10 Unranked UFC Fighters to Watch in 2021
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The UFC rankings often fail to depict the true landscape of a division. A big part of this is the strange, protective match-making that keeps interesting fighters in the “meat-grinder” of unranked contention until they’re already close to leaving their primes.
We can’t fix that, but we can help you learn which fighters you should keep an eye on before they hit the rankings! They could be the next contenders, they may flame out, or they may get stuck in unranked fighter purgatory until they’re past their best, but at least you’ll be there for it.
Here are some of the top unranked UFC fighters our staff feels you should be paying attention to.
Flyweight
Manel Kape (by Kyle McLachlan)
Manel Kape is long overdue for a fight, and as fans we’re long overdue seeing him. We nearly saw him fight Rogerio Bontorin: it fell through. Then we nearly saw Kape in an even more intriguing fight against Alexandre Pantoja: it also fell apart.
Kape was well thought of enough by UFC top brass to make weight and standby in-case either UFC 125lb champ Deiveson Figueiredo or challenger Brandon Moreno could not make weight, so at least we know his new home hasn't forgotten he lives there after so long out of the cage.
So what can you, the uninitiated, expect out of Manel Kape? Quite honestly upon his leaving RIZIN he was one of the best bantamweights in the world, by way of his knockout of Kai Asakura (who had previously shocked the world by knocking out RIZIN and Bellator bantam champ Kyoji Horiguchi in the first round).
Although Horiguchi later turned the trick on Kai Asakura, there can be no doubt that he remains a quality win for Kape, who while strong at 135lbs was somewhat barrel chested and should translate well to the lighter weight class.
In terms of his skillset, Kape is strong in the clinch, and works well from there in both open space and against the ropes, which of course should translate even better in the cage than it did in the ring. He has the knowledge to hit reactive takedowns, as he demonstrated when slipping the famously hard-hitting Horiguchi’s shots and willing him to the mat with good timing. His reactive head movement in general is based on his speed and anticipation, and he seems to have both in spades.
He is generally quick, especially with the trigger on his right hand, and he carries a serious whack in that punch. He is a loose and languid stand-up fighter, often fighting with his hands down low and feinting with his shoulders, baiting attacks he can counter with his aforementioned skill in that area. He does like to leap in with his left hook, which has seen him walk into some big shots, and one issue I can see is that his kick defence appears non-existent. Predictably grapple-fucked against Ulka Sasaki, in Kape’s first fight with Kai Asakura he was taken down quite easily at one stage too, which doesn’t bodes well.
In terms of toughness, Kape absorbed some big shots from both Horiguchi and Asakura--both noted punchers--and when put in bad positions seemed to relish them, mugging to onlookers to show he was okay. Although Horiguchi forced a tap late in the contest with an arm triangle, it’s easy to forget what a megastar Horiguchi was at that point and quite how much he was trending up. Kape put on a gutsy performance through the contest.
It’s in his two bouts with Kai Asakura that we see this prospect emerge: in an early sequence in their first fight, Kape feints with punches upstairs to set up a front body kick, which in itself is to cut distance and enter the pocket. There, Kape first knees to the midsection, then grabs single collar tie and throws an uppercut on the exit. It’s not the most successful sequence, but a clear indicator that Kape knows how to blend all the different facets of MMA striking, and best understands how to approach a taller, rangier opponent.
Best seen in their rematch, where Kape was more patient, showed a want and ability to switch stances, was more defensively aware--springing back out of range after leaping into one of his raids and differing his hand position more regularly, proactive rather than reactive--and wisely holding his feet when the long, straight-punching Kai bounded in, timing him with a short right straight that took his foundations out from underneath him. Horiguchi later used similar tactics against Asakura, allowing him to come in rather than leaping into his wheelhouse and getting laid out. Kape wisely spotted this first, and left RIZIN with a shiny 6-3 record (15-4 overall) and their bantamweight title which, for those nerds among us pretty much made Kape the lineal RIZIN and Bellator champ.
Now at 125lbs and out of action for over 13 months, Kape goes into his rescheduled bout with Pantoja with far less fanfare than he deserves. Hopefully after reading this you will agree, and jump on the bandwagon now. Manel Kape is one to watch in 2021.
