Top five prospects tipped to make the UFC

Often seen as the pinnacle of mixed martial arts, the UFC is a highly competitive promotion that puts fighters on the biggest stage while offering the greatest rewards.

Many UFC champions have flocked from other promotions such as Bellator, Cage Warriors and many more to join Dana White’s illustrious set of fighters, chasing titles, glory and a legacy only the UFC can provide.

Fighters dream of joining the coveted promotion for years and many jump at the chance of having a crack at the big time, with some more successful than others in achieving this goal.

This list compiles five of the top prospects in the MMA world.

Luke Riley

A featherweight aged just 25, Luke Riley is currently fighting under the promotion Cage Warriors.

In 2023, Riley won Fighter of the Year and Fight of the Year following his bout with Alexander Loof.

Fighting out of Next Generation MMA Liverpool, the same gym as Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann, Luke Riley has a record of 11-0, with eight of these victories being via KO/TKO.

This 73% KO/TKO shows the high level of his impressive striking ability that nearly earned him a spot on Dana White’s Contender Series, with only a Visa issue stopping him in his tracks.

The fact he also won Cage Warriors’ Knockout of the Year in 2024 as well as his last fight in March 2025 shows it's less of an if but more of a when he gets the call up to the big time.

Harry Hardwick

Fighting out of Middlesborough, Harry Hardwick is currently the featherweight champion of Cage Warriors, with a record of 13-3-1 but 9-0-1 under his current promotion.

In the best form of his career, he is more than knocking on the door of the UFC, going unbeaten in his last eight fights.

Clearly fighting is in his blood as his brother George fought on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023, unfortunately not making the cut, but in 2024 the pair became the first simultaneous brother champions in a major promotion.

Having successfully defended his title twice already, as recently as March, the UFC might have to consider another Hardwick brother for a spot in the top promotion.

Dakota Ditcheva

Immersed in fighting culture from an early age, Ditcheva grew up in a martial arts-based family, with her mother being a multiple-time world kickboxing champion, Lisa Howarth.

The fighter from Manchester has an impressive record of 14-0 with 86% of these wins coming via KO/TKO, including her most recent bout where she won the 2024 PFL Women’s Flyweight Tournament.

At 26 she became the youngest champion in PFL history and the first British female MMA world champion with a stunning victory over former UFC flyweight title challenger Talia Santos, showing she is more than capable of not just beating, but stopping some of the best around.

She takes on Sumiko Inaba in July in what may be her last fight before the UFC come calling.

Losene Keita

Born in Guinea but moving to Belgium at 11, Losene Keita stands at 5ft 9 ins and boasts an impressive record of 16-1, with the only blemish on his record due to a foot injury.

Nicknamed ‘Black Panther’, the Oktagon Lightweight Champion has allegedly turned down contracts with other promotions before he re-signed with Oktagon at the start of 2024.

At 27 Keita has the experience and power needed for the UFC and he features very highly on the top pound-for-pound rankings list.

63% of his wins have come via TKO and he is one of the most promising fighters in the world who could test himself at the highest level in the UFC.

Amru Magomedov

This Russian Lightweight fighter is currently 9-0 at 25 years old and is part of the UAE Warriors promotion where he has successfully defended his belt twice already, with none of his title fights making it past the second round.

An accomplished fighter on the ground as well as striking, four of his last five victories have been via rear naked choke.

In his last bout he beat former UFC fighter Alex da Silva with body kicks and punches, proving he is worthy of some attention from Dana White.

The spotlight continues to follow another one of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s students and Magomedov could follow the trend of Dagestan based fighters reaching the highest level.