Limelight My big stupid hype trains thread.

diniz1.jpg


Jhonata Diniz

Country - Brazil
Weight Class - Heavyweight
Age : 33
Promotion - Immortal FC
Team - Santa Fe Team
Record : 5-0

I'll take what I can get at heavyweight and although he's already 33, Diniz is a former Glory heavyweight kickboxer who seems to be adapting okay to MMA so far. His opponent was very low level but his understanding of at least defending the single leg seems to be there, which bodes well for him keeping it on the feet. Obviously if he can keep it on the feet then he's extremely dangerous, with his knees in particular being extremely nasty.

I filmed his fight last weekend, his last opponent was a journeyman but certainly no can, used to train with Falcao, and had only lost against reasonably good guys like Ronny Markes etc... He's super anti social, doesn't party, doesn't go out so his focus is in the right spot. He'll have to work on his grappling and wrestling but his striking is top notch.
 
I filmed his fight last weekend, his last opponent was a journeyman but certainly no can, used to train with Falcao, and had only lost against reasonably good guys like Ronny Markes etc... He's super anti social, doesn't party, doesn't go out so his focus is in the right spot. He'll have to work on his grappling and wrestling but his striking is top notch.

I think he's kind of become a can tbh, he looked really badly out of shape.
 
I think he's kind of become a can tbh, he looked really badly out of shape.

Yeah, but still not to be underestimated. Managed to land some punches, and you saw what that did to Thiago Frasson on the same event right?
 
Yeah, but still not to be underestimated. Managed to land some punches, and you saw what that did to Thiago Frasson on the same event right?

Yeah that was hilarious, but Frasson looks to be a can himself.
 
Updated rankings

Since last time #15 Heavyweight Denzel Freeman signed for PFL

Heavyweight
  1. Shamil Gaziev (31/Russia/10-0)
  2. Kirill Kornilov (31/Russia/15-1-1)
  3. Ben Tynan (28/Canada/3-0)
  4. Jhonata Diniz (33/Brazil/5-0) (New entry)
  5. Alikhan Vakhaev (29/Russia/12-3)
  6. Slim Trabelsi (30/Tunisia/5-0)
  7. Thomas Petersen (27/USA/7-1)
  8. Eduardo Neves - (22/Brazil/7-1)
  9. Mukhamed Vakhaev (32/Russia/11-6-1)
  10. Adam Bogatyrev (27/Russia/9-3)
  11. Aleksandr Maslov (29/Russia/9-1)
  12. Alexander Soldatkin (29/Russia/13-3)
  13. Tsuyoshi Sudario (25/Japan/6-2)
  14. Grigoriy Ponomarev (27/Russia/6-2)
  15. Anton Vyazigin (29/Russia/15-4)
  16. Ricardo Prasel (32/Brazil/13-4)
  17. Robelis Despaigne (Cuba/1-0)
  18. Said-Magomed Gutaev (21/Russia/1-0)
  19. Greg Velasco (29/USA/5-0)
  20. Jordan Heiderman (31/USA/6-0)
  21. Adam Palasz (32/Poland/8-1)
  22. Stefan Vojcak (Slovakia/6-0

Light Heavyweight

  1. Oumar Sy (France/8-0) (Up 1 place)
  2. Muslim Magomedov (27/Russia/12-0)
  3. Bruno Lopes (29/Brazil/11-0)
  4. Bogdan Gnidko (21/Ukraine/9-0)
  5. Elkhan Musaev (Russia/10-1)
  6. Rodolfo Bellato (26/Brazil/9-2)
  7. Diyar Nurgozhay (24/Kazakhstan/8-0)
  8. Faridun Odilov (30/Tajikistan/16-2-2)
  9. Yuri Panferov (26/Russia/6-0)
  10. Nasrudin Nasrudinov (31/Russia/10-2)
  11. Kerim Daudov (24/Kazakhstan/7-0)
  12. Igor Glazkov (23/Russia/8-0)
  13. Grigor Matevosyan (29/Armenia/11-3)
  14. Damian Piwowarczyk (25/Poland/6-2) (Re-entry)
  15. Ivan Erslan (31/Croatia/12-2)
  16. Acacio Dos Santos (31/Brazil/15-5)
  17. Asylzhan Bakhytzhanuly (Kazakhstan/14-4-1)
  18. Nikolay Kovalenko (Russia/7-1)
  19. Uran Satybaldiev (Kyrgyzstan/5-1)

