UFC 128: Jon Jones and the 25 Best MMA Fighters 25 Years or Younger
With some of the old guard of the MMA world riding off into the sunset, the new guard is making a definite impact as they try to fill the shoes of the former champions and legends.
As the new fighters start to make waves in promotions across the world, they are quickly making a name for themselves within the MMA community—like Jon Jones, who will challenge Mauricio Rua for the Light Heavyweight Championships this Saturday at UFC 128.
Also after the absorption of the WEC into the UFC, popular newcomers Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz will both enter the UFC as the first time champions of their respective weight classes as the promotion expands the current roster.
With that said, let's take a look at the aforementioned fighters along with the rest of the list of best young MMA fighters that are putting the respective divisions on notice.
Jon Jones
1 of 24
Debut: April 12, 2008
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 12-1
With a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in December 2009, Jones suffered his first and only loss to date in his very young UFC career. He has jumped up the fighter rankings by leaps and bounds with his great knockout power that has led to seven victories alone.
Bobby Green
2 of 24
Debut: January 19, 2008
Promotion: King of the Cage
Overall Record: 14-4
In his first title bout in his career, Green finished off then champion Rick Legere at "King of the Cage: Arrival" with a knockout victory at 4:27 of the the first round to win the Junior Welterweight Title. He later lost it to Tim Means last October.
Steve Cantwell
3 of 24
Debut: April 23, 2005
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 7-4
During his days with the former WEC promotion, Cantwell was able to defeat then champion Brian Stann for the Light Heavyweight title at WEC 35 in August of 2008. He won via TKO at the 4:01 mark of the second round.
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Stefan Struve
4 of 24
Debut: March 19, 2005
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 21–4
In Struve's UFC debut in February 2009, the fighter was sent back home with a KO loss against Junior Dos Santos in just 54 seconds. However, he has gone 5-1 since the unimpressive loss at UFC 95.
Chris Horodecki
5 of 24
Debut: June 18, 2005
Promotion: N/A
Overall Record: 16-3
During his last fight with Donald Cerrone at WEC 53, the submission loss outcome of the fight did more than just affect Horodecki's win/loss records. It actually led to his subsequent release from the former promotion.
Micah Miller
6 of 24
Debut: April 28, 2006
Promotion: Tachi Palace Fights
Overall Record: 16-4
For the journeyman MMA fighter, Miller has competed in more than 10 promotions in his short career. His most impressive win came against Bruce Connors last summer at the event XFC 11.
Bryan Baker
7 of 24
Debut: January 27, 2007
Promotion: Bellator
Overall Record: 14-2
For the Bellator Middleweight, Baker has only lost twice. Only one loss, however, came by the hands of his opponent, a TKO by Alexander Shlemenko, during his short but very extensive fight career since 2007.
Michael Mcdonald
8 of 24
Debut: November 11, 2007
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 11-1
Michael McDonald, nicknamed Mayday, had to make the mayday call himself during his only career loss to Cole Escovedo in May of 2009. In his other 10 fights, nine of those never left the first round of action.
Pat Curran
9 of 24
Debut: 2/23/2008
Promotion: Bellator
Overall Record: 12-3
Last Summer, Curran defeated Toby Imada in the Bellator Lightweight Title Tournament finale at Bellator 21, insuring him a title bout against current champion Eddie Alvarez on April 2nd at Bellator 39 in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Todd Duffee
10 of 24
Debut: February 9, 2007
Promotion: Dream
Overall Record: 6-2
After going 6-0 to start his career, Duffee has tasted the agony of defeat in back to back bouts against Mike Russow at UFC 114 along with Alistair Overeem for interim DREAM heavyweight title on New Year's Eve 2010.
Jeremy Stephens
11 of 24
Debut: January 12, 2005
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 19-6
Known as the "Lil' Heathen," Stephens has definitely left a mark on his opponents during his career to this moment with 14 of his 19 victories coming by knockout as the other five coming by three submissions and two judge's decisions.
Terry Etim
12 of 24
Debut: May 12, 2005
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 14-3
During the Brit's young career, Etim has been a dangerous submission fighter as he has scored a win by that result 11 times in his 17 fight career. In his most recent fight, however, Rafael dos Anjos stole a page from his book with an armbar submission victory of his own.
Rory MacDonald
13 of 24
Debut: October 15, 2005
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 10-1
After going 9-0 in the great white north of Canada, Rory MacDonald entered the UFC in January of 2010. He pushed his record to 10-0 before suffering his first career loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 115 by TKO due to strikes with seven seconds remaining in the third round.
Efrain Escudero
14 of 24
Debut: June 10, 2006
Promotion: Tachi Palace Fights
Overall Record: 15-2
The former Ultimate Fighter winner Escudero, a lightweight, has had a good beginning to his UFC career going 4-2 with both of his losses coming via an armbar and a rear naked choke from Evan Durham and Charles Oliveira, respectively.
Miesha Tate
15 of 24
Debut: November 24, 2007
Promotion: Strikeforce
Overall Record: 11-2
As the sport of Female MMA continues to grow, Miesha Tate is one of the definite leaders of the pack as she has amassed an 11-2 record since her debut in 2007. She has shown both submission prowess and some power in her career.
Jung Chan-Sung
16 of 24
Debut: June 24, 2007
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 10-3
After a stellar beginning to his career, Jung Chan-Sung scored victories in 10 of his first of 11 bouts while competing in Japan and South Korea before dropping his two fights in the United States with the former WEC promotion last year.
John Hathaway
17 of 24
Debut: June 25, 2006
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 14-1
Of the 25 fighters listed in this article, Hathaway has had the best beginning to a career as he went 14-0 during the early portion of his career in different smaller promotions. This success carried over into his UFC career until his first loss to Mike Pyle by Unanimous Decision last October.
Josh Grispi
18 of 24
Debut: September 26, 2006
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 14-2
After suffering a jaw injury in his fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 125, Grispi definitely had better days than the night of the Poirier fight as he won 14 of his first 15 contests bouncing around different smaller promotions until reaching WEC and now the UFC.
Joe Soto
19 of 24
Debut: July 16, 2006
Promotion: Bellator
Overall Record: 9-1
After a great beginning for the American Soto, he claimed the very first Bellator Featherweight Champion at the Featherweight Tournament in June of 2009 but never successfully defended the title as he was knocked out by Joe Warren in the second round at Bellator 27.
Dominick Cruz
20 of 24
Debut: January 29, 2005
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 17-1
For the current UFC Bantamweight Champion, Cruz has won the majority of his career fights with the help of the judge's with 10 decision wins in addition to six victories coming via knockout in his 18 career bouts.
Jose Aldo
21 of 24
Debut: August 10, 2004
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 18-1
As another former WEC champion promoted to UFC champion, Jose Aldo has shown some real power in his 19 career bouts with 12 knockout victories along with scoring two submission victories while only tasting defeat against Luciano Azevedo in November of 2005.
Charles Oliveira
22 of 24
Debut: March 15, 2008
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 14-1
Before suffering his first career loss last December, the Brazilian Oliveira has shown a balanced attack with six knockouts and seven submissions in his 15 total bouts during his early career fighting in Brazil until joining the UFC last Summer.
Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos
23 of 24
Debut: 5/17/2005
Promotion: Strikeforce
Overall Record: 10-1
After the defeat of Gina Carano for the first Strikeforce Middleweight title, Santos has taken the mantle of the top Female MMA fighter in the world as she hasn't lost since her very first fight, a kneebar submission only 1:46 into the first round against Erica Paes in 2005.
Nate Diaz
24 of 24
Debut: October 21, 2004
Promotion: UFC
Overall Record: 13-6
Since his debut in late 2004, Diaz has shown a tendency to the art of submissions as he has won nine of his 13 victories by different versions of the Guillotine Choke. He has only suffered one loss by submission to Hermes Franca at WEC 24 in 2006.
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