Three years ago, the athletes featured as ascending fighters to keep tabs on as they headed into of UFC 282 were Dricus Du Plessis, Ilia Topuria, and Raul Rosas Jr..
Now, the purpose for highlighting that trio isn’t to flex. There are certainly instances where I absolutely miss the mark — the next two December events highlighted two competitors that are no longer on the roster, two more that are scuffling, one coming off a knockout loss, and Ian Machado Garry — but rather to serve as a reminder that while there are always marquee names of today that merit your focus heading into the final pay-per-view event of the year, there are occasionally some exceptional fighters worth tracking a little further down the card as well.