A generation of superstars have retired, been broken into obscurity or drifted away from the UFC over the last couple of years.
Yes, there are still a handful of big names for Dana White and Co to hang their hat – and pay-per-view cards – on but the world-leading MMA promotion is ripe for a new crop of hotshots to take over.
The UFC has now been televised in more than 165 countries so the next big thing could emerge from just about anywhere.
Here, we select seven burgeoning talents who could reach the very top and in many cases their backstories are as staggering as the ability in the cage.
Lerone Murphy (British, welterweight)
The fact that Lerone Murphy is an undefeated British UFC star is actually the least interesting thing about him.
Murphy’s backstory reads like a comic book plot. Even his nickname ‘Miracle’ doesn’t particularly do it justice.
A talented footballer as a youngster, he trialled with Liverpool before a knee injury shattered those dreams. But it was on a Saturday afternoon in June 2013 that his superhero origin story truly began.
Lerone Murphy is one of the older fighters on the list but has real star potential
The Manchester native considers himself lucky to be alive and is chasing his dream
He was leaving a barbers when a masked gunman in the Manchester suburb of Fallowfield shot him three times.
Two bullets struck his neck and the other hit his mouth. Bystanders heard cries of ‘please don’t’. His teeth were blown to pieces and he spat out shrapnel but he was alive.
Murphy spent a week in intensive care after emergency surgery and there’s a sliver of bullet still wedged in his tongue as a reminder, as if he needed one, of how fortunate he was to escape alive.
‘I’m not sure why it happened,’ he later admitted. ‘It’s one of those things, it could have been mistaken identity or it could have been something I’d done in the past, I don’t know.’
Murphy’s uncle was the late legendary Manchester boxing trainer Oliver Harrison and he’d been shown the ropes before. But the bullets that gave him a taste of death are what he credits for his newfound appetite for life.
From that day, he immersed himself in MMA training and has been on an incredible rise ever since. Athletic, intelligent and with a skillset that’s growing all the time, Murphy has never lost in the UFC and is now a top 10 featherweight.
His talent is indisputable and narrative almost unmatched – it will be fascinating to see how far he can go.
Murphy has battled his way into contention at the top of the featherweight division
Raul Rosas Jnr (Mexican-American, bantamweight)
A Gen Z MMA phenomenon who became the youngest ever fighter in UFC history and is already well on his way to stardom.
Rosas Jnr is a kid growing up in the spotlight but he’s not short of confidence, hosting a podcast – which oversteps the mark of decency – to put it mildly. Their first female guest walked out after a sexually offensive comment.
He looks and behaves like a boy amongst men at times but when he’s locked in the octagon there’s no doubting the ability of ‘El Nino Problema‘ to mix it with men a decade older than him.
He bought his mum a minivan after bagging a $50,000 bonus in his first fight in the UFC and has even bizarrely invented a word which now doubles up as a catch phrase.
Raul Rosas Jr is the youngest ever UFC fighter and has an incredibly bright future
‘Chiwiwis’ is the word and Rosas Jnr encourages the crowd to shout it out, usually as an expression of jubilation after victory. Yes, I don’t get it either.
The 20-year-old from New Mexico already has six fights in the UFC, only losing once, and has the world at his feet (and hands).
He’s a long-limbed deadly grappler but improving all the time in his stand-up game. Having 12 professional fights under your belt before the age you can even legally have a beer in the US is a remarkable feat.
Rosas Jr has a head start on most of his peers and his career can be whatever he chooses to make it. If his skills reach a maturity his character hasn’t yet managed -this could be a generational talent.
Joshua Van (Myanmar, flyweight)
From Myanmar to Malaysia then Texas and now the UFC.
All aboard the Van. That doesn’t work does it? Van is just 23, an infant in MMA terms and he’s tipped for the very top.
Born in Myanmar as one of five siblings, his family were forced to flee their homeland to the safety of Malaysia due to the SPDC junta.
A couple of years later they relocated again – this time to Texas – where Van could hardly speak a word of English and was mercilessly bullied.
He admitted to watching street fights on YouTube to try and learn ways to strike back against his tormentors before he became gripped by the combat sports bug.
Joshua Van’s (left) remarkable story has led him to the cusp of UFC stardom
‘I was a small kid,’ Van previously told MMA Junkie. ‘From where I come from, you get picked on. It’s kind of like I fight everyday, and I got to the point where I enjoyed fighting. I watched clips on street fights and how to win street fights. I tried it in my next fight and things like that. That’s what got me into my career.’
An opportunistic late-replacement UFC fight saw Van snatch his chance with both hands in June 2023.
Before then he’d only competed on the regional circuit but a shock split decision win made him the UFC’s first ever fighter from Myanmar to compete and triumph in the organisation.
Since then, he’s won six of his last seven and knocked out Bruno Gustavo da Silva earlier this month to enhance is sky-rocketing reputation.
Oban Elliott (Welsh, welterweight)
‘The Welsh Gangster’ may be tough as nails but he broke down in tears when the UFC called to sign him up.
