Fighters on the Rise | UFC Paris

There is some symmetry between Brito and ascending contender Diego Lopes, who climbed into the Top 5 with a win over Brian Ortega at Noche UFC a couple weeks back.

The Brazilians faced off in the second to last fight on the first episode of Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series, with Brito earning a technical decision win when the bout was halted 10 seconds into the second round after he accidentally poked Lopes in the eye, rendering him unable to continue. Brito earned a contract, Lopes joined him on the roster last May, and through six UFC appearances, the two men have identical records inside the Octagon.

Brito, like Lopes, dropped his promotional debut on the scorecards, and since then, “Tubarao” has garnered five straight victories to climb to the fringes of the Top 15 in the featherweight division. After scoring a pair of wins last year over Westin Wilson and Jonathan Pierce, the Chute Boxe Joao Emilio representative added to his win total with a second-round stoppage win over Jack Shore in May, battering the Welshman’s leg enough to cause a deep gash that was gnarly enough to prompt the ringside physician to wave off the contest. 

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Though he was forced to withdraw from a high-profile matchup with Dan Ige, whom he’s called out multiple times, penciled in for July, Brito returns here in an interesting pairing with French prospect William Gomis.

The 27-year-old MMA Factory fighter has gone 3-0 to begin his UFC tenure, extending his overall winning streak to 11 in the process. After garnering decision wins over Jarno Errens and Francis Marshall in his first two outings, Gomis collected a third-round stoppage win over Yanis Ghemmouri last year in Paris before a trio of matchups failed to materialize for one reason or another, leaving him on the sidelines for the past year.

Much like Lopes, Brito has looked the part of a future contender during his current five-fight winning streak, earning finishes each time out while facing a number of quality opponents. Though he’s well behind his former opponent at the moment, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Brito join his compatriot in the rankings in the not too distant future, and from there, who knows — perhaps their paths will cross at some time again down the line?

Oumar Sy

Unbeaten prospects are always intriguing. Unbeaten prospects in a division where fresh names are always needed even more so, especially when they look as promising as Sy does at this moment.

The 28-year-old from Paris, who returns home to face Da Woon Jung on Saturday, sports a 10-0 record after making his successful UFC debut in mid-May. Initially paired off with Rodolfo Bellato, that shifted to Antonio Trocoli before taking one final late turn to Tuco Tokkos, whom he dispatched rather handily, submitting the Road to UFC alum with less than 90 seconds remaining in the opening round.

Sy is an impressive physical specimen at six-foot-four with a chiseled physique, and from an athletic standpoint, his upside is obvious. He’s earned finishes in eight of his 10 wins thus far, including quickly finishing UFC alums Luis Henrique da Silva and Ildemar Alcantara in his final two appearances before stepping into the Octagon for the first time.

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One could argue those wins look better on paper than anything else, and running through Tokkos on short notice doesn’t rate as an eye-opening performance either, but it’s how Sy has continued to march forward, steamrolling the competition while still in the formative stages of his development is what really stands out.

Saturday’s matchup with Jung will be a quality measuring stick moment for the ascending French light heavyweight, as the South Korean has logged eight appearances under the UFC banner, posting a 4-3-1 record. Although he’s lost three straight, two of those defeats came against ranked opponents, and the overall level of competition Jung has faced makes him an undeniable step up in competition for Sy this weekend in Paris.

Sy is still developing and still short on experience, but the finishing abilities and foundational elements he’s shown already make him one to keep close tabs on in the 205-pound weight class.

Ludovit Klein

You know you’re on a roll when your stock climbs two weeks before you step into the Octagon to compete.

That’s the case for Klein, who returns this week opposite late replacement Roosevelt Roberts, as his standing in the division inched a little bit further ahead after Ignacio Bahamondes’ sharp first-round stoppage win over Manuel Torres at Noche UFC. The two faced off last August in Nashville, with Klein earning a unanimous decision win that prompted Bahamondes to make some changes that have since resulted in consecutive first-round finishes for the lanky lightweight from Chicago, by way of Santiago, Chile.

Like Bahamondes, Klein has added two more wins to his resume since that outing, pushing his overall unbeaten streak to six in the process. In March, he ran through late replacement AJ Cunningham, battering the DWCS alum, and then in June, he picked up his biggest win to date — a clean sweep of the scorecards against Thiago Moises in Louisville.

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Originally slated to face Nikolas Motta this weekend, Klein will instead face Roberts, the former DWCS graduate and TUF 32 contestant who dropped his return to the Octagon last November to Mateusz Rebecki at UFC 295.

Lightweight is absolutely flushed with talent, as always, but given the way he’s performed since relocating to the division, the 29-year-old Slovakian has to be someone fans and pundits are paying close attention to both this weekend and going forward. It’s difficult to string together wins in the 155-pound weight class, and going six straight without a defeat is noteworthy.

If he adds another win to his current run on Saturday in Paris, “Mr. Highlight” should find himself standing opposite a far more established name next time out.