Bantamweight
Raoni Barcelos (by Ryan Wagner)
Barcelos looks like a complete package. Not only is he skilled in every area of MMA, with threats to offer in each range and phase of the sport, but his striking and grappling games fit together very well. On the feet, Barcelos pairs a strong dipping jab with a powerful lead hook, using his heavy kicking game to rack up damage at range and force opponents to close distance onto his counters. His counterpunching is skilled and varied, and he does an excellent job countering in combination. On the inside, strong combination punching leads him into the clinch, where he’s able to deal further damage and threaten takedowns.
Not only is his striking sound, but Barcelos is a great top control grappler. He sets his takedowns up with punches well and can hit bodylocks from the clinch as well as reactive takedowns at range. His guard passing is a strong point, as he quickly looks to posture up and make his way to side control, ultimately in search of the back.
The big point against Barcelos right now is his cardio, which is compounded by his aggressive nature and messy punching mechanics. It’s easy to see his skillset working at an elite level, but he’ll need to figure out how to manage his energy more efficiently to compete with elite fighters in longer fights. At 33 years of age and nine years into his MMA career, Barcelos can’t afford to stick around in the lower rungs of the division dispatching prospects. He needs a big step up very quickly, and his work thus far more than warrants such a step. Fortunately, Barcelos is scheduled to fight a fading veteran in Raphael Assuncao later this month. A win over Assuncao could give Barcelos the promotional kick he needs to quickly get himself thrown into big fights.
Featherweight
Ilia Topuria (by Ed Gallo)
Georgia’s Ilia Topuria is probably my favorite prospect in the UFC right now. A grappler with a Greco-Roman base, Topuria has transformed into a body-snatching power puncher with a killer focus on pressure. The strongest area of his skill-set is definitely his top game - Topuria has a beautiful front-headlock choke series, he’ll transition from the back to the “pocket guillotine” (think Pedro Munhoz and Jack Hermansson), and can sit through to his hip and switch his grip to the bicep for D’arce and Anaconda chokes as well. He’s great at using the pressure from those chokes to keep his opponent on their back and switch between positions. As a wrestler, he has a solid reactive takedown game and is a killer in upper body positions, I nominated him for an award for his over-under back arch against. Youseff Zalal.
As a striker, he does an excellent job changing levels and varying his targets, utilizing round weapons to cut off the cage and stick his opponent in place so he can unload. In his most recent fight, we saw Topuria even more committed to smashing away at the body with his lead hook, he seems to have absurd power and a ton of confidence. The biggest reason I believe he can go far with this skill-set is that he’s a phenomenal athlete. He’s fast, he’s explosive, he’s strong, and he has an incredible motor. He kept up a high pace in a pretty grueling fight with Youseff Zalal, but some were concerned that he was visibly tired, despite continuing to win. Later it came out that Topuria had just recovered from CoVid-19 two weeks prior, and he took the fight on short notice. To compete in that fashion with a compromised respiratory system is very impressive. Topuria has the tools and attributes to be a factor at 145 in the near future.
For a more comprehensive breakdown on Topuria, check out my podcast evaluating him and Movsar Evloev last month.
Movsar Evloev (by Ryan Wagner)
Movsar Evloev is a well-rounded threat with a tremendously well put together game. Entering the UFC as the M-1 Global Bantamweight champion, it’s no surprise that Evloev thrives in transitions. Fighters don’t survive the Russian regional circuit easily unless they’re able to blend striking and grappling together, and Evloev has a great mind for exploiting transitions. He sets up takedown entries by stepping into southpaw off long right hands, and regularly ducks under his opponent’s punches onto their hips. He’ll even shoot takedown entries without commitment and use them to pop back up and land strikes as his opponent defends.
Evloev is a solid wrestler against the cage, using a high left underhook to control opponents and expose them to ankle picks/knee taps and seatbelt trips. He possesses a quality top game complete with active guard passing and a commitment to delivering consistent punishment on top. He’s able to grind on opponents and ride them against the cage as well, although he defaults to a bodylock when riding and isn’t very active in fighting posts, which give opponents opportunities to escape.
His striking incorporates many of the developments we’ve seen in recent MMA history. Often fighters coming off the Russian circuit have conceptually intelligent striking, but their mechanics, posture, and technique leave a lot to be desired. Evloev still has quite a bit of Russo-jank in his boxing and footwork, but unlike most Russian wrestlers, he makes excellent use of non-committal, throwaway punches in order to apply consistent volume. He also has an eye for taking subtle angles in exchanges to open up his right hand, although the mechanics behind his lateral movement are less than stellar.
