The UFC has been putting on so many great events with iconic main card events that have produced multiple Fight of The Year contenders so its easy to miss the new rising stars that are starting to come up through the prelims and early prelim cards. If you missed the early-prelim and prelim cards, here are three (3), new rising stars in the UFC after UFC 274.

Tracy Cortez has officially put the flyweights on notice. Even though she has had some minor issues making weight, she has a perfect 4-0 record in the UFC. She’s a bit of a hype train right now with her wrestling, heavy ground and pound, and Mexican boxing that extends deep into her family’s history. She’s put away girls that were supposed to be threats like Justine Kush by dominating, and outpointing them like she did last night at UFC 274 by securing a unanimous decision against the dangerous, Melissa Gatto. It also doesn’t hurt her PR factor that she’s dating one of the most dangerous and respected Jiujitsu black belts in the UFC, Brian Ortega, who happens to live and train with her, and coach her in the cage. You can not help but become dangerous yourself when your environment is leveled up at all times. She has an incredible come-up story and she’s a new rising star in the UFC. She’s been signed to the UFC since 2019 and due to the pandemic and injuries, she hasn’t been as active as normal but still, her record is 4-0 and she’s taking out tough girls along the way.

Brandon Royval has been on a tear since losing his only two fights in the UFC. You can’t really fault him for those losses since they were to former flyweight champ, Brandon Moreno and top-tier contender, Alexandre Pantoja. Since then, Brandon has been on a three-fight winning streak, including a win over the #2 ranked Kai Kara-France. Brandon’s submissions are nasty.. He knows how to strike too, so if someone tries to stand with him, he knows how to get the fight back to the ground, where he absolutely rules. At UFC 274, Royval showed us just how dangerous he is by securing a first-round submission over the tough-as-nails Matt Schnell, who is well respected for his ground game and couldn’t even get past the first round with Brandon Royval. Don’t be surprised if you see this kid fighting for the Flyweight title soon.

UFC record-maker Lupita Godinez dominated Ariane Carnelossi in a women’s strawweight clash at UFC 274 and made it look easy. Godinez is a rising star in the sport and made her UFC debut in 2021. She came into the UFC on the back of a 5-0 record and is 3-2 since then. However, she fought four times last year and made two records in the process. ‘Loopy’ had her second fight in the promotion on October 9, 2021. After getting a win in that fight, she made the quickest turnaround between UFC bouts in the modern era and fought against on October 16. That too in a different weight-class. The Mexican fighter then entered the octagon once again on November 20, 2021. She fought three times in a span of 42 days, which is also a record. She has proven that she’s always down for a fight. Even though her opponent, Carnelossi, was more experienced than her and on a two-fight win streak. Loopy earned a unanimous win over her with ease as she flawlessly leveled changed from taking her down to ground and pound and non-stop pressure. It was a masterclass from Loopy. Her name might be hard to take seriously for some, but trust and believe that she’s the real deal. 

Check out some Loopy Godinez highlights from past fights below