The 30 best MMA fighters under 30 in 2025<\/p>\n
For nearly a decade, ESPN has compiled annual lists of the best young MMA fighters in the world. That tradition continues \u2014 but with a twist. Whereas for seven years we ranked the top 25 fighters under age 25, this year the list expanded to 30 fighters with eligibility extending to anyone under 30.The rationale for the shift: In past years, many prospects aged out of eligibility even while still climbing the ranks. Expanding the rankings to 30 better reflects the landscape of prospects making their way to the big stage \u2014 and even staking their claim to it.That is not to say that young, emerging fighters are guaranteed a continual rise. The Nos. 1 and 2 fighters in the 2024 rankings made our list again this year, but they\u2019re well down the list. The expansion of our list to age 30 also allowed for the inclusion of a reigning UFC champion, a former titlist, a PFL champ and several who have competed for a belt.Editor\u2019s Picks1 RelatedThis year\u2019s list features four fighters who will be in action at UFC 323 in Las Vegas on Saturday (10 p.m. ET on ESPN PPV; prelims beginning at 6 p.m. on ESPN+), including 24-year-old Joshua Van, who will take on men\u2019s flyweight title-holder Alexandre Pantoja in the main event.Our panel \u2014 Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale, Dre Waters, Jeff Wagenheim, Marcus Vanderberg and Alecia Hamm \u2014 selected fighters based on achievement and potential. Okamoto and Wagenheim provide breakdowns of the top 30 under 30.play0:51Ilia Topuria celebrates KO finish to win lightweight titleIlia Topuria defeats Charles Oliveira via knockout in the first round to win the UFC lightweight title.1. Ilia TopuriaUFC lightweight championAge: 28Potential: 10\/10. Momentum: 10\/10. Star power: 10\/10. At any given time in MMA, there is always a short list of names that everything revolves around. Names that drive the sport\u2019s schedule and the fans\u2019 interest. Topuria is one of those names. At just 28 years old, Topuria has already established himself as one of the greats in MMA, winning the UFC featherweight and lightweight championships. The feat is even more impressive when you consider that his three title fights were against UFC all-timers Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira, respectively. Following the last of those wins, Topuria occupied the No. 1 spot in ESPN\u2019s pound-for-pound rankings for 20 consecutive weeks. When the UFC matchmakers sit down to plan anything, Topuria is one of the most important players in that conversation. Even news of him taking a personal break from fighting in early 2026 does nothing to lessen Topuria\u2019s star power. \u2014 Okamoto2. Dakota DitchevaPFL women\u2019s flyweightAge: 27Francis Ngannou hasn\u2019t been seen inside a PFL cage in over a year, and Kayla Harrison fled to that other MMA organization. So that leaves Ditcheva as the PFL\u2019s only draw. It didn\u2019t help that she fought just once in 2025, but a fan-friendly fighting style \u2014 12 knockouts among her 15 wins \u2014 makes Ditcheva one of the fight game\u2019s rare don\u2019t-miss attractions. She is back in action on the PFL\u2019s opening card of 2026, taking on onetime Bellator title challenger Denise Kielholtz on Feb. 7. \u2014 Wagenheim3. Joshua VanUFC men\u2019s flyweightAge: 24It\u2019s not a stretch to say Van checks every box when it comes to building a potential new star. He\u2019s a charismatic, confident (but not overly arrogant), high-action fighter who competes frequently and always throws down. He shares many similarities with a young Max Holloway. Van could close out 2025 with a UFC championship, which would put him in the running for Fighter of the Year. \u2014 Okamotoplay2:02Jack Della Maddalena impresses to become new UFC welterweight champJack Della Maddalena stuns Belal Muhammad in the main event of UFC 315 to become the new welterweight champion.4. Jack Della MaddalenaUFC welterweightAge: 29One might be tempted to say Della Maddalena has had his moment and that\u2019s now over and done. His reign as UFC welterweight champion lasted just six months, and he was not merely dethroned by Islam Makhachev last month; he was dominated. But Della Maddalena had won 18 fights in a row going into UFC 322, and he\u2019s fully capable of going on another championship-level run. He\u2019s a finisher, with 12 knockouts and two submissions. Until his most recent bout, JDM had never appeared out of a fight, no matter the level of competition. \u2014 Wagenheimplay0:50Michael