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

After a rocking September that featured some of the sport's best prospects in action, October is something of a step back, but it still includes some extraordinarily talented young fighters.

We travel to Europe for the entirety of this month's crop of up-and-comers. Much of the young MMA talent in the world can be found in Russia, particularly in Chechnya and Dagestan, and Poland isn't far behind with a sterling group of fighters both in the UFC and out. France and the United Kingdom have their own youthful stars in action, so we're covering the entire continent.

This is the Beaten Path, and these are the five best prospects in action this month, complete with videos and everything you'll need to watch the up-and-comers in action when the time comes.

5: Mikhail Mokhnatkin

Division: Light Heavyweight

Age: 25

Record: 7-1-1

Next Fight: Unknown opponent, Eurasia Fight Nights, October 23

See It On: UFC Fight Pass

Legitimate light heavyweight prospects are rarer than hen's teeth. Russia's Mikhail Mokhnatkin is one of the best fighters in the division who isn't currently signed to a major promotion and certainly the one with the most upside.

Like most of the recent wave of Russians who have entered the world MMA scene, Mokhnatkin is an ace practitioner of Combat Sambo. He won a Russian national title in 2012, the European championship in 2013 and took bronze at the 2013 world championship.

As fighters such as Fedor Emelianenko and more recently Khabib Nurmagomedov have shown, Combat Sambo is an outstanding base for MMA, and Mokhnatkin has those skills in spades. His clinch takedown game is slick and diverse, he is a monster from top position and he throws hard, accurate strikes from the southpaw stance.

At only 25, Mokhnatkin has a great deal of time ahead of him to grow into a complete fighter. He's still a bit raw, and needs to work on throwing more volume on the feet. However, his plus athleticism and top-shelf takedown and top control games make him a favorite to develop into an elite competitor.

Moreover, UFC fans can view him easily, since the Fight Nights promotion recently signed a deal with UFC Fight Pass to broadcast their shows. Check him out on October 23.

4: Magomed Bibulatov

Division: Flyweight

Age: 27

Record: 9-0

Next Fight: Donavon Frelow, World Series of Fighting 24, October 17

See It On: NBC Sports Network

A native of Chechnya, Magomed Bibulatov is one of the best flyweights in the world who has yet to appear in the UFC. In fact, he's good enough that World Series of Fighting thought it was worth building an entire flyweight division around him from scratch.

What makes Bibulatov so special? First and foremost, his physical gifts are world class: He's extraordinarily quick, explosive, brutally strong and hits like a truck. Second, he boasts complete and well-rounded skills, particularly in consideration of the fact that he's only been a professional for two years.

Solid combination punching blends with flashy spinning strikes and exotic kicks to form a devastating mixture at range. He's even better in the clinch, where he has an arsenal of slick trips and throws. His top-position grappling is every bit as good, with smooth passes and vicious strikes when he postures.

Bibulatov has beaten solid competition considering his early stage of development and holds a win over UFC bantamweight Taylor Lapilus. He's definitely worth World Series of Fighting's investment, and while his opponent Donavon Frelow is talented in his own right, this is all about Bibulatov.

3: Michael Page

Division: Welterweight

Age: 28

Record: 8-0

Next Fight: Charlie Ontiveros, Bellator 144, October 23

See It On: Spike TV

It might seem strange to think of Michael Page as a prospect given that he debuted in Bellator more than two years ago, but it's important to remember that he's been a professional for less than four years. Moreover, it's clear that the powers that be at Bellator still consider him a work in progress.

Page's approach to MMA is nearly unique, with a deep background in point-scoring styles of kickboxing, and it makes a great deal of sense for Bellator to take the slow road with him. His athleticism, speed, rhythm, timing and sense of the distance are all extraordinary, but he came into the sport as a pure striker and has needed time to adjust and round out his skills.

And what a striker he is. He keeps his hands low as he constantly circles and cuts angles, and then he leaps in a sharp punching combination or an exotic kick. Counterpunching is a specialty, and he can either plant his feet and throw or drop bombs as he backsteps and circles out.

He's a surprisingly strong clinch fighter and an improving wrestler, and one has to think that last facet is why Bellator has taken its time in giving Page a step up.

To be clear, however, this has to be the last fight in which we still consider Page a prospect. It's time for a step up and for the Englishman to take his place among Bellator's welterweight elite.

2: Marif Piraev vs. Mateusz Gamrot

Division: Lightweight

Age: 23 for Piraev, 24 for Gamrot

Record: 13-0-1 for Piraev, 9-0 for Gamrot

Event: KSW 32, October 31

See It On: KSW TV

This is the rare regional matchup in which both fighters deserve attention, as one of Poland's finest lightweight prospects in Mateusz Gamrot takes on Russia's talented Marif Piraev. Both are young, improving markedly from fight to fight and not long for the regional scene regardless of who wins this bout.

Piraev, a native of Dagestan, is a gutsy competitor with great aggression and killer instinct. He is dangerous everywhere and stands out as a striker with smooth punching combinations, clean back-stepping counters and a gift for landing the left high kick. His clinch work is technical, and he has a nice arsenal of trips and throws. His top game is likely his best skill set, with powerful strikes and a nose for the submission.

Gamrot is an exceptional athlete with great speed and explosiveness, and those physical gifts form the basis of his game. He is a good wrestler and excels at catching kicks and turning them into takedowns and throws brutal strikes from top position. He can snag the occasional submission on the mat as well. Nobody will confuse him with a professional kickboxer, but he is a solid and improving striker. Check him out.

I favor Piraev, but only slightly, on the basis of his wrestling ability and smoother striking skills. This is a fantastically matched and intriguing fight, and both will likely move on to bigger and better things.

1: Mansour Barnaoui

Division: Lightweight

Age: 23

Record: 12-2

Next Fight: Ivan Buchinger, M-1 Challenge 62, October 10

See It On: m1global.tv

After sitting out more than 18 months with a series of injuries, France's Mansour Barnaoui returned to action with a first-round finish of Maxim Divnich in the M-1 organization. The BAMMA lightweight titleholder and now the M-1 champion as well, he draws M-1 featherweight champion Ivan Buchinger in a crackerjack of a matchup at 155 pounds.

Prior to his injury, Barnaoui was one of the hottest prospects in the sport after reeling off consecutive wins over UFC veterans Curt Warburton and Colin Fletcher. His two losses both came to rising talents who are now signed to the UFC, Kevin Lee and Islam Makhachev. The time off halted his momentum, but he figures to be no more than one or two fights away from a deal with a major promotion if he wins here.

Barnaoui has little left to learn on the regional scene. He's a rangy lightweight at 6'0" and surprisingly strong. Aggression is his hallmark, and he marches forward slinging straight punches at a rapid clip until he gets into a tie-up.

The clinch is Barnaoui's wheelhouse. His strength is surprising, and he uses his height and length effectively to gain leverage for knees, short punches and elbows from the collar tie. He can hit a variety of takedowns, preferring inside and outside trips. Scrambles are his specialty and he has a particular gift for finding the back in transition, while his sweep game makes it difficult to hold him down.

If you only watch one regional fight this month, make it Barnaoui's scrap with Buchinger, who is probably the most accomplished featherweight outside the major promotions. The Frenchman should win, but this has the makings of an outstanding scrap.

Patrick Wyman is the Senior MMA Analyst for Bleacher Report. He can be found on Twitter.