Athletes
Fighters On The Rise | UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs Oliveira
Identifying Three Ascending Talents To Pay Close Attention To This Weekend
Over the first couple of years of this series, the only people discussed in this space were debuting fighters and competitors in the very early stages of their UFC journeys. As you can imagine, it made things pretty challenging when a card would come along with few or no debutants, and the only competitors with a handful of fights were all coming off setbacks or in over their heads.
But then one week, when the pickings were slim, the late Thomas Gerbasi responded to my email asking if it would be okay for me to spotlight a couple of athletes that had cobbled together a few weeks, but were still outside of the title conversation, and responded in trademark TG fashion, “They’re on the rise, aren’t they? Use who you think is best, Kyte.”
UFC 325 REWIND: Main Card Results | Prelim Results | Scorecards
Since then, I’ve highlighted debutants and headlines and everyone in between, hoping to give you an early look at a trio of competitors that could impress on the weekend and hold your attention going forward.
Here’s this week’s group.
Kyoji Horiguchi
The former flyweight title challenger made his first appearance in the Octagon in nine years (plus five days) in November, dominating and then finishing Tagir Ulanbekov in Doha, Qatar. While Horiguchi’s declared mission for returning to the UFC is to become the promotion’s first Japanese champion, his bout with the ranked Russian, who entered on a four-fight winning streak, was a benchmark test to see where he fit in the division.
Turns out, the 35-year-old is still a legitimate threat, which only makes his return to the fold more exciting.
Horiguchi is one of those athletes who ascended the ranks too rapidly during his first tour with the UFC, landing opposite Demetrious Johnson in a championship bout after just four appearances. While he made “Mighty Mouse” work, he was still overmatched and ultimately submitted on the horn in the fifth round before winning his next three fights and opting not to re-sign with the promotion. In Rizin, he became a star and the fully formed version we saw in November and will see on Saturday against Amir Albazi.
READ: Saturday's Full Fight Card Preview
Because there is currently incredible depth at the top of the division, a win over the returning Albazi won’t be enough to catapult Horiguchi into a championship opportunity, but it would signify that he’s all the way back into the mix and position him for another massive fight later this year. The title picture is cloudy right now, but there are going to be some odd men out in the near future, and with another strong effort this weekend, Horiguchi could be stationed across from one of them in the spring or summer.
Farid Basharat
It’s insane how deep and talented the bantamweight division is at the moment and really has been for the last several years. There is no weight class with as many skilled, competitive fighters at every level of the roster as the 135-pound ranks, and Basharat is one of several great examples of that truth.
If he fought in just about any other division, the 28-year-old would be ranked or, at the very least, getting the opportunity to fight someone stationed in the rankings after earning five straight wins to advance to 14-0 overall. Instead — and this isn’t a knock on anyone —he’s paired off with a fellow up-and-coming bantamweight in a “win and advance” bout between prospects this weekend.
Comparison may be the thief of joy, but it’s also the easiest way to give people a sense of what an athlete they may have limited or no experience with is like in the cage. Basharat’s comp is a slightly slower Rob Font with better natural wrestling skills; think crisp, technical boxing, good defensive mechanics, limited one-punch power, but sound abilities in every phase. And before you say, “really, less fast, better wrestling, Rob Font?” and scoff, don’t forget that Font was a Top 5 bantamweight for some time and on the cusp of challenging for the title during the whole Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling, Cory Sandhagen, interim title days.
FULL FIGHTS: Bautista vs Lopez | Oliveira vs Sopaj
This weekend’s matchup with Matsumoto is a good test against another hungry Dana White’s Contender Series grad who has gone 3-1 over his first four starts, with his lone setback — the only loss of his career— coming in a short-notice matchup against Font; I swear that’s just a fun little coincidence.
Basharat has all the skills and ability to be a contender in the bantamweight division; it’s just going to come down to matchups and timing. If he can get through Matsumoto, a step up in competition and a date with a ranked opponent will likely follow. A spot in the Top 15, maybe even the Top 10, isn’t out of the question by the end of the year if things shake out in his favor.
Daniil Donchenko
There aren’t many young talents I’m more intrigued by at the moment than Donchenko, who won the welterweight tournament on the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter thanks to a first-round stoppage win over Rodrigo Sezinando in September.
Daniil Donchenko Secures The Ultimate Fighter Win With Round 1 TKO | Noche UFC
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Daniil Donchenko Secures The Ultimate Fighter Win With Round 1 TKO | Noche UFC
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While I love the fact that he has a longstanding relationship with Yaroslav Amosov and trains with the former Bellator champion frequently, and that he’s doing his camps at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas at the moment, what stands out the most for me is the way Donchenko utilizes elbows to significantly impact his fights. In both his semifinal bout against Matt Dixon in the house and Sezinando in the finale, the Ukrainian prospect split his opponent open with a slicing elbow, and it proved to be the beginning of the end.
Though he’s young and still green, that fundamental understanding of the need to create damage and how he can best do that is a massive building block for the 24-year-old, who makes his official UFC debut this weekend against veteran Alex Morono. This is a great first test for Donchenko, as Morono is seasoned and savvy, with a willingness to trade, solid grappling at the ready, and a history of being in some grimy battles where he’s managed to survive scares and come out the other side with the victory.
At the absolute minimum, Donchenko is going to be must-see TV because his fights will always have a high probability of turning into blood-soaked battles, and if he can develop the rest of his tools around his Muay Thai striking, he could easily join fellow recent TUF winners Mairon Santos and Joseph Morales as legitimate hopefuls in their respective divisions.
UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs Oliveira took place live from Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 7, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!