Morales punishes Gilbert Burns with flurry of punches for main-event winMichael Morales grabs the huge win in the main event of UFC Fight Night, beating veteran Gilbert Burns for the victory.5. Michael MoralesUFC welterweightAge: 26He\u2019s undefeated and on a roll, with first-round knockouts in his past three fights. Last month\u2019s meeting with Sean Brady was expected to test Morales\u2019 mettle, but he barely broke a sweat in finishing the highest-ranked opponent he\u2019s seen. Morales is a fast, aggressive and pinpoint striker, and that skill set is bolstered by strong defensive wrestling that keeps fights in his standup wheelhouse. Whoever gets Morales next is going to have an unforgiving puzzle to solve. \u2014 Wagenheimplay0:53Ian Machado Garry impresses with dominant win over Carlos PratesIan Machado Garry grabs another impressive win under his belt, with a unanimous-decision victory over Carlos Prates in the main event of UFC Fight Night.6. Ian Machado GarryUFC welterweightAge: 28Machado Garry has been building to this stage of his career since he took a now-infamous photo alongside Conor McGregor as a child many years ago. Machado Garry is, undoubtedly, one of the most skilled welterweights in the world. On paper, he has a shot to dethrone Makhachev. He\u2019s not afraid of a soundbite. In fact, he appears to invest a lot of time and energy into being ready to produce one whenever it might suit him. He\u2019s in the UFC\u2019s second-toughest division, but if he\u2019s able to string together the right wins, he has massive breakout potential. \u2014 Okamoto7. Usman NurmagomedovPFL lightweight championAge: 27Nurmagomedov was the Bellator lightweight champion when the promotion was acquired by the PFL in 2023, and in October, he became his current fight company\u2019s first lightweight champion. He\u2019s undefeated, yet just getting started. Nurmagomedov, cousin of Khabib and younger brother of UFC men\u2019s bantamweight Umar, has not scored a finish since 2023, but he continues to get his hand raised. In his past two fights, he was pushed to the limit by Paul Hughes, but Nurmagomedov is 2-0 in the rivalry. Next up is a Feb. 7 title defense against another formidable United Kingdom fighter, PFL 2025 tournament winner Alfie Davis. \u2014 Wagenheim8. Umar NurmagomedovUFC men\u2019s bantamweightAge: 29Nurmagomedov fought for the UFC title in January and gave Merab Dvalishvili the toughest challenge of his title reign, especially early on. The champion\u2019s bottomless gas tank eventually drained his challenger, though. After Nurmagomedov took the first \u201cL\u201d of his career, he bounced back, cooling off red-hot Mario Batista in October. He fights again Jan. 24, 2026, against Deiveson Figueiredo, a two-time former flyweight champion who is 4-2 since moving to 135 pounds in 2023. Nurmagomedov is building back up toward Dvalishvili, and that\u2019s a rematch fans can get behind. \u2014 Wagenheim9. Natalia SilvaUFC women\u2019s flyweightAge: 28The UFC\u2019s 125-pound women\u2019s division can be broken down into two groups: Valentina Shevchenko and everyone else. But there\u2019s reason to believe Silva will be more than just another title defense on Shevchenko\u2019s legendary r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Silva has a unique, specialized standup fighting style that she has perfected. If there\u2019s one thing we can say about Shevchenko, it\u2019s that she\u2019s most likely going to be the more well-rounded fighter in the Octagon. Perhaps the best way to beat her is by being a specialist, and that\u2019s what Silva is. Her constant movement and feints on the feet have bewildered past opponents. If she beats Rose Namajunas at UFC 324 in January and eventually can beat Shevchenko, she\u2019ll be one of the biggest names in women\u2019s MMA overnight. \u2014 Okamotoplay0:55Arman Tsarukyan submits Dan Hooker in the 2nd roundArman Tsarukyan puts Dan Hooker in an arm triangle and gets the tap out in the main event of UFC Fight Night.10. Arman TsarukyanUFC lightweightAge: 29That Tsarukyan sits at No. 10 is symbolic of his career. He might be the best fighter on this list, maybe aside from Ilia Topuria, who, as the only current UFC champion under age 30, deserves the top spot here and was voted to occupy it. Tsarukyan, on the other hand, was passed over for two lower-ranked lightweights when the UFC matchmakers decided to put an interim title up for grabs next month. Tsarukyan has won five in a row and has all the makings of a No. 1 contender, except one vital