Athletes
Fighters on the Rise | UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs Vallejos
Zeroing In On Three Ascending Talents Poised To Shine On Saturday At Meta APEX
Identifying emerging talents and spotting athletes that could become stars within the sport and potentially contenders has been a fixation of mine for as long as I’ve been covering this sport, some 15-odd years now. There is just something about undefined ceilings and the upside of fighters that are still developing that remains the most fascinating element of this sport to me, just as it was with stick-and-ball sports when I paid attention to them back in the day.
The reason I love writing this series every week and have done so for more than a dozen years now is because there is constantly chatter in the MMA space about identifying the next stars and fighters that come out of nowhere, and frankly, I want to address both. Watching hundreds of fights per year and talking with athletes and coaches all these years has made me, I think, a pretty solid judge of talent and quite literally no one “comes out of nowhere” — they may be on the prelims, they may have been off your radar, but there are usually a handful of people advocating for you to pay attention to those folks long before they feel like they turn up out of the blue in the rankings or on the main card.
Saturday's Full Fight Card Preview
So here I am, back with another installment, giving you three ascending talents to pay close attention to this weekend so they don’t surprise you if and when they rise through the ranks.
Enjoy.
Gillian Robertson
Robertson made her UFC debut all the way back on December 1, 2017, after appearing on Season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter, submitting Emily Whitmire to move to 4-2 as a professional. Saturday night, she enters her co-main event assignment against Amanda Lemos riding a four-fight winning streak, stationed at No. 8 in the strawweight rankings, and owning the record for the most submission wins in UFC women’s history.
And it still feels like there is even more room for her to grow.
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Robertson has been learning on the job throughout her UFC career, but feels like she’s really starting to put it all together of late. Her last two stoppage wins were by TKO, not submission, because her opponents are now so leery of giving their backs and getting tapped out that they’re essentially opening themselves up to getting mauled from top position, and Robertson is rightfully obliging far more than she was before.
Her progression and advancement have been slow and steady over the years, but really accelerated when she returned to the strawweight division a touch under three years ago. Since then, the 30-year-old has gone 5-1 with three finishes and claimed a spot in the Top 10, which gives her the chance to move into the Top 5 available to her with a win on Saturday.
Gillian Robertson | Submission Showcase
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Gillian Robertson | Submission Showcase
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Lemos remains dangerous and a bona fide contender, but she’s also struggled against dominant grapplers in the past, so this will be a chance for Robertson to show that she’s improved her ability to get inside and dictate where the fight takes place with authority, which has been the one stumbling block for her in the past. Her grappling is so sharp that all she needs to do is get a hold of you in order to ruin your night, so if her wrestling is sharper, further advancement is on the horizon.
Plus, she’s still a couple of months away from turning 31, which means there are still a number of prime years left for her to keep fortifying her strengths and developing as a fighter. If that happens, Robertson could absolutely emerge as a contender.
Bia Mesquita
Mesquita turns 35 next month, so the runway for becoming a contender isn’t nearly as long for her, but that’s okay because the 10-time Brazilian jiu jitsu world champion has the skills, status, and opportunity to make an expedited climb through the ranks in the bantamweight division.
Bia Mesquita Secures Debut Submission Victory | UFC Rio
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Bia Mesquita Secures Debut Submission Victory | UFC Rio
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One of the most decorated BJJ competitors of her generation, Mesquita is a massive name with grappling fans and has thus far made a smooth transition into MMA, going 6-0 with five finishes, including earning a second-round submission win in her UFC debut last October in Rio de Janeiro. She’s paired off this weekend with Mexican grinder Montse Rendon, and if she gets through this one unscathed and with strong reviews, a date with someone in the Top 15 should be in the offing.
FREE FIGHTS: Josh Emmett vs Bryce Mitchell | Kevin Vallejos vs Choi Seung-Woo
Mesquita needs to continue to adapt her jiu jitsu for MMA and work to round out her skills as much as possible in order to avoid being one dimensional, but working with Marcos da Matta at American Top Team is a huge plus and her grappling is so strong that she literally only needs to show solid basics on the feet in order to keep people honest and create opportunities to look for takedowns.
Bantamweight is shallow and might be the one division in the UFC where there isn’t much differentiation between the fighters ranked between No. 5 and No. 15, meaning the right matchup and a good result can catapult someone up the ranks quickly. Because she’s a big name and has a more aggressive, finish-minded style, Mesquita should get a quicker opportunity to shine than most.
A big effort this weekend will go a long way test this theory.
Elijah Smith
Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but it’s wild to me that Smith could have one of the most viral knockouts of 2025, and yet now that it’s time for his return to action, it’s largely crickets.
I thought we all loved highlight reel knockouts? Are our attention spans just too short now that we can’t remember to be excited when the guy who powerbombed his opponent into the Shadow Realm returns?
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Smith wrapped his rookie campaign in the UFC last year with a first-round knockout win over Toshiomi Kazama that had everyone old enough envisioning Rampage Jackson and Ricardo Arona, gathering the Japanese bantamweight into the air while he was attempting to attack a triangle choke off his back and forcibly driving him into the canvas, rendering him unconscious. It was the 23-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series grad’s second win of the year and a little snippet of what the lanky, athletic prospect is capable of inside the Octagon.
Just the third second-generation UFC fighter in history, Smith is still young and relatively inexperienced, with just 10 bouts as a pro, but he’s won seven straight, has shown improvements each time out, and has the kind of sound fundamentals and plus athleticism that he profiles as someone who could eventually develop into a considerable force in the 135-pound weight class. He has a great frame for the division, quick hands, and showed his grit in his DWCS win, all of which bodes well for his future.
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He’s paired off with fellow 2-0 sophomore SuYoung You this weekend, and if the Colorado native can earn a third consecutive UFC win, expect a few more people to be amped about is next appearance.
UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs Vallejos took place live from Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 14, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!