Middleweight

  1. Lucas Fernando (25/Brazil/9-1)
  2. Vladimir Mineev (32/Russia/16-1-1)
  3. Murtaza Talha Ali (Bahrain/6-0)
  4. Magomedrasul Gasanov (Russia/18-2)
  5. Eli Aronov (26/Israel/6-0)
  6. Matej Penaz (25/Czechia/7-1)
  7. Salamu Abdurakhmanov (Russia/14-1)
  8. Azamat Bekoev (26/Russia/15-3)
  9. Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz (32/Canada/10-2)
  10. Boris Medvedev (Russia/15-2)
  11. Will Currie (24/England/9-2)
  12. In Soo Hwang (South Korea/6-1)
  13. Djati Melan (Senegal/8-1)
  14. Dylan Budka (22/USA/5-1)
  15. Ibragim Magomedov (27/Russia/10-2)
  16. Chad Hanekom (South Africa/9-2)
  17. Vladimir Vasiliyev (23/Russia/10-2-1)
  18. Vladislav Yankovskiy (Belarus/9-1)
  19. Florian Aberger (Austria/9-1)
  20. Ozzy Diaz (32/USA/7-2)
  21. Vlasto Cepo (27/Serbia/11-2)
  22. Cezary Kesik (32/Poland/13-3)
  23. Virgil Augen (26/France/4-0)
  24. Naglis Kanisauskas (22/Lithuania/5-2)
  25. Khaled Laallam (Sweden/2-0)

Welterweight

  1. Abdoul Abdouraguimov (27/France/16-1)
  2. Cezary Oleksiejczuk (22/Poland/11-2)
  3. Samandar Murodov (23/Tajikistan/8-0)
  4. Baissangour Chamsoudinov (21/France/6-0)
  5. Isaac Moreno (25/USA/5-0)
  6. Vitaly Slipenko (27/Ukraine/16-4)
  7. Tahir Abdullaev (25/Azerbaijan/15-2)
  8. Shamil Musaev (28/Russia/15-0-1)
  9. Shakhban Alkhasov (25/Russia/7-0)
  10. Felix Klinkhammer (29/Germany/8-0)
  11. Magomed Magomedov (27/Bahrain/11-0)
  12. Ramazan Kuramagomedov (Russia/10-0)
  13. Adrian Bartosinski (27/Poland/13-0)
  14. Islam Dulatov (24/Germany/8-1)
  15. Kamal Magomedov (30/Russia/10-0)
  16. Ilyas Khamzin (31/Russia/11-2)
  17. Ray Waters (USA/3-0)
  18. James Llontop (23/Peru/12-2)
  19. Temirkhan Temirkhanov (24/Russia/8-1)
  20. Denis Maher (28/Belarus/8-1)
  21. Alfonso Leyva (29/Mexico/6-1)
  22. Kaik Brito (25/Brazil/16-4)
  23. Justin Burlinson (25/England/8-2)
  24. Mateusz Figlak (Poland/7-2)
  25. Jacobe Smith (27/USA/5-0) (New entry)
Lightweight

  1. Adam Masaev (22/Russia/9-0)
  2. Magomed Kabardiev (27/Kazakhstan/9-0)
  3. Cristian Perez (23/Mexico/11-1)
  4. Tom Nolan (22/Australia/5-0) (Up 12 places)
  5. Yusuf Raisov (27/Russia/20-3)
  6. Vasiliy Takhtay (Kazakhstan/9-0)
  7. Khalid Satuev (28/Russia/12-0)
  8. Charlie Campbell (27/USA/6-2)
  9. George Hardwick (26/England/11-1)
  10. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (23/USA/5-1)
  11. Yann Liasse (Luxembourg/9-1)
  12. Samat Mamedov (Kazakhstan) (5-0)
  13. Jose Ferreira (24/Chile/10-0)
  14. Milson Castro (29/Brazil/14-4)
  15. Brendo Bispo (29/Brazil/17-5)
  16. Jack Becker (29/Australia/10-3)
  17. Luiz Gustavo (26/Brazil/12-2)
  18. Adam Cullen (24/England/6-0)
  19. Dylan Salvador (29/France/5-1)
  20. Lee Hammond (26/Ireland/5-0)
  21. Predrag Bogdanovic (Serbia/14-0)
  22. Blake Donnelly (Australia/7-1) (New entry)
  23. Angel Alvarez (27/Cuba/5-1)
  24. Lucas Clay (27/USA/9-2)
  25. Anthony Romero (25/Canada/12-1)
 
