Every prospect who enters the top levels of MMA carries with them expectations. Some benefit from being underrated and proving their critics wrong. This article is about those who through company favoritism or a select few strong performances or simply word of mouth seemed destined for greatness only to find out that nothing is preordained. On the contrary, MMA is a chaotic, even cruel sport that will build you up to a height from which nobody could survive the fall. Of course, every fighter on this list made an imprint on the sport and many had legitimate success. We’re just highlighting the disparity between what was, perhaps unfairly, expected of them and what they’ve accomplished to date. The following list is not in any particular order.
Roger Huerta
Roger Huerta is a fighter who exists merely as trivia to most fight fans. Ask somebody what they remember about him, they’ll tell you he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The profile inside that issue focused on his life outside the cage, but what he was doing inside of it was on par. With 5 fights in 2007, Huerta was a workhorse showing off his dextrous kicking game, his raw athleticism, his tremendous cardio, and most importantly his bully mentality and risk-taking. In that span, he took Leonard Garcia to a decision in a one-sided barn burner and submitted Clay Guida.
After this string of fights, Huerta would take 8 months off and rub shoulders with GSP in Montreal. His return to the cage versus Kenny Florian was the beginning of the end. Huerta’s straight forward pressure style made him vulnerable to a fighter like Ken Flo who could deny exchanges and punish aggression or flashy kicks with takedowns and top control. As the final bell sounded, Kenny raised his hands and Huerta swore. The jig was up. The young man who had climbed to the top in such a short time had the blueprint for his defeat revealed. He was unceremoniously cut from the UFC following a split decision loss to Gray Maynard a year later. He has since gone 4-9 in such organizations as Bellator and ONE FC.
Erick Silva
A young, marketable Brazilian fighter is something UFC is always on the lookout for. Erick Silva signed with the UFC with a 12-1 record and a Jungle Fight welterweight champion. An exciting finisher wherever the fight goes, Silva made an impressive debut with a 40-second knockout win over Luis Ramos. He then was then disqualified again Carlo Prater due to punches to the back of the head but it was still an impressive performance which some fans will see in the same light as Jon Jones’ DQ loss to Matt Hamill. After another quick finish against Charlie Brenneman, Silva’s hype went into overdrive and he was matched up with former title challenger Jon Fitch.
In the Fitch fight, Silva put up a commendable effort but showed that he wasn’t ready to compete with the division’s elite. Since then Silva was never able to regain the type of form he previously had and alternated between wins and losses. Most of Silva’s problems seemed to stem from him not being able to keep the same pace for the full duration of the fight which allowed his opponents to take over as the fight went on. After 4 out of 5 in the UFC, Silva parted ways with the UFC and eventually signed with Bellator where he is yet to get a win.
Uriah Hall
Dubbed as the next Anderson Silva and ‘the most dangerous fighter in TUF history’ during his run in the TUF house, Hall seemed to be the type of fighter that the UFC could give a big push to. Hall’s terrifying hook kick knockout of Adam Cella went viral and gained a lot of attention from both hardcore and casual fans alike. ‘Primetime’ built on that performance with two more knockouts over Bubba McDaniel and Dylan Andrews respectively.
Hall’s UFC career never really lived up to the hype he had coming out of TUF, in the final he lost a scrappy split decision to Kelvin Gastelum before dropping another split decision to John Howard. Uriah did rebound with three straight wins but eventually lost another split decision. This is the story of Hall’s career, combining impressive performances such as a huge upset of Gegard Mousasi with losses in which it seemed that he just didn’t show up. Now 35 years old, Hall seems to be showing some improvement when it comes to his killer instinct and is scheduled to face Jacare Souza in what is a huge opportunity for him.
Doo Ho Choi
With a face straight out of a K-Pop band, the well mannered Choi presented an interesting juxtaposition when he debuted in the UFC in 2014. For a pretty boy, he could punch. Hard. Middling fighters struggled to survive while Dat Boi searched for a crisp counter straight that left them kissing canvas. He didn’t fight often, and those fights didn’t last very long. By 2016, he’d landed a shot at featherweight stalwart Cub Swanson.
