s Muhammad Said. The fighter, who now trains out of the United Arab Emirates, has been a wrecking machine en route to a highly impressive undefeated record.
Said is typical of many Russian fighters in that he has strong wrestling and submission skills on the mat. However, he also has a very flashy striking style where he employs a number of flashy techniques and has four finishes by way of head kick, including a spinning wheel kick. He fought just once in 2025, scoring a convincing decision win over Valmir da Silva, the first decision of his pro career.
Said has the flashy style and finishing prowess it takes to make Dana White a fan, so I think he should be on the short list of the UFC matchmakers at 205. He’s 29 years old, so now is the time to strike while the iron is hot.
Germany has not been the biggest hotbed of MMA talent in Europe, but has produced some solid fighters at all levels. One of their most promising prospects is Freddie Vosgrone, who many MMA fans affectionately compare looks-wise to Brock Lesnar.
Vosgrone is a very accomplished grappler, as he’s an IBJJF qualifier and a longtime professional submission grappler who has seen great success. That style has transitioned to the cage with him, where he’s scored five submissions in five professional fights. That includes 2025 wins over Jorick Montagnac by arm-triangle choke and Fabio Moraes by rear-naked choke.
Some would say he needs a little more experience before getting the UFC call, and that may be true, however, I think given his grappling acumen and 100% finish rate, he should get his shot soon. The light heavyweight division needs talent like Vosgrone and the UFC could build him up slowly as he continues to accrue MMA time in the cage. That’s especially the case if he scores another win on the same Oktagon card that Quissua is on that we mentioned earlier.
A few years back, if a fighter was contracted under KSW, there was a good chance we wouldn’t see them in the UFC because of KSW’s hard contracts and solid payouts. However, we’ve seen a number of their talents jump in recent years, so a guy that has to be on the UFC’s list is Sergiusz Zajac, a Polish fighter that could really add some depth to 205.
Zajac is an absolute destroyer, possessing overwhelming striking ability, especially from in close, and dominating top-game wrestling. He’s a brutal finisher, whether it’s slamming opponents in the clinch with knees and big punches or punishing them from top position with elbows. He went 2-0 in 2025, kneeing Michal Dreczkowski into oblivion before hammerfisting a hobbled Mariusz Ksiaszkiewicz (DWCS vet) to another TKO.
At just 27 years old, Zajac is entering the prime of his career. He is the stereotypical “Polish power” fighter with the finishing ability and a strong resume in his back pocket. He’d be a fun add to the UFC.