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I won't profess to being an expert on this, as it's hard to keep your eye on the ball outside of the UFC these days with so many cards on the go, but it would be interesting to get a perspective on who fans have down as the best fighter from each weight class currently actively fighting outside of the UFC. I'll start with a few suggestions but I'm pretty open on this. Hopefully spark a good discussion.
Heavyweight: Vitaly Minakov. Hard to look past him really, WSOF champ Blagoy Ivanov got subbed by Alexander Volkov whereas Mikakov KO'ed him in less than 3 minutes.
Light Heavyweight: Liam McGeary; Beat Newton so hard for me to look past him as far as I can see.
Middleweight: David Branch is Current WSOF Champ, last loss 2012 to Rumble, also got kneebared back in 2011 by Palhares in the UFC and Gerald Harris KO'ed him on his UFC debut. There's also Leonardo Leite the current Legacy champ who's 6-0 but not faced the same level of competition yet.
Welterweight: Ben Askren. Could be debated between him and Rousimar Palhares, would certainly be a good fight, but I think Askren's ceiling is higher.
Lightweight: Lightweight always seems to be debatable. With the recent release of Josh Thompson I would say it's between him, Will Brooks and Justin Gaethje. My gut feeling is it's Josh Thompson and he will beat Brooks, but I'm sure as hell looking forward to that eventual fight and it should be a good one.
A dark horse shout though is Mansour Barnaoui the current BAMMA champ. He's a Tunisian Frenchman who holds wins over Curt Warburton and Colin "Freakshow" Fletcher and his only losses are to Kevin "The Motown Phenom" Lee and Islam Makhachev. Islam is undefeated and Lee has only lost to Iaquinta. He might not be the best outside the UFC now but he is only 22 years old.
Featherweight: Quite happy to stick my neck out and say Patricy PitBull Freire on this one. One FC Champion Jadamba Narantungalag hasn't lost outside of injury since his first two pro fights and Lance Palmer is out there too, but I'd make Pitbull the favourite vs either of those based on their records.
Bantamweight: Pick a Brazilian. Brazilians currently hold Bantamweight belts in 5 different organisations. Bellator, WSOF, One FC, UCMMA and JungleFights. This weight class is probably the most open for a debate. I would have to say Marlon Moraes but really, who knows? It's worth mentioning the current Jungle Fight champion Jonas Bilharinho is 6-0-1 and only 25, but who really knows where he is at until he faces better competition?
Flyweight: Again a very Brazilian heavy division that is open for debate. Adriano Moraes current One FC Champion is 13-1 and only dropped a split decision in 2013. Alexandre Pantoja current RFA Champion is 12-2. Bruno Azevedo current XFC Champion is 13-2. Yuki Motoya curent Deep champion is 14-4 with a habit of avenging his losses. I'm not going to pretend to have followed all this fighters closely so I'll go with Adriano Moraes, but if anyone can drop any knowledge, go ahead!
Womens Bantamweight: This is one of two for me. Firstly there is Tonya Evinger, the current Invicta Champ's only losses in the last 6/7 years are to Alexis Davis and Sara McMann. Secondly it's Pannie Kianzad, Cage Warriors Swedish Champion. She's 6-0 and last beat Jessica-Rose Clark in Invicta. Want some good news? Check out Invticta 14, they're fighting next! I haven't looked at the odds but I'd back Kianzad. September 14th only on Fight Pass baby.
Worth also mentioning Barb Honchak Invicta's 125lbs champ. Only losses are 5 years ago a split decision to Angela Magana and a UD to Cat Zigano. These were only her second and third pro-fights and she's beaten Aisling Daly, Roxanne Modafferi, Leslie Smith and Takayo Hashi since then. At 35 years old you'd have to assume she'd go up for the UFC rather than down?
Womens Strawweight: Livia Renata Souza; undefeated Invicta Champion...hard to look past that really.
