Limelight My big stupid hype trains thread.

[CorninginChristianburg]

The quota must be kept constant, one Russian gets released, another gets signed. I wonder if a bunch off Eastern European guys get contracts on Contender Series this year if we see a huge release off the old and mediocre Eastern European fighters

By the end of the contender series there will be more russians in the league than there were before it.

The only fighters who really make sense to release are Max Grishin and Alexei Oleinik. They could easily sign twice as many by the midway point of the show.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

By the end of the contender series there will be more russians in the league than there were before it.

The only fighters who really make sense to release are Max Grishin and Alexei Oleinik. They could easily sign twice as many by the midway point of the show.

They did release Akhmedov and Yakovlev pretty recently. They might well not count Abus towards the quota due to him holding German nationality

 

[TorontoTO]

By the end of the contender series there will be more russians in the league than there were before it.

The only fighters who really make sense to release are Max Grishin and Alexei Oleinik. They could easily sign twice as many by the midway point of the show.

Andrei Arlovski, Blagoy Ivanov, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Shamil Gamzatov, Roman Kopylov, Sergey Khandozhko, Muslim Salikhov, Ramazan Emeev, Magomed Mustafaev, Zubaira Tukhugov

Guys who don't fight often due to visa issues or whatever or are middle off the road gatekeepers, ala Omari Akhmedov. Andrei makes alot for what he brings

 

[careto]

They did release Akhmedov and Yakovlev pretty recently. They might well not count Abus towards the quota due to him holding German nationality

I dont think they go by passports, though. Its the idea of promoting someone with an unpronounceable last name for Americans.

 

[TorontoTO]

Shamil resigning with KSW, I think he wins the belt, defends a couple of times, and moves on to UFC ala Gamrot

 

[CorninginChristianburg]

They did release Akhmedov and Yakovlev pretty recently. They might well not count Abus towards the quota due to him holding German nationality

Yeah, I also foresee it being like an Olympics style thing. Because we're seeing a surge in people from non-Russia CIS countries. Maybe it's only a matter of time before people get second passports.

Andrei Arlovski, Blagoy Ivanov, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Shamil Gamzatov, Roman Kopylov, Sergey Khandozhko, Muslim Salikhov, Ramazan Emeev, Magomed Mustafaev, Zubaira Tukhugov

Guys who don't fight often due to visa issues or whatever or are middle off the road gatekeepers, ala Omari Akhmedov. Andrei makes alot for what he brings

Don't just throw out russian sounding names. Andrei Arlovski is Belarusian/American. Blagoy Ivanov is Bulgarian. Those guys just straight up aren't Russian I don't know why you mentioned their names. They probably will be released but that has nothing to do with a "russian quota." Abdurakhimov has a fight scheduled for September and prior to that won 3 for his last 4. Shamil Gamzatov is 1-0 in the UFC and has a fight scheduled for October. Sergey Khandozhko is 1-1 and also has a fight scheduled. Muslim Salikhov is on a 5 fight win streak he just got added to the rankings. Ramazan Emeev is 5-1 in the UFC, won his last 2, he's also on the border of the rankings. None of those either make any sense or are even relevant.

Of the others you mentioned, Kopylov has had visa issues, but is one of the younger guys and will certainly get a second fight unless he perpetually can't get a visa (which wouldn't be resolved within the contender series duration), Mustafaev and especially Tukhogov have winning records in the promotion. You're too scarred by the UFC releasing Akhmedov. The UFC doesn't actually just release good fighters on good contracts with winning records left and right. If they feel tied down by a veteran underperforming on a bigger contract then they may release him. Trying to extrapolate that to newer fighters on cheap contracts or fighters on big win streaks is not the move. Maybe if, say Salikohv or Emeev lost 2 fights in a row, perhaps. But neither of them have a fight scheduled, between the time to schedule a fight, lose, schedule another fight, lose again, that's way past the timeframe of the contender series that we're discussing here.

 

[TorontoTO]

Yeah, I also foresee it being like an Olympics style thing. Because we're seeing a surge in people from non-Russia CIS countries. Maybe it's only a matter of time before people get second passports.


Don't just throw out russian sounding names. Andrei Arlovski is Belarusian/American. Blagoy Ivanov is Bulgarian. Those guys just straight up aren't Russian I don't know why you mentioned their names. They probably will be released but that has nothing to do with a "russian quota." Abdurakhimov has a fight scheduled for September and prior to that won 3 for his last 4. Shamil Gamzatov is 1-0 in the UFC and has a fight scheduled for October. Sergey Khandozhko is 1-1 and also has a fight scheduled. Muslim Salikhov is on a 5 fight win streak he just got added to the rankings. Ramazan Emeev is 5-1 in the UFC, won his last 2, he's also on the border of the rankings. None of those either make any sense or are even relevant.

