In today’s age of mixed martial arts (MMA), most prospects under 25 who have fought less than 10 times want to be rushed to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which can be a horrific decision. While yes, fighting on the regional scene is less than ideal, simply because most fighters get paid peanuts — and their opponents frequently pull out within days or hours of the scheduled fight — the regional scene does offer experience.

To put it in simpler terms, fighters do not want to learn on the job when they get to UFC, especially in 2024, when MMA athletes are better than ever. Mega prospect Austin Bashi has really made the correct choices for his career.

Bashi is 22 years old, undefeated at 11-0, and the best prospect in the United States. While he’s young and has only had 11 fights, he has been ready for the UFC since 2022. However, he made the choice to grind on the regional scene.

“Experience, to me, is the biggest thing you can obtain while fighting outside the UFC,” Bashi told MMAmania.com. “I feel like people rush to the UFC and get cut after a few fights because they start fighting high-level guys. For me, it was important to get good tough fights on the regional scene so that when I get to the UFC, it is nothing new.”

Bashi started his career in Xtreme Fighting Championships (XFC) and then cut his teeth fighting in Lights Out Fighting Championship, becoming the two-time Bantamweight champion. More importantly, it was the competition that he faced coming up that was impressive. He has only fought one person with a losing record, and that was because former Bellator fighter Ricky Bandejas pulled out of their fight.

In addition to his stellar resume, Bashi has tremendous wrestling and unrelenting cardio that causes his opponents to break. His striking is improving fight by fight, which really raises his ceiling.

UFC has had its eyes on Bashi for a couple of years, but it was his team that decided to forgo the most significant fight promotion in the world to keep getting experience; however, after his last win over former UFC fighter Askar Askar at Lights Out Championship 13 he has expressed his intentions on going to the UFC.

“After all of those tough fights I’ve had, I’m ready for the show,” Bashi said. Ideally, it is straight to UFC, but if I can’t get that, I’ll settle for Contender Series. We’ve had some offers, but things didn’t fall into place at the right time.”

There is no doubt Bashi will be in the UFC in 2024; the question is whether the promotion will force him to go through Dana White’s “Contender Series.” Whichever path he takes, Bashi will make an immediate impact and be a name to watch for years.

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