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With three title fights on tap, UFC 259 is undoubtedly one of the UFC’s best cards in recent memory.
UFC 259’s undercard is loaded, too, with plenty of tremendous fighters in action – but could some of them go onto hold UFC gold in the future?
While the likes of Dominick Cruz, Thiago Santos, and Joseph Benavidez have all either done so or come close, some of UFC 259’s hottest prospects could definitely do so in the future.
Here are three fighters on UFC 259’s undercard who could go on hold UFC gold in the future.
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#1 Islam Makhachev (faces Drew Dober at UFC 259)
The recently-retired Khabib Nurmagomedov still officially holds the UFC Lightweight title. But it seems inevitable that a new champion will be crowned in the near future.
And while the most likely candidates to hold the title include Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, and Justin Gaethje, nobody should be sleeping on Islam Makhachev.
A training partner and close friend of Khabib, Makhachev is 7-1 in the UFC and faces striker Drew Dober at UFC 259.
The native of Dagestan has already garnered plenty of comparisons to Khabib due to his grapple-heavy style. But like The Eagle, Makhachev is also a more than willing striker.
And with his links to the current champ, it’s no surprise that his teammates at American Kickboxing Academy have already suggested he could follow in Khabib’s footsteps and claim the UFC Lightweight crown.
Beating Dober at UFC 259 won’t be enough to net Makhachev a title shot. But it should definitely bump him into the upper echelon of the division.
And that would certainly put him in line to fight one of the more well-regarded names at 155lbs. Former UFC champions Tony Ferguson and Rafael dos Anjos are just two of the suggestions that have been made for his next opponent.
So can Makhachev go all the way? There’s no reason why it isn’t possible for him. After all, Lightweight is a very striker-heavy division, meaning a brutal grappler like the Dagestani could slip right into the shoes of Khabib and cause some real mayhem at the top.
Basically, if he isn’t in contention by the end of 2021, it’ll be a surprise.
#2 Aleksandar Rakic (faces Thiago Santos at UFC 259)
The UFC Light Heavyweight title will be on the line at UFC 259, as Jan Blachowicz defends against current UFC Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya.
But regardless of who wins, the 205lbs division is wide open for new contenders to climb the ranks in the post-Jon Jones world.
One such possible contender could be Austria’s Aleksandar Rakic.
Rakic faces off with former title challenger Thiago Santos at UFC 259. And while Santos hasn’t actually won a fight since February 2019, a win over him would still give Rakic plenty of momentum. Rocket already has a substantial amount behind him.
He defeated Anthony Smith in one-sided fashion in his most recent fight last August. And overall, the Austrian is 5-1 in the UFC, with his lone loss being a contentious split decision to Volkan Oezdemir in 2019.
Rakic basically has all of the tools to reach the top of the UFC mountain at 205lbs.
He’s a big Light Heavyweight, standing at 6’5”. And he throws heavy strikes with brutal knockout power, as we saw when he took out Jimi Manuwa with a head kick.
His win over Smith, meanwhile, saw him display a pretty impressive grappling game. Rakic took Lionheart down on numerous occasions and beat him up from the top without coming into any danger.
So can he beat Santos this weekend? As long as he can avoid the knockout power of Marreta, you’d have to favor him.
And if he can do that? A title shot might not be far away at all, particularly if Blachowicz manages to turn back the challenge of Adesanya.
Other potential UFC Light Heavyweight title contenders right now would include Glover Teixeira, Jiri Prochazka, and Dominick Reyes.
But with an impressive showing at UFC 259 against a highly regarded foe like Santos, Rakic could well leapfrog them all.
#3 Song Yadong (faces Kyler Phillips at UFC 259)
It’s a well-known fact that the UFC would love to make more headway into the burgeoning Chinese market.
And in fact, the promotion has already seen Weili Zhang become the first Chinese fighter to claim UFC gold in the form of the UFC Strawweight title.
So could Song Yadong follow in her footsteps and end up with the UFC Bantamweight title? He’s definitely got the potential to do so.
The Kung-Fu Monkey is already 5-0-1 in the UFC and most recently outpointed the ultra-tough veteran Marlon Vera.
A phenomenal natural athlete, Song has knockout power, a strong grappling game, and his cardio is largely excellent too.
More interestingly, The Kung-Fu Monkey has been training with Team Alpha Male for some time now. And that camp has already produced two former UFC Bantamweight champions in the form of TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt.
Holding Song back right now is the fact that he’s only ranked #14 in the UFC’s Bantamweight rankings. And a win over the unheralded Phillips at UFC 259 isn’t likely to shoot him too far up the ladder.
However, it is worth noting that while Song is on his way up, many of the fighters above him – names like Jose Aldo, Raphael Assuncao, and Marlon Moraes – are almost certainly on their way down at this point.
With this in mind, if Song can impress at UFC 259, it could well propel him into a fight with a much bigger name later in 2021. And if the UFC really wants to push him as a potential Chinese star, that fight could be a #1 contender’s clash.
From what we’ve seen of Song thus far, to see him in a fight for the UFC Bantamweight title in, say, 2022 wouldn’t be a shock.
