5 of the most overlooked fighters in the UFC today

#4 Irene Aldana – UFC bantamweight contender

Irene Aldana should be considered one of the top contenders for Amanda Nunes' UFC bantamweight title.

The UFC’s female bantamweight division is widely recognised as one of the thinnest in the promotion when it comes to talented fighters.

This is largely a result of the division having such a dominant champion in Amanda Nunes, but 135lbs does have a handful of fresh contenders who are climbing up the ladder. One such fighter is Irene Aldana.

A native of Mexico, this striking-based fighter has a somewhat understated UFC record of 6-4. But it’s safe to say that right now, she’s amongst the best fighters in the division. In recent fights, she’s 3-1, and could easily have been on a run of 7-1 had a tight decision against Raquel Pennington gone her way.

R E L E N T L E S S 😤🇲🇽 @IreneAldana_ gets the TKO in RD 1. #UFC264 pic.twitter.com/bFKv1vrMOA

— UFC (@ufc) July 11, 2021

Somehow, though, despite holding impressive knockout wins over Ketlen Vieira and Yana Kunitskaya, Aldana is largely overlooked by the UFC fanbase. She could well warrant the next title shot at Nunes, in fact, but instead, most fans are focused on Julianna Pena and Aspen Ladd.

Why is this the case? Fans certainly can’t complain about Aldana’s fighting style. She’s one of the most explosive fighters in the division, and regularly looks for knockouts. Her win over Vieira, for instance, earned her a $50K performance bonus.

However, as she doesn’t speak fluent English, she’s always going to be a little behind when it comes to being able to make her mark on the microphone. Add in the fact that she was firmly defeated by Holly Holm in her only UFC headline fight, which means Aldana is likely to be destined to remain one of the UFC’s most overlooked fighters.

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#3 Magomed Ankalaev – UFC light-heavyweight contender

Magomed Ankalaev could be talked up as a light-heavyweight Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Ever since the retirement of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, it feels like the UFC has been hunting for the next potential star to come out of Russia – or more specifically Dagestan – to take his place.

Islam Makhachev, for instance, has outright been labelled the “new Khabib”, while the former champion’s relatives Said and Umar Nurmagomedov have also garnered plenty of hype. With that in mind, it’s baffling why light-heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev remains overlooked.

A Dagestani native who arguably fights in a more entertaining way than Khabib thanks to his explosive striking technique, Ankalaev is currently 6-1 in the UFC. and has not lost a fight since his octagon debut.

Along the way, he has taken out the likes of Nikita Krylov, Dalcha Lungiambula and Ion Cutelaba, dealing with the latter two in highlight-reel fashion with brutal knockouts.

NO CONTROVERSY THIS TIME AROUND!🇷🇺 @AnkalaevM with the finish at #UFC254 pic.twitter.com/cKmR3FnVTd

— UFC (@ufc) October 24, 2020

However, when you ask UFC fans about the light-heavyweight division’s best prospects, the names that are likely to be mentioned are Jiri Prochazka, Johnny Walker and Aleksandar Rakic but not Ankalaev.

In fact, based on what we’ve seen so far, the Dagestani probably has the talent to take out all three men. But as a soft-spoken character, it seems hard for him to not fly under the radar.

In a way, that makes him even more similar to Khabib – who won nine fights in a row before getting a title shot. Perhaps Ankalaev’s path to UFC stardom will be similar, but for now, he remains hugely overlooked.