5 highly-rated fighters who could sign with the UFC in 2018

#2 Jose Torres

A two-division (Flyweight and Bantamweight) champion in Titan FC – a smaller promotion streamed on UFC Fight Pass – Jose ‘Shorty’ Torres is definitely knocking on the door of the UFC right now. In fact, the UFC already looked to book him in 2017 – according to Torres he was contacted about a fight with Justin Scoggins in the latter part of the summer but was too banged up from a fight in May to be able to accept. But since then he’s reeled off another win – his 6th as a professional and 31st including amateur fights – meaning 2018 is surely the year he debuts in the Octagon.

Touted by some analysts as the most decorated amateur fighter in MMA history, Torres honed his skills to a tee before debuting as a professional in 2016. The method clearly worked, as in just his fourth fight he destroyed UFC veteran Pedro Nobre with strikes in just over a minute. He’s a dangerous striker with plenty of kickboxing and Muay Thai experience, but he also wrestled collegiately and showed his grappling chops off in his most recent fight, choking out the tough Gleidson De Jesus.

With training experience with the likes of TJ Dillashaw and Tim Elliott – one a current UFC champion and the other a former title challenger – and so much experience under his belt, ‘Shorty’ pretty much has to be a guaranteed signing for the UFC this year. They’re short – no pun intended – on talent at Flyweight in particular and a man of his skill could make some noise there right away. After all, they don’t want to allow Bellator to slip in and sign him, do they?