Joel Alvarez

Joel "El Animal" Alvarez built his reputation on a frame few lightweights could match, using his reach and length to finish fight after fight on the European scene and then in the UFC. The downside was the scale: repeated weight struggles eventually pushed him up to welterweight.

The move paid off with the best win of his career, a victory over former contender Vicente Luque that put him on the map at 170 pounds. Around a 23-4 record, he's a streaky but dangerous finisher whose bouts rarely reach the judges.

The elite grapplers of the division, from Arman Tsarukyan to Yaroslav Amosov, have shown the gap that remains. But for fans, Alvarez is exactly the kind of fighter to circle on a card: long, aggressive and always one scramble away from a submission.