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Hello Sherbros, I watch more than my share of regional MMA so I thought I'd try and prepare anyone who's interested a little bit on some of the characters we'll be seeing this week from what I know about them. I'll try and remember to do it every week if people give a shit or find it useful.
Middleweight Mansur Abdul Malick (5-0) Vs Wes Schultz (6-1)
Abdul-Malick is a 26 year old Maryland Division 1 wrestler although he wasn't close to being an All American or anything. He trains out of MMA Masters with the likes of Colby Covington. He's very athletic and has extremely nasty ground and pound. Due to his athletic accomplishments he's probably pretty hard to find opponents for on the regionals so he hasn't really fought the best competition but you can only beat what's infront of you and he's brutally destroyed everyone he's faced in the first round, mostly within the first couple of minutes. Difficult to tell exactly how good he is given the lack of competition but he definitely seems to have the physical tools.
Schultz is also a Division 1 wrestler who wrestled for Wyoming and is 28 years old, but has embraced BJJ a lot more as a fighter and is more the guy to look to control and go for subs than smash guys out of there with ground and pound. He's fought most of his pro career in LFA where his only loss was a decision to current UFC fighter Dylan Budka who he found a bit too athletic for him. I think he's an okay upper level regional guy but he's not that explosive for a wrestler.
Prediction - I suspect Abdul Malick is a bit too athletic for Schultz and Schultz might have a hard time getting him down. Neither guy is really a striker but Abdul Malick is the faster and more powerful guy. Schultz will have to hope that he can wear on Abdul Malick and take him into unchartered waters and drown him but my prediction is that Abdul Malick takes him down and unleashes some nasty hammers for a first round KO and a UFC contract.
Welterweight - Meng Ding (34-8) Vs Rami Hamed (12-3)
Ding has a crazy amount of experience for his age given that he's 29 and he's 42 fights deep into his career. He's really come into his own over the past few years, beating one of my favourite prospects in Tayilake Nueraji and finally managing to beat his own personal style nemesis in Kuerbanjiang Tuluosibake. Style wise he's a well rounded guy with good cardio and attritional damage who can take fights where he wants to. Due to the pressure he puts on people and how he makes them work he has quite a lot of later round stoppages. He's the kind of guy who would likely have been signed straight up if they were running a card or two a year in China but they're not so he hasn't been.
Hamed is a 33 year old Lebanese fighter and this is attempt number two at getting him on after he fell out against Magomedaliev last year. He mainly fought around the Middle Eastern promotions before moving to MMA Masters and fighting for Titan. From what I've seen of him he's got decent leg kicks but lacks in grappling but it's been 18 months since he last fought so he might have improved.
Prediction - This feels like a bit of a levels fight for me, Ding is much more experienced, has fought and beaten much better competition and I think he has a big advantage in the cardio and grappling. I think he'll be too in Hamed's face to be picked apart by leg kicks and I'll say he gets him out of there with ground and pound late in the 2nd and gets a contract.
Light Heavyweight - Bruno Lopes (12-1) Vs Mikheil Sazhiniani (13-2)
Lopes in a returnee from last season where he got knocked out by Brendson Ribeiro in a big upset. He's since defended his LFA title against a solid regional LHW and gets another shot this year. He's 31 but that's not really old for a LHW. He's got decent pop on the feet but he's not that fast, but he has decent takedowns and good BJJ when he gets on top of people. He's also a finisher with only one of his 12 wins going the distance.
Sazhiniani is a Georgian training out of the Spitfire gym in Berlin which is a mixture of decent Georgian and German fighters. He's quite a physical fighter and tends to bully lower level guys. His one real step up against Murtaza Talha who was on the show didn't go so well though and he got beaten pretty easily.
Prediction - I doubt Lopes makes the same mistake he made last year twice. He's the superior grappler here and I don't think he's going to risk standing and banging for long and even if he does Sazhniani isn't the explosive puncher than Brendson was so I'm not sure it's the same type of threat. I suspect he's able to have his way in the grappling and get enough damage off for a first or second round stoppage by sub or ground and pound for a contract.
Featherweight - Jose Delgado (7-1) Vs Ernie Juarez (8-0)
Delgado is 26 and trains out of MMA Lab under John Crouch so is obviously at a very good gym. He had a loss to Chris Mecate last year but stays nice and active and has already fought and won three times in 2024. He's a pretty powerful guy who's a finisher and is on a 4 fight finish streak.
