UFC Dark Horses Heading Into 2023 – Men's Edition

2022 is wrapping up, and a year of spectacular fights and matchmaking wraps up with it. Whilst big names stay on the tips of our tongues heading into the new year, there are plenty of underrated and unrecognized talent on the rise on this world stage of MMA.

These dark horses may be champions, some could go down as all time greats, but only one thing is for certain; they’ll be making a big splash in the new year.

I’m sure if you’re reading this, you’ll think: ‘what about Jailton Almeida / Shavkat Rakhmonov?’ etc… I’m trying to name fighters that the regular viewer might not have considered or even heard of. So let’s begin.

Heavyweight – Hamdy Abdelwahab

Hamdy ‘The Hammer’ Abdelwahab is a 29 year old Egyptian Greco-Roman wrestler and martial artist. He debuted in the UFC at UFC 277 in July 2022, against UFC mainstay and talented heavyweight Don’Tale Mayes. Hamdy took this fight on extremely short notice, and put a beating on the American to take the fight by split decision. The only adversity he faced in this fight was the battle against his short-notice cardio.

Hamdy’s wrestling and power are going to be a huge problem for the sloppiest of the UFC’s heaviest division, and considering he took the fight on a few weeks notice, his cardio certainly held up for the full 15 minutes. Full-camp Hamdy is going to put the heavyweight division on notice in his next fight, which is still TBA.

Honourable mentions:

  • Juan Espino
  • Alexander Romanov
  • Łukasz Brzeski
  • Waldo Cortes-Acosta

Light Heavyweight – Dustin Jacoby

In a division swimming in stand-up strikers, who better to compete than a former GLORY kickboxer? Dustin Jacoby is little known by the regular fanbase, but he’s been on a real tear in the UFC so far. Jacoby is 6-1-1 so far, with that only loss being an atrocious split decision defeat to Khalil Rountree, in a fight Jacoby certainly won.

Jacoby’s striking is going to be a huge problem as he climbs the light heavyweight ranks. Whilst he’s not as decorated as the Adesanya’s or the Pereira’s, his standup game is still head and shoulders above a majority of the division. His only grey area is his grappling, and if he can patch up that hole, he’ll be a problem for just about anybody.

Honourable mentions:

  • Carlos Ulberg
  • Azamat Murzakanov

Middleweight – André Muniz

This was a toss up between Abusupiyan Magomedov, Gregory Rodrigues, and André Muniz. Muniz takes the prize, however, as he’s had a frictionless run in the UFC against some strict opposition. Debuting in 2019, Muniz has gone under a lot of radars, and his relative inactivity has only aided in his lack of recognition.

Muniz was the first (and only) man to submit Jacaré Souza, breaking his arm in the process, and he also holds an armbar victory over Eryk Anders, and a UD win over Uriah Hall. Currently ranked #11, Muniz stacks up well against the middleweight division’s elite fighters. Being a third degree black belt in BJJ, and now bolstering his striking, he could spell trouble for anybody in the top 10.

Honourable mentions:

  • Makhmud Muradov
  • Gregory Rodrigues
  • Abusupiyan Magomedov
  • Chidi Njokuani

Welterweight – Rinat Fakhretdinov

Vincente Luque was the OG dark horse of the WW division, but he’s since lost two in a row, so I’m going with Rinat Fakhretdinov to be on the rise in 2023. Rinat brings that patented Russian combat sambo and hyper aggressive wrestling. He mixes it well, and has a bottomless reserve of energy to back it up.

Rinat just recently ended the winning streak of TUF 29 champion Bryan Battle, and trust me he made it look like Bryan didn’t belong in there with him. With mauling top pressure, precise and strong striking, and bountiful cardio, Rinat is the one to watch next year.

Honourable mentions:

  • Matt Semelsberger
  • Shavkat Rakhmonov
  • Jeremiah Wells
  • Ian Garry
  • Jack Della Maddalena
  • Josh Quinlan

Lightweight – Joel Álvarez

6’3 Mexican born Álvarez is coming off of a TKO loss to Arman Tsarukyan in Feb 2022, but don’t let that deter you from the potential of this fighter. He’s 19-3, with 0 wins by decision, and absolutely tore Thiago Moises to pieces in his last victory.

Álvarez is incredibly tall for his weight class, and incredibly ruthless too. He brings to the table a diverse array of striking, supported by some truly exceptional submission grappling. He is always there to finish the fight, and he’ll almost always be head and shoulders above his opponents too.

He’s scheduled again to fight Zubaira Tukhugov at UFC 284 in February next year. If he can show up and make weight, and win that fight decisively, he’ll be sure to fight up in the LW rankings soon enough.

Honourable mentions:

  • Gregor Gillespie
  • Jalin Turner
  • Grant Dawson
  • Mike Davis
  • Ignacio Bahamondes

Featherweight – Jonathan Pearce

‘JSP’ has been on a great run recently, recovering tremendously from his shock defeat to Joe Lauzon in his UFC debut. Pearce has since won 5 fights in a row, absolutely steamrolling named opposition such as Makwan Amirkhani and Darren Elkins.

Pearce does one thing excellently, and that’s actually mixing the martial arts. A collegiate wrestler turned mixed martial artist, Pearce has greatly advanced his striking to bolster his heavy grappling fighting style. In his fights with Elkins and Amirkhani, it appeared that he’d perfected his striking in a way that blended it perfectly with his offensive wrestling.

If he can keep this momentum going, he’s going to be a huge problem for featherweight.

Honourable mentions:

  • Alex Caceres
  • Damon Jackson
  • Nathaniel Wood
  • Movsar Evloev
  • Melsik Baghdasaryan
  • Joanderson Brito

Bantamweight – Jonathan Martinez

Between Saidyokub Kakhramonov and Jonathan Martinez, I had to choose Martinez as the more unrecognized fighter. He recently made waves with his demolition job of Cub Swanson in October of this year. Martinez possesses flawless shot selection, as well as rear leg roundhouse kicks which could fold you in half.

Whilst only a blue belt in BJJ, Martinez has managed to keep it standing against some formidable opposition. Training out of Factory X, his style of fighting plays around his southpaw stance, and his bone crushing kicks, which he’ll throw with such ferocity, whether or not your arm is there to guard.

He’s an exciting prospect, since he seems to be big for the division, and puts on extremely exciting performances. Keep an eye on Jonathan Martinez.

Honourable mentions:

  • Douglas Silva de Andrade
  • Ricky Simón
  • Saidyokub Kakhramonov
  • Mario Bautista
  • Chris Gutiérrez
  • Javid Basharat
  • Da’Mon Blackshear

Flyweight – Amir Albazi

#7 ranked flyweight Amir Albazi makes the final entry into the list. Albazi is taking the flyweight division by storm, dispatching opponents with relative ease left and right. Reminiscent of a flyweight Ilia Topuria, Albazi has power in his hands, and a dangerous ground game to boot. Add a ton of cardio, and you have one of the most dangerous fighters in the flyweight rankings.

2023 is a big year for the Iraqi phenom, as he’ll look to secure his place at the top of the division, and maybe even title contention.

Honourable mentions:

  • Tyson Nam
  • Malcolm Gordon
  • Tatsuro Taira

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