Limelight My big stupid hype trains thread.

[TorontoTO]

Surprised to not see Ivan Shtyrkov in your rankings.

There is an age and bout number cut off, which Shtyrkov both is past

 

[FraudGoat]

This guy is making sure no chechen or dagestani fighters can join the UFC.

 

[Eternalwarriorking]

Going to try and get back into this in the new year.

Just thinking about rankings. Considering maybe counting ONE and PFL as major orgs as they tend to sign people on long term contracts and excluding fighters signed there from the rankings but not sure.

I've really enjoyed popping in periodically the past year to get a better sense of the international MMA landscape. Whatever you decide re: ONE and PFL, know that your efforts here are appreciated!

 

[TorontoTO]

Ya it's safe to say that once someone signs with PFL or ONE, they usually don't leave anytime soon.

 

[Ares Black]

We need a Bogdan Gnidko hype train, stat!!

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Gonna try and catch up with a few of these as should be quiet at work this week. Some of the descriptions might be a bit more brief than usual but I should give credit to people I've seen recently that I think are deserving.

We need a Bogdan Gnidko hype train, stat!!

Indeed we do

Bogdan Gnidko

Country - Ukraine
Weight Class - Light Heavyweight
Age : Not sure need to check
Promotion - KSW
Team - Kratos Team
Record : 9-0

I'm not sure what happens with this dude after the first couple of minutes of a fight, but so far nobody has been able to get him there so not a problem for now. During his KSW run so far he's faced two of the other bright prospects in the 205 division in Damian Piwowarczyk and Madalin Pirvulesu and steamed through them in a combined total of 45 seconds. Extremely aggressive and with massive explosiveness and KO power, he's a guy to watch for sure, no matter what happens when he finally touches those deep waters.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Salahdine Parnasse

Country - France
Weight Class - Featherweight/Lightweight
Age : 25
Promotion - KSW
Team - Atch Academy
Record : 17-1

I like to make even dudes who've been in the rankings since the start earn a hype train post and after a couple of performances which would have been fine for most people, but not for Parnagoat, he's finally claimed his hype train by moving up and absolutely dominating Seb Rajewski to take the interim Lightweight belt to go with his Featherweight one.

Although I've always thought of him as a striker, honestly his grappling might be even better than his striking now, with his bodylocks, sagging, back takes and active sub hunting proving too much to deal with. When a guy is as well rounded as Parnagoat is now, it's difficult to know what to do against him.

 

[TorontoTO]

Salahdine Parnasse

Country - France
Weight Class - Featherweight/Lightweight
Age : 25
Promotion - KSW
Team - Atch Academy
Record : 17-1

I like to make even dudes who've been in the rankings since the start earn a hype train post and after a couple of performances which would have been fine for most people, but not for Parnagoat, he's finally claimed his hype train by moving up and absolutely dominating Seb Rajewski to take the interim Lightweight belt to go with his Featherweight one.

Although I've always thought of him as a striker, honestly his grappling might be even better than his striking now, with his bodylocks, sagging, back takes and active sub hunting proving too much to deal with. When a guy is as well rounded as Parnagoat is now, it's difficult to know what to do against him.

Training with Barnaoui will do that.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Makoto Takahashi

Country - Japan
Weight Class - Flyweight
Age : 22
Promotion - CFFC
Team - Paraestra Matsudo
Record : 15-1-1

The only thing that had stopped me going all in on Makoto was that I thought he lacked a bit of physicality. Now he's growing into his early 20s, that seems to be less and less of an issue for him. This was the best performance of his career as he dominated a solid fighter in Diego Paiva in both his first fight outside Japan and his first time fighting a non-Japanese fighter. Adapting that quickly to take a title in his first fight in the US has to be a sign that big things are coming. Should probably follow Tatsuro Taira to the UFC soon.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Gabriel Santos

Country - Brazil
Weight Class - Featherweight
Age : 26
Promotion - LFA
Team - Evolucao Thai
Record : 9-0

Another hype train earned for a rankings fixture in Santos as he came back in a classic fight against Ticoto in what I can only describe as a Christian Lee like performance. Dude was badly, badly hurt by a big power puncher in the 1st, but somehow managed to hang on, keep the wherewithal to stay in the fight, start to come back and open the 2nd round with an incredible head kick for a come back victory in the Featherweight championship semi final fight. An even bigger task awaits him in the final as he clashes with Jose Delano in January for 145 gold and presumably a ticket to the big leagues.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Ilkhom Nazimov

Country - Uzbekistan
Weight Class - Featherweight
Age : 27
Promotion - UAE Warriors
Team -
Record : 9-2

This dude is one dextrous motherfucker. I was really impressed with how he seemed to be able to land a huge variety of different kicks from different angles, mixing in straight and spinny shit. Keeps pressure on while keeping range at the same time, looks tough to get in on. Also seems an opportunistic grappler, jumped on a