Raoni Barcelos

At #13 in the bantamweight rankings, Raoni Barcelos is past the "prospect" stage. This is contender territory, and every fight from here is a title eliminator in disguise.

Wrestling is the skeleton key here — 2.5 takedowns a round on average. Everything opponents want to do standing gets interrupted, smothered, and dragged to the canvas.

The form line is loud: 5 straight wins, the latest over Montel Jackson (Decision - Split). Momentum like that forces the division's hand.

He's 39 now. Fighters at this stage aren't building toward something; they're spending what's left, and that usually makes for the best fights.