Division Winners Losers Heavyweight 2 Dmitriy Sosnovskiy Blagoy Ivanov Light Heavyweight 4 Darko Stošić Marcin Prachnio Magomed Ankalaev Mike Rodriguez Middleweight 6 Israel Adesanya (UFC 3-0) Charles Byrd Abu Azaitar Tim Williams John Phillips Kevin Holland Welterweight 8 Geoff Neal Curtis Millender (UFC 2-0) Carlo Pedersoli Jr. Ricky Rainey Craig White Chance Rencountre Hector Aldana David Zawada Lightweight 9 Alexander Hernandez (UFC2-0) John Gunther Luis Peña Mike Trizano Matt Frevola Dan Moret Allan Zuñiga Richie Smullen Joe Giannetti Featherweight 16 Julio Arce (UFC 2-0) Cory Sandhagen Bryce Mitchell Brad Katona Raoni Barcelos Nad Narimani Matt Bessette (UFC 0-2) Dan Ige (UFC 1-1) Brandon Davis (UFC 1-2) Austin Arnett (UFC 0-2) Steven Peterson (UFC 1-1) Hakeem Dawodu (UFC 1-1) Tyler Diamond Jay Cucciniello Khalid Taha Matt Sayles Bantamweight 6 Manny Bermudez (UFC 2-0) Ricky Simon (UFC 2-0) Nathaniel Wood Petr Yan Liu Pingyuan Montel Jackson Flyweight 3 Jose Torres (UFC 1-1) Said Nurmagomedov Elias Garcia Women's Featherweight 2 Yana Kunitskaya Megan Anderson Women's Bantamweight 0 Women's Flyweight 6 Lauren Mueller Andrea Lee Sijara Eubanks Priscila Cachoeira Molly McCann Jennifer Maia Women's Strawweight 4 Polyana Viana (UFC 1-1) Mackenzie Dern (UFC 2-0) Zhang Weili Maia Stevenson

There has been a total of 66 fighters who have made their debuts in 2018 so far.

31 debutants notched a win in their first appearance in the big show, 35 fell short. The combined UFC record of all the debutants is 43-40.

There were 10 bouts where both fighters were making their promotional debut.

Featherweight saw the greatest influx of fighters, with 16 new faces making their way into the division. This is just short of 25% of all debutants.

Women's Bantamweight was the only division to not feature a single debuting fighter so far this year. It has also been the least active of the divisions, aside from women's featherweight, with only 7 bouts this year.

Israel Adesanya and Brandon Davis were the most active fighters having both made 3 appearances this year, Adesanya going undefeated and Davis going 1-2.

13 debutants have fought twice this calendar year. 6 won both of their bouts (Curtis Millender, Alexander Hernandez, Julio Arce, Manny Bermudez, Ricky Simon, Mackenzie Dern), 5 split a win and a loss (Dan Ige, Steven Peterson, Hakeem Dawodu, Jose Torres, Polyana Viana), and 2 dropped both (Matt Bessette, Austin Arnett).

Two fighters headlined an event in their debuts - Yana Kunitskaya and Blagoy Ivanov, with Kunitskaya fighting for the Women's Featherweight title. They both lost their respective bouts.

Adesanya headlined in his third appearance in the octagon.

4 fighters who debuted this year are currently in the UFC rankings (MW9 Adesanya, LW13 Alexander Hernandez, WFLY2 Sijara Eubanks, WFLY12 Andrea Lee)

15 of the debuting fighters fought on the Contender Series. Their combined UFC record is 10-13.

7 debuting fighters won contracts on Dana White's Contender Series (Geoff Neal, Brandon Davis, Mike Rodriguez, Charles Byrd, Matt Frevola, Lauren Mueller, Matt Sayles). Their combined records in the UFC so far is 4-5.

8 fighters who competed on the Contender Series but did not win contracts also debuted in 2018 (Kevin Holland, Montel Jackson, Stephen Peterson, Julio Arce, Ricky Simon, Austin Arnett, Dan Ige, Matt Bessette). Their combined record is 6-8.

Only Simon (won 2) and Peterson (won 1) had fights between their Contender Series bout and their UFC debut.

2 fighters (Peterson, Arnett) lost their Contender Series bout, and 1 (Bessette) had his loss overturned to a NO-Contest due to his opponent's illegal use of an IV prior to the bout.

10 fighters came from The Ultimate Fighter season 27 (John Gunther, Luis Peña, Mike Trizano, Allan Zuñiga, Richie Smullen, Joe Giannetti, Bryce Mitchell, Brad Katona, Tyler Diamond, Jay Cucciniello). Their combined record is 5-5, as they all fought another cast member.

Of the 66 fighters to debut, 19 countries were represented (Adesanya representing both Nigeria and New Zealand).

The USA was home to more than half the fighters who debuted this year, with 35 (combined 2018 record of 26-22). Russia (3-2) and England (2-3) both produced 5 each and Brazil put forward 4 (2-3). Canada (2-1), China (2-0) and Germany (0-2) all had two fighters debut, and New Zealand / Nigeria (Adesanya 3-0), Serbia (1-0), Morocco (1-0), Italy (1-0), Poland (0-1), Wales (0-1), Mexico (0-1), Costa Rica (0-1), Ireland (0-1), Australia (0-1) and Bulgaria (0-1) had 1 apiece.

