The MMA machine never stops. Fighters are always getting injured. There is now a major show approximately every three hours. The beast must be fed. The mill must be gristed.
Plus, people are always looking for the next big thing. They want to enter on the ground floor, so they can say they saw the greatness coming at the beginning.
I understand those compulsions. And being the acquiescent cog in the sporting superstructure that I am, I’m here to help. So let me take this opportunity to identify 20 fighters who could be stars very soon.
But first, I would like to distinguish this from a list of out-and-out prospects. Many of these guys belong in both buckets, but this list is not quite as deep of a dive. This can include guys who are already in the major leagues but haven’t quite broken out yet on the big stages.
These guys are also more than good fighters. They bring exciting styles and have that hard-to-pin-down characteristic known as marketability.
It’s my belief each one of these guys will either join a top promotion or win a big fight on national TV, or do both within a year.