The 3 fighters on their way to becoming UFC champions

The strength in depth of the current crop of UFC fighters is mind-blowing. We’ve studied some of the brightest prospects and their form. Here are our UFC picks for three fighters we think are destined to be champions in the future.

Curtis “Razor” Blaydes – Heavyweight

Age: 29 | Height: 6’4” | Weight: 255lbs
Wins: 13 | Losses: 2 | No Contest: 1

Since turning pro in back 2014, Blaydes has won 13 out of his 16 fights. He’s currently sitting at #3 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

There was further talk of a championship fight after Blaydes’ impressive performance against Junior Dos Santos back at UFC Raleigh in North Carolina in January. Critics of Blaydes say he too often relies on his dominant wrestling, but he hurt Dos Santos badly with a hard right hand and a quick combination of strikes in the second round to win via TKO.

Blaydes himself is eager for his shot saying after the fight “I want that title shot” he continues “I’m next. I showed you I’ve got the wrestling, I showed you I’ve got the hands. I don’t know what else I’ve got to do. I want the title shot.”

Current heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is currently out, recovering from eye surgery and it’s expected that he’ll complete his trilogy against his rival and former champion Daniel Cormier.

Blaydes might have his own demons to face first in the form of Francis Ngannou, who has inflicted Blaydes’ only professional defeats back in 2016 and 2018 (both by TKO).

It looks as if its a question of not if, but when Blaydes gets his shot.

Edmen “The Golden Boy” Shahbazyan – Middleweight

Age: 22 | Height: 6’2” | Weight: 185lbs
Wins: 11 | Losses: 0

Edmen Shahbazyan has made no secret that he wants to make history and become the youngest champion in UFC history. He is on a lot of fan’s UFC predictions for a championship title later in his career.

Like every other UFC fighter, the 22-year-old’s ambitions have been stalled due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the cancellation of sporting events. It now looks as if he may miss out on the opportunity of trying to beat Jon Jones’ record of 23 years 8 months.

Of course, Shahbazyan is still very young but is probably another 3 or 4 fights away from his shot at the UFC middleweight title.

Cory Sandhagen – Bantamweight

Age: 27 | Height: 5’11” | Weight: 135lbs
Wins: 12 | Losses: 1

Every MMA fan will agree that Sandhagen is an exciting fighter. His tactical but unorthodox fighting style is winning him fans across the world and his only defeat came in 2017 at the hands of current UFC fighter Jamall Emmers.

Sandhagen was due to cement his status as a championship contender with a fight against the great Frankie Edgar. In a strange twist of events, Edgar agreed to step in at short notice to fight the ‘Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung in Busan, South Korea. Edgar was knocked out in the first round leaving him on the side-lines for the foreseeable future and Sandhagen without a fight.

Sandhagen is currently on a seven-fight winning streak, defeating quality opponents like Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker. He recently confirmed that he was offered a fight with Dominick Cruz, scheduled to take play in mid-May. If he maintains his current run of form, Sandhagen is destined to be crowned a UFC champion.