A brilliant jab is the foundation of Evloev’s striking game. He works behind a layered jab, mixing up tempo and rhythm, using light, tapping throwaway jabs to close distance interspersed with springing jabs to catch opponents unaware, as well as leaping entries to set up right hands and clinch work. His jab is also used as a counter, thrown quickly with a vertical fist to intercept opponents’ entries. Constant foot feints and probing hand feints desensitize opponents and allow Evloev to set up his more powerful right hand.
His right hand is janky as hell and he usually ends up falling forward on it, but he’ll double up or shift forward on the right hand to close distance. In his recent fights, he’s been more willing to throw his rear hand as a light, probing shot, which has given him more opportunities to get inside cleanly and put together combinations or draw and punish counters.
Evloev is a mixed bag defensively. He has solid proactive defense when he’s attacking - weaving off his right hand entries, deflecting punches off the shoulder while he jabs - but he tends to lose his feet moving backwards. Opponents who can force him to give ground quickly or consistently put him on the back-foot can hit him while he’s out of position. He often uses this as a lure however, giving ground and leaping out of stance before quickly bouncing back or cross-stepping into his stance and springing in with a jab as his opponent chases.
One of my favorite things about Evloev is how he uses closing distance as a defensive maneuver and a setup. In MMA, giving ground is by far the most common defense, but you can also defend an arching punch by stepping inside it. Getting chest to chest also takes away opportunities to throw punches. Evloev will use quick, non-committal shots to fluster opponents and immediately step in, getting chest to chest before they have a chance to respond. From there, he can proceed to a clinch/takedown entry or bounce out slightly and go to work with more strikes, having smothered his opponent’s “turn”. He’ll even bounce chest to chest and bounce back outside when opponents throw back, using it simply to draw out punches and make them work.
His upright stance and habit of getting on his heels when opponents burst forward leave Evloev open to explosive takedowns, but he’s a fantastic counter-grappler. Whenever he’s taken down, Evloev quickly stands up with an underhook or scrambles out, fighting grips actively to kill front headlock chokes.
Evloev is a small Featherweight and will likely have a hard time enforcing his grappling game on the elite at 135, but his developing high-output striking game and transitional work bodes well as he moves up the ranks. He already has five-round experience in M-1, and his style seems built for the championship rounds. I still wonder, however, if Bantamweight might be a more fitting division for him given his size, offensive grappling, and history in the division.
Hakeem Dawodu (by Ben Kohn)
Dawodu started his UFC career in the worst possible way. Entering the organization undefeated, 6 of his 7 wins coming by KO, his hyped Muay Thai credentials and a win over UFC veteran Steven Siler, it took Danny Henry :39 seconds to put Dawodu to sleep after putting him down with a right hand. Since that loss, Dawodu has shown a fair amount of growth in his fights, but first let’s touch on his style and mentality.
Dawodu wants to operate in open space ideally, with a preference for remaining at kicking range. This allows him to pick away at opponents with his fast, powerful, and dexterous kicking arsenal. Dawodu will switch up targets and trajectories, keeping his opponents from really getting a bead on where the kick will come. His leg kicks and front kicks in particular are among his best weapons, and he throws them very often. He can throw them as leading strikes or in combination with punches, closing the door with a hard leg kick as his opponent retreats. From a defensive perspective, he prefers this range because he’s generally faster than his opponents and can avoid the strikes or land a hard counter if he feels it’s safe to do so, and he also counter kicks which you know I love.
His punching game is where he lacks the most depth, but in a specific way. When he’s at kicking range, we see the improvements he’s made really shine. He has time to pull back or slip and counter with punches, or just get out of the way. He rips big counters to the body, particularly that beautiful left hook. It’s one of the things I really like about him, his committed punching to the body of his opponents.
In the clinch, he’s quite good at digging underhooks, cross-facing, and creating frames to separate and get back into open space to strikes, and can also land some solid offense when he feels he has the advantage there.
His adjustments mid-fight in the Tukhugov fight really impressed me. After a rough first round, where Tukhugov was able to counter Dawodu often with punches, Dawodu was a lot more careful with his foot placement. He made visible efforts to step back whenever he was too close, which is where he was getting hit in the first round, and forced Tukhugov to reach on his punches, lighting him up with counter kicks and punches.
