Athletes
Fighters On The Rise | 2024, Part 1
Kicking Off The Year With A Look At The Most Intriguing Emerging Talents Set To Compete Inside The Octagon In 2024
Ahead of each UFC event for the better part of the last decade, I’ve penned a series called Fighters on the Rise, identifying three athletes competing that weekend that fight fans should, in my opinion, be paying close attention to both now and going forward.
A couple years back, we decided to put together a two-part feature to kick off the year that spotlights 20 athletes that profile as the top emerging names in the UFC heading into the new year.
Many of these competitors were featured in the weekly edition over the course of the year and will be again once we get back into the swing of things here next week, but consider this your opportunity to learn more about some of the top up-and-coming fighters on the roster in two easy-to-consume pieces over the next two days.
Order UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis
Please note: these are not rankings; the competitors are listed in alphabetical order.
Check back later this week for Part II
Nurullo Aliev
A member of the Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) Class of ’22, Aliev only made one appearance in the Octagon in 2023, but he certainly made it count.
The undefeated 23-year-old lightweight won a majority decision over Brazilian veteran Rafael Alves, showcasing a strong grappling base to extend his overall winning streak to eight. He was docked a point for allegedly biting Alves in the opening round, but it didn’t matter, as Aliev controlled the action throughout, and was shown to have a massive crowd of supporters watching back home in Tajikistan.
A leg injury forced him out of a compelling clash with Mateusz Rebecki at UFC 285 in New York City that would have been a massive “see where they stand” battle for the two hopefuls, but it wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully he’ll make a full recovery and be back in action in the back half of the year because from what he showed in his Contender Series win and victory over Alves in February, Aliev is a long-range prospect to watch in the always competitive lightweight division.
Ikram Aliskerov
Aliskerov had an outstanding rookie campaign in 2023, registering stoppage wins over Phil Hawes and Warlley Alves to push his overall winning streak to seven.
Neither contest made it to the midway point of the opening round. Against Hawes, Aliskerov absorbed a couple hard kicks and clean shots before delivering a one-shot, walk-off knockout, while he sat Alves down with a jab before planting a switch knee on this chin and finishing him with a torrent of strikes along the fence. As great as his first year on the roster was, there was a small window where it looked like Aliskerov was going to get the chance to potentially make a rapid rise through the ranks, as he was briefly linked to a fight with Paulo Costa at UFC 291 in July that would have been interesting.
The 31-year-old former World Combat Sambo champ has only lost once in his career, with that setback coming nearly five years ago to Khamzat Chimaev, and has a chance to punch his ticket to the Top 15 when he takes on Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez in February.
Mario Bautista
Mario Bautista Beats Lopez With A Triangle Armbar Submission | UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Lemos
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Mario Bautista Beats Lopez With A Triangle Armbar Submission | UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Lemos
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We’re not going to have to wait long to see Bautista in action, as the MMA Lab representative faces off with Ricky Simon next week at the UFC APEX.
The 30-year-old bantamweight has rattled off five straight victories over the last two years and posted a 7-1 mark since dropping his short-notice promotional debut to Cory Sandhagen all the way back at the start of 2019. Fundamentally sound and sharp everywhere, Bautista is one of a pack of ultra-talented, but quiet, standouts making a push in the bantamweight division, and while the tendency is for people to gravitate to folks making the most noise, continued success while he keeps climbing the divisional ladder would make Bautista almost impossible to ignore.
His matchup with Simon is a step in the right direction — a pairing with a ranked opponent on the main card of the first event of the year; now all he has to do is keep his momentum going.
Elves Brener
Brener had an outstanding first year on the UFC roster in 2023.
He debuted as a short-notice replacement opposite Zubaira Tukhugov at UFC 284 in Perth, earning a debated split decision win. From there, he authored one of the best comebacks of the year when he rallied to finish Guram Kutateladze in July, and then closed things out with a first-round finish of fellow Brazilian Kaynan Kruschewsky at home in Brazil in November.
Breaking Down UFC 297's Co-Main Event: Pennington vs Bueno Silva
Now 16-3 overall, the 26-year-old Chute Boxe Diego Lima representative is one to pay close attention to going forward in the lightweight division.
Joanderson Brito
Joanderson Brito Sinks In A Standing Ninja Choke | UFC Fight Night: Allen vs Craig
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Joanderson Brito Sinks In A Standing Ninja Choke | UFC Fight Night: Allen vs Craig
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After closing out his first year on the roster with a pair of first-round finishes in 2022, Brito kept things rolling during his sophomore campaign, posting another pair of stoppages to move to 16-3-1 overall.
The DWCS graduate dominated late replacement Westin Wilson on July 1, finishing the South Carolina product prior to the three-minute mark of the opening stanza to run his winning streak to three and earn a major step up in competition. In November, Brito faced off with Jonathan Pearce, and after being on the wrong side of the grappling exchanges through the first eight minutes of the contest, the Brazilian worked to his feet and latched onto a ninja choke that forced “JSP” to tap.