Of the others you mentioned, Kopylov has had visa issues, but is one of the younger guys and will certainly get a second fight unless he perpetually can't get a visa (which wouldn't be resolved within the contender series duration), Mustafaev and especially Tukhogov have winning records in the promotion. You're too scarred by the UFC releasing Akhmedov. The UFC doesn't actually just release good fighters on good contracts with winning records left and right. If they feel tied down by a veteran underperforming on a bigger contract then they may release him. Trying to extrapolate that to newer fighters on cheap contracts or fighters on big win streaks is not the move. Maybe if, say Salikohv or Emeev lost 2 fights in a row, perhaps. But neither of them have a fight scheduled, between the time to schedule a fight, lose, schedule another fight, lose again, that's way past the timeframe of the contender series that we're discussing here.

In my original comment I never said Russian, I said Eastern European, since there are more then just Russians on this years Contender Series

 

[Hellowhosthat]

In my original comment I never said Russian, I said Eastern European, since there are more then just Russians on this years Contender Series

I think those countries have their own max quotas. I don't think it's related to the Russian one.

 

[CorninginChristianburg]

In my original comment I never said Russian, I said Eastern European, since there are more then just Russians on this years Contender Series

You said both actually...

The rate of CIS area fighters is actually increasing notably so I don't think that's a concern.

 

[TorontoTO]

I think those countries have their own max quotas. I don't think it's related to the Russian one.

I know Poland is 10. That is what I have heard from guys who I have trained with over here

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I know Poland is 10. That is what I have heard from guys who I have trained with over here

Makes sense, they have 8 at the moment with 2 on the contender series.

 

[CorninginChristianburg]

I know Poland is 10. That is what I have heard from guys who I have trained with over here

I don't think it's a number I think it's range. They currently have 9 but they've had more than 10, up to a 12 in the past (2018-2019). At the start of 2020 they had 11 but 2 were cut, one lost three in a row and got arrested the other lost 3 in a row and got busted for substances. They added Gamrot, that gives them 10, but then cut another guy for losing 3 in 4. So now they're at 9 but they're trying to add, so they're probably aiming ping-pong between 10 and 12.

And, I don't think a target range of 10-12 Poles is unreasonable, particularly given that many are veterans of the promotion and command larger salaries. The number of UFC fighters rises and falls a lot the UFC probably does have target ranges per country but the guiding principle isn't a body count but a salary cap. Even for the same amount of men, the UFC has likely paid out more (at least in base salary) to the active poles than the active kiwis, though the kiwis have probably performed better. And particularly for men, aside from Blachowicz, Poles really haven't had tremendous amounts of success in the promotion, or in other high level promotions, and the women have struggled lately as well. It's 9 right now, realistically it could be lower.

 

[David Street]

The quota must be kept constant, one Russian gets released, another gets signed. I wonder if a bunch off Eastern European guys get contracts on Contender Series this year if we see a huge release off the old and mediocre Eastern European fighters

I see he is listed as German.. Abusupiyan Magomedov not sure how many Germans allowed into UFC?

 

[Feniamin]

The EFC show seems to have been moved to today and I need to see BRAVE before I update the rankings. However here's what we have this week

EFC tonight with the same stuff I put in last weeks post.

SFT on Thursday

- Jean Matsumoto (?/Brazil/FLW/8-0) challenging for the Flyweight title against Wanderley Junior (27/Brazil/FLW/10-3) who's only losses are to Gustavo Erak, Joanderson Brito and Anderson Dos Santos so should be a decent test.
- Ketlen Souza (25/Brazil/BW/10-3) moving up a division on short notice to fight 9-4 Gisele Moreira for the BW title.

XFC on Friday

- Brett Martin (27/USA/HW/10-1) will hopefully come in looking a bit more professional this time as he's got a test in Kyle Noblitt (31/USA/HW/11-2)
- XFC golden boy Austin Bashi (19/USA/BW/3-0) I've found a bit boring so far, he fights 3-3 James Dunn

LUX on Friday

- Tania Torres (27/Mexico/SW/4-0) fights for the SW title in the tournament final against 6-4 Saray Orozco
- Francesco Patron Manzo (21/Mexico/LW/7-0) takes on 6-7 Erik Radleim

CES on Friday

- Carlos Candelario (30/USA/FLW/7-0) returns after a long layoff against 5-5-1 Miguel Restrepo

Eternal MMA on Friday

- Daniel Hill (25/Australia/LW/5-0) fights 11-7 Brentin Mumford for the belt (looks like this one got moved back)

Sky Warrior on Satuday

- Aldo Vargas (20/Bolivia/WW/6-0) takes on 5-6 Lautaro Ayala

According to Khabib EFC was moved from July 27 to August 3 because of Bellator event. And I don't think I've seen in any Russian sourced about July 31 as a date of event.

 

[Feniamin]

By the end of the contender series there will be more russians in the league than there were before it.

The only fighters who really make sense to release are Max Grishin and Alexei Oleinik. They could easily sign twice as many by the midway point of the show.

I am not sure I understand you right but judging by Wiki, in previous seasons combined there were 5 fighters with Russian citizenship on DWTNCS (Berzin, Shevchenko, Kuramagomedov, Khizriev, Bestaev). At the moment in this season there are 5 fighters too (maybe 6, Petrosyan also if we believe the thread about DWTNCS here).