It has been an extraordinary tale of triumph over adversity and tragedy to even reach this point.
The man from Merthyr Tydfil began his love affair with combat sports when introduced by his father Paul as a youngster.
But when Elliott was seven, his father took his own life.
The memory of his dad fuels Elliott still and after a win last year, he said: ‘To go from where I’ve come from and what I’ve been through in my life, I get to give moments like that to my family now.
‘I’ll be a proud man forever and nobody can take that off me.
‘My father is always with me because I had a flag made when he died and it’s as old as the time he passed away.’
Oban Elliott is an elite athlete out of Wales and takes the flag dedicated to his father to fights
Elliott competes at welterweight and has been thriving since arriving in the UFC
He was also written off when a medical issue threatened his burgeoning career having signed with Cage Warriors after making a flying start to life in the pro ranks with six successive finishes.
Elliott was found to be suffering with heart arrhythmia, when it pumps too fast, slow or irregularly. He moved up to a more natural welterweight and ECG readings levelled out enough for him to safely compete.
After impressing Dana White on the Contender Series TV show in 2023, Elliott had his call-up to the big time. He’s not looked back. Three wins in a row, the latest of which was a TKO last November, have marked ‘The Welsh Gangster’ as a man to keep an eye on.
Paul Hughes (Northern Ireland, lightweight)
The most exciting prospect to come out of Ireland since Conor McGregor – just don’t compare the two…
Hughes, who grew up in Londonderry Northern Ireland, said earlier this year: ‘I’m not like this other guy. I’m my own man.’
McGregor caught wind and – would you believe it – went on an expletive-laden rant on X.
‘Get that flag off you, you little know-what-you-are **** from up there. Up the real Irish f*** these vermin f****.’
Paul Hughes has been sensational and is currently the biggest star in active Irish MMA
Hughes later responded with a toned-down response: ‘I always said you were the GOAT, paid homage at every opportunity. But coming at my Irish identity just shows where your head is at.’
While Hughes and any MMA fighter from Ireland have to deal with the looming spectre of McGregor, he is indeed his own man, opting to sign with PFL, losing only to Usman Nurmagomedov, cousin of Khabib.
He bounced back from that defeat in a massive homecoming fight, lighting up a packed out SSE Arena with a 42-second TKO of Bruno Miranda in May.
Perhaps one day we’ll see Hughes signed by the UFC but for now he has his sights trained firmly on a revenge mission against Nurmagomedov.
Youssef Zalal (Moroccan, featherweight)
The UFC is enriched by the diverse and wild paths fighters from across the globe take to reach the biggest stage.
Competing among the very best would have felt like a pipedream for Zalal when he was fighting in the streets of Morocco growing up.
His mum enrolled him in kickboxing to channel his energy and get him off the streets. He fell in love with the craft and a move to Colorado helped hone his skills.
But then tragedy struck and threatened more than just his fighting ambitions.
His brother was killed in a drunk driving accident when Youssef was 18. ‘I was the last one to hold him,’ Zalal later said.
Youssef Zalal (right) is the next big thing out of Morocco and has surged towards the top
Zalal wants to become the first Moroccan UFC champion and take the belt back home
‘He was my biggest fan. I was trying to kill myself after my brother died. I tried taking pills and they stopped me, it’s a big reason I don’t drink.
Zalal made a vow to make his late brother proud, adding: ‘No parties, no girls, I just stay focused. I put in way too much time and sacrifice to even try to stop. No one’s stopping me.’
His great ambition is to win a UFC title and take it back to show his mother in Morocco. It would be a Hollywood ending to a remarkable tale and win seven wins on the spin, Zalal is in touching distance of it.
Michael Morales (Ecuadorian, welterweight)
This rising welterweight star hails from Ecuador and fighting runs in the family.
Both parents were judo practitioners and Morales was performing throws as soon as he could walk. His mum, Katty Hurtado, was a champion judoka and was his first coach.
The prodigy switched from judo to wrestling at 10 and found himself dominating competitions in his homeland. By 16, he’d made his MMA debut and juggled his training with work in a boat factory.
Long hours and a paycheck of just £148 a week forced Morales’ hand and he relocated to give his dream a better chance.
Michael Morales (left) uses his judoka mother as inspiration and moved to Mexico to train
The Ecuadorian has dominated in the UFC and been training from a young age
He moved to Mexico, found his way onto a regional fighting promotion before having the chance to impress UFC head honcho White on the Contender Series.
Morales saw off Nikolay Veretennikov to earn his call-up and has gone from strength to strength.
His rise has been inexorable and unlike many on this list of hotshots, he’s still unbeaten.
In six UFC fights, he’s won four by knockout in a division stacked with talent. The last win was the biggest announcement of his arrival at the top – beating perennial contender Gilbert Burns.
Now he’s the No 8 ranked welterweight in the world and possibly two wins from a title shot. Fame and fortune has done little to change Morales so far and he’s spent much of his earnings renovating his childhood home back in Ecuador.
