Top 10 Amateur MMA Prospects in Australia & New Zealand

#8 Jesse Ukich (7-1)

Lightweight

25 Years Old – Mandurah Combat Sports Academy

Ukich is an opportunistic submission artist with good wrestling and stand-up that has shown exponential improvements across his amateur career. Starting his MMA career at 22, in three years Ukich has been able to turn himself into a pretty well-rounded prospect. He has a strong foundation to build on as he continues to gain experience and make up for any lost time.

Ukich can wrap up submissions from pretty much out of nowhere. He primarily employs a variety of trips and body locks to get his opponents to the mat. Some of his best work is along the cage, sneaking in strikes and working takedowns. Ukich also showed, as recently seen in the Ali Hassan fight, that his takedown defense is sharp. He can sprawl or clinch to land damaging knees to the head and body.  In terms of his striking, Ukich has a nice teep kick up the middle and is defensively pretty sound, parrying strikes, utilising constant head movement, and manipulating distance and angles to keep himself safe.

I would argue that he hasn’t fought the strongest competition. The one time he did was his lone loss. That doesn’t take away from the talent you can see on tape. Simply put, he looks good, and given how short his career actually has been despite being 25, there is a fair bit of upside in a guy like Ukich. I personally can’t wait to see what’s next for him, especially given we haven’t seen him fight since September of 2024. Whether that’s gaining a bit more amateur experience before turning professional, or turning professional, which I feel he’s ready for.