SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
September - 2016
45
The division that seemed to be
in desperate need of new faces
at the top, suddenly seems to
of gained some new fighters
to make things interesting. Nu-
merous young prospects have
emerged to be future title con-
tenders and new faces to make
the division a lot more interest-
ing.
Most recently Yair Rodriquez (9-
1) headlined an event against
Alex Caceres. Rodriquez is
known as having an incredibly
unique fan friendly style, throw-
ing numerous different flying
kicks and striking techniques
that guarantee entertainment.
Going into his headlining bout,
he was up against another pros-
pect in Andre Fili who he brutally
knocked out in the second round
with a flying head kick. His per-
formance seemed to be the high-
light of UFC 197 and it got a ton
of people interested in seeing
his next fight. With only 4 fights
under the promotion, Rodriquez
was getting a huge opportunity
and push from the UFC by being
the headliner for an event. He
was able to get the win via split
decision as well as catapult him-
self into the top of the rankings.
At 23 years old he has a ton of
room to get better an develop as
a mixed martial artists and seems
to just be a few fights away from
getting a shot at the belt.
Another rising prospect who has
been getting a ton of buzz is the
25 year old undefeated jiu jitsu
specialist Brian Ortega (11-0-1) .
Ortega has only 4 bouts under the
promotion but all of them have
been highly entertaining. He has
a reputation of being “the king
of the third round” due to his
last 3 fights being down on the
judges score cards and finding a
way to get the finish in the final 5
minutes. Ortega has shown that
he is one of the deadliest fight-
ers on the ground in the division
as well as how great his cardio
is. As the fight progresses he be-
gins to gain more confidence,
which is not something that is
seen in most young prospects. In
his last bout he faced his first big
test and step up in completion at
UFC 199 against Clay Guida. The
fight was a close back-and-forth
battle and in the final round,
with about a minute left Ortega
began looking for the finish and
dominating Guida in the stand-
up until landing a flying knee
with 20 seconds left, leaving one
of the toughest fighters in the di-
vision unconscious. Ortega is set
to face Hacran Dias in his next
bout and he is another fighter
that seems to be a few stellar
performances away from getting
a chance against the champion.
Doo Ho Choi(14-1) , also known
as the “Korean Superboy” is
without a doubt something spe-
cial. He has looked absolute phe-
nomenal since making his UFC
debut, with all 3 of his wins be-
ing first round knockouts. Choi
has some of the best striking in
the division and the main ques-
tion surrounding him was how
he would do against better com-
petition. In his last bout he faced
that test in Thiago Tavares, who
is a respected veteran of the
UFC. The 9-year UFC vet took
Choi down early, but as soon as
the fight got back to the standup
Choi dropped him with a straight
right from hell, followed up with
ground and pound to finish the
bout in devastating fashion. It
was a spectacular finish for Choi,
who’s exciting style and unique
persona set him up to be a force
to be reckoned with in the feath-
erweight division.
The last fighter on this list you
cant put in the category of a
prospect due to UFC debut dat-
ing back to 2012 and owning 15
fights under the promotion, Ha-
waiian native Max Holloway (16-
3) has looked unstoppable re-
cently and seems to be the next
guy in line for a title fight. When
Holloway first entered the UFC
he was 4-0 and made his debut
against a very tough opponent
in Dustin Porier who was an up-
coming fighter as well. After his
first career loss, Holloway strung
together 3 wins in the year of
2012 until suffering back to back
losses against Dennis Burmudez
and current champion Conor
Mcgregor. Since his loss to Mc-
grgeor, from 2014 until now he
has gone on a 9 fight winning
streak, taking out some of the
biggest names in the division. At
the young age of just 24 years
old, he has the experience that
a veteran would have, facing the
toughest talent the division has
to offer and being able to face
any stylistic matchup thrown at
him. Holloway has shown that
he is one of the most well round-
ed fighters in the division and I
wouldn’t be surprised to see him
as the next UFC featherweight
champion.
