Mixed martial arts is bigger than it’s ever been. Fighters from all types of backgrounds always have one goal in mind: to be one of the best, if not the very greatest, to ever step foot into an octagon.
Not anybody can just step into the cage and call themselves a fighter. It takes mindset, patience, and toughness to survive in this kind of environment.
We’ve seen mega stars like Anderson Silva and Ronda Rousey stand at the top of the mountain with everybody looking up at them. They had that one horrific knockout that sent their careers in a different direction.
In this post, in no particular order, I’m going to give my top five fighters that I believe are destined for stardom. Fight fans are always clamoring for the next big fight, and I will be serving up plenty of dates for upcoming showdowns, as well as breakdowns of these men and women.
Born in Vancouver, Canada, Lee was destined to be a fighter since she was a child. Her Chinese-Singaporean father and Korean mom had her competing since the age of 6.
Angela “Unstoppable” Lee is one of the hottest young talents in the sport today. At age 22, Lee has already been featured in some heated battles. If you haven’t seen the young lioness in the octagon, I suggest you start looking up her fights in the ONE MMA promotion immediately.
Lee is 12-0 overall, but 9-0 as a pro. In the atomweight division, she’s been wiping everybody out. Each time Lee steps foot into the cage, the outcome only creates a bigger buzz about the 22-year-old. Her most memorable moments have been with Mei Yamaguchi.
In 2016, the older Yamaguchi was hopeful that she’d make easy work of Lee. However, Lee was ready to take the world by surprise.
The atomweight division was put on notice when she defeated Yamaguchi. Lee became the atomweight champion by unanimous decision. In May of this year, Lee went on to meet Yamaguchi once again for the title, and in the end, it was the same result.
Lee stood victorious by unanimous decision. That victory also capped off three successful title defenses.
She comes from an athletic family that loves to compete. Both her parents were fighters, and her dad hasn’t drifted too far away from the action, because he’s Lee’s only coach.
Her younger brother, Christian Lee, is the ONE featherweight champion. In the Asian countries, Angela is already a superstar. She’s flying a bit under the radar in other parts of the world, but it won’t be much longer before she’s an international star.
Lee isn’t the type to stand in front of her opponents and put herself into harm’s way. Although she’s found herself in those situations, that’s not necessarily her go-to game. Lee’s wrestling and takedown ability is what has driven her to be undefeated.
The 22-year-old black belt has no problem wearing down her opponents by taking them to the ground and choking them out. Most notably, her signature arm bar has gotten her compared to Ronda Rousey.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu star, making history will have to wait. On November 9th, Angela Lee was supposed to move up weight classes to the strawweight (125 pounds) division to take on Xiong Jing Nan for the ONE strawweight championship.
Lee was pulled from the card because of a herniated disc. Although she injured her back during training, doctors think it could be a result of the near-death experience that she survived a few months ago when her car flipped over several times on the highway.
To prove how tough she is, she was willing to still step into the octagon to face Jing Nan. But just like any promotion, protecting your athletes and superstars is the number-one priority.
This 29-year-old tattooed warrior is quickly shaping himself up to be one of the most talked-about fighters. His style and look, for one, is an attention getter. But his actions in the cage speak louder than words.
Bergh is 6-0 as a pro, and the man is a highlight reel to watch. This 6’2” Norwegian fighter has anchors for hands. If it’s not his heavy hands that he’s swinging at his foes, it’s Bergh’s ability to finish them on the ground.
The last time we saw Bergh was in the octagon at Cage Warriors 84. He and Norman Paraisy were throwing bombs for the most part.
From watching this fight, it could’ve gone either way. But Bergh was quick on his toes to get out of any bad situations in the fight. The type of quick thinking that Bergh displayed is what separates great fighters from good fighters.
It was an exciting fight, and people who watched the event proclaimed it as “fight of the night.”
I do worry in situations like this when the fight turns into a slug fest. It’s fun to watch, but at the same time, the momentum can swing into any fighter’s favor.
During Bergh’s performance with Paraisy, we did learn that he has a strong chin. Just about any other man would’ve gone down after some of those blows, but Bergh was able to power through and win the fight.
Another skill that separates Bergh from some of the fighters on people’s watch list is his striking. Bergh isn’t a traditional “points” kind of fighter. Every time he steps into the octagon, he comes in with one goal. That is to shut the lights out on somebody.
Some fighters have learned the hard way that standing up and trading blows might be their best chance at snagging a victory. Most of Bergh’s wins are actually by submission. Bergh has made the guillotine choke hold his signature move.
His ground game will also wear just about anybody out in the lightweight division. I do believe that Bergh will find himself inking a UFC contract in the future, but first, standing in his way is Jorge Gonzalez. These two will co-headline the upcoming Ortiz vs. Liddell three-card on November 24th.
If you haven’t heard by now, Ben Askren was involved in a huge trade deal with the UFC. Demetrious Johnson was sent to the ONE MMA promotion. In return, ONE sent over welterweight Ben Askren.
The entire welterweight division is in for a ride. Ben is already all over Twitter calling out everybody in the division from Darren Till, Robert Covington, and even the Diaz brothers.
Heck, Askren joined the ESPN crew after UFC 230 and took the trash talking to another level, pleading that somebody step up and fight him in early 2019.
Ben is a former Bellator and ONE champion. Some of his notable opponents were Andrey Koreshkov and Douglas Lima. They’re two of the best fighters in the world, and Askren just ran through them.
His wrestling and takedown ability is on another level. There have been plenty of good wrestlers in the sport, and there always will be. But Askren provides the kind of skills that are truly one of a kind.
