No sport needs prospects like MMA needs prospects.
It's the hard truth underpinning a high churn rate. Pro fighters fall injured or surpass their athletic expiration dates all the time, and for each one there is a host of young competition scaling a human tower to take their place.
A loose web of local and regional MMA shows covers the globe, snaring the gems while allowing the rubble to pass through. The gems, with some polish, become bona fide prospects. The best prospects end up here.
This is the fifth annual installment of Bleacher Report MMA's list of the top prospects in the sport. These are the 25 men and women with the tools to make the biggest leaps in 2017.
As in previous years, we'll do this in two parts. This, as you may have gathered, is part one. In this part, I, Scott Harris, will take you from No. 25 to No. 13. One week from now, our senior analyst, Patrick Wyman, will carry you all the way to No. 1.
The rules of the game are as follows:
- No fighters who have competed in the UFC
- No champions from Bellator, World Series of Fighting or ONE Championship, with others from these promotions included sparingly
- No fighters age 30 or older, with exceptions possible for those who have switched careers to pursue MMA (e.g. Holly Holm, Daniel Cormier)
- No fighters with more than five years of pro MMA experience
- In cases where a fighter competes for multiple promotions, the most recent promotion listed on his or her record is the one listed here.
Ready to get it on? Let's get it on.
All record information courtesy of Sherdog.com.
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