A thread to follow top amateurs over time as they go pro.

[HuskySamoan]

Just a thread for my own hubris to come back on over the years and add to. Nobody included over the age of 25 for when they turned pro or with minimal to no amateur achievements. These are also a lot of the guys pertaining to this I am currently the most high on. Feel free to discuss, comment or suggest additions. Theres a reason why Salamat Isbulaev and Gitinov are not on the lists, both due to age or lack of activity. Pltus I think Isbulaev will need to drop to 145 to have any serious success in bigger promotions.


Flyweight

France, Samba Sima - 22 years old 2-0 pro, 21-4 amateur IMMAF Silver and bronze medalist

Kazakhstan, Yersultan Shakenbay - 23 years old 2-0 pro, 16-0 amateur IMMAF 2x gold medalist

Tajikistan, Muhammad Salohidinov - 24 years old 4-1 pro, 14-2 amateur IMMAF gold medalist, Asian World champion

US, Bilal Hasan - 24 years old 7-0 pro, 7-0 amateur, Junior Pan American gold medalist in Tae Kwon Do


Bantamweight

Azerbaijan, Asaf Chopurov - 23 years old 8-0 pro, 35-1 amateur IMMAF gold medalist, Russian national champion

Australia, Kasib Murdoch - 24 years old 6-0 pro, 10-0 amateur IMMAF gold medalist, Aussie gold gloves boxing champion

Tajikistan, Otabek Rajabov - 22 years old 3-0 pro, 18-1 amateur IMMAF gold medalist

Brazil, Marcos Aurelio - 21 years old 8-0 pro, 13-1 amateur (amateur kickboxing career as well)


Featherweight

Croatia, Marko Ancic - 22 years old 3-0 pro, 12-1 amateur, Croatian combat sambo champ, freestyle wrestling national champ

Russia, Maxim Fukhs - 23 years old 4-0 pro, 8-0 amateur, IMMAF gold medalist & Russian amateur national champion

Scotland, Stephen Clancy - 18 years old 8-0 amateur, WBC Junior Muay Thai champion

Ukraine, Danil Fedenko - 19 years old 18-0 amateur Euro champion, Poland Champion. Ukranian Pankration champion.

Lightweight

Belgium, Patrick Habirora - 23 years old 7-0 pro, 21-6 amateur, IMMAF gold, Euro Silver and Juniors Bronze.

Finland, Omarov Tugarev - 23 years old 8-0 pro, 13-5 amateur, IMMAF silver medalist.

Poland, Damian Rzepecki - 23 years old 9-0 pro, 6-3 amateur (his amateur career is more extensive but it's whats listed)

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Biased because I know him but George Staines, 16-1 as an ammy, IMMAF Euro champ, world semi finalist, 6-0 as a pro, 24 years old. Training at Next Gen and sparring with Pimblett every day.

Edit, also the guys he beat as an ammy are a combined 25-3 as pros which I think is impressive in itself.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Biased because I know him but George Staines, 16-1 as an ammy, IMMAF Euro champ, world semi finalist, 6-0 as a pro, 24 years old. Training at Next Gen and sparring with Pimblett every day.

Edit, also the guys he beat as an ammy are a combined 25-3 as pros which I think is impressive in itself.

Staines is on my radar but I haven't seen much of him. As a Brirish lanklet I don't think he will get far once he faces grapplers however.

Im actually not very high on Omar Tugarev but hes been super active and just moved to Ireland to train at a better gym, so hes kinda doing everything right so I added him.

Qosim Sardorov and Oualy Tandia are on my radar too, Sardorov needs to drop back to 170 though, he hasn't the size for 185. Tandia id have on here but I dont have many WW nominees and got lazy.

Im sure there's some good ones Ive missed. Shakenbay is living out here in LA now training, Im seeing a lot of these central Asian guys move stateside at very young ages to pursue their pro careers, which has been the norm in boxing over the last 10-15 years. Seems they have an easier visa time than Russians.

 

[Ara tech]

Some bouts in the amateurs made by fierce elite amateurs were surprisingly good.

It is only getting more and more competitive, the sport did not have peaked yet. It's best days are ahead, awaiting.

The olympics commitees are bums, make MMA an olympic sport, what are they waiting for. It's the future of combat sport.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Some bouts in the amateurs made by fierce elite amateurs were surprisingly good.

It is only getting more and more competitive, the sport did not have peaked yet. It's best days are ahead, awaiting.

The olympics commitees are bums, make MMA an olympic sport, what are they waiting for. It's the future of combat sport.