Featherweight

  1. Losene Keita (25/Senegal/10-0)
  2. Salahdine Parnasse (25/France/17-1)
  3. Evgeniy Ignatiev (27/Russia/20-2-2)
  4. Islam Omarov (25/Russia/13-0)
  5. Alikhan Suleymanov (19/Russia/15-3)
  6. Paul Hughes (Northern Ireland/9-1)
  7. Bibert Tumenov (25/Russia/12-2)
  8. Jose Delano (26/Brazil/12-3)
  9. Tae Kyun Kim (South Korea/9-1)
  10. Wellington Prado (23/Brazil/13-2)
  11. Marcio Barbosa (24/Brazil/13-2)
  12. Bruno Fontes (27/Brazil/6-0)
  13. Kevin Vallejos (21/Argentina/10-0) (New entry)
  14. Andrey Goncharov (25/Russia/16-4)
  15. Diego Lopes (27/Brazil/21-5)
  16. Mukhamed Eminov (Russia/18-1)
  17. Dawid Smielkowski (27/Poland/10-0)
  18. Hyder Amil (32/USA/7-0)
  19. Mochamed Machaev (23/Austria/13-1) (New entry)
  20. Jordan Vucenic (26/England/10-2)
  21. Patryk Kaczmarczyk (24/Poland/9-2)
  22. Ilkhom Nazimov (27/Uzbekistan/9-3)
  23. Hae Jin Park (30/South Korea/10-2)
  24. Luke Riley (23/England/5-0)
  25. Harry Hardwick (England/9-3-1)

Bantamweight

  1. Rustam Kerimov (30/Russia/17-1)
  2. Renat Khavalov (24/Russia/7-0)
  3. Felipe Lima (24/Brazil/11-1)
  4. Austin Bashi (21/USA/8-0)
  5. Jean Matsumoto (Brazil/13-0)
  6. Mehdi Baidulaev (25/Russia/15-2)
  7. Khuseyn Shaykhaev (25/Russia/12-0)
  8. Bernardo Sopai (22/Albania/10-2)
  9. Dzhamaludin Aliev (24/Russia/8-0)
  10. Rahkim Midaev (27/Russia/11-1)
  11. Nicholas Hwende (Zimbabwe/6-0)
  12. Muin Gafurov (26/Tajikistan/18-4)
  13. Vinicius De Oliveira (27/Brazil/18-3)
  14. Fernando Laurenco (28/Brazil/16-3)
  15. Herbeth Sousa (28/Brazil/15-2)
  16. Otar Tanzilov (24/Georgia/9-0)
  17. Rodrigo Vera (27/Peru/15-1-1)
  18. Khalim Nazruloev (24/Takjikistan/6-0)
  19. Kai Asakura (29/Japan/19-4)
  20. Jakub Wiklacz (26/Poland/14-3-1)
  21. Levi Mowles (27/USA/16-4)
  22. Mitch McKee (25/USA/4-0)
  23. Yanis Ghemmouri (27/France/11-1)
  24. Caolan Loughran (23/Ireland/7-0)
  25. Michele Martignoni (27/Italy/8-1)

