Heavyweights outside the UFC they should sign

[HHJ]

Obviously some guys like Francis and Nemkov they just dont want for whatever reasons.
Rico might be getting the Usyk fight, so that would be out

Who is out there that they should they get?

 

[Ares Black]

Arslan Bilalov MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography - Sherdog.com

The industry pioneer in UFC, Bellator and all things MMA (aka Ultimate Fighting). MMA news, interviews, pictures, videos and more since 1997.

www.sherdog.com

6-0 HW Khabib

 

[jeskola]

UFC signed like 4 regional HW with 0 to 1 losses a few months ago and they have done jack shit.

HW TUFbon Paramount with alcohol needed

 

[Shay Brennan]

Anatoly Malykhin

 

[NicholasJBasile]

This is a good thread to keep your eyes on https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/my-big-stupid-hype-trains-thread.4162927/page-70

 

[Shay Brennan]

UFC signs past prime Bellator fighters (Pitbull, MVP, Chandler) but doesn't want to sign Nemkov and Usman who are in their absolute prime as of now and have been one of the very best fighters in the world for some time now.

Nemkov would run through that shallow HW division, just give him a chance.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Top ranked HWs outside the UFC are slim pickings.

Nemkov is the only one I actually want to see who I know would contend immediately.

Renan, Goltsov, Corey, Popov all suck.

Mfin PHILIP De FRIES, who I used to laugh about when he was getting smoked by Mitrione and Duffee, is probably the #2 alongside Nemkov which is incredibly weird to say in 2026.

 

[MMAProfessional]

Top ranked HWs outside the UFC are slim pickings.

Nemkov is the only one I actually want to see who I know would contend immediately.

Renan, Goltsov, Corey, Popov all suck.

Mfin PHILIP De FRIES, who I used to laugh about when he was getting smoked by Mitrione and Duffee, is probably the #2 alongside Nemkov which is incredibly weird to say in 2026.

Nemkov is good but I can't get the thought of him losing to Corey Anderson of all people until the headbutts. He will never be in the UFC though considering he recently resigned so even if he does it will be on after his prime. It's hard to tell PFL talent anyways. Patchy Mix was suppose to be one of the best at 135 and couldn't even beat a UFC new comer.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Nemkov is good but I can't get the thought of him losing to Corey Anderson of all people until the headbutts. He will never be in the UFC though considering he recently resigned so even if he does it will be on after his prime. It's hard to tell PFL talent anyways. Patchy Mix was suppose to be one of the best at 135 and couldn't even beat a UFC new comer.

Patchy was the biggest crossover disappointment since Gomi.
Yea, I said it.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Sam Alvey
But he’s more of a LHW

 

[RockyLockridge]

Obviously some guys like Francis and Nemkov they just dont want for whatever reasons.
Rico might be getting the Usyk fight, so that would be out

Who is out there that they should they get?

Im pretty sure they put a great deal of effort to keep francis

 

[HHJ]

Im pretty sure they put a great deal of effort to keep francis

Yes but that was then, I am talking about now.

 

[MMAProfessional]

Patchy was the biggest crossover disappointment since Gomi.
Yea, I said it.

Cro Cop is up there too. People were saying it was a done deal for him to be champ when he came over and never got close.

 

[theincognito]

Sticking to ones that are likely available at the moment and relatively young for realism:

Gable (soon to be 3-0)

Will Fleury (16-3)

Danylo Voievodkin (7-0)

Roman Lukashevich (10-0)

Tyrell Fortune (17-3)

Aleksandr Maslov (12-1)

Zumso Zuraev (9-0)

(I can't promise most of them would pass the drug tests though lmao)

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Cro Cop is up there too. People were saying it was a done deal for him to be champ when he came over and never got close.

March Madness will come on and I will out loud tell people here "Fuck Gonzaga" with everyone thinking I watch basketball while I don't.

(I can't promise most of them would pass the drug tests though lmao)

This is the real reason HW will never be like before

 

[Neck&Neck]

Didn’t they try to sign Nemkov?
But he wouldn’t accept that 12k/12k bag

 

[HHJ]

Didn’t they try to sign Nemkov?
But he wouldn’t accept that 12k/12k bag

Would you?

 

[Goatenstein]

Patchy was the biggest crossover disappointment since Gomi.
Yea, I said it.

Gomi was a post-prime alcoholic. Patchy Boy was supposedly a prime top 5 type of guy.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Would you?

Throw in a hot dog brander and you’ve got a deal

 

[HHJ]

Throw in a hot dog brander and you’ve got a deal

Dude was gettin paid probably 4 to 5 times that in Bellator. They basically are saying they dont want him.