Juarez is the champ of A1 Combat which is Urijah Faber's promotion. He's a pretty exciting fighter who throws pretty hard and reasonably fast. I've seen him get stuck on his back a little bit before so there might be a grappling hole but he usually works hard to get out of there eventually and doesn't seem the type to give up on himself. Very good when coming forward, except he has a bit of a tendency to fall into clinches when he doesn't really need to.
Prediction - This is a razor thin one for me. Both guys are pretty decent and I can't see a real advantage for either. I think it's likely to play out on the feet, Delgado is a late replacement for Icaro Brito (which is lucky for Juarez as Icaro would have murdered him) so there could be a slight cardio issue if it's a high paced fight, although he fought recently and has been very active so it might not be such an issue. I'll go with Juarez to take a narrow decision in a close fight. Not sure if there'll be a contract, depends on how exciting the fight is.
Flyweight - Lone'er Kavanagh (6-0) Vs An Tuan Ho (6-0)
Kavanagh is a 25 year old who trains under Brad Pickett at GBTT and is for me the outstanding flyweight prospect outside the majors at the moment. Just a really well rounded fighter with outstanding hands and leg kicks and great speed and cardio. Dude can wrestle too, has good top BJJ and can push a pace, I can see him going to to be a contender one day.
Ho is only 23 years old and is another outstanding prospect out of MMA Lab. Known for some spectacular highlight reel finishes but had a slightly tougher time when he stepped up in competition although he still clearly one. Fast and with good power and BJJ and back takes. Kind of similarish to the other US based Asian flyweight UFC prospect Josh Van.
Predicition - I think this is arguably the fight of the season between two outstanding prospects so it's cool that it's also the first fight of the season and will hopefully set the tone. I expect a high paced, all action fight with some cool shit. I think both these guys could be ranked UFC fighters one day but I think Kavanagh is a little further on in his career and has fought and beaten the better guys at the moment. I favour him to win an all action decision in what should be a really good fight and I think he gets a contract. I actually think this could be one of those fights that could be good enough for both guys to get a contract.
So yeah, that's my week one predictions. Thanks to anyone who bothered to read it.
Middleweight Mansur Abdul Malick (5-0) Vs Wes Schultz (6-1)
Abdul-Malick is a 26 year old Maryland Division 1 wrestler although he wasn't close to being an All American or anything. He trains out of MMA Masters with the likes of Colby Covington. He's very athletic and has extremely nasty ground and pound. Due to his athletic accomplishments he's probably pretty hard to find opponents for on the regionals so he hasn't really fought the best competition but you can only beat what's infront of you and he's brutally destroyed everyone he's faced in the first round, mostly within the first couple of minutes. Difficult to tell exactly how good he is given the lack of competition but he definitely seems to have the physical tools.
Schultz is also a Division 1 wrestler who wrestled for Wyoming and is 28 years old, but has embraced BJJ a lot more as a fighter and is more the guy to look to control and go for subs than smash guys out of there with ground and pound. He's fought most of his pro career in LFA where his only loss was a decision to current UFC fighter Dylan Budka who he found a bit too athletic for him. I think he's an okay upper level regional guy but he's not that explosive for a wrestler.
Prediction - I suspect Abdul Malick is a bit too athletic for Schultz and Schultz might have a hard time getting him down. Neither guy is really a striker but Abdul Malick is the faster and more powerful guy. Schultz will have to hope that he can wear on Abdul Malick and take him into unchartered waters and drown him but my prediction is that Abdul Malick takes him down and unleashes some nasty hammers for a first round KO and a UFC contract.
Welterweight - Meng Ding (34-8) Vs Rami Hamed (12-3)
Ding has a crazy amount of experience for his age given that he's 29 and he's 42 fights deep into his career. He's really come into his own over the past few years, beating one of my favourite prospects in Tayilake Nueraji and finally managing to beat his own personal style nemesis in Kuerbanjiang Tuluosibake. Style wise he's a well rounded guy with good cardio and attritional damage who can take fights where he wants to. Due to the pressure he puts on people and how he makes them work he has quite a lot of later round stoppages. He's the kind of guy who would likely have been signed straight up if they were running a card or two a year in China but they're not so he hasn't been.