Flyweight

  1. Azat Maksum (27/Kazakhstan/16-0)
  2. Igor Da Silva (19/Brazil/7-0)
  3. Lone’er Kavanagh (23/England/5-0) (New entry)
  4. Azamat Kerefov (Russia/16-0)
  5. Jaret Betancourt (24/USA/4-0)
  6. Makoto Takahashi (22/Japan/15-1-1)
  7. Joshua Van (21/Myanmar/7-1)
  8. Murad Magomedov (Russia/13-0)
  9. Asu Almabaev (28/Kazakhstan/17-2)
  10. Davi Costa (Brazil/14-3)
  11. Tony Laramie (23/Canada/6-2)
  12. Alibi Idiris (27/Kazakhstan/7-0)
  13. Jung Hyun Lee (20/South Korea/8-0)
  14. Daniyar Toychubek (21/Kyrgyzstan/6-0) (New entry)
  15. Dias Erengaipov (27/Kazakhstan/14-3)
  16. Andres Luna Martinetti (27/Ecuador/13-1)
  17. Imran Bukuev (26/Russia/14-3)
  18. Abdula Aliev (26/Russia/11-1)
  19. Joao Elias (27/Brazil/17-4-1)
  20. Eduardo Henrique (27/Brazil/10-2)
  21. Oleksii Kryvets (25/Ukraine/6-0)
  22. Christian Natividad (USA/5-0)
  23. Mitch Raposo (24/USA/7-1)
  24. An Ho (22/Vietnam/3-0)
  25. Luciano Pereira (22/Uruguay/13-0)

Women's Bantamweight plus

  1. Melissa Dixon (31/England/5-0)
  2. Darya Zheleznyakova (26/Russia/7-1)
  3. Lucia Szabova (24/Slovakia/6-0)
  4. Jasmine Favero (22/Italy/2-0)
  5. Firuza Sharipova (28/Kazakhstan/2-0)
  6. Evelyn Martins (20/Brazil/4-0)
  7. Jacqueline Cavalcanti (25/Portugal/4-1)
  8. Taneisha Tennant (33/USA/5-2)
  9. Lisa Verzosa (27/USA/6-2)
  10. Hope Chase (24/USA/3-1)
  11. Olga Rubin (33/Israel/8-3)
  12. Melissa Croden (30/Canada/4-1)
  13. Alexia Thainara (25/Brazil/7-1)

Women's Flyweight

  1. Jamey Lyn Horth (32/Canada/5-0)
  2. Stephanie Geltmacher (32/USA/5-1)
  3. Ivana Petrovic (27/Norway/5-0)
  4. Ketlen Souza (27/Brazil/13-3)
  5. Melissa Amaya (27/USA/5-0)
  6. Qihui Yan (26/China/22-4)
  7. Alexandra Tekenah (France/3-1)
  8. Claire Guthrie (27/USA/5-1)
  9. Luana Santos (22/Brazil/5-1)
  10. Kristina Williams (33/USA/6-4)
  11. Thaiany Lopes (21/Brazil/4-0)
  12. Assia Miri (19/France/1-1)
  13. Nayara Maia (32/Brazil/7-1-1)
  14. Karoline Martins (25/Brazil/9-5)
  15. Veronika Borisova (21/Russia/5-0)
  16. Liana Pirosin (29/Brazil/8-5)
  17. Kaytlin Neil (30/USA/6-4)
Strawweight minus

  1. Fatima Kline (22/USA/4-0)
  2. Josefine Knutsson (26/Sweden/5-0)
  3. Maria Silva (27/Brazil/8-1)
  4. Giovanna Canuto (19/Brazil/4-0)
  5. Seika Izawa (25/Japan/9-0)
  6. Ewelina Wozniak (29/Poland/7-1)
  7. Shauna Bannon (29/Ireland/5-0) (New entry)
  8. Julia Polastri (24/Brazil/11-3)
  9. Sveltana Gotsyk (26/Ukraine/13-5)
  10. Hannah Rokala (25/USA/1-0)
  11. Jacinta Austin (28/Australia/4-1)
  12. Jessica Delboni (29/Brazil/12-4)
  13. Rose Conceicao (25/Brazil/6-0)
  14. Valesca Machado (27/Brazil/12-4)
  15. Tani Torres (Mexico/5-0)
  16. Yasmin Castanho (26/Brazil/5-1)
  17. Saray Orozco (31/Mexico/7-5)
  18. Sofia Bagishvili (23/Georgia/7-2)
  19. Fabiola Pidroni (29/Italy/5-0)
  20. Marnic Mann (29/USA/5-1)
  21. Brenda Gottig (31/Argentina/6-1)
  22. Anastasia Svetkivska (25/Ukraine/2-2)
  23. Talita Alencar (32/Brazil/3-0)
  24. Ediana Silva (21/Brazil/12-4)
  25. Karolina Wojcik (28/Poland/11-3)
 
