Hot Take Fraud Check 2026

[HHJ]

Champs?

Tom , Yan and Van ... all lose the belt in 2026.

This is the world that the feeble want!

 

[Rio Ferdinand]

Aspinall.

Fucking negative aura on this bum

 

[TRYHARD 2001]

Throw Ateba Gautier on the list too. At some point he's going to have to face someone good or possibly even Top 15 (may be as soon as he runs through the next jobber they have him matched up against) and I don't see him having the right style to match up with the elites, no matter how much Bisping and Cormier talk about his traps. He seems a little stiff, walks right in with his head straight up, and throws bombs constantly; I dunno, it just seems like he's gonna gas hard when he fights someone who can stand up to his admittedly monstrous power shots and force him to fight hard for the full 15 minutes.

So yeah, put Gautier in there for 500, Alex.

 

[Reapzz]

I'm gonna be bold and say Shavkat starts losing in the next year. The injuries really hampered his career and WW nowadays is a lot of fire for anyone to come back to, let alone coming back with rust on ya

Was thinking along the same lines as well. MMA as a sport generally wears people down fast. Throw in injuries, and its rare and difficult to reach a high peak twice.

 

[Connection Lost]

Which fighters will get exposed/fraud checked next year? Basically, which fighter that is considered good/elite will lose a fight in 2026?

Turns out not a single fighter was ever good

 

[nonoob]

Cyril Gane

That's doubtful due to past history.

He's accurately followed the apparent ufc approved game plan of Jon Jones "never get a foul called" which will likely make Serial every bit as unbeatable.

Anyone Gane Fouls Will Be Ridiculed and Scorned Non-Stop By Dana, shills, bots, etc.

 

[fendertach]

If Tom hasn't exposed himself for being a fraud already, someone will do it for him in 2026.

 

[dominion]

Wellmaker and Mansur Abdul-Malik are two prospects that I don't see holding up to the improved comp they'll be fighting in the new year.

Bet they haven't been mentioned yet!!!

Wellmaker didn't make well against Ewing. I think he is already fraud checked

 

[TRYHARD 2001]

Wellmaker didn't make well against Ewing. I think he is already fraud checked

Based off of the conditions laid out by the TS (that a fighter will have to lose once to be declared a fraud...) yes he was. I suspect this was also a case of Ewing being that good, Ethyn being in excellent fight shape (won by KO a week before after a full camp), and Wellmaker having to fight a better opponent than he's ever fought before. That, and I don't think he's as good as the announcers have said. If they match him up with a durable but otherwise unremarkable grappler in his next fight, I suspect the fraud check will be complete.

I'm not entirely convinced Wellmaker's a fraud yet, so I'll need to see how he bounces back before I drop that label on him. Yes, I've moved the goalposts here, but I'm entitled. Check my join date and despair.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Erick Silva

GTFO! He will hit his full potential in 2026. Still young. Stop being a TUF noob.

 

[Portland8242]

However this crash course develops - Ian Garry will fight Michael Morales, school him in a boring 50-45 and A LOT of people are going to be furious at Morales.

 

[TheNewGame]

Pereira (if he fights Khamzat)
Topuria (if he fights Arman)
Anthony Hernandez

 

[Egészségére!]

DDP if I had to pick

Not that he’s a “fraud” but there’s a decent chance it’s mostly downhill for him from here on out

 

[FriskyRandy]

Remeber the name, Josh Hokit going forward, he’s an undefeated HW at 7-0, all his wins coming by finish 4 TKO/KO and 3.submissions, I’m expecting him to be the be fraud checking the HW prospects and potentially knocking a fighter out of the top half of the rankings.

I think you meant to put this in the top prospect thread, because this post is retarded

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Pereira (if he fights Khamzat)
Topuria (if he fights Arman)
Anthony Hernandez

Topuria will be exposed as a fraud if he fights Khamzat

 

[jsbx45]

I don’t know about Yan, but can see the other two.

Agree 100%. My question for you is who's going to bang the guys that lose?

 

[stephen90]

I think Strictland will move from the elite to middle of the pack.

Wasn't he always that? Strickland just happened to catch Adesanya on the right night.

 

[shh]

If Tom hasn't exposed himself for being a fraud already, someone will do it for him in 2026.

He did more than enough in 2025. In 2026 he should go into oblivion. Unfortunately, it wont happen because he will probably win rematch with Gane. And then sherdog will once again become insufferable cesspool riddled with Peeping Tom fanboys.

 

[Senbonzakura]

Aiemann Zahabi

 

[The_Renaissance]

I'm gonna be bold and say Shavkat starts losing in the next year. The injuries really hampered his career and WW nowadays is a lot of fire for anyone to come back to, let alone coming back with rust on ya

Great shout, and I'm a huge Shavkat fan.