The UFC is bursting with new talent these days. Every weight class has at least one blue chip prospect. Who could be the next champions? Here are the top up-and-comers in each weight class, minus flyweight since there isn't a champion in that class yet: BANTAMWEIGHT Renan Barao, 25 Brazil's hottest young fighter is Renan Barao out of the tremendous Nova União team in Rio, training daily with the likes of Jose Aldo. Barao is 30-1 in MMA- 18 straight wins. Barao has already beaten three top bantamweights in Chris Cariaso, Brad Pickett, and Scott Jorgensen. Extremely quick and aggressive, Barao has the kind of style necessary to face a lanky and unorthodox fighter like Dominick Cruz. Barao will face Canadian veteran Ivan Menjivar at UFC 148 in what is expected to be a title eliminator. FEATHERWEIGHT Dustin Poirier, 23 Fighting out of Lafayette, Louisiana, and training with Tim Credeur at Gladiator TA, the brightest prospect at featherweight is versatile striker Dustin Poirier. Diamond is 12-1 in MMA with his lone loss coming two years ago to wrestler Danny Castillo (now a weight class above Poirier). Since then Poirier has been dominant with three finishes and two convincing decision wins, including a win that derailed fast-rising prospect Josh Grispi in their UFC debuts. Poirier faces Chan Sung Jung in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 3. With a win he is either in line for a shot at Jose Aldo's title or one fight away. LIGHTWEIGHT Anthony Pettis, 25 Former WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis stumbled in his UFC debut, losing a unanimous decision to electric blanket Clay Guida. Pettis came back from that loss to earn a split decision victory over Jeremy Stephens and most recently knocked out Joe Lauzon with a head kick. The Rufusport-trained finisher has a win over incumbent champion Ben Henderson and has beaten wrestlers in the past including Danny Castillo and Shane Roller. Pettis has to wait to face Henderson again since the UFC has scheduled a Henderson-Edgar rematch and is currently shelved due to surgery. WELTERWEIGHT Erick Silva, 27, and Rory MacDonald, 22 (tie) The man known as the Ninja Turtle (or The Indian), Erick Silva, jumped onto the UFC scene at UFC Rio 1, smashing fellow Brazilian champion Luis Ramos in 40 seconds. He followed up this effort by smashing Carlo Prater at UFC Rio 2, losing on a controversial disqualification for punches to the back of the head. That loss will likely be remembered as something similar to Jon Jones' loss to Matt Hamill in that the DQ stands but everyone knows how the fight was going prior to it. The Team Nogueira fighter has shown devastating quickness and power but has yet to face a UFC-caliber wrestler. Silva faces one in Charlie Brenneman at UFC on FX 3 in June. Tristar-trained Canadian welterweight Rory MacDonald turned heads with a courageous effort against current interim champion Carlos Condit in 2010. The 20-year old bested Condit for two and a half rounds before succumbing to tiredness late in the fight, eventually losing by TKO. Since then Ares has stormed back, manhandling veterans Nate Diaz and Mike Pyle and reinserting himself as a challenger in the division. The UFC is bringing MacDonald along slowly as they did with another talented young fighter in Jon Jones, pitting him against Che Mills at UFC 145 next when, realistically, he could be fighting a top welterweight contender. MIDDLEWEIGHT Chris Weidman, 27 Middleweight, along with heavyweight and super heavyweight, has traditionally been one of MMA's weakest divisions, meaning prospects are few and far between. Team Serra-Longo trained wrestler turned grappler Chris Weidman is the most exciting fighter to come into the weight class in some time. Weidman combines an All-American wrestling background with high level grappling to form a well rounded MMA prospect. Weidman's striking will have to continue to improve but he has the advantage of a superior ground game to fall back on for now. Weidman has only eight pro bouts on his record and is likely to be weened into contention in the UFC over several more fights. LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Alexander Gustafsson, 25 Light heavyweight is perhaps the most top-heavy division dominated by veterans of the sport. To break into the weight class a young fighter needs to earn his stripes by beating one or more former champions or current contenders. Enter Alexander Gustafsson, scheduled to face Thiago Silva in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 2 in Sweden. The 6-foot-5 striker has a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has finished all of his opponents in the UFC by knockout or submission, save for a loss to Phil Davis in 2010. Gustafsson showed his commitment to improving as a fighter by joining Phil Davis's training camp and working on his wrestling and ground positioning deficiencies. Gustafsson, like Weidman, is considered a quick study, and has the physical tools to compete with anyone in the division. Despite being taller than champion Jon Jones, Gustafsson gives up eight inches in reach to the condor-esque Team Jackson fighter. HEAVYWEIGHT Stipe Miocic, 29 Take a D1 wrestler and a 6-foot-4 former Golden Gloves boxer and combine them and you will create Stipe Miocic, a Cleveland-born athlete who also had an opportunity to play pro baseball. Miocic was nationally ranked as a wrestler despite attending Cleveland State University rather than a traditional wrestling powerhouse. Though he is late to the sport at 29-years old, Miocic has been smashing competition thus far, winning seven of his eight fights via strikes, and going the distance in a win over granite-chinned heavyweight Joey Beltran last October. Miocic has yet to have to fall back on his wrestling acumen but it is one that should serve him well as the current top heavyweights Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem are not well versed in that aspect of MMA. Miocic is currently training with Strong Style Fight Team in Ohio but is likely to move to a bigger camp in search of better training partners as his UFC career progresses.
Honourable mentions: Michael Mayday Macdonald (bantamweight), Eric Koch (featherweight), Tony Ferguson (lightweight), Stephen Thompson (welterweight), Maiquel Falcao (middleweight), Phil Davis (light heavyweight), and Daniel Cormier (heavyweight).