Hamed is a 33 year old Lebanese fighter and this is attempt number two at getting him on after he fell out against Magomedaliev last year. He mainly fought around the Middle Eastern promotions before moving to MMA Masters and fighting for Titan. From what I've seen of him he's got decent leg kicks but lacks in grappling but it's been 18 months since he last fought so he might have improved.
Prediction - This feels like a bit of a levels fight for me, Ding is much more experienced, has fought and beaten much better competition and I think he has a big advantage in the cardio and grappling. I think he'll be too in Hamed's face to be picked apart by leg kicks and I'll say he gets him out of there with ground and pound late in the 2nd and gets a contract.
Light Heavyweight - Bruno Lopes (12-1) Vs Mikheil Sazhiniani (13-2)
Lopes in a returnee from last season where he got knocked out by Brendson Ribeiro in a big upset. He's since defended his LFA title against a solid regional LHW and gets another shot this year. He's 31 but that's not really old for a LHW. He's got decent pop on the feet but he's not that fast, but he has decent takedowns and good BJJ when he gets on top of people. He's also a finisher with only one of his 12 wins going the distance.
Sazhiniani is a Georgian training out of the Spitfire gym in Berlin which is a mixture of decent Georgian and German fighters. He's quite a physical fighter and tends to bully lower level guys. His one real step up against Murtaza Talha who was on the show didn't go so well though and he got beaten pretty easily.
Prediction - I doubt Lopes makes the same mistake he made last year twice. He's the superior grappler here and I don't think he's going to risk standing and banging for long and even if he does Sazhniani isn't the explosive puncher than Brendson was so I'm not sure it's the same type of threat. I suspect he's able to have his way in the grappling and get enough damage off for a first or second round stoppage by sub or ground and pound for a contract.
Featherweight - Jose Delgado (7-1) Vs Ernie Juarez (8-0)
Delgado is 26 and trains out of MMA Lab under John Crouch so is obviously at a very good gym. He had a loss to Chris Mecate last year but stays nice and active and has already fought and won three times in 2024. He's a pretty powerful guy who's a finisher and is on a 4 fight finish streak.
Juarez is the champ of A1 Combat which is Urijah Faber's promotion. He's a pretty exciting fighter who throws pretty hard and reasonably fast. I've seen him get stuck on his back a little bit before so there might be a grappling hole but he usually works hard to get out of there eventually and doesn't seem the type to give up on himself. Very good when coming forward, except he has a bit of a tendency to fall into clinches when he doesn't really need to.
Prediction - This is a razor thin one for me. Both guys are pretty decent and I can't see a real advantage for either. I think it's likely to play out on the feet, Delgado is a late replacement for Icaro Brito (which is lucky for Juarez as Icaro would have murdered him) so there could be a slight cardio issue if it's a high paced fight, although he fought recently and has been very active so it might not be such an issue. I'll go with Juarez to take a narrow decision in a close fight. Not sure if there'll be a contract, depends on how exciting the fight is.
Flyweight - Lone'er Kavanagh (6-0) Vs An Tuan Ho (6-0)
Kavanagh is a 25 year old who trains under Brad Pickett at GBTT and is for me the outstanding flyweight prospect outside the majors at the moment. Just a really well rounded fighter with outstanding hands and leg kicks and great speed and cardio. Dude can wrestle too, has good top BJJ and can push a pace, I can see him going to to be a contender one day.
Ho is only 23 years old and is another outstanding prospect out of MMA Lab. Known for some spectacular highlight reel finishes but had a slightly tougher time when he stepped up in competition although he still clearly one. Fast and with good power and BJJ and back takes. Kind of similarish to the other US based Asian flyweight UFC prospect Josh Van.
Predicition - I think this is arguably the fight of the season between two outstanding prospects so it's cool that it's also the first fight of the season and will hopefully set the tone. I expect a high paced, all action fight with some cool shit. I think both these guys could be ranked UFC fighters one day but I think Kavanagh is a little further on in his career and has fought and beaten the better guys at the moment. I favour him to win an all action decision in what should be a really good fight and I think he gets a contract. I actually think this could be one of those fights that could be good enough for both guys to get a contract.
So yeah, that's my week one predictions. Thanks to anyone who bothered to read it.