In addition to his four straight UFC victories, Brito also owns wins over fellow ascending UFC talents Chepe Mariscal and Diego Lopes, whom he beat by technical decision after an accidental eye poke halted their Contender Series clash prematurely.
Morgan Charriere
If you’re a Cage Warriors follower, you already know why Charriere is on this list. If you’re not, keep reading.
“The Last Pirate” debuted at home in France in September, earning a first-round stoppage win over Manolo Zecchini with a series of punishing kicks to the body, extending his winning streak to four in the process. As impressive as that showing was — and it was tremendous — what makes Charriere really stand out is the series of high-profile, highly competitive battles he had at the top of the Cage Warriors featherweight division, and even prior to that, as well.
Not only did Charriere earn a win over fellow French UFC fighter William Gomis and drop a decision to KSW two-weight champ Saladine Parnasse prior to signing with Cage Warriors, but once there, he went toe-to-toe with a trio of titleholders in Soren Bak, Jordan Vucenic, and Paul Hughes.
Order UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis
Already an established name at home, don’t be surprised to see Charriere garner greater acclaim abroad this year as he continues working his way forward in the 145-pound weight class.
Felipe dos Santos
In the span of a couple weeks, the 23-year-old dos Santos went from having his original opponent for his DWCS appearance called up to the main roster and the man tabbed to replace him miss weight to the point where the fight had to be cancelled to flying to the other side of the world and scrapping it out with Top 10 standout Manel Kape.
Another member of the Chute Boxe Diego Lima squad, “Lipe Detona” may have dropped a decision to Kape, but he still won the night, showing over those 15 minutes that he’s not only game, but someone to keep close tabs on in the 125-pound weight class.
You don’t turn up in Australia with next to no prep time and go shot-for-shot with someone as skilled and dangerous as Kape if you’re not skilled yourself, but now comes the hard part: living up to the lofty expectations that he set for himself with that performance.
Something tells me that dos Santos will be just fine.
Loopy Godinez
By this point, you should already be paying close attention to Godinez, but just in case you’re not, consider this your last opportunity to get on the bandwagon.
Alexander Volkanovski Thriving
The 30-year-old Mexican-Canadian won four fights in 2023, which is impressive in and of itself, and becomes more wild when you recall that she didn’t make her first appearance until UFC 287 in April. Wins over Cynthia Calvillo and Emily Ducote sent her into Noche UFC on a two-fight winning streak before she blew through Elise Reed to keep things moving in the right direction. She closed out the year with a split decision win over Tabatha Ricci at UFC 295 and is expected to be back in action in the opening quarter of 2024.
Godinez has been one of the most active fighters on the roster over her first three years in the UFC, and she showed considerable, appreciable improvements over her last couple fights after making the move from Vancouver to Guadalajara, where she trains alongside flyweight queen Alexa Grasso and the rest of the Lobo Gym crew.
Diego Lopes
The top newcomer in our annual year-end awards in 2023, there is an ineffable quality to Lopes that made him an absolute guaranteed name to make this list.
Lopes got a short notice call to step in and face Movsar Evloev at UFC 288 in May and made the absolute most of it, giving the undefeated Russian everything he could handle while dropping a unanimous decision. He followed that up by hitting a flying triangle armbar on Gavin Tucker to register his first UFC victory in August and wrapped up the year by blowing through Pat Sabatini at Madison Square Garden in November.
Still just 28 years old, but already brandishing a 23-6 record, Lopes is so comfortable in every phase of the fight that it allows him to be more aggressive and creative with his offense than most of his contemporaries. There are no moments where he’s not looking for something, even when he’s on his back, and that constant threat makes him a handful for opponents and a thrill-a-minute for fans.
Between his entertaining style, his Bieber mullet, his obvious upside, and his coaching work with Grasso and others, I expect you’ll be hearing a lot from Lopes in 2024
Michael Morales
The second youngest fighter in the welterweight division, Morales has already posted four wins in as many starts to begin his UFC tenure.
After registering stoppage wins over Trevin Giles and Adam Fugitt during his rookie year in 2022, the 24-year-old from Ecuador, who trains in Mexico with the team at Entram Gym, followed it up with decision wins over veteran divisional stalwarts Max Griffin and Jake Matthews to move to 16-0 overall.
Honestly, I don’t think we’re talking enough about the upside Morales possesses and how impressive his first two years on the roster have been. Not only did he earn stoppages over good fighters in his first two outings, but he maintained his unbeaten record with a pair of well-earned, hard-fought wins over Griffin and Matthews, two undeniably talented veterans with a significant experience advantage over Morales.
He’s stationed on the cusp of the Top 15 in the welterweight division and has a promising future inside the Octagon.