No matter how hard opponents attempt to get up from the mat, they always find themselves struggling to fight off a barrage of punches or submission attempts.
Ben’s wrestling skills have come a long way. He’s a four-time NCAA Division I finalist, including two National Championships.
Ben competed in the 2008 Olympic Games. He finished sixth before he carried over his talents into the MMA world.
The hardcore fight followers will know that a guy like Askren should not be on any kind of “up-and-coming” list, but he’s not a mainstream name, either.
Ben’s awareness in the octagon is superior. The move for Ben did come as a surprise for most people. There was a lot of tension between Dana White and Askren in the past, but all of that’s been put aside.
On November 5th, we finally found out Askren’s first opponent in the UFC: Robbie Lawler. Fight fans don’t have to wait much longer, either. This fight is already being inked by both fighters and is aimed for UFC 233 in January.
Stepping into the octagon with a guy like Lawler is no joke, but unfortunately for Lawler, he’s seen better days.
It doesn’t mean that Askren will walk all over him. Lawler will have the first crack at knocking out the “new kid on the block.” But a dominant victory over Lawler will also have Dana White lining up guys for Askren if nobody is willing to answer his challenges.
“Bringing Ben to the UFC was a great deal for me,” Dana said. Give Ben a fight or two to put his name out there, and it won’t be long until we see him headlining Fight Night events and eventually challenging for the welterweight championship.
When thinking of the well-known female fighters in the UFC, names like Rose Namajunas, Amanda Nunes, and Cris Cyborg immediately come to mind. Tatiana Suarez will soon be added to that list.
Suarez comes from an incredible background and has a fascinating story.
Growing up, Suarez knew that wrestling was what she wanted to do. When Suarez would go with her mom to see her family compete or to watch local fights, it only added fuel to that desire, and soon she began training.
“Girls don’t wrestle,” Suarez said during an interview when asked about her journey to the MMA world. Those were the words her mom would tell her as a child. “She didn’t want me competing in this violent sport.”
It’s a different world now, and Suarez is the ninth-ranked strawweight in the world. The winner of The Ultimate Fighter season 23 is storming through her division one fight at a time.
Tatiana also had Olympic aspirations, but leading up to the 2012 Olympics, Suarez suffered a horrible neck injury that derailed any hopes of her competing in the Olympics.
That wasn’t the only bad news that Suarez would be given during rehab. An MRI and CAT scan revealed that there was a cancerous growth on her thyroid.
While this was an emotional time for Suarez and her family, just like any true warrior, Suarez went on to beat cancer and rehab her neck. Not much longer after that, Tatiana went on to debut for the Millennial MMA promotion.
After dominating the weight class in Millennial, Tatiana made the jump over to the UFC.
Suarez is in for a big year in 2019. Currently, she’s 7-0 as a pro. She’s always coming up with unique ways to end a fight.
Four of those wins were first-round finishes. Tatiana likely won’t step into the octagon again until around springtime. Her latest victory was at UFC 228 over Carla Esparza.
Whether it’s grappling and wrestling women until they tap or standing toe-to-toe with her opponents and trading shots, Suarez should be on everyone’s watch list.
Tatiana doesn’t take anything for granted, and the way she fights shows it. After what she’s been through, there’s not much that would stop her from making her way as a top five strawweight.
Suarez fights with so much passion and emotion that it will likely be in 2019 that we see her climb up the ranks and possibly find herself in a title shot opportunity.
The vegan MMA star still has a ways to go, but he’s trending as one of my top five fighters to keep an eye on going forward into 2019.
Liverpool’s lightweight got off to a hot start in his pro career. 5-0, to be exact. In February 2017, Barnett fought twice in the month and suffered a heartbreaking loss to Rhys McKee (punches).
Hoping for a bounce-back win at Cage Warriors 96, Tim Barnett and Matthew Bonner would go on to have a draw.
Both fighters knew they could’ve easily performed better. From following Tim Barnett on social media and having watched all his fights, I’m rooting for a turnaround.
He’s a likable guy. When you turn on the news or get on Twitter for MMA headlines, you don’t have to worry about seeing that Barnett has gotten into any kind of trouble.
The guy lives a true, clean lifestyle. He takes his training seriously, and just like Nate Diaz and Alex Caceres, his commitment to staying fit and healthy gives him an edge in the ring.
It’s a funny story when you look at the motives that led Barnett into the octagon.
When he first stepped into a gym, his ultimate goal was to get into shape so that he could chase girls. After getting tossed around and smacked around a few times, Barnett started to take the sport more seriously.
Once Barnett was able to get his footwork in shape and conditioning down as a boxer, Barnett made the move over to MMA.
Putting his last two performances aside, I believe that Barnett will sit down with his coaches and family and go back to the fighting style that quickly took him to a 5-0 start.
Now at 6-1-1, Barnett has his eyes set on Alex Lohore for a showdown on December eighth. Not only are fans hoping that Barnett can mop up his sloppiness, but fans also want to see a rematch with Matthew Bonner that will give us a winner this time around.
Of course, if Barnett comes into his next fight overlooking Lohore, the rematch may not even happen, and the tune for any turnaround in his MMA career may come to a brief halt.
This was a tough list to put together. There are tons of men and women fighters that could’ve easily made this list. I broke it down by some of the biggest names that I believe we will be talking about the most in 2019.
It’s not only fighting skills but also the stories and struggles that these men and women went through to get to where they’re at that play a huge factor. Each fighter knows that nothing will be handed to them on the road to becoming a mixed martial arts champion in their respected companies.
What makes this list unique is that some of these fighters have their backs against the wall. It puts pressure on them going into their next fight. That alone makes great entertainment for everybody involved and watching.
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