Updated rankings

Since last time #15 Heavyweight Denzel Freeman signed for PFL

Heavyweight
  1. Shamil Gaziev (31/Russia/10-0)
  2. Kirill Kornilov (31/Russia/15-1-1)
  3. Ben Tynan (28/Canada/3-0)
  4. Jhonata Diniz (33/Brazil/5-0) (New entry)
  5. Alikhan Vakhaev (29/Russia/12-3)
  6. Slim Trabelsi (30/Tunisia/5-0)
  7. Thomas Petersen (27/USA/7-1)
  8. Eduardo Neves - (22/Brazil/7-1)
  9. Mukhamed Vakhaev (32/Russia/11-6-1)
  10. Adam Bogatyrev (27/Russia/9-3)
  11. Aleksandr Maslov (29/Russia/9-1)
  12. Alexander Soldatkin (29/Russia/13-3)
  13. Tsuyoshi Sudario (25/Japan/6-2)
  14. Grigoriy Ponomarev (27/Russia/6-2)
  15. Anton Vyazigin (29/Russia/15-4)
  16. Ricardo Prasel (32/Brazil/13-4)
  17. Robelis Despaigne (Cuba/1-0)
  18. Said-Magomed Gutaev (21/Russia/1-0)
  19. Greg Velasco (29/USA/5-0)
  20. Jordan Heiderman (31/USA/6-0)
  21. Adam Palasz (32/Poland/8-1)
  22. Stefan Vojcak (Slovakia/6-0

Light Heavyweight

  1. Oumar Sy (France/8-0) (Up 1 place)
  2. Muslim Magomedov (27/Russia/12-0)
  3. Bruno Lopes (29/Brazil/11-0)
  4. Bogdan Gnidko (21/Ukraine/9-0)
  5. Elkhan Musaev (Russia/10-1)
  6. Rodolfo Bellato (26/Brazil/9-2)
  7. Diyar Nurgozhay (24/Kazakhstan/8-0)
  8. Faridun Odilov (30/Tajikistan/16-2-2)
  9. Yuri Panferov (26/Russia/6-0)
  10. Nasrudin Nasrudinov (31/Russia/10-2)
  11. Kerim Daudov (24/Kazakhstan/7-0)
  12. Igor Glazkov (23/Russia/8-0)
  13. Grigor Matevosyan (29/Armenia/11-3)
  14. Damian Piwowarczyk (25/Poland/6-2) (Re-entry)
  15. Ivan Erslan (31/Croatia/12-2)
  16. Acacio Dos Santos (31/Brazil/15-5)
  17. Asylzhan Bakhytzhanuly (Kazakhstan/14-4-1)
  18. Nikolay Kovalenko (Russia/7-1)
  19. Uran Satybaldiev (Kyrgyzstan/5-1)

Middleweight

  1. Lucas Fernando (25/Brazil/9-1)
  2. Vladimir Mineev (32/Russia/16-1-1)
  3. Murtaza Talha Ali (Bahrain/6-0)
  4. Magomedrasul Gasanov (Russia/18-2)
  5. Eli Aronov (26/Israel/6-0)
  6. Matej Penaz (25/Czechia/7-1)
  7. Salamu Abdurakhmanov (Russia/14-1)
  8. Azamat Bekoev (26/Russia/15-3)
  9. Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz (32/Canada/10-2)
  10. Boris Medvedev (Russia/15-2)
  11. Will Currie (24/England/9-2)
  12. In Soo Hwang (South Korea/6-1)
  13. Djati Melan (Senegal/8-1)
  14. Dylan Budka (22/USA/5-1)
  15. Ibragim Magomedov (27/Russia/10-2)
  16. Chad Hanekom (South Africa/9-2)
  17. Vladimir Vasiliyev (23/Russia/10-2-1)
  18. Vladislav Yankovskiy (Belarus/9-1)
  19. Florian Aberger (Austria/9-1)
  20. Ozzy Diaz (32/USA/7-2)
  21. Vlasto Cepo (27/Serbia/11-2)
  22. Cezary Kesik (32/Poland/13-3)
  23. Virgil Augen (26/France/4-0)
  24. Naglis Kanisauskas (22/Lithuania/5-2)
  25. Khaled Laallam (Sweden/2-0)