Swanson’s coach, Greg Jackson, spoke after the one-sided decision about watching Choi’s tape in preparation. He noted Choi struggled fighting moving backward. Time and time again Choi had failed to land the death touch on Swanson, got pressured to the cage, and ate punches for his trouble. Choi’s low activity rate dropped even further after the loss. He’s been stopped in his two matches since, and his hiatus for mandatory military service in South Korea looms. It would seem Choi is a case of rising too quickly to fix mistakes. He went from fighting overmatched opponents to grizzled fighters too crafty for a one-hit-wonder.
Thomas Almeida
Before signing with the UFC Thomas Almeida was seen as a super prospect with an almost unbelievable record, 17-0 with 17 finishes on top of being the LFC bantamweight champion. Thominhas started off his UFC career brightly with 4 wins including a memorable flying knee against Brad Pickett at UFC 189. With his impressive record and his all-out attack style, fans and pundits alike were convinced that it was only a matter of time until the young Brazilian fought for the title.
His downfall started when he was matched up with fellow top prospect in Cody Garbarandt in the main event of a Fight Night card. Almeida’s defensive vulnerabilities which were masked by his knockout wins came back to haunt him as Garbrandt tagged him early and often before getting a TKO finish. Since then Almeida has gone 1-2 but more importantly, continued to struggle with the defensive side of his game which resulted in another TKO loss to Rob Font. On top of that, Almeida has been out with injuries for over 2 years and we still do not know when he will be back in the octagon.
Paige Van Zant
12 Gauge Paige got to the big stage quickly thanks to the UFC’s push for more women on their roster. Her undefeated record (2-0) perished quickly at UFC’s femme farm Invicta where future contender Tecia Torres soundly outstruck her on the way to a unanimous decision. Still, with good looks and a background doing commercials as a kid, she had an image that people, especially UFC employees, could get behind. Signed to the newly formed strawweight division at 20, she was too young to compete on The Ultimate Fighter due to alcohol being present in the house. This was very probably a blessing in disguise, and the UFC used that clean slate to build upon.
Her debut against Kailin Curran landed her Fight of the Night Honors as well as a KO victory for her highlight reel. The two fights that followed showed her to be a strong clinch fighter whose base athleticism and flashy kicks were enough to coast on in the fledgling weight class. Her fight versus Rose Namajunas was a tipping point in which Paige’s limited skillset came to bear. In a bloody beatdown, the narrative to salvage the loss was the heart she showed in surviving. Since that bout in 2015, PVZ has only seen the cage 4 times winning twice. Landing a spot on Dancing With The Stars gave her a chance to break out of MMA with which she also leveraged a book deal. These days PVZ can be found on Instagram making more money with sponsored posts than she would fighting. With MMA on the back burner, PVZ is one of very few fighters who can say she made it out of the brutal conditions of the fight game with her health intact and endless prospects going forward.
Sage Northcutt
The original product of Dana White Lookin’ for a Fight. Northcutt’s youthful exuberance, action-man physique, and athleticism were enough to convince the UFC brass to sign him and give him a huge promotional push. Prior to signing with the UFC, Northcutt accumulated a 5-0 record with 5 finishes. In his UFC debut, he blitzed Francisco Trevino in under a minute which further increased the hype surrounding him. Sage then faced Cody Pfister in a fight that seemed to be tailor-made for him to make another statement, which he did with a second-round submission. The fans were very excited about Northcutt’s future and speculated whether he could become the next big star that the UFC so badly wanted.
