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This is the fourth edition of my 2014 list of 230 unbeaten fighters - the Flyweights. A link to the first three editions are below.
Light Heavyweights: http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f6...ters-2014-light-heavyweights-edition-2648551/
Welterweights: http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f6...-fighters-2014-welterweights-edition-2645633/
Bantamweights: http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f6...-fighters-2014-bantamweights-edition-2642715/
A brief recap of the 3 rules i use to compile my lists:
1) They must be unbeaten!
2) They must not be signed to a large promotion (UFC, Bellator or WSOF)
3) They must have fought at least once in the last year (in 2013)
As its one of the newer divisions for the large promotions, there are fewer flyweights out there than the other weigh classes, so there are just 25 fighters listed in this division.
Fighters who just missed out included Rocky BatolBatol (4-0), Joao Elias (4-0), Malcolm Gordon (3-0) & Varon Webb (3-0).
Fighters ineligible for the list due to not fighting in over a year include Allamurad Karayev (9-0), Yamato Okada (9-0) and Jun Nakamura (6-0).
I will have to include the list in a couple of posts again due to only being able to post 10,000 characters per post.
Here is the 2014 Flyweight list!
------------------------------
1)
Pietro Menga – 10-0-0 - English – 25 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 16-17, Last Fought: Jun ‘13
25 year old Pietro Menga posted a 5-1 amateur record and has won all 10 fights since turning pro in 2011, finishing all but one of them (7 submissions & 2 TKO’s), including 19, 35 and 40 second victories. A well rounded fighter, Menga has competed in several grappling competitions (including winning gold at British No Gi Open) and also has pro Muay Thai fights under his belt. He is the FCC flyweight champion and among his wins include experienced fighters Artem Sitenkov (14-9), Steve McCombe (15-17) and Mark Platts (10-8). He is an extremely big flyweight and spent the beginning of his career fighting as a bantamweight.
2)
Joby Sanchez – 5-0-0 - American – 22 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 10-7, Last Fought: Sep ‘13
Joby Sanchez owns one of the best martial arts backgrounds on this list – he was a silver gloves champion boxer, held a 32-3 amateur boxing record, is a black belt in kajukembo karate, and was a high school runner-up in wrestling. Sanchez held an impressive 9-2 amateur record and he has gone a perfect 5-0 since turning pro in 2011. In 2012 he was the XFC open tryouts winner and has since won 2 fights for the promotion, beating Eric Moell (3-1) in his most recent fight. Of his 5 pro victories he has finished all of them, with 3 submissions and 2 TKO’s.
3)
Ray Borg – 5-0-0 - American – 20 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 14-5, Last Fought: Nov ‘13
At just 20 years old Ray Borg is one of the youngest fighters on this year’s flyweight list. He has an excellent year long amateur career during which he fought for the KOTC promotion and won every fight via 1st round submission. Since turning pro late in 2012 he has carried on in the same way, winning all 5 of his fights, including 4 stoppages (3 submissions & a TKO). In his most recent couple of fights he has taken a big step up in competition, beating experienced opponents in Angelo Sanchez (12-4) and Jeimson Saudino (7-1).
4)
Roland Sangcha’an – 4-0-0 - Filipino – 23 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 9-1, Last Fought: Sep ‘13
One of just 3 fighters from the Philippines on the 2014 list, Roland Sangcha’an has fought for a variety of promotions in Asia including URCC and PXC. He trains out of the famous Team Lakay, one of the top camps in Asia, where his training partners include Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon, Roy Docyogen and Honorio Banario. He put his name on the map late in 2012 where he knocked out top European prospect and the previously unbeaten Aslan Toktarbaev (4-0). The 23 year old has finished each of his fights with 2 TKO’s and 2 submissions and he also holds a win over Adam Cacay (3-1).
5)
Takashi Soya – 5-0-0 - Japanese – 19 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 11-3, Last Fought: Dec ‘13
The first of five Japanese flyweights on the 2014 list, Takashi Soya is also the youngest on this year’s list at just 19 years old. He has a great stand up game which helped him to finish 4 of his 5 wins via 1st round TKO. He has for a variety of promotions since making his debut in 2012, such as DEEP and Grabaka, but in 2013 he signed for Shooto and entered their 2013 Rookie Tournament. He won the flyweight tournament to be crowned the 2013 rookie champion. On his way to the title he beat Ryuya Fukuda (4-1), Takaaki Ito (3-1) and Haruki Nakayama (3-3).
6)
Kairat Akhmetov – 6-0-0 - Kazakhstani – 26 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 6-1, Last Fought: Dec ‘13
The only fighter from Kazakhstan on the entire 2014 list, Kairat Akhmetov is a Greco roman wrestling champion in his homeland of Kazakhstan. The 25 year old finished each of his first 4 fights in the very first round with 3 submissions wins and 1 TKO win and has gone to a decision in his most recent 2 fights. After fighting a poor level of opposition in his first 5 fights, he took a huge step up in competition in December when he halted the 5 fight win streak of Tatsuya Watanabe (14-4). There is rumors that unofficially he is 21-0, however his official record stands at 6-0.
