More and more fighters are becoming mainstream personalities, having graced the covers of magazines. The mohawked Iceman, Chuck Liddell, has arguably been the most noticeable faces of mixed martial arts today, despite his recent stretch of going 1-2 in his last three fights.

From time to time, you see stars rise from relatively obscure sports and competitions that aren't traditionally followed by the public. You've got Lance Armstrong in cycling, Mary Lou Retton in gymnastics, and even Takeru Kobayashi of hot dog eating fame.

There's some fighters in the young sport of MMA who are on the cusp of super stardom in their own right in the non-traditional sport of MMA.

One of these fighters is Urijah Faber. Faber doesn't fight in the UFC because the UFC's lowest weight class is the 155-pound lightweight division. Faber competes in the 145-pound featherweight division in the Zuffa owned World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, or WEC. Coincidently, Zuffa also owns the UFC so they're sister organizations.

For those who have not watched Urijah Faber fight, he is a must see. He earned his nickname, "The California Kid," due to his young surfer-like looks, but this guy fights like a madman. He is so good, he can put himself in dangerous positions against jiu-jitsu black belts, knowing he's skilled enough to get out and gain the upper hand. In fact, Faber's last two victories were against jiu-jitsu black belts when he made them tap out to choke holds.

Faber is an incredible 20-1 in his mixed martial arts career. His improvisational fighting style and uncanny athletic moves separate him from any other fighter.

Another person seemingly destined for super stardom could be French-Canadian, Georges "Rush" St. Pierre. He has amazing cross appeal, as many women take notice of his French accent and body of Adonis. Many men love St. Pierre due to his devastating fighting style and post-fight class. You always get a good fight when GSP is in the Octagon.

Another thing that's appealing about St. Pierre is that he maintains his connection to mixed martial arts. Having practiced Kyokushin karate as a young boy in Quebec, he enters the Octagon wearing a full karate gi complete with a Japanese sun headband. It's a good reminder that we're not just watching two men fighting, we're watching true mixed martial arts.

If you're going to have a mixed-get together for the next big UFC event, have everyone come over when Georges St. Pierre fights. He appeals to everyone and is a great ambassador of the sport.

Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture are the next two. After their refusal to fight in the UFC, these two champions are joined at the hip and are in freefall together. If court battles are won and these two get to fight each other, they will become megastars that transcend the sport of MMA itself.

Couture argues his contract with the UFC is up in October 2008, but the UFC contends it's a perpetual contract with Couture having to fight two more fights with them. If Couture gets out of the UFC contract, expect the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history to occur as the Russian meets the American. The two would become breakthrough global stars as the two superpowers finally collided - in the ring.

David Estrada is the Port Arthur News MMA columnist.