Standout Fighters

There have been plenty of standout debutants in 2018, with the bantamweight division hosting some particularly impressive new faces such as Manny Bermudez, Petr Yan, Ricky Simon and Nathaniel Wood. The women's flyweight division also gained some noteworthy contenders in Sijara Eubanks, Andrea Lee, and Lauren Mueller. Here are 5 fighters who had particularly memorable starts to the UFC careers so far this year:

1. Israel Adesanya

Age: 29

Record: 14-0

UFC Record: 3-0

UFC Wins: Brad Tavares (Unanimous Decision), Marvin Vettori (Split Decision), Rob Wilkinson (TKO, Round 2).

2 Performance of the Night awards.

Current Rank: 9 Middleweight

Next Bout: vs. Derek Brunson, UFC 230.

Debuting on UFC 221 back in February, Adesanya's debut year has been nothing short of remarkable. His accomplishments in the promotion so far speak for themselves:

3-0.

2 performance bonuses.

Headlined The Ultimate Fighter Finale during International Fight Week in Vegas.

Ranked in the top 10 of the Middleweight division after less than half a year on the roster.

Currently booked to fight on the third MSG card in November against the 6th ranked Brunson.

The former kickboxer has an exciting and slick style that sells itself. Add that to the fact that he is not shy on the mic and has a very active social media presence, it's easy to see why Adesanya has become the one of the most talked about new faces in the UFC this year. Brunson will be the biggest test of his career so far, but with a win over the perennial contender he could realistically break the top 5 in less than 12 months. Not a bad start for the recently turned 29-year-old.

2. Alexander Hernandez

Age: 25

Record: 10-1

UFC Record: 2-0

UFC Wins: Olivier Aubin-Mercier (Unanimous Decision), Beneil Dariush (KO, Round 1).

1 Performance of the Night award.

Current Rank: 13 Lightweight

Next Bout: NA

Hernandez had one of, if not the most, impressive and shocking debuts of the year so far when he knocked out Beneil Dariush in under a minute at UFC 222 in early March. His second promotional bout of 2018 showed him out wrestle vaunted grappler Aubin-Mercier who was on four fight win streak. 5 months into his UFC career, Hernandez sits 13th in the lightweight rankings, an incredible accomplishment in arguably the deepest division in the promotion.

There is time yet for Hernandez to fight once more before the close of the year. Fellow hot prospects Dan Hooker and Islam Makhachev have both voiced interest in fighting Alexander "The Great", and the winner of such a fight would be knocking on the door of the top 10 at 155. Not a bad position to find yourself in after 2 fights in the promotion.

3. Curtis Millender

Age: 30

Record: 16-3

UFC Record: 2-0

UFC Wins: Max Griffin (Unanimous Decision), Thiago Alves (KO, Round 2).

1 Performance of the Night award.

Current Rank: None

Next Bout: NA

Millender debuted in mid-February against veteran and one-time title challenger Thiago Alves. Standing at 6'3" and with a 78-inch reach, Millender dwarfed "Pitbull" and put on a standout performance, knocking out Alves with a knee in the second round. He is enormous for 170 and used his length and reach very well in both of his UFC appearances. He fought Max Griffin at UFC 226 and, after a rocky first round, took over the fight in the second, coming away with a unanimous decision. A win in his next outing should be enough for him to be knocking on the door of the top 15.

4. Petr Yan

Age: 25

Record: 9-1

UFC Record: 1-0

UFC Wins: Teruto Ishihara (TKO, Round 1)

Current Rank: None

Next Bout: Scheduled to fight Douglas Silva de Andrade at Fight Night 136, but Andrade got injured. Currently seeking a replacement.

The young Russian was the ACB bantamweight champion before debuting in late June. He has already avenged his sole professional loss and marked his arrival by finishing Teruto Ishihara inside 1 round, becoming the first man to stop the Japanese fan favourite with strikes. He was scheduled to fight Douglas Silva de Andrade on September 5th, but injury removed the Brazilian from the bout. He is currently waiting for a replacement to be tapped. A second impressive performance in 2018 could spell big things for Yan's future, especially with the UFC making moves into the Russian market.

5. Mackenzie Dern

Age: 25

Record: 7-0

UFC Record: 2-0

UFC Wins: Amanda Cooper (Sub, Round 1), Ashly Yoder (Split Decision).

Current Rank: None

Next Bout: NA

Mackenzie Dern debuted at UFC 222 and was the featured prelim of that event. This shows that the UFC sees serious potential in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace. She won a close split decision and did not showcase any of her vaunted ground skills until the dying seconds of the last round. Her striking was described by many as sloppy and amateurish, but it was enough to get her the win.

She made headlines before her second bout at UFC 224, where she missed weight by an astonishing 7lbs and was reportedly kicked out of her gym, the MMA Lab, due to being inconsistent in her time spent training. Despite this, Dern rocked her opponent, Amanda Cooper, badly with an overhand right, before securing the first-round victory with a rear naked choke. Dern has expressed her desire to remain at 115, but this will depend on her ability to prove that she can consistently make weight. Her skills on the mat are a problem for anyone at 115 or 125, however, and if she can round out the rest of her game the future looks very bright for the former No. 1 ranked IBJJF competitor.

What debutant has stood out the most to you since the year began?