3 things i’ve noticed about fighters from North Caucasus in UFC

[Misanthropist]

Can you guys clarify those things that i’ve noticed

1) Combat sport is deeply rooted in their culture yet why do they only dominate in the Featherweight - Lightweight range?

2) They tend to have decent records, would do well and have potential to become main card worthy but they fight in prelims a lot then disappear/cut off from UFC, how come?

3) There’s always only 1 contender in each of those unlike other nationalities where it used to be loaded with multiple Americans, Brazilians, Mexicans, Oceanias etc.

 

[Iroh]

Can you guys clarify those things that i’ve noticed

1) Combat sport is deeply rooted in their culture yet why do they only dominate in the Featherweight - Lightweight range?

Because they are protecting Alex from Ankalaev, and Chimaev gets sick and has all kinds of complicated legal issues

But other than that, Dagistanis at least seem to not be that big on average.

2) North Caucacus fighters tend to have decent records, would do well and have potential to become main card worthy but they fight in prelims a lot then disappear/cut off from UFC, how come?

Have any examples? Why fighters are cut is a case-by-case issue

3) There’s always only 1 contender in each of those unlike other nationalities where it used to be loaded with multiple Americans, Brazilians, Mexicans, Oceanias etc. Did Dana avoid this out of fear of losing $$ because of their style/background?

There are more than one Russian per division I would imagine

But the reason generally is that there is only limited space for fighters, and the UFC wants to address as many different markets as possible so they will limit the amount of fighters per region, so one isn't overrepresented and as few as possible are underrepresented, which is also based on how important/lucrative those markets are.

 

[mister piscadinha]

there is no "dagestani invasion"

there are great fighters who came out of the abdulmanap family and that's it
other than nurmagomedovs, there are only outliers like khamzat or ankalaev(neither will be champs)

 

[Carrotman23]

@HuskySamoan

 

[Egészségére!]

All their last names end in V and have a weird tendency to win

 

[StonedLemur]

All their last names end in V and have a weird tendency to win

I always say if you have EV or OV at the end of your name its a 10% stat boost lol.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Can you guys clarify those things that i’ve noticed

1) Combat sport is deeply rooted in their culture yet why do they only dominate in the Featherweight - Lightweight range?

2) They tend to have decent records, would do well and have potential to become main card worthy but they fight in prelims a lot then disappear/cut off from UFC, how come?

3) There’s always only 1 contender in each of those unlike other nationalities where it used to be loaded with multiple Americans, Brazilians, Mexicans, Oceanias etc.

1. They tend not to grow too large, there isn't any legitimate census reports on Caucasian republics but from my experience and what I see competition wise in sports. That said, there's plenty of WWs out there the UFC just doesn't sign them. Look at Bellator/PFL Champ Ramazan Kuramagomedov, Magomed Umalatov, Murad Ramanzanov, Baki Chamsoudinov, Magomedkerimov etc. For some reason UFC just doesn't sign good Welterweights or Featherweights often.

2/3. There's only about 30 Russians on the entire UFC roster including women (last I checked it was 26 a year or two ago). They tend not to sign the good Russians very often and don't want them to be contenders and champions due to the promotion being based off of a western audience and media deals, ppvs and sponsors etc. If they had 80 Russians in the UFC and signed the top prospects and whatnot...I promise the title pictures at 170lbs to 125lbs would be littered with them in the top 15.

4. MW has Imavov and Khamzat in the top 10, Ikram just caught an L but he's top 15 caliber. Ankalaev at 205 is probably the UFCs best LHW.

5. Visa issues are real. But the UFC just doesn't want many Russians or Central Asians but P4P they arguably will be churning out the best fighters in MMA over the next decade.

 

[Neck&Neck]

They all rock the same beard style

 

[Söze Aldo]

I don't buy the Dagestanis not being big people thing to explain the lower weight classes. They're caucus people not Thais, and there are Caucus heavyweights. It's just that they really enjoy cutting weight and having some sort of physical advantage to complement their grappling.

