Marat Gafurov

KenkaBancho

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He's turning 35 this year and a hell of a fighter in the style of fellow Dagestani Khabib

16-2 with 13 finishes

Does he have enough in the tank to make a UFC run?
 
I like Gafurov but i don't think so.

He is a high level grappler but not one of the best, he lost to aoki handily in a grappling match.
He has poor striking defence and got by on his granite chin for a while but it eventually got cracked by Martin Nguyen...so he doesn't have that going for him anymore either.

I'd say he should concentrate on ONE. He is top 5 and could still make a run at the title.
He is a former champ with a memorable streak in ONE, whereas he would be a 35y.o. complete unknown in the UFC and probably wouldn't make it into the top 10.

Stick with ONE.
 
Why not talk about Yusup Saadulaev as well ? similar age and record (33 and 17-4) and also fighting in one FC

He is famous for his destroying slam of Hideo Tokoro

IMO both guys are where they belong
 
He's turning 35 this year and a hell of a fighter in the style of fellow Dagestani Khabib

16-2 with 13 finishes

Does he have enough in the tank to make a UFC run?

Do you even follow his career?

He got KOd recently by a random Japanese (and I really mean a random one)
 
Do you even follow his career?

He got KOd recently by a random Japanese (and I really mean a random one)

incredulous.gif

Not sure if trolling. Do you even follow JMMA?

Matsushima was the #1 ranked fighter at 145 in Pancrase and his last fight before fighting Gafurov was for the interim Pancrase featherweight title, which he lost by DQ. He essentially remains the #1 ranked fighter in Pancrase.

isao.jpg

But yes, please educate us more about how the #1 ranked fighter in Pancrase is a "random" Japanese.
 
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He would be outstriked badly in UFC FW division IMO
 
He is too old for a run honestly why not be a 2 division champion in One and retire
 
He is too old for a run honestly why not be a 2 division champion in One and retire
Seems hard when he isn't even a one division champion and just got KO'ed in a non-title fight.
 
incredulous.gif

Not sure if trolling. Do you even follow JMMA?

Matsushima was the #1 ranked fighter at 145 in Pancrase and his last fight before fighting Gafurov was for the interim Pancrase featherweight title, which he lost by DQ. He essentially remains the #1 ranked fighter in Pancrase.

View attachment 499285

But yes, please educate us more about how the #1 ranked fighter in Pancrase is a "random" Japanese.
Beat me to it. Matsushima has more of a chance in UFC than Gufarov imo.
 
Seems hard when he isn't even a one division champion and just got KO'ed in a non-title fight.
Yeah that why i said that ahah this is his challenge he can return stronger for 2-3 fight but his chin ...
 
incredulous.gif

Not sure if trolling. Do you even follow JMMA?

Matsushima was the #1 ranked fighter at 145 in Pancrase and his last fight before fighting Gafurov was for the interim Pancrase featherweight title, which he lost by DQ. He essentially remains the #1 ranked fighter in Pancrase.

View attachment 499285

But yes, please educate us more about how the #1 ranked fighter in Pancrase is a "random" Japanese.

Thank you for showing your tremendous ability to google thru random statistics without actually understanding what you're looking for.
He's #1 in Pancrase rankings? So what? You swallow UFC rankings either?
Or you can actually understand what you see by checking who he beat?

News flash: Gafurov was the only fighters Matsushima beat that was ranked anywhere close to top 40.
Isao is indeed a known, respectful FW, and he lost to Isao: guys like former KSW champ Kleber Koike Erbst would tie Matsushima into one knot.
Miku Asakura , Hioki, Takaya, Miyata - all of them are FWs known, with relevant wins and careers.
Matsushima, especially for the caliber Gafurov intended to be - indeed nothing more than a random Japanese.
And if you think he has any chance against Martin Nguyen, you're delusional.

And no, he won't be in the UFC before guys like Asakura or Erbst.
 
Thank you for showing your tremendous ability to google thru random statistics without actually understanding what you're looking for.
He's #1 in Pancrase rankings? So what? You swallow UFC rankings either?
Or you can actually understand what you see by checking who he beat?

News flash: Gafurov was the only fighters Matsushima beat that was ranked anywhere close to top 40.
Isao is indeed a known, respectful FW, and he lost to Isao: guys like former KSW champ Kleber Koike Erbst would tie Matsushima into one knot.
Miku Asakura , Hioki, Takaya, Miyata - all of them are FWs known, with relevant wins and careers.
Matsushima, especially for the caliber Gafurov intended to be - indeed nothing more than a random Japanese.
And if you think he has any chance against Martin Nguyen, you're delusional.

