UFC 246 may be a top-heavy card, but it’s not short of potential future stars.
The night will be headlined by former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] (21-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC), who takes on [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC) in a welterweight bout.
In the co-main event, former UFC bantamweight champ [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (12-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) will rematch [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] (10-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC), a bout that was rescheduled from UFC 243 due to an injury suffered by Holm. Their first meeting took place at UFC 184, where Holm edged out Pennington by split decision to make good on her UFC debut.
The card also features an array of young and bright talent, varying from Dana White’s Contender Series veterans to European talent.
Here are six prospects to look out for Jan. 18:
Maycee Barber
Hailed as “The Future,” [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] has lived up to her moniker so far. The Dana White’s Contender Series veteran is off to an undefeated start in her pro MMA career, and at only 21 has goals of becoming the youngest champion in UFC history.
Barber (8-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) started her UFC tenure at strawweight, where she picked up a third-round finish over Jamie Colleen to earn a UFC contract. She followed that up with a second-round finish over Hannah Cifers in her official UFC debut in November 2018.
She then decided to make the move up to flyweight since she thought the cut down to 115 pounds was detrimental to her body. Her success continued: She was able to score two more finishes over J.J. Aldrich and Gillian Robertson.
Up next is her stiffest test to date: a matchup against former UFC flyweight title challenger Roxanne Modafferi, 16 years her senior. She may be entering the fight as a heavy favorite, but there’s a lot of upside on the young Barber, who could propel herself one step closer to title contention, with a win on Jan. 18.
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