7)
Geane Herrera – 5-0-0 - American – 23 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 13-2, Last Fought: Jul ‘13
American fighter Herrera is a relatively newcomer to the sport, only starting MMA a few years ago. Now 23, he has 5 pro fights under his belt and in 2012 became the Bantamweight champion of regional promotion RFC, which he won by submitting the previously unbeaten Jared Crawford (4-0) in less than 3 minutes. For his most recent fight the 5’5” fighter dropped down to flyweight where he had a successful debut, beating Mitchell Chamale (4-1). He has finished 3 of his 5 fights via 1st round submission.
8)
Ryo Hatta – 6-0-0 - Japanese – ?? Years Old - Opponent W/L: 13-12, Last Fought: Jul ‘13
Japanese fighter Ryo Hatta has won each of his first 6 fights at flyweight. Fighting for the Japanese ZST promotion, Hatta has been keeping busy, fighting 5 times in the last 18 months. He is a submission specialist and has finished 5 of his 6 fights by 5 different submissions, including a heel hook and leg scissor choke. Hatta holds wins over Yusuke Uehara (7-5), Satoshi Ishimori (4-3) and Fumitaka Izuka (3-2).
9)
Elias Garcia – 4-0-0 - American – 27 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 5-1, Last Fought: May ‘13
American flyweight Elias Garcia is nicknamed ‘Smash’ and had an extensive amateur career before turning pro where he went 6-2 and was the champion of 2 different promotions. He has fought as high as featherweight in his career but has recently dropped to his natural weight of 125 pounds. He has fought regularly since making his debut just over a year ago, winning all 4 times and finishing 2 of them inside the distance. Last year he signed for top regional promotion Legacy FC and beat Matt Schnell (2-0). He is scheduled to fight top prospect Henry Cejudo at the end of the month.
10)
Chris Miah – 5-0-0 - English – 22 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 6-6, Last Fought: Nov ‘13
English fighter Chris Miah is a former bantamweight, having only fought his last 2 fights at flyweight and is a huge 125 pounder at 5’8” tall. He won the FUK Flyweight title in 2012 when he submitted Mark Handley (3-5) in just 56 seconds and made the first defence of his title in November last year when he TKO’d Josh Foster (3-1) in the first round. At 22 years old he is a young flyweight and has finished 4 of his 5 fights (3 submissions & 1 TKO). The Britis a jiu-jitsu specialist and also held an unbeaten 5-0-1 record as an amateur.
Light Heavyweights: http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f6...ters-2014-light-heavyweights-edition-2648551/
Welterweights: http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f6...-fighters-2014-welterweights-edition-2645633/
Bantamweights: http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f6...-fighters-2014-bantamweights-edition-2642715/
A brief recap of the 3 rules i use to compile my lists:
1) They must be unbeaten!
2) They must not be signed to a large promotion (UFC, Bellator or WSOF)
3) They must have fought at least once in the last year (in 2013)
As its one of the newer divisions for the large promotions, there are fewer flyweights out there than the other weigh classes, so there are just 25 fighters listed in this division.
Fighters who just missed out included Rocky BatolBatol (4-0), Joao Elias (4-0), Malcolm Gordon (3-0) & Varon Webb (3-0).
Fighters ineligible for the list due to not fighting in over a year include Allamurad Karayev (9-0), Yamato Okada (9-0) and Jun Nakamura (6-0).
I will have to include the list in a couple of posts again due to only being able to post 10,000 characters per post.
Here is the 2014 Flyweight list!
------------------------------
Flyweights
1)
Pietro Menga – 10-0-0 - English – 25 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 16-17, Last Fought: Jun ‘13
25 year old Pietro Menga posted a 5-1 amateur record and has won all 10 fights since turning pro in 2011, finishing all but one of them (7 submissions & 2 TKO’s), including 19, 35 and 40 second victories. A well rounded fighter, Menga has competed in several grappling competitions (including winning gold at British No Gi Open) and also has pro Muay Thai fights under his belt. He is the FCC flyweight champion and among his wins include experienced fighters Artem Sitenkov (14-9), Steve McCombe (15-17) and Mark Platts (10-8). He is an extremely big flyweight and spent the beginning of his career fighting as a bantamweight.
2)
Joby Sanchez – 5-0-0 - American – 22 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 10-7, Last Fought: Sep ‘13
Joby Sanchez owns one of the best martial arts backgrounds on this list – he was a silver gloves champion boxer, held a 32-3 amateur boxing record, is a black belt in kajukembo karate, and was a high school runner-up in wrestling. Sanchez held an impressive 9-2 amateur record and he has gone a perfect 5-0 since turning pro in 2011. In 2012 he was the XFC open tryouts winner and has since won 2 fights for the promotion, beating Eric Moell (3-1) in his most recent fight. Of his 5 pro victories he has finished all of them, with 3 submissions and 2 TKO’s.
