The Beaten Path: 5 Top MMA Prospects to Watch in June

June is about a third of the way done, but as MMA prospects go, it's about to really get started.

I'm totally serious. This Sunday is going to be a huge one if you care even a whit about up-and-coming fighters, particularly those who come from a certain region of the world known as Russia. 

The Beaten Path is Bleacher Report's ongoing series on MMA prospects. We interview people and everything. It's really terrific. 

And we do this list pretty much every month; definitely more often than not, with the doing of it. These are the five up-and-comers to catch between now and the time when June 2015 becomes but a leaf in the forest of history.

They are listed in no particular order. Because they are all winners to me.

Timofey Nastyukhin

Division: Featherweight
Age: 25
Record: 8-1 
Next Fight: Yusuke Kawanago, One Championship 28, June 20
See It On: One Championship live stream

Timofey Nastyukhin is "Nasty," if you take my meaning. 

The Russian hasn't wasted much time making a mark in East Asia. In his debut for One Championship, he pulpified a darn solid fighter in Eduard Folayang with a flying knee to the cranial area.

There's more than just striking, though. Nastyukhin has a background in pankration, which, as you know, is an ancient martial art combining boxing, wrestling and leg strikes. Demetrious Johnson's good at it, if you want a point of reference.

He should be able to take out Kawanago. That would bring him to a nine-fight winning streak, dating back to his first fight as a pro.

Henry Corrales

Division: Featherweight
Age: 28
Record: 12-0 
Next Fight: Daniel Straus, Bellator 138, June 19
See It On: Spike TV

Why is Bellator making such an interesting prospect, in his Bellator debut, face a strong veteran in Daniel Straus? I don't know.

At least Corrales is on the main card. And who knows? Maybe he can win.

He certainly knows how to do that. He was a champion in the King of the Cage promotion for some time, although that was at bantamweight, one level down. He's a jiu-jitsu player by background, with four knockouts and six submission victories to his name.

Could he overcome Straus' power-wrestling game? Or will the recent Bellator featherweight champ dispatch a nice talent before he really gets going? We'll see next week. 

Eduard Vartanyan

Division: Welterweight
Age: 24
Record: 10-1 
Next Fight: Amirkhan Adaev, ACB MMA 20, June 14
See It On: ACB MMA website

You see what I mean about it all heating up quickly? All the prospect action in June happens within a week from now. This Eastern Europe-centric ACB show—which is an interesting promotion to watch given all the talent coming out of Russia and environs at the moment—puts on its latest event this Sunday. If you're not MMA'd out after UFC 188 the day before, you might want to check it out.

Eduard Vartanyan is the crown jewel of the card, which goes down from the sporting epicenter of Sochi, Russia. A sambo master, Vartanyan is fun to watch with his varied takedowns, ground-and-pound, submissions and clinching. 

I don't know much about Adaev, but I don't imagine Vartanyan will have any insurmountable problems with him. The Moscow native should hit the 11-win mark before he turns 25. That is pretty good.

Sergey Khandozhko

Division: Welterweight
Age: 23
Record: 19-1-1
Next Fight: Albert Duraev, ACB MMA 20, June 14
See It On: ACB MMA website

Sergey Khandozhko has a key weakness in his resume. That weakness? One Eduard Vartanyan.

Remember that guy from the previous slide? Yes, Khandozhko did lose to his fellow Moscow native. However, that was back in 2013, and Khandozhko has taken seven straight since then.

The kicker is that these guys train together in Moscow's Fight Club Number 1. No, that's just what it's called. 

Honda has eight wins by knockout, six by submission and five by decision. Based on those numbers, you can see he's fairly comfortable anywhere. But striking is really his forte, as you can see in the video above. He loves to throw punches, and they are heavy. Knees and kicks are also in the mix.

So yeah, he's fun to watch. Would he take a rematch with his apparent teammate? I don't know, but I'd watch it.

Augusto Sakai

Division: Heavyweight
Age: 24
Record: 7-0
Next Fight: Daniel Gallemore, Bellator 139, June 26
See It On: Spike TV

I can't not end this with a heavyweight prospect if I find one. So here we are.

This is the second Bellator fight for Augusto Sakai, which I guess puts him on the borderline in terms of the definition of a prospect. But he's still pretty young, and it's clear his best days are ahead of him.

As you can see in the video, his ground-and-pound is absolutely brutal. Edison Lopes wants to escape; he's squirming around like a snake. But can he escape? No, he cannot. 

I also want to acknowledge that Sakai doesn't display a whole lot of technical acumen, on the ground or the feet or otherwise. He's kind of a lumbering jackass in there. But he's a strong lumbering jackass. And an undefeated lumbering jackass. And in the end, isn't that what matters? No? Well, it's the end anyway.

Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more on MMA, MMA prospects and other stuff, possibly to include some complaints about the Washington Nationals, follow Scott on Twitter.