They did release Akhmedov and Yakovlev pretty recently. They might well not count Abus towards the quota due to him holding German nationality

I think Akhmedov/his manager said that it was their decision to leave/test free agency.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Couple of Goat shed trained guys from the Titan show that aren't hype train worthy yet but worth keeping an eye on.

- Richie Lewis (27/USA/LW/2-0) - is pretty jacked for a LW and a high level wrestler. I wasn't that impressed with his debut, but he added a bit more ground and pound and aggression into his approach in this fight and it served him well. Seems kind of a douche though.

- Ryan Kuse (27/USA/BW/4-0) - is another good wrestler who seems to get fairly aggressive with the ground and pound. Was floating between mount and back control well. I've seen him a couple of times now and he's looked fine each time, but I'd kinda like to see him against better opposition before I make any judgements. I'd expect a good wrestler to be beating the guys he's beating.

 

[CorninginChristianburg]

I am not sure I understand you right but judging by Wiki, in previous seasons combined there were 5 fighters with Russian citizenship on DWTNCS (Berzin, Shevchenko, Kuramagomedov, Khizriev, Bestaev). At the moment in this season there are 5 fighters too (maybe 6, Petrosyan also if we believe the thread about DWTNCS here).

Right now there are 6 (Murzakanov, Askhabov, Nasrudinov, Duraev, Kuniev, Omargadzhiev), but only some 75% or so of the fights have been announced so that can and probably will increase by at least a slight margin when all fights are announced.

Couple of Goat shed trained guys from the Titan show that aren't hype train worthy yet but worth keeping an eye on.

- Richie Lewis (27/USA/LW/2-0) - is pretty jacked for a LW and a high level wrestler. I wasn't that impressed with his debut, but he added a bit more ground and pound and aggression into his approach in this fight and it served him well. Seems kind of a douche though.

- Ryan Kuse (27/USA/BW/4-0) - is another good wrestler who seems to get fairly aggressive with the ground and pound. Was floating between mount and back control well. I've seen him a couple of times now and he's looked fine each time, but I'd kinda like to see him against better opposition before I make any judgements. I'd expect a good wrestler to be beating the guys he's beating.

Really am not crazy about the goat shed haha there are just better gyms in the region, but these guys are good.

Lewis is like a more prideful version of Kyle Crutchmer haha. They're same height similar reach, not dissimilar wrestling styles. Lewis is at LW so his lack of height and reach will hurt less. He's also slightly more explosive or athletic. He's not as strong and his pressure/control is not as good, but against LWs that may be ok.

Kuse is fun to watch, he can really blast takedowns. He has a nice mix of trips and throws but the pressure is not always there yet. Tom Pagliarulo also took care of business over on the CES card, but I think none of them were supposed to lose their fights anyways so it is what it is, just the next step.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Right now there are 6 (Murzakanov, Askhabov, Nasrudinov, Duraev, Kuniev, Omargadzhiev), but only some 75% or so of the fights have been announced so that can and probably will increase by at least a slight margin when all fights are announced.


Really am not crazy about the goat shed haha there are just better gyms in the region, but these guys are good.

Lewis is like a more prideful version of Kyle Crutchmer haha. They're same height similar reach, not dissimilar wrestling styles. Lewis is at LW so his lack of height and reach will hurt less. He's also slightly more explosive or athletic. He's not as strong and his pressure/control is not as good, but against LWs that may be ok.

Kuse is fun to watch, he can really blast takedowns. He has a nice mix of trips and throws but the pressure is not always there yet. Tom Pagliarulo also took care of business over on the CES card, but I think none of them were supposed to lose their fights anyways so it is what it is, just the next step.

Yeah I caught Pagliarula's fight too, but he was fighting a guy making his pro debut who lost something like his last 4 ammy fights, so although he KO'd him easily, he should be doing that.

 

[CorninginChristianburg]

Yeah I caught Pagliarula's fight too, but he was fighting a guy making his pro debut who lost something like his last 4 ammy fights, so although he KO'd him easily, he should be doing that.

Yeah, that is the problem with these regional cards, most matches are squash matches. Just names to keep an eye on for now.

 

[Feniamin]

Right now there are 6 (Murzakanov, Askhabov, Nasrudinov, Duraev, Kuniev, Omargadzhiev), but only some 75% or so of the fights have been announced so that can and probably will increase by at least a slight margin when all fights are announced.


Really am not crazy about the goat shed haha there are just better gyms in the region, but these guys are good.

Lewis is like a more prideful version of Kyle Crutchmer haha. They're same height similar reach, not dissimilar wrestling styles. Lewis is at LW so his lack of height and reach will hurt less. He's also slightly more explosive or athletic. He's not as strong and his pressure/control is not as good, but against LWs that may be ok.

Kuse is fun to watch, he can really blast takedowns. He has a nice mix of trips and throws but the pressure is not always there yet. Tom Pagliarulo also took care of business over on the CES card, but I think none of them were supposed to lose their fights anyways so it is what it is, just the next step.

I think Askhabov brothers are French citizens. Btw I am not sure that Berzin has Russian citizenship (from what I can remember he was born in Russia but moved to USA years ago).