3)
Ray Borg – 5-0-0 - American – 20 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 14-5, Last Fought: Nov ‘13
At just 20 years old Ray Borg is one of the youngest fighters on this year’s flyweight list. He has an excellent year long amateur career during which he fought for the KOTC promotion and won every fight via 1st round submission. Since turning pro late in 2012 he has carried on in the same way, winning all 5 of his fights, including 4 stoppages (3 submissions & a TKO). In his most recent couple of fights he has taken a big step up in competition, beating experienced opponents in Angelo Sanchez (12-4) and Jeimson Saudino (7-1).
4)
Roland Sangcha’an – 4-0-0 - Filipino – 23 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 9-1, Last Fought: Sep ‘13
One of just 3 fighters from the Philippines on the 2014 list, Roland Sangcha’an has fought for a variety of promotions in Asia including URCC and PXC. He trains out of the famous Team Lakay, one of the top camps in Asia, where his training partners include Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon, Roy Docyogen and Honorio Banario. He put his name on the map late in 2012 where he knocked out top European prospect and the previously unbeaten Aslan Toktarbaev (4-0). The 23 year old has finished each of his fights with 2 TKO’s and 2 submissions and he also holds a win over Adam Cacay (3-1).
5)
Takashi Soya – 5-0-0 - Japanese – 19 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 11-3, Last Fought: Dec ‘13
The first of five Japanese flyweights on the 2014 list, Takashi Soya is also the youngest on this year’s list at just 19 years old. He has a great stand up game which helped him to finish 4 of his 5 wins via 1st round TKO. He has for a variety of promotions since making his debut in 2012, such as DEEP and Grabaka, but in 2013 he signed for Shooto and entered their 2013 Rookie Tournament. He won the flyweight tournament to be crowned the 2013 rookie champion. On his way to the title he beat Ryuya Fukuda (4-1), Takaaki Ito (3-1) and Haruki Nakayama (3-3).
6)
Kairat Akhmetov – 6-0-0 - Kazakhstani – 26 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 6-1, Last Fought: Dec ‘13
The only fighter from Kazakhstan on the entire 2014 list, Kairat Akhmetov is a Greco roman wrestling champion in his homeland of Kazakhstan. The 25 year old finished each of his first 4 fights in the very first round with 3 submissions wins and 1 TKO win and has gone to a decision in his most recent 2 fights. After fighting a poor level of opposition in his first 5 fights, he took a huge step up in competition in December when he halted the 5 fight win streak of Tatsuya Watanabe (14-4). There is rumors that unofficially he is 21-0, however his official record stands at 6-0.
7)
Geane Herrera – 5-0-0 - American – 23 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 13-2, Last Fought: Jul ‘13
American fighter Herrera is a relatively newcomer to the sport, only starting MMA a few years ago. Now 23, he has 5 pro fights under his belt and in 2012 became the Bantamweight champion of regional promotion RFC, which he won by submitting the previously unbeaten Jared Crawford (4-0) in less than 3 minutes. For his most recent fight the 5’5” fighter dropped down to flyweight where he had a successful debut, beating Mitchell Chamale (4-1). He has finished 3 of his 5 fights via 1st round submission.
8)
Ryo Hatta – 6-0-0 - Japanese – ?? Years Old - Opponent W/L: 13-12, Last Fought: Jul ‘13
Japanese fighter Ryo Hatta has won each of his first 6 fights at flyweight. Fighting for the Japanese ZST promotion, Hatta has been keeping busy, fighting 5 times in the last 18 months. He is a submission specialist and has finished 5 of his 6 fights by 5 different submissions, including a heel hook and leg scissor choke. Hatta holds wins over Yusuke Uehara (7-5), Satoshi Ishimori (4-3) and Fumitaka Izuka (3-2).
9)
Elias Garcia – 4-0-0 - American – 27 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 5-1, Last Fought: May ‘13
American flyweight Elias Garcia is nicknamed ‘Smash’ and had an extensive amateur career before turning pro where he went 6-2 and was the champion of 2 different promotions. He has fought as high as featherweight in his career but has recently dropped to his natural weight of 125 pounds. He has fought regularly since making his debut just over a year ago, winning all 4 times and finishing 2 of them inside the distance. Last year he signed for top regional promotion Legacy FC and beat Matt Schnell (2-0). He is scheduled to fight top prospect Henry Cejudo at the end of the month.
10)
Chris Miah – 5-0-0 - English – 22 Years Old - Opponent W/L: 6-6, Last Fought: Nov ‘13
English fighter Chris Miah is a former bantamweight, having only fought his last 2 fights at flyweight and is a huge 125 pounder at 5’8” tall. He won the FUK Flyweight title in 2012 when he submitted Mark Handley (3-5) in just 56 seconds and made the first defence of his title in November last year when he TKO’d Josh Foster (3-1) in the first round. At 22 years old he is a young flyweight and has finished 4 of his 5 fights (3 submissions & 1 TKO). The Britis a jiu-jitsu specialist and also held an unbeaten 5-0-1 record as an amateur.