And no, he won't be in the UFC before guys like Asakura or Erbst.
I watch every Pancrase event you goof since Fightpass started airing the events. Hell, I'm pretty much the only guy who even makes Pancrase threads on Sherdog, like this one: http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/w...-with-posting-results.3878323/#post-147373385, and this one http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/j...inting-night-for-jmma.3823691/#post-144463741 and this one http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/pancrase-takasuke-kume-vs-kazuki-tokudome.3674359/#post-136600343

Yes, clearly I used Google to go back in time to post all those threads about Pancrase, and have no idea what I'm talking about.

Matsushima beat Kyle Aguon and Yusuke Kasuya, which are quality wins by any measure. He "lost" to Isao by DQ.

Hioki, Takaya and Miyata are all well past their primes and would be even odds with Matsushima at best. Asakura is legit and would be favored over Matsushima.

I would agree that Erbst and Nguyen would likely be (heavily) favored over Matsushima, although certainly Erbst would be favored over Gafurov at this point as well.
 
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I watch every Pancrase event you goof. Hell, I'm pretty much the only guy who even makes Pancrase threads on Sherdog, like this one: http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/w...-with-posting-results.3878323/#post-147373385, and this one http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/j...inting-night-for-jmma.3823691/#post-144463741 and this one http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/pancrase-takasuke-kume-vs-kazuki-tokudome.3674359/#post-136600343

Yes, clearly I used Google to go back in time to post all those threads about Pancrase, and have no idea what I'm talking about.

Matsushima beat Kyle Aguon and Yusuke Kasuya, which are quality wins by any measure. He "lost" to Isao by DQ.

Hioki, Takaya and Miyata are all well past their primes and would be even odds with Matsushima at best. Asakura is legit and would be favored over Matsushima.

I would agree that Erbst and Nguyen would likely be (heavily) favored over Matsushima, although certainly Erbst would be favored over Gafurov at this point as well.

Hmmm....fair enough.
You do bring knowledge, I agree. Though I'd like to argue with the overrating of Matsushima yet.

Kasuya's move to 145 looked to be a disaster. He looked like a decent LW, but as a FW he doesn't seem to be successful much.
Aguon is product of PXC. Very fun and underrated org, I have to say, reminds me of ONE with production and athmosphere. Sometimes it overrates their fighters, though.
Smolka, Dustin Kimura, Aguon, Russell Doane, Eugene Toquero - all of these guys are not as good as are hyped.

Overall Matsushima seems to be OK, but I wouldn't have ranked him even top 50 before his fight with Gafurov and now...I guess both of them are top 50
 
Hmmm....fair enough.
You do bring knowledge, I agree. Though I'd like to argue with the overrating of Matsushima yet.

Kasuya's move to 145 looked to be a disaster. He looked like a decent LW, but as a FW he doesn't seem to be successful much.
Aguon is product of PXC. Very fun and underrated org, I have to say, reminds me of ONE with production and athmosphere. Sometimes it overrates their fighters, though.
Smolka, Dustin Kimura, Aguon, Russell Doane, Eugene Toquero - all of these guys are not as good as are hyped.

Overall Matsushima seems to be OK, but I wouldn't have ranked him even top 50 before his fight with Gafurov and now...I guess both of them are top 50
Neither Gafurov or Matsushima are top 50 at 145 right now.

PXC hasn't had an event since March 2017. Probably safe to say it's dead.
 
incredulous.gif

Not sure if trolling. Do you even follow JMMA?

Matsushima was the #1 ranked fighter at 145 in Pancrase and his last fight before fighting Gafurov was for the interim Pancrase featherweight title, which he lost by DQ. He essentially remains the #1 ranked fighter in Pancrase.

View attachment 499285

But yes, please educate us more about how the #1 ranked fighter in Pancrase is a "random" Japanese.
He's a prospect I been high on since his Shooto Rookie Tourney run. He has some holes to fix (blitzing with his hands down is the main reason for his non-DQ losses) but he's an incredible athlete with one punch KO power. He has a good sense on the ground as well, knows when to explode and when to attack something. Far from a random fighter, I'd put him up there with the likes of Wakamatsu, the Asakura bros, Makoto Takahashi, and Koji Takeda as some of the top Japanese prospects at the moment.
 
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