Welterweight

  1. Abdoul Abdouraguimov (27/France/16-1)
  2. Cezary Oleksiejczuk (22/Poland/11-2)
  3. Samandar Murodov (23/Tajikistan/8-0)
  4. Baissangour Chamsoudinov (21/France/6-0)
  5. Isaac Moreno (25/USA/5-0)
  6. Vitaly Slipenko (27/Ukraine/16-4)
  7. Tahir Abdullaev (25/Azerbaijan/15-2)
  8. Shamil Musaev (28/Russia/15-0-1)
  9. Shakhban Alkhasov (25/Russia/7-0)
  10. Felix Klinkhammer (29/Germany/8-0)
  11. Magomed Magomedov (27/Bahrain/11-0)
  12. Ramazan Kuramagomedov (Russia/10-0)
  13. Adrian Bartosinski (27/Poland/13-0)
  14. Islam Dulatov (24/Germany/8-1)
  15. Kamal Magomedov (30/Russia/10-0)
  16. Ilyas Khamzin (31/Russia/11-2)
  17. Ray Waters (USA/3-0)
  18. James Llontop (23/Peru/12-2)
  19. Temirkhan Temirkhanov (24/Russia/8-1)
  20. Denis Maher (28/Belarus/8-1)
  21. Alfonso Leyva (29/Mexico/6-1)
  22. Kaik Brito (25/Brazil/16-4)
  23. Justin Burlinson (25/England/8-2)
  24. Mateusz Figlak (Poland/7-2)
  25. Jacobe Smith (27/USA/5-0) (New entry)
Lightweight

  1. Adam Masaev (22/Russia/9-0)
  2. Magomed Kabardiev (27/Kazakhstan/9-0)
  3. Cristian Perez (23/Mexico/11-1)
  4. Tom Nolan (22/Australia/5-0) (Up 12 places)
  5. Yusuf Raisov (27/Russia/20-3)
  6. Vasiliy Takhtay (Kazakhstan/9-0)
  7. Khalid Satuev (28/Russia/12-0)
  8. Charlie Campbell (27/USA/6-2)
  9. George Hardwick (26/England/11-1)
  10. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (23/USA/5-1)
  11. Yann Liasse (Luxembourg/9-1)
  12. Samat Mamedov (Kazakhstan) (5-0)
  13. Jose Ferreira (24/Chile/10-0)
  14. Milson Castro (29/Brazil/14-4)
  15. Brendo Bispo (29/Brazil/17-5)
  16. Jack Becker (29/Australia/10-3)
  17. Luiz Gustavo (26/Brazil/12-2)
  18. Adam Cullen (24/England/6-0)
  19. Dylan Salvador (29/France/5-1)
  20. Lee Hammond (26/Ireland/5-0)
  21. Predrag Bogdanovic (Serbia/14-0)
  22. Blake Donnelly (Australia/7-1) (New entry)
  23. Angel Alvarez (27/Cuba/5-1)
  24. Lucas Clay (27/USA/9-2)
  25. Anthony Romero (25/Canada/12-1)
Wow! Denzel Freeman, what a name to be an actor and he ended up fighting MMA for PFL.
 
Might be time for a Cody Davis hypetrain. He's a 7-1 LFA Flyweight and he's looked great in his last couple of fights. He's only 5'3, but he seems super strong and super fast.
 
Azat Maksum officially has a cleared VISA and can fight in the US. Hopefully we see Bekzat Almakhan, Kabardiev and a few others follow suit. Curious if that's the issue with Samandar at this point too, his team said they had news 4 or 5 days ago pertaining to it coming soon but silence ever since.

 
About Piraev-Takhtay fight. According to Takhtay there were some misunderstanding about weight, and he can take fight at Piraev’s weight but if he got paid more. Plus, they have become kinda pals so might be another reason fight hasn’t happened.

Also found audio part from interview with Takhtay from February of 2022 where he says that UFC contacted him after his last fight but they want him to sign contract for at least 3 fights and he said that he wanted “to make it 10-0” (and don’t know what, retire after that?).
Also saw in comments mentions that he is not only coach but also a politician in Kazakhstan.
 
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