Athletes
Fighters on the Rise | UFC Qatar
Highlighting A Trio Of Talents To Watch This Weekend As The UFC Ventures To Qatar
As much as there are crucial fights at the top of several divisions both on this particular fight card and the December schedule that merit serious attention, this time of year is my absolutely favorite because it’s when I start really shifting my focus to the emerging class in order to start figuring out who could make a leap next year.
And there are a couple of competitors on this card for whom that feels possible, so let’s just dive right in, shall we?
This is the UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs Hooker edition of Fighters on the Rise.
Luke Riley
For a few years now, Paddy Pimblett has spoken about the next wave of talent that is set to emerge from Next Generation MMA in Liverpool, where he honed his craft and developed into the Top 10 lightweight he is presently. This weekend, UFC fans will finally get to see what “Paddy the Baddy” has been going on about as the 26-year-old Riley makes his first trip into the Octagon in a preliminary card clash with Bogdan Grad.
Preview Every Fight On Saturday's Card
Unbeaten in 11 pro bouts following a 4-0 amateur career, Riley has been one of the more talked-about British prospects over the last couple of years. He logged all of his starts prior to this weekend under the Cage Warriors banner, including a pair of main event assignments in his last two outings, both of which he finished before even reaching the third round. Overall, he’s earned eight of his 11 victories inside the distance, all by strikes, and has done all that he possibly could at the regional level.
Initially slated to compete opposite Kevin Vallejos on Season 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series, visa issues for Riley scuttled the matchup, resulting him his making an additional appearance in Cage Warriors in March. Now he ventures to Qatar, where he’ll make the walk for the first time to face off with Grad.
A two-time contestant on the annual talent search series, Grad earned his place on the roster with a split decision win over Michael Aswell in Season 8 after falling to Tom Nolan a year earlier, then rolled into his promotional debut in Riyadh and collected a second-round stoppage win over Lucas Alexander. Though he landed on the wrong side of the scorecards in his sophomore appearance, the Austrian featherweight has proven himself to be a tough out and well-rounded competitor and should serve as a strong litmus test for Riley as he heads into the Octagon for the first time.
UFC QATAR FULL FIGHTS: Tsarukyan vs Oliveira | Hooker vs Gamrot | Muhammad vs Brady | Machado Garry vs Prates
Debuts are always tricky, and Grad is a solid and experienced competitor, but if Riley can successfully navigate his first UFC appearance, there should be ample opportunities going forward for the newcomer, especially with England standing as an annual destination for the promotion.
Kyoji Horiguchi
One of my buddies is a big Toronto Blue Jays fan, and every time someone who used to play for the team either plays against them or has an impressive night for their new squad, he references them by saying, “Old fried (insert name),” and it honestly is one of the most wholesome and enjoyable things about sports fandom to me.
In that same vein, old friend Kyoji Horiguchi returns to the UFC this weekend, competing in the Octagon for the first time since defeating Ali Bagautinov in Belfast, Northern Ireland, around this time nine years ago. The Japanese standout pushed his record to 18-2 with the win, departed the promotion, and proceeded to win his first 10 starts for Rizin, including winning the Bellator bantamweight title in one of the cross-over events orchestrated by the two companies. He’s gone 6-3 with one no contest in the 10 starts since, winning each of his last three while carrying a six-fight unbeaten streak into his flyweight return.
Horiguchi remains a dynamic talent that can do it all, and he’s proven that against the best competition, both inside and outside of the UFC. He took Demetrious Johnson to the limit in their championship clash at UFC 186 in Montreal back in the day, holds wins over Manel Kape, Hiromasa Ougikubo, Darrion Caldwell, Kai Asakara, and Sergio Pettis, and continues to thrive despite being in his mid-30s now.
This weekend, the American Top Team representative gets the chance to thrust himself into the thick of the chase in the 125-pound weight class as he takes on Tagir Ulanbekov in Qatar. The ranked Russian has won four straight and six of seven since arriving in the UFC, showcasing the suffocating grappling dominance commonly connected to fighters from the Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov lineage.
READ: Tsarukyan Out To Cement Top Contender Status
Flyweight is going to be front-and-center over the final three events of 2025 —Alex Perez and Asu Almabayev clash on the main card this weekend, UFC 323 features a title bout and another Top 10 clash, and Brandon Royval faces Kape in the final bout of the year — and Horiguchi can instantly announce his presence as a legitimate contender with a quality win on the weekend. Beating Ulanbekov isn’t easy, so a win of any kind should make it clear that the former title challenger is still one all these years later.
Bekzat Almakhan
There are times when the performance an athlete delivers is more important than the result they achieve, and Almakhan’s UFC debut is a perfect example.
Called into action on short notice for a March 2, 2024, bout with Umar Nurmagomedov, Almakhan, who entered on an eight-fight winning streak, buzzed the head of the then-unbeaten rising star 30 seconds into the bout, prompting Nurmagomedov to wrestle for pretty much the rest of the fight. You can say diminish the initial blow if you choose, but Almakhan came at the talented prospect straight away, landed good strikes before that, and then dropped him with a right hand that bounced off his noggin and turned the well-rounded Russian into a wrestler.
Though he ended up dropping a decision — Nurmagomedov is a terrific wrestler and talent, after all — it was the kind of result that sticks with you, and when Almakhan finally returned to action this year in Montreal, he wasted no time showing he’s someone to pay close attention to going forward in the bantamweight division. He almost immediately got his timing and range down in the UFC 315 opener against Brad Katona, and after popping the two-time TUF winner with an uppercut the first time he dipped to throw a lead left hook, Almakhan dropped the Canadian with it the second time he showed the same entry 30 seconds later, chasing him to the canvas and pounding out the finish.
This weekend, “The Turan Warrior” faces off with Aleksandre Topuria in a matchup of ambitious bantamweights that should tell us a great deal about where each man stands in the talent-rich division.
Topuria won his promotional debut in February, getting the better of late replacement opponent Colby Thicknesse on the cards in Sydney to extend his winning streak to four and his record to 6-1 overall. The older brother of lightweight ruler Ilia Topuria, the 29-year-old is a more compact, less explosive fighter than his younger sibling, but honestly, that applies to just about everyone in the sport these days, at least in terms of the explosiveness element.
The 28-year-old Almakhan is one of those competitors who could make a rapid rise in the ranks, provided he can remain active and secure the right matchups, and another statement effort this weekend against Topuria could be a ticket to something bigger next time out. If you’re starting to build your list of potential 2026 breakout fighters, Almakhan should definitely be on your long list, honestly merits a spot on the short list, and should probably make the final list… provided all goes well this weekend in Doha, of course.
UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs Hooker took place live from ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar on November 22, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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