Well MMA is getting close to being an Olympic sport, it will be in the Asian Games for 2026...which is huge, I'm not sure what the rules will be in terms of length of rounds, number of rounds, headgear, shinguards, gloves, will it be a cage, ring, open space like Sambo etc.

The technical skills and depth of talent pools/athleticism has gotten better at 155lbs and down. At 170 I'd say globally its great but somehow in the UFC its still very shallow. 185 and up is literally worse than a decade ago.

The sports still growing in some ways but the really low pay has really stagnated US fighters. You cant live off 20/20k in the US when you pay 20% to gyms and management and another 20-30% in taxes. The risk of injury, losing, only getting 2 fights a year, not being able to wear sponsors etc. Inflation has hit us hard, its not a livable wage so grinding in the amateurs and regionals from 16 to 22-23 before the UFC signs you in an ideal world, forgoing college or a trade, just to still be broke is insane. You need a union or something, but the decline of US MMA and PPVs is a real thing, the sport globally is as healthy as ever.

 

[hswrestler]

Well MMA is getting close to being an Olympic sport, it will be in the Asian Games for 2026...which is huge, I'm not sure what the rules will be in terms of length of rounds, number of rounds, headgear, shinguards, gloves, will it be a cage, ring, open space like Sambo etc.

The technical skills and depth of talent pools/athleticism has gotten better at 155lbs and down. At 170 I'd say globally its great but somehow in the UFC its still very shallow. 185 and up is literally worse than a decade ago.

The sports still growing in some ways but the really low pay has really stagnated US fighters. You cant live off 20/20k in the US when you pay 20% to gyms and management and another 20-30% in taxes. The risk of injury, losing, only getting 2 fights a year, not being able to wear sponsors etc. Inflation has hit us hard, its not a livable wage so grinding in the amateurs and regionals from 16 to 22-23 before the UFC signs you in an ideal world, forgoing college or a trade, just to still be broke is insane. You need a union or something, but the decline of US MMA and PPVs is a real thing, the sport globally is as healthy as ever.

Yah, MMA just really isn't viable for the US model anymore. You used to get some guys with a wrestling or boxing background who transitioned over but the sport has developed so much that they'd really need specialized training with is not cheap. (mma gyms near me are charging at least 100 per month!) Compound that with how little MMA pays compared to a regular job like accounting or selling cars and its not hard to see how it isn't appealing.

Countries with a communist style of training where they take in promising young kids and force them to drill in the sport daily while neglecting studies like Russia, Kazahstan and potentially China wiill definitely be where the talent is coming from. The US can compete with these countries in sports like tennis and gymnastics because they tend to have good trainers and dedicated families willing to support their kids but I doubt there would be wealthy parents willingly shelling out big bucks for kids to go into MMA. But if rumors are true, there is a certain bjj school that has a youth doping program serving predominately affluent kids so who knows?

 

[HuskySamoan]

Yah, MMA just really isn't viable for the US model anymore. You used to get some guys with a wrestling or boxing background who transitioned over but the sport has developed so much that they'd really need specialized training with is not cheap. (mma gyms near me are charging at least 100 per month!) Compound that with how little MMA pays compared to a regular job like accounting or selling cars and its not hard to see how it isn't appealing.

Countries with a communist style of training where they take in promising young kids and force them to drill in the sport daily while neglecting studies like Russia, Kazahstan and potentially China wiill definitely be where the talent is coming from. The US can compete with these countries in sports like tennis and gymnastics because they tend to have good trainers and dedicated families willing to support their kids but I doubt there would be wealthy parents willingly shelling out big bucks for kids to go into MMA. But if rumors are true, there is a certain bjj school that has a youth doping program serving predominately affluent kids so who knows?

The US dollar goes pretty far in Brazil, 20k USD is a solid middle class earning there. In Latin America. in Australia and New Zealand, the dollar is strong, 20k isnt an annual income but it goes a lot further. In Central Asia and Russia 20k USD also sets you into middle class.

Also its funny "100 for a monthly MMA gym", I think the baseline has been at 200 a month for a long while in the US unless you live in a poorer or rural area.

BJJ is worthless lol. The US can compete with any country in Olympics, it just all of our athletes have such lucrative avenues with Hockey, Baseball, Football and Basketball. To a lesser extent Tennis and theres even a lot more prestige in things like gymnastics or swimming. If the appeal to get signed to the UFC was "making it" you'd see serious generational growth in the US for talent and approach, but like I said...you gotta start training around that 14-16yo mark these days, begin having amateur fights by 16-18 and then amass roughly a 10-0 type record before any decent sponsors or big promotions want actually pay you....for when that time comes, imagine its a 20/20k contract is just insane. It's not sustainable for having US based talent at all.