Northcutt’s first loss came to Bryan Barbarena, who was seen as a tough but athletically outmatched opponent for Northcutt to gain more experience against. After a great first round, Northcutt found himself on the bottom and was submitted by an arm triangle. Northcutt then went 4-1 with wins over solid veterans but showed vulnerability in the wrestling department as well as getting dropped a couple of times. The UFC eventually decided not to resign Northcutt and he made his way to ONE Championship. In his ONE debut, Northcutt was viciously knocked out by an accomplished kickboxer in Cosmo Alexandre. Although it would unfair to label Northcutt as a busted prospect so early in his career, I think that it’s fair to admit that he hasn’t lived up the expectations that some laid upon him.
Jose Torres
Fans of boxing are no stranger to the vaunted amateur prospect. Whereas the pro format might favor endurance, power, and durability, the amateur arena is supposed to be built on purity of technique. In 2016, Shorty Torres was the most decorated amateur in MMA history turning pro off the strength of two IMMAF World Championships and a 17-0 record. In two years as a professional, he became Titan FC’s first two-weight champion with belts in both the flyweight and bantamweight divisions. With 5 stoppage victories in 6 fights, you couldn’t ask for a stronger preamble to a UFC debut. That’s when things got weird.
After months of posturing for a shot in the UFC as well as parlaying for a chance to grab a third belt in Titan FC’s featherweight division, Shorty got his call. The prospect with a full trophy case who had been knocking out and submitting all comers faced off with Jarred Brooks, a fellow amateur product coming off a pair of split decisions in his 1-1 UFC career. After being knocked down early, with his eye swollen, Torres scrambled to Brook’s back during a takedown attempt. Brooks’ attempted slam backfired leaving him unconscious on the canvas. Torres’ shortcomings on the feet were laid bare despite a victory chief amongst them his tendency to be a slow starter. Two months later Shorty would be soundly slept by Alex Perez in the first round. During the era of flyweight downsizing, Torres was released after going 1-1 in the UFC. Shorty is only 27 and has since gotten back on the winning track in Brave FC. While future success isn’t out of the question, the particulars of his brief stint at the top will be hard to outshine.
Tom Duquesnoy
‘The Fire Kid’ was the talk of the message boards long before his UFC debut. He was the number 1 ranked prospect outside the UFC and had fans salivating at the thought of him testing his skills against the elite of the division. Much like is the case with other top prospects, Duquesnoy had a very fan-friendly style and made his name on the British regional circuit. Some experts even went as far as saying that he had the potential to be a top 5 bantamweight straight off the bat. Duquesnoy made his UFC debut with a second-round TKO win over Patrick Williams.
In his second UFC fight, Duquesnoy faced Cody Stamann, another prospect with a great record but much less hype. The fight was very competitive with Duquesnoy losing a split decision. The hype died down a bit but there were still high expectations. The Frenchman rebounded with a win over Terrion Ware but was perhaps fortunate to get the decision. He was then scheduled to face Nathaniel Wood but had to pull out with an injury before announcing his retirement from MMA. In many ways, Duquesnoy’s career is more of a what-if than a bust but he definitely did not achieve the great things he was predicted to.
Lando Vannata
In 2016, the UFC made the decision to hold an event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Tony Ferguson was to headline against Michael Chiesa, but the MMA gods had other things in store. Two weeks before the card, Chiesa’s back gave out, and a relative unknown from the Jackson Wink camp stepped in. Little was expected from Lando Vannata. That was a mistake.
Over the course of 7 minutes, Groovy made his name as a balls-out action fighter with a funky striking style honed under Brandon Gibson. Tony Ferguson being a notably slow starter got him knocked down early and in trouble often before pulling a submission out in a scramble. Donning his purple zoot suit for the post-fight interviews, Lando left an impression with the dozen or so people who had watched the card. With an immediate wheel kick knockout over John Makdessi in his next fight, those expectations peaked. David Teymur would be the one to slow down the fight and punish Lando’s lack of head movement. Since that loss, Lando has gone 2-2 albeit in entertaining fights. Though he’s still a cult favorite, that brief window of contendership seems closed at the present.