Islam is not a small guy by far and cuts a lot of weight. He probably does believe he could beat up some UFC 185ers. I'm positive he's larger than Colby at least.

 

[laleggenda27]

I assume we're primarily talking about Dagestan, which doesn't have a huge population. At just over 3 million people, the fact that they have so many high-level mma fighters is pretty amazing. And in terms of size, Ankalaev, Ikram, Khamzat, Shara, and Salikhov are all above LW in the UFC.

Dagestan's population is equivalent to a small U.S. state, but TS thinks they should dominate every weight class.

 

[TITS]

Go check out PFL/Hellator, they seem hellbent on letting these boring blankets take over both orgs. That most recent WW title fight was pure garbage.

 

[Iroh]

I don't buy the Dagestanis not being big people thing to explain the lower weight classes. They're caucus people not Thais, and there are Caucus heavyweights. It's just that they really enjoy cutting weight and having some sort of physical advantage to complement their grappling.

Islam is not a small guy by far and cuts a lot of weight. He probably does believe he could beat up some UFC 185ers. I'm positive he's larger than Colby at least.

Average height of Georgian males 5'9", Azerbaijani males 5'8", average Armenian males 5'7.5". These are all Caucusus region countries.

 

[Söze Aldo]

Average height of Georgian males 5'9", Azerbaijani males 5'8", average Armenian males 5'7.5". These are all Caucusus region countries.

The average American man is only technically 5'9" as well. My point is Caucus region people aren't specifically on the smaller side like Thais in Muay Thai or Filipinos in boxing, who due to their size by default have to fight at the smaller weight classes.

To think guys like Khabib and especially Islam aren't big for 155, Islam should very arguably be fighting at 170 lbs.

 

[Iroh]

The average American man is only technically 5'9" as well. My point is Caucus region people aren't specifically on the smaller side like Thais in Muay Thai or Filipinos in boxing, who due to their size by default have to fight at the smaller weight classes.

Yes, on average Muricans are manlets .

But it having such a big population makes that it has a whole lot of outliers that will supply any need for bigger athletes. Dagistan doesn't have anywhere near that population, so there are far fewer outliers.

To think guys like Khabib and especially Islam aren't big for 155, Islam should very arguably be fighting at 170 lbs.

Yes they are big LWs, but that's still not really big in the overall picture.

Of course there are smaller Asians, but TS isn't saying they are the tiniest represented nationality out there, just that most of their success is at the smaller weight classes, which LW is one of. Their smaller frame still allows them to cut down to LW. Would they have had a bigger frame with the same build, they wouldn't have been able to cut down to LW.

 

[froggyluv]

Little? fav fighter is a Dagi

 

[kingmob6]

If there were 80 Russians in UFC(like brazilians), the amount of bitchin on these forums will break the balance of the universe. UFC certainly does not want that.
There are plenty of MW and Up In Other organizations of russian citizenship and of Caucasian descent. UFC definitely doesn't want the russian invasion. It will probably never happen. They might up their quota by 5-10 fighters, but that's about it.

Let's hope they sign Usman and Zabit's little bro when the time comes. Keep the LW and FW fed.

 

[don't ask]

The UFC has more Dagestanis in middleweight and up than they do in welterweight and down.

 

[World eater]

Well, there’s Shamil Gaziev at HW, for what that is worth.

 

[Nizam al-Mulk]

If there were 80 Russians in UFC(like brazilians), the amount of bitchin on these forums will break the balance of the universe. UFC certainly does not want that.
There are plenty of MW and Up In Other organizations of russian citizenship and of Caucasian descent. UFC definitely doesn't want the russian invasion. It will probably never happen. They might up their quota by 5-10 fighters, but that's about it.

Let's hope they sign Usman and Zabit's little bro when the time comes. Keep the LW and FW fed.

Eh, would they it as a tragedy post 2016?

 

[kingmob6]

Eh, would they it as a tragedy post 2016?

what you mean bro