ingredient: the enthused backing of his promoters. If the UFC isn\u2019t buying into Tsarukyan, his potential is limited. \u2014 Wagenheimplay0:42Erin Blanchfield submits Tracy Cortez for massive winErin Blanchfield becomes the first woman to submit Tracy Cortez at UFC 322.11. Erin BlanchfieldUFC women\u2019s flyweightAge: 26Everything has happened so fast for Blanchfield. After signing with the UFC at 21 years old, Blanchfield was given a No. 1 contender opportunity seven fights into her campaign. She likely wasn\u2019t ready for it and suffered her only UFC loss to Manon Fiorot, who is nearly 10 years her senior. Still only 26, Blanchfield has a few years to go before she hits her prime, but her maturation is catching up to her raw talent in a way that makes her a real title contender. Her understated personality doesn\u2019t make her an obvious pick for \u201cstar\u201d potential, but her no-nonsense approach pairs well with a ferocious fighting style. \u2014 Okamoto12. Nassourdine ImavovUFC middleweightAge: 29Imavov\u2019s talent is obvious, so he\u2019s always carried a lot of potential to break through, but that breakout moment feels closer than ever now that his talent is being combined with real opportunity. He has headlined, and won, his two appearances in 2025 \u2014 one in his home country of France and the other in Saudi Arabia against a living legend in Israel Adesanya. Now, he\u2019s looking at a possible middleweight title fight against Khamzat Chimaev, who is one of the biggest stars in the sport. You can\u2019t ask for more opportunity than that. Chimaev is a tough matchup for anyone, but the rewards of pulling off a win against him would be massive for Imavov. \u2014 Okamotoplay1:19Brendan Allen wins main event after RDR\u2019s corner throws in towelBrendan Allen wins a huge main event over Reinier de Ridder after de Ridder\u2019s corner stops the fight in between rounds.13. Brendan AllenUFC middleweightAge: 29Allen has really felt the highs and lows of MMA, all before his 30th birthday. He knows the high of a seven-fight win streak and the excruciating low of back-to-back losses in high-profile fights in 2024 and 2025. At the moment, he\u2019s back on a high after upsetting Reinier de Ridder in dominant fashion in a short-notice main event in October. Allen understands the game and he\u2019s comfortable in the limelight because of his six years of experience already in the UFC. He might be on the cusp of turning the corner and becoming a problem for the top of the middleweight division. \u2014 Okamoto14. Mauricio RuffyUFC lightweightAge: 29The Fighting Nerds finally hit a few road bumps in 2025, as Ruffy, Jean Silva, Caio Borralho and Carlos Prates all suffered losses within a short amount of time. And yet, it feels as if the sport is expecting a massive comeback out of the team from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Ruffy remains a cornerstone of the team and will get every opportunity to re-establish himself in 2026. Next year will be a big one for The Fighting Nerds, one way or another, and Ruffy will be a big part of that. \u2014 Okamoto15. Jean SilvaUFC featherweightAge: 28Silva is coming off a humbling loss to Diego Lopes in September, but if you\u2019re going to take a loss, it might as well be to someone like Lopes, who could be a UFC champion come January, when he challenges Vokanovski in a rematch for the featherweight championship at UFC 325. Silva is another cornerstone of The Fighting Nerds, who will seek a bounce back in 2026. The talent and drawing power are there. This team, despite hitting a snag in 2025, finishes fights. It\u2019s a violent squad that isn\u2019t losing popularity or attention any time soon. \u2014 Okamoto16. Paul HughesPFL lightweightAge: 28Hughes came close to becoming a PFL champion in January, losing a majority decision to Usman Nurmagomedov. They met again in October, and Hughes came up short once more. But he elevated his standing in the sport even in two defeats, and it feels like there\u2019s still oxygen feeding into a rivalry with Nurmagomedov. Considering those two fights and Hughes\u2019 2024 victory over onetime-hot prospect A.J. McKee, the road ahead still has an upward trajectory. Would the PFL allow that path to lead Hughes again to Nurmagomedov, if the champ holds on to the belt? \u2014 Wagenheimplay1:08Benoit Saint-Denis\u2019 victory via rear-naked choke drives French crowd wildBenoit Saint-Denis\u2019 victory via rear-naked choke drives French crowd wild17. Beno\u00eet Saint DenisUFC lightweightAge: 29It felt like a