Fighters On The Rise | UFC 293: Adesanya vs Strickland

“StarBoy” made a splash in his first year on the UFC roster, competing four times, including making his debut opposite current champ Alexandre Pantoja and closing out Year 1 with consecutive first-round stoppage victories.

How to Watch Dana White's Contender Series

But he’s been limited to just one appearance since the end of December 2021 — a win over David Dvorak — as opponent injuries and withdrawals, and one back-out of his own have kept him sidelined since the end of last year. He’s had multiple fights fall by the wayside this year, and touches down in Sydney for UFC 293 set to face newcomer Felipe dos Santos, who tagged in when former interim title challenger Kai Kara-France was forced to withdraw due to an injury a couple weeks back.

The combination of being out of action and things continuing to move at a steady clip within the division has shuffled Kape to the background a little in the 125-pound weight class, but there was a reason his arrival on the roster was met with such excitement.

The 29-year-old is a dynamic and explosive offensive fighter, who ran close to level with Pantoja in his debut before landing on the wrong side of a debated split decision result against Matheus Nicolau in his sophomore showing. There is a suddenness to the way Kape can deliver blows that is uncommon, and the speed and quickness he displays makes him a dangerous threat for anyone in the division.

Saturday’s bout with dos Santos, a 22-year-old from the Chute Boxe Diego Lima team who was originally scheduled to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) a couple weeks back, has the potential to be a showcase moment for Kape as he finally returns to action.

How To Watch UFC 293: Adesanya vs Strickland

He had designs on making a quick run to the title when he first joined the UFC roster, and while that hasn’t quite worked out as he had hoped, it doesn’t mean the skills and talent aren’t there for him to eventually reach those heights.

Carlos Ulberg

While he always brandished power and had excellent striking, Ulberg has shown in his last three outings that he’s figuring out how to make those weapons work best for him inside the Octagon. He dropped Nchukwi with a long, stiff jab, drew out looping shots from Negumereanu that gave him opportunities to counter, and picked his spots against Potieria, saving the real power blows for after he clearly had him hurt.

Understanding how to make the most of his weapons and physical attributes while continuing to gain experience both in the Octagon and the gym are only going to further help Ulberg grow and develop, and if he keeps advancing by leaps and bounds as he has been, he’ll find himself in the Top 10 in no time.

Fight By Fight Preview | UFC 293: Adesanya vs Strickland

Jung represents a solid step up in competition and the kind of dangerous heavy-hitter that should push the New Zealand native this weekend. The 27-year-old South Korean is 4-2-1 through seven UFC starts, with a trio of finishes, and is looking to bounce back after taking his own step up in his last two outings and coming up short.

If Ulberg can successfully navigate this ANZAC showcase alongside teammates like Adesanya and Tyson Pedro, he’ll merit another step up in competition next time out, which will likely mean facing an opponent with a number next to their name.

Chepe Mariscal

If you ever wanted to play an MMA version of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” the fun pop culture connectivity exercise where you can link just about every actor to the star of the original Footloose in six steps or less, Chepe Mariscal would serve as an apt starting point.

For the better part of a decade, the 30-year-old battled on the regional circuit, stringing together wins until running afoul of tougher competition, and then repeating the pattern over a couple of times to where those that follow the sport beyond the biggest stages knew him as a perennial tough out that had never gotten an opportunity in a major promotion. He’d earned wins over future UFC competitors Pat Sabatini and Youssef Zalal prior to their arrival in the Octagon, and was one of the key wins that helped put competitors like Gregor Gillespie, Bryce Mitchell, and Joanderson Brito on the organization’s radar.

He was that minor league standout everyone knew was game and dangerous, and the perfect guy to call upon for a short notice opportunity if one ever materialized.

The phone rang ahead of the June UFC on ABC event in Jacksonville, Florida and Mariscal made the absolute most of it, jumping up a division and going shot-for-shot with Trevor Peek in a grueling, entertaining firefight that saw the regional standout claim a victory and instantly establish himself as someone fans would be lining up to see compete again whenever he returned.

That return comes this weekend in Sydney, as Mariscal moves back down to his natural weight class to face off with DWCS alum Jack Jenkins in a tremendously intriguing featherweight affair.

Jenkins has looked solid in earning consecutive decision wins to begin his UFC tenure, pushing his winning streak to nine in the process, but he’s the kind of patient and calculating fighter that will be forced out of his comfort zone by an attacking and relentless dance partner like Mariscal.

Beating Peek on short notice put the Colorado-based “Machine Gun” on the map, but a return to his natural surroundings and an overseas adventure producing a quality win over a streaking Australian talent would elevate Mariscal to the fringes of the Top 15, further establishing him as a dangerous matchup for anyone he’s paired off against and someone that could make an unexpected run into the rankings himself with the right matchups going forward.