We witnessed the rise and fall of many fighters in 2024. We saw Alex Pereira maintain his dominant reign in the light heavyweight realm with 3 fights, and Ilia Topuria claim victories against two of the best featherweights in the UFC. But like everyone else, these fighters also began their journey as the fresh meat in the fight promotion. They battled their way through the crowd and rose to the top. 

Keeping that in mind, we got you a list of fearsome fighters who have the potential to dominate the Octagon next year. So without any further ado, let’s find out who are the 5 fighters we need to keep in our 2025 watchlist. We can guarantee that these 5 won’t disappoint.

1. Payton Talbott

The 26-year-old Payton Talbott has been climbing the ladder pretty fast. The Las Vegas native entered the fight promotion through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023. Even then he set a record of 145 significant strikes landed along with 16 stuffed takedowns in his bout against Reyes Cortez. The kind of performance he showed at DWCS got him the chance to fight Nick Aguirre in November 2023, which he won with an RNC in the final round. He then fought Cameron Saiiman in March 2024. Needless to say, Talbott emerged victorious via a KO in the second round. 

It didn’t take much time for Talbott to return to the Octagon once again and fight Yanis Ghemmouri at UFC 303. Well, he wanted to fight in the same event that would have witnessed the return of Conor McGregor following his 3-year-long hiatus. But even though he didn’t get his wish fulfilled, the bantamweight fighter ensured that he won the bout with yet another KO victory. This time, within the first 19 seconds of the bout. This further propelled Talbott’s popularity in the fighting community, and people even started recognizing him on the streets. 

Talbott has a knack for skateboarding and that resilience is showcased in his fights. He has secured 9 wins and no defeats, with 7 of those coming from KO/TKO. And the Las Vegas native has credited his victories to skating. Following his 2nd UFC victory, Talbott said, “The one thing I will say is that nobody hits harder than concrete. I’ve never been hit harder than I’ve been slammed on a skateboard, so if you can be okay with that pain and take it to MMA, you’re gonna do pretty well.”

2. Erin Blanchfield

The flyweight sensation, Erin Blanchfield faced a fall in 2024. Back in March, she faced Manon Fiorot, but even though she gave it her all, it was ‘The Beast’ who secured the win via a unanimous decision. It was her first loss in the UFC, and it seemed to have switched a few of her gears. She got herself a new boxing coach and got a whole new training program from the UFC PI. 

With expertise in BJJ, all she needed was to hone her striking game. ‘Cold Blooded’ then fought Rose Namajunas in November, and emerged as the victor. However, many netizens seemed to believe that Blanchfield won via a robbery. With a professional MMA record of 13-2-0, the flyweight contender has set her mind to rising back up in 2025.

3. Michael Morales

Michael Morales has been dominating the MMA cage ever since he made his debut in 2017 at OFC 4. Getting his contract through the DWCS 2021, the Ecuadorean fighter has continued his undefeated reign in the welterweight realm. He has won all 17 of his bouts and 12 of them came by KO/TKO. In August 2024, he managed to knock Neil Magny out cold in the very first round via ground and pound. That performance certainly puts him on the watchlist. 

To add to his undefeated record, Morales’ unorthodox fighting style makes him even more interesting to watch. But you know that he’s a future star when Belal Muhammad took note of his style and hit him up on Instagram. He was indeed the secret weapon that the welterweight champion used against Leon Edwards. As per UFC.com, Morales said, “I got that unorthodox style, and I think I was able to prepare him for Leon.”

Come 2025, we can definitely expect the Ecuadorean to climb even higher and entertain us with his unorthodox fighting style. He might even pose a threat to the welterweight champion, but that’s probably not gonna happen in 2025.

4. Nurullo Aliev

UFC Vegas 70 witnessed the rise of Nurullo Aliev, a 24-year-old Tajik fighter who made his UFC debut with a win. The kind of performance he showed against Rafael Alves was nothing short of phenomenal. Even Dana White was left flabbergasted by Aliev’s debut fight. He took to X and cheered the ‘Tajik Eagle’ tweeting, “This is how many people showed up in a stadium in Tajikistan to watch UNDEFEATED @NurulloAliev first fight in the @ufc. How BADASS is this?!?!”

Aliev is indeed one of the many Tajik fighters climbing the UFC ladder. The ‘Tajik Eagle’ had already impressed the world with his first-round ground and pound win against Josh Wick at DWCS 2022. With a score of 9-0-0, we can definitely expect him to showcase his dominating style against Yanal Ashmouz on the 12th of January, 2025.

5. Chase Hooper

Currently on a 4-fight win streak, Chase Hooper has continued his struggle to rise in the lightweight rankings. The way he dominated the Octagon against Viacheslav Borshchev and Clay Guida in 2024 proved that he has the potential to rise even higher as a strong submission expert. After all, with a record of 15-3-1, ‘The Dream’ defeated 8 of his opponents by forcing them to tap out, and another 4 by KO/TKO. 

Hooper has also fought grappling bouts against Aljamain Sterling and Renato Moicano. However, both of these bouts ended in his defeat via decision. Needless to say, these experiences have put him up as a prospect that we need to watch out for in 2025.

Who is the one fighter that you are waiting to watch in 2025? Drop down to the comments below and let us know which fights impressed you the most in 2024.