Top 5: Brightest Prospects in the UFC

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Eyes are now wide open to Joshua Van and his prodigious talents.

The fast-rising Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight contender made his strongest statement to date with a unanimous decision over Brandon Royval in a thrilling three-round UFC 317 firefight on June 28 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Scores were 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27—all for Van, who emerged victorious in a back-and-forth battle that seems certain to draw plenty of “Fight of the Year” attention.

Royval fought fire with fire and nearly made it pay off. His jab was his most potent and trusted weapon, and he often paired it with multi-punch bursts upstairs. A late replacement for Manel Kape, Van stood his ground and pressed forward under duress, utilizing crisp, accurate counters in a classic tug-of-war between two of the sport’s premier 125-pound competitors. With the outcome still in doubt, the Myanmar native decked Royval with a clubbing right hand late in the third round. Van followed with ground-and-pound in the waning seconds, separating himself when it mattered most.

By the time it was over, the two men had combined to throw 779 strikes against each other across 15 unforgettable minutes, connecting with 425 of them.

Van, still just 23 years of age, ranks as one of the brightest prospects in the UFC. Here are four more under-30 talents with less than 10 Octagon appearances under their belt who have not fought or won a UFC championship:

Natalia Silva: The onetime Jungle Fight champion has rattled off 13 consecutive wins, seven of them in the UFC, and established herself as a potential future cornerstone of the women’s flyweight division. Should Silva stay on her current trajectory, she figures to move into title contention no later than the first half of 2026. She last suited up at UFC 315, where she outstruck and outmaneuvered former champion Alexa Grasso to a unanimous decision in their three-round encounter on May 10. Silva, 28, has not experienced a setback in nearly eight years.

Michael Morales: The undefeated Ecuadorian launched himself into the UFC via Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 and finds himself on the verge of full-blown stardom less than four years later. Morales opened his UFC tenure with wins over Trevin Giles, Adam Fugitt, Max Griffin, Jake Matthews and Neil Magny, slowly but surely strengthening his resume. The 26-year-old Entram Gym product then announced his arrival as an elite welterweight with a first-round technical knockout of Gilbert Burns in the UFC Fight Night 256 headliner on May 17. The blowout of a perennial contender improved Morales to 18-0 with 14 finishes, nine of them inside one round.

Erin Blanchfield: Still adding dimension to her game at age 26, the onetime Eddie Bravo Invitational gold medalist has posted seven wins in eight appearances—Manon Fiorot was responsible for the lone setback—since she joined the UFC roster in 2021. Blanchfield, 26, last competed on Nov. 2, when she took a unanimous decision from two-time women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas in their five-round UFC Fight Night 246 main event. She outstruck “Thug Rose” by a 193-101 margin, completed two takedowns and racked up almost nine minutes of control time. Blanchfield’s most recent assignment fell through at UFC on ESPN 68 in May due to circumstances outside of her control, as opponent Maycee Barber suffered a pre-fight seizure and was not medically cleared.

Jacobe Smith: The blue-chip Fortis MMA talent has lived up to the hype and then some. A decorated amateur wrestler, Smith won two Big XII Conference championships at Oklahoma State University and earned All-America honors in 2018. He went 65-13 in parts of three seasons with the Cowboys, then made a seamless transition to mixed martial arts. Smith blew through the regional scene, nailed down a UFC contract on DWCS and continued his march inside the Octagon. He needed just 73 seconds to rout Preston Parsons in his promotional debut, then proceeded to dispatch Nico Price with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC 317 paring on June 28. Smith now sits at a perfect 11-0 with nine finishes.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Tallison Teixeira, 25, heavyweight; Payton Talbott, 26, bantamweight; Bo Nickal, 29, middleweight; Tatsuro Taira, 25, flyweight; Raul Rosas Jr., 20, bantamweight; Jean Matsumoto, 25, bantamweight; Mairon Santos, 25, lightweight; Rei Tsuruya, 23, flyweight; Farid Basharat, 27, bantamweight; Rafael Estevam, 28, flyweight; Andre Lima, 26, flyweight; Nurullo Aliev, 25, lightweight; Hyun Sung Park, 29, flyweight; Mario Pinto, 27, heavyweight; Yadier Del Valle, 28, featherweight; Lone’er Kavanagh, 26, flyweight; Dong Hun Choi, 26, flyweight; Mansur Abdul Malik, 27, middleweight, Kevin Vallejos, 23, featherweight; Fatima Kline, 24, women’s strawweight; Navajo Stirling, 27, light heavyweight