Now we have to talk about his weaknesses, particular when he’s in the pocket. When he doesn’t have the space he wants, he will often get countered, because his head is virtually dead center whenever he throws. This is a problem that has continued to rear its head. He has made improvements defensively, and does move his head, though generally when he’s at kicking range and his opponents are coming up short on their punches. He is careful to keep his guard up while throwing but can still be caught because of the nature of fighting with small gloves. On the ground itself, he’s clearly still catching up to his striking, but he does have the right idea of things in the context of the current MMA Meta on the ground. Directionally, Dawodu is more comfortable moving forward or in the open space and prefers to not fight off the back foot.
Overall, Dawodu’s growth as a fighter has been extremely pleasant to watch. He’s been in some very exciting fights, and despite his split decisions (which really are just all sorts of wrong in my opinion as they were clear wins), he’s definitely a prospect that will be giving the ranked fighters some issues soon.
Lightweight
Rafael Fiziev (by Ed Gallo)
Tiger Muay Thai striking coach Rafael Fiziev caught the attention of MMA fans with his flexible “lean back” head kick defense. I hate calling that “The Matrix”, but I love Fiziev. At first glance, he’s an explosive, intense athlete training out of one of the premier camps in MMA. For now, UFC fans are recognizing specific tools of his like his speedy switch kick as well as his overall poise. As a striker, he’s athletic and mechanically sound on the lead, but his timing and comfort make that a dangerous proposition for most lightweights - just ask Renato Moicano. He picks his spots well and attacks with ferocity that backs his opponent up and allows him to flow through long, brutal combinations that continue into the clinch. We’ve seen glimpses of his depth in the UFC, Fiziev has demonstrated a controlled and powerful clinch game, some nice looks on the counter off head movement, and is the type to build his offense over time and drown his opponent in violent volume. He’s had some uncomfortable moments in his UFC fights and is definitely a slow starter, but I think we can expect improvement over time, especially with his overall fight management. He’s looked competent and physically strong in wrestling and grappling situations, I trust Tiger Muay Thai to get him ready in that respect.
For more detail, check out my evaluation of Fiziev as a prospect from before his UFC debut. There’s a lot more to his game than he’s shown in the UFC, check out the embedded clips from the rest of his career!
Damir Ismagulov (by Sriram Muralidaran)
While he hasn’t fought since August of 2019 due to injury, Damir Ismagulov (check out my full breakdown here) has already established himself as one of the more developed prospects in MMA as a whole -- at a weight in which the top-5 have taken insane mileage for a lot of years, Ismagulov is a fantastic all-rounder who’s one to watch as the division turns over. Six years into his career, Ismagulov is a clever lead-hand heavy boxer who builds off his jab to the head and the body and a sharp counterpuncher off his slips, whose last fight against the talented Thiago Moises showed some newer wrinkles (including a burgeoning pivot and some surprising intelligence as a kicker). On the less positive side, despite being briefly connected to a fight against Carlos Diego Ferreira, Ismagulov is part of a Russian striking metagame that’s as efficient as it is unpopular -- but he fights terrifically (especially for where he is in his career) and might have the time to eventually overcome those matchmaking trends. Combined with a proven ability to wrestle in his M1 career, Ismagulov likely has a very high ceiling -- an elite one -- if he’s brought up in a timely manner.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Ismagulov is his defensive comfort and relative depth, considering the usual path for young prospects — which tends to be all-offense until that stops working at a certain tier of competition, and then learning a little bit of defense as a treat. In contrast, Ismagulov is an active but responsible striker, with strong positioning (the aforementioned pivot), a reactive guard, great combination work that gets him behind his shoulders on counters, and sound slips on top of that. For example, some of his slicker moments against Thiago Moises — a top-25ish LW:
Mark O. Madsen (by Ed Gallo)
Given his age it’s tough to call him a “prospect”, but Denmark’s Mark O. Madsen is clearly a rising unranked fighter to watch at lightweight. He’s arguably the most credentialed Greco-Roman wrestler in the history of the UFC - the veteran has six World and Olympic medals to his name at the senior-level.
I evaluated Madsen’s skill-set in MMA prior to his debut and those same strengths are serving him well thus far in the UFC. The fact that he can bulldoze forward as a power-puncher and actually use leg attacks to get into wrestling situations makes him a far more functional fighter than many Greco wrestlers typically are. Of course, once he’s in those upper body ties, it’s his world.
