The Ultimate Fighter Brazil's 5 Best Prospects

The Ultimate Fighter Brazil is underway, with half of the 32-man field sliced to 16. Next week we find out which fighters will make up Team Wanderlei and and Team Vitor.

Before we get there, though, there are five prospects we must mention. Not only do they have the potential to take the season, but even before they joined the TUF cast, they looked (and still appear) to have what it takes to become major players in their respective divisions long after the show is over.

Hugo Viana

Hugo Viana is 5-0 as a pro, with all of his wins coming by some form of a decision. That 5-0 run was his career before he stepped into the HSBC Arena, the site of the past two "UFC Rio" events, to face UDL prospect Alexandre Ramos.

All it took was a series of elbows to Ramos in a stunning first-round effort to secure a knockout victory and swing the momentum in "Wolverine" Viana's favor.

Now, Viana is looking to carry that forward into UFC 147 as a finalist in the featherweight bracket and walk out of UFC 147 as the second featherweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter.

If he didn't have all the tools to get it done before, one can bet that he sure does look like he does now.

Sergio Moraes

Sergio Moraes appeared to some to be a natural welterweight. But against Thiago Rela, Moraes found himself in a battle on the ground in which he somehow couldn't seem to lose.

Rela started it off by rolling for a leg lock. But before Rela knew it, Moraes refrained from slugging it out on the ground and fell back to catch the heel-hook he found from the position he was in at the time.

We said from the start that Moraes knew how to work a beautiful jiu-jitsu game and utilize it in a winning effort whenever and wherever the situation arises. But it's not how you start, it's how you finish.

Moraes knows exactly how and where to finish.

The question is, do his opponents know how to keep Moraes from finishing there?

John "Macapa" Teixeira

John Teixeira stands at 13-0-1, with two wins by some form of KO, eight submissions and three decisions. He had a draw in his fifth pro fight.

He brought all that into the TUF house against Giovanni "Soldado" Souza Jr. 

Despite a bout marred temporarily by illegal shots, Teixeira scrambled, got the full mount and eventually rolled into a beautiful armbar, which forced a tap.

There's no doubt he has a few more of those up his sleeve. Should he figure out a way to implement that submission game throughout some portion of his run on TUF, it could lead him to become a darkhorse for the contract and the title of "The next Ultimate Fighter."

Cezar "Mutante" Ferreira

In short, Cezar "Mutante" Ferreira is the man to win the international middleweight contract for The Ultimate Fighter Brazil, regardless of whether Francisco Drinaldo even makes it as far as the semifinals.

He's a 4-2 prospect and a Vitor Belfort prodigy with everything a fighter needs to be successful in this sport, from heart to work ethic to power in his hands.

Add in the likelihood that he dons the green of Team Vitor and his willingness to evolve in order to combat his foes' strengths, and there seems to be little or no way someone is going to be able to lay out this kid with a well-loaded shot.

If anything, the next man to beat Mutante will have to be the man who outworks him. But with the heights Mutante is capable of achieving, it's doubtful that anyone will have an easy time doing that.

Rony "Jason" Mariano Bezerra

Conspicuous by the trademark hockey mask that represents his namesake, Rony "Jason" Mariano Bezerra is 10-3 as a professional, and his win over top flyweight prospect Dileno Lopes only cements his status as the likely favorite to take the season.

Three of his fights ended similarly to how he finished his fight with Lopes. Renan Barao is the only man to have taken "Jason" to a decision. So very few can question his level of competition, which will only grow as he perseveres in this sport. But before he can cement himself as an elite fighter in the division, he must focus on whoever awaits him in the quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals of UFC 147.

If he should prosper in this season and prevail at UFC 147, the sky is the limit for this young man.