lot of the MMA world gave up on Saint Denis after he suffered back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano last year, but that hype train is slowly starting to reload on passengers. Saint Denis has finished three opponents in a row since losing to Moicano, including legitimate names Beneil Dariush and Mauricio Ruffy. When he lost to Poirier in March 2024, the spotlight might have been too much. Everything seemed to go wrong. Now that he\u2019s felt that and bounced back from it, the best seems yet to come. \u2014 Okamotoplay1:26Fiziev, Bahamondes fight to bloody finish in co-mainRafael Fiziev and Ignacio Bahamondes give the fans their money\u2019s worth in Baku in the co-main of UFC Fight Night.18. Ignacio BahamondesUFC lightweightAge: 28Bahamondes saw a three-fight winning streak come to an end over the summer, losing a decision to Rafael Fiziev in his first time facing top-10 competition. Bahamondes previously had shown himself capable of hot streaks, building himself back up after setbacks. Can he do it again? His 2026 will be a defining time, determining whether Bahamondes can take the next step toward the top echelon. \u2014 Wagenheim19. Youssef ZalalUFC featherweightAge: 29Zalal joined the UFC in 2020 and won his first three fights, but then he ran into some guy named Ilia Topuria and that started a skid that made him winless in four straight and out of a job. After finishing three opponents on the regional circuit, Zalal returned to the Octagon in 2024 and did so with a vengeance. He has won all five of his fights and scored submissions in four of them. His two 2025 wins, over top-10 fighters Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett, opened lots of eyes. All those eyes will be on Zalal in the coming year. \u2014 Wagenheim20. Payton TalbottUFC men\u2019s bantamweightAge: 27MMA has a way of humbling everyone, and Talbott\u2019s moment came earlier this year, losing to Raoni Barcelos as a near 12-1 betting favorite. The 27-year-old roared back, however, with a three-round decision win in his next bout and will now meet former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 323 on Saturday. The UFC is clearly back on board in fast-tracking Talbott, who can stand out with his quirky personality and confident fighting style. If he beats Cejudo, he\u2019s right back on a rocket ship to the top. And if he proves ready this time, he\u2019s going to draw a lot of eyeballs along that route. \u2014 Okamotoplay0:39Gabriel Bonfim wins 4th straight UFC fight with KOGabriel Bonfim wins the main event of UFC Fight Night with a beautiful knockout of Randy Brown.21. Gabriel BonfimUFC welterweightAge: 28The UFC\u2019s welterweight division is as crowded as it gets right now, especially with the addition of Islam Makhachev. That said, Bonfim might be a dark horse to truly shake it up in 2026. Youth is very much on his side at 28 years old. He\u2019s not as recognizable as some of the others in his class \u2014 Ian Machado Garry, Michael Morales and Carlos Prates \u2014 but don\u2019t be surprised if that changes next year. If Bonfim is to break out, it will be by simply winning. And he might have the tools to do that. \u2014 Okamoto22. Tatsuro TairaUFC men\u2019s flyweightAge: 25A year ago, Taira stood at No. 1 in ESPN\u2019s ranking of the best 25 fighters under age 25. Since then, he\u2019s gotten lost in the crowd by fighting only once. He won by submission, but it was in a low-profile matchup with HyunSung Park (after a higher-level opponent, Amir Albazi, withdrew). Taira has a chance to regain momentum this weekend when he faces two-time former champion Brandon Moreno at UFC 323. A win would boost Taira back onto the upward trajectory he had before his only career loss, to the other Brandon at flyweight, Royval, in 2024. \u2014 Wagenheimplay0:52DC stunned by Quillan Salkilld\u2019s brutal head-kick KOQuillan Salkilld drops Nasrat Haqparast with a vicious leg kick for a first-round knockout.23. Quillan SalkilldUFC lightweightAge: 25Salkilld has been in the UFC only since February but is already 3-0 \u2014 a gaudy 3-0 at that. He has earned a pair of performance of the night bonuses, including for a 19-second knockout of Anshul Jubli in his debut. Salkilld\u2019s other bonus came in his most recent win, a first-round head-kick knockout of a streaking Nasrat Haqparast in the feature prelim of UFC 321 in October. That one secured his status as a prospect to watch. \u2014 Wagenheim24. Bo NickalUFC middleweightAge: 29Nickal was a rising star with a UFC push behind him before suffering the