Arman Tsarukyan (by Ben Kohn)
One of the youngest fighters being discussed here, Arman’s strength of schedule at such a young age has been somewhat remarkable. Despite clearly still developing his skills and growing into his frame, his stellar performance in a loss to Islam Makhachev was followed up by 3 straight wins, taking out OAM, Davi Ramos, and most recently Matt Frevola (Nasrat Haqparast will have to wait unfortunately).
In his debut against Makhachev, Tsarukyan displayed a lot of the qualities you’d want to see in a prospect still growing: heart, endurance, and a depth of skill that, despite not being enough to get the win, was more than enough to earn the highly regarded Makhachev’s respect in the cage.
Tsarukyan’s style date would be classified as an out-fighter. He prefers a long distance where he will peck away with single shots and short combinations, using his footwork to place himself out of range of return fire. He’s very quick, and these strikes are meant to accomplish one of two things. 1) Either his opponent will hang out at range and Tsarukyan can just outpoint his opponent or 2) his opponents rush across that distance to try and land strikes of their own. He will use this second reaction to hit reactive entries into his takedowns or clinch up so he can grind his opponents against the cage. On the offensive, he will dart in using blitzing combinations to accomplish one of two things as well. 1) His opponents either cover up or try firing back, allowing Tsarukyan to duck under and shoot or 2) retreat and he gets a free attack.
This style has gotten him in trouble with OAM, as he was getting hurt on the feet with his southpaw double attack, but Tsarukyan showed he can dig deep and pull a fight back into the W column when the tide seems to be turning against him.
A note on his physical state. AS of now, he’s just 24 and will likely grow into a larger lightweight with time, and I think that coinciding with his arc of improvement will, I think, lead to a solid force at LW. His grappling will benefit tremendously from him having a larger frame, and you can see the size difference between him and guys like Islam and OAM.
The improvements I would like to see from him would be him developing a more serviceable game in the pocket, as right now that middle space is a bit of a void against decent competition. As he rises, it will become a bigger problem for when guys can force him to engage there. I am intrigued by him and looking forward to his future development.
Guram Kutateladze (by Aiden Hayes)
Guram Kutateladze has been fighting for almost 11 years and is now 29, but his UFC debut vs fellow highly touted prospect Mateusz Gamrot was certainly an impressive one. Something that really stuck out to me when watching the Gamrot fight was Guram’s kicking on the backfoot. While he is not great at counter kicking on the backfoot - as few in the history of MMA are - he is quite comfortable using his bladed and bouncy stance to hop into his pivot, giving him an angle to launch his body kick from as his opponent attempts to pressure him. Overall, with solid form, activity, and ideas (kicking off backfoot, punching off his kicks, etc), Guram is a good kicker for MMA. As for his boxing, it still has some glaring weaknesses. Guram does not jab often, has his head straight on-line when he comes in (often off his rear hand, giving big counter opportunities), he’ll often leap into range with little regard for anything, and can lose his stance even just throwing one punch. His defense is mostly based on being at long range, retreating, or just pulling back, with little in the blocking/parrying/head movement department. However, that’s not to say Guram is worthless on the boxing end, his constant feinting desensitizes his opponents, giving him some clean entries, ties his kicks into his boxing, has endless cardio, seems to be somewhat comfortable under fire, and is quite durable.
Guram’s grappling game, from what I have seen, has some good elements - preemptive framing, strong at trapping hands/arms, and is generally quite active - but he pretty frequently attacks the leg, despite pretty clearly not being great or comfortable at finishing (lost an early fight to kneebar, too) and uses rubber guard, which an educated grappler like Gamrot tore apart.
As for wrestling, I have liked what I have seen. He’s quite instinctive in many places - especially in sitting the corner or forcing crackdown vs a high c - and has strong hips when his opponent get in on good shots (which Gamrot did frequently). He had some momentary lapses in takedown defense vs Gamrot, namely not stuffing the head on a single, letting Gamrot build up and push him to the cage, and letting Gamrot consistently chain into his double from crackdown, but his sheer strength + cardio allowed him to largely mask those issues.
As a prospect, I like Guram. He does a lot of things that will trouble the non-elite guys of any division (constantly kicking, even on the backfoot, feinting, punching off kicks) and has tremendous cardio, strength, and durability. Can’t say he will improve much in his boxing at AllStars, but working with Chimaev in the grappling department will certainly improve his grappling game. Excited to see his career pan out.