7. Marlon Moraes (13-4-1)
World Series of Fighting bantamweight champion Moraes is a fascinating example of the late bloomer in MMA. The former Brazilian muay Thai champion always had talent -- there was no question about that -- but the first five years of his professional career included nearly as many head-scratching losses as impressive showings.
Moraes has evolved into a crowd-pleasing hybrid of his lifelong friend, UFC lightweight Edson Barboza, and Edgar, showing off a mixture of devastating, high-output striking, quick single-legs and knee taps on the inside and opportunistic submissions. In fact, Moraes would be one of the two or three best strikers in the UFC’s bantamweight division, and he would be a real threat to win the title or at least give the best 135-pounders in the world a run for their money.
Although he is only 26, Moraes already has almost eight years as a professional under his belt, and now is his time to shine. Fans can only hope that the World Series of Fighting continues to find intriguing challenges for one of its brightest stars.
Number 6 » Although he can put in excellent work from the outside with his devastating low kicks, he really shines at close range, where he mixes knees, elbows and uppercuts in a vicious witch’s brew of concussion-inducing violence.