first defeat of his career in May by collapsing to the body attack of Reinier de Ridder in a second-round knockout. It was a big step up in competition for Nickal, as de Ridder is a former two-division One Championship titlist with three times Nickal\u2019s MMA experience. Nonetheless, the Nickal hype train took much mockery \u2014 until he got back on track last month. After a head-kick knockout of Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 322, Nickal leaped atop the cage and flashed two middle fingers at the Madison Square Garden crowd. Instant antihero. \u2014 Wagenheimplay1:02Baisangur Susurkaev sends opponent to mat with epic KOBaisangur Susurkaev sends opponent to mat with epic KO25. Baisangur SusurkaevUFC middleweightAge: 24The whole point of \u201cDana White\u2019s Contender Series\u201d is to build, um, contenders. It\u2019s not a success-maker all by itself, though, just a springboard in a building process that\u2019s supposed to take time. Susurkaev is challenging that notion. He appeared on \u201cDWCS\u201d on Aug. 12 and scored a first-round knockout, making such a strong impression that matchmakers booked him for his UFC debut four days later. Susurkaev won that fight as well, then added another win in November. Fast starts can be deceptive, though. Is he just gearing up, or has he already reached maximum speed? Buckle in and let\u2019s find out. \u2014 Wagenheim26. Maycee BarberUFC women\u2019s flyweightAge: 27Barber is the hardest name on this list to assign a rank, given what happened in her last scheduled appearance. Barber was supposed to face Erin Blanchfield in May but was pulled at the last second for medical reasons. And this was after she had missed weight for the bout. She has dealt with numerous medical issues in recent years, some of which have not come with an explanation as to exactly what was wrong. These aren\u2019t good signs. Then again, the last time Barber\u2019s stock appeared to dip after she lost back-to-back fights in 2020 and 2021 and tore her ACL in the process, she responded with a six-fight win streak. \u2014 Okamoto27. Muhammad MokaevBrave CF men\u2019s flyweight championAge: 25Somehow, Mokaev is still only 25 years old. That seems unbelievable, considering he\u2019s already had an undefeated seven-fight career in the UFC, alienated UFC brass to the point CEO Dana White has expressed a lack of interest in working with him again and won a title in the Brave Combat Federation. That\u2019s a lot of accomplishments (and drama) to fit into a five-year professional career. The talent is undeniable. His name is recognizable. And sometimes, the UFC can change its mind and forgive and forget. There are a lot of possibilities at play for Mokaev, and plenty of time for him to explore each of them. \u2014 Okamoto28. Song YadongUFC men\u2019s bantamweightAge: 28Song has fought twice in the past two years, but they were big-time fights against former UFC champions. After losing a decision to Petr Yan in 2024, Song scored a finish against Henry Cejudo in February. Next up is another ex-champion and an even higher-profile opportunity, as Song faces Sean O\u2019Malley on Jan. 24 at UFC 324. Song is a veteran with 15 UFC fights, and it\u2019s about time he made his presence felt \u2014 starting by ramping up his activity to simply be a presence. \u2014 Wagenheim29. Iasmin LucindoUFC strawweightAge: 23Lucindo was scheduled to be in action this weekend at UFC 323 but is dealing with a temporary suspension for a failed drug test. However, her team is confident the positive test came from a tainted supplement. If that\u2019s the case, she won\u2019t be out for an extended period. Whenever she comes back, she\u2019s in a terrific spot. She\u2019s already ranked No. 9 in the ESPN strawweight rankings. If she can get back to work relatively quickly, she\u2019s a candidate to break out in 2026. \u2014 Okamoto30. Raul Rosas Jr.UFC men\u2019s bantamweightAge: 21Rosas just recently turned 21, so we\u2019ll likely be seeing him on this list for most of the decade to come. As a teen, he was not shy about his ambition to become the youngest champion in UFC history. However, his climb toward that goal has been negligible. Rosas has fought once in 2025, with an injury forcing him out of what would have been the most notable fight of his career, a matchup against Rob Font at Noche UFC in September. Rosas was No. 2 on ESPN\u2019s list of the top 25 fighters under age 25 a year ago, but he enters 2026 in rebuild mode. \u2014 Wagenheim<\/p>\n
\u5df2\u53d1\u5e03: 2025-12-05 13:10:00<\/p>\n