So then, who's got a completely different opinion? Are you a Brazilian hardcore fan who can shed some light on the lower weight classes and tell me I'm completely wrong? Have you seen a 19 year old wonder kid on a local show who spinning headkicks people for fun and is worth a mention? Let's hear some opinions, don't be scared homie!
Heavyweight: Vitaly Minakov. Hard to look past him really, WSOF champ Blagoy Ivanov got subbed by Alexander Volkov whereas Mikakov KO'ed him in less than 3 minutes.
Light Heavyweight: Liam McGeary; Beat Newton so hard for me to look past him as far as I can see.
Middleweight: David Branch is Current WSOF Champ, last loss 2012 to Rumble, also got kneebared back in 2011 by Palhares in the UFC and Gerald Harris KO'ed him on his UFC debut. There's also Leonardo Leite the current Legacy champ who's 6-0 but not faced the same level of competition yet.
Welterweight: Ben Askren. Could be debated between him and Rousimar Palhares, would certainly be a good fight, but I think Askren's ceiling is higher.
Lightweight: Lightweight always seems to be debatable. With the recent release of Josh Thompson I would say it's between him, Will Brooks and Justin Gaethje. My gut feeling is it's Josh Thompson and he will beat Brooks, but I'm sure as hell looking forward to that eventual fight and it should be a good one.
A dark horse shout though is Mansour Barnaoui the current BAMMA champ. He's a Tunisian Frenchman who holds wins over Curt Warburton and Colin "Freakshow" Fletcher and his only losses are to Kevin "The Motown Phenom" Lee and Islam Makhachev. Islam is undefeated and Lee has only lost to Iaquinta. He might not be the best outside the UFC now but he is only 22 years old.
Featherweight: Quite happy to stick my neck out and say Patricy PitBull Freire on this one. One FC Champion Jadamba Narantungalag hasn't lost outside of injury since his first two pro fights and Lance Palmer is out there too, but I'd make Pitbull the favourite vs either of those based on their records.
Bantamweight: Pick a Brazilian. Brazilians currently hold Bantamweight belts in 5 different organisations. Bellator, WSOF, One FC, UCMMA and JungleFights. This weight class is probably the most open for a debate. I would have to say Marlon Moraes but really, who knows? It's worth mentioning the current Jungle Fight champion Jonas Bilharinho is 6-0-1 and only 25, but who really knows where he is at until he faces better competition?
Flyweight: Again a very Brazilian heavy division that is open for debate. Adriano Moraes current One FC Champion is 13-1 and only dropped a split decision in 2013. Alexandre Pantoja current RFA Champion is 12-2. Bruno Azevedo current XFC Champion is 13-2. Yuki Motoya curent Deep champion is 14-4 with a habit of avenging his losses. I'm not going to pretend to have followed all this fighters closely so I'll go with Adriano Moraes, but if anyone can drop any knowledge, go ahead!
Womens Bantamweight: This is one of two for me. Firstly there is Tonya Evinger, the current Invicta Champ's only losses in the last 6/7 years are to Alexis Davis and Sara McMann. Secondly it's Pannie Kianzad, Cage Warriors Swedish Champion. She's 6-0 and last beat Jessica-Rose Clark in Invicta. Want some good news? Check out Invticta 14, they're fighting next! I haven't looked at the odds but I'd back Kianzad. September 14th only on Fight Pass baby.
Worth also mentioning Barb Honchak Invicta's 125lbs champ. Only losses are 5 years ago a split decision to Angela Magana and a UD to Cat Zigano. These were only her second and third pro-fights and she's beaten Aisling Daly, Roxanne Modafferi, Leslie Smith and Takayo Hashi since then. At 35 years old you'd have to assume she'd go up for the UFC rather than down?
Womens Strawweight: Livia Renata Souza; undefeated Invicta Champion...hard to look past that really.
So then, who's got a completely different opinion? Are you a Brazilian hardcore fan who can shed some light on the lower weight classes and tell me I'm completely wrong? Have you seen a 19 year old wonder kid on a local show who spinning headkicks people for fun and is worth a mention? Let's hear some opinions, don't be scared homie!
