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Dan Hardy Names Five Prospects He Feels Will Be UFC Champions In The Future

Originally posted on MMA News | By Kyle Dimond | Last updated 8/31/23

In a new series on his Full Reptile channel, former UFC title challenger and highly-regarded analyst Dan Hardy has named his top 5 fighters that will be future UFC champions.

Made up of some of the most talked about prospects and exciting contenders in the world right now, the list spans from the men and women's flyweight divisions all the way up to heavyweight.

The first two entrants in the list are from those male and female 125-pound divisions with England's Muhammad Mokaev coming in at number 5, followed by Erin Blanchfield.

Both fighters have produced unbeaten runs in the UFC and whilst Mokaev will look to crack the top ten in his next fight again Tim Elliott, Blanchfield may have secured herself a title shot with her win over Taila Santos this past weekend in Singapore.

"With only being 24 years old, her chances of becoming the youngest female UFC champion ever are highly likely. Currently sitting at number 2 in the rankings and having her sights set on gold, she is the most likely candidate for a title shot after the exciting rematch between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko"

Dan Hardy's List Picks Out A Featherweight, Heavyweight and Middleweight As The Top 3 Future UFC Champions

As the third fighter on the list to be unbeaten in his career at this stage, featherweight's Ilia Topuria has added some much needed life into the top of the 145-pound division.

Seemingly the only fighter in the division that people can make a stylistic argument for against the dominant champion Alexander Volkanovski, Topuria is sure to be called up soon for a title shot if he continues in his winning ways.

At number two in the list, talking of injecting some life into a division, heavyweight Tom Aspinall has looked completely flawless inside the Octagon.

Aside from his loss to Curtis Blaydes due to an injury, the Brit has been untouchable thus far, boasting the shortest average fight time of anyone in the UFC.

In at the top spot as one of the most talked about fighters in the world over the last few years, Khamzat Chimaev's activity may have slowed down but his potential hasn't.

Seemingly abandoning his aspirations at welterweight for the moment, the undefeated Chimaev will face Paulo Costa at UFC 294 in a fight that could propel either man into the number one contender position for a shot at Israel Adesanya's title.

"Whatever weight class and whatever opponent Chimaev comes up against, we can always expect big things from the 'Wolf'"

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This article first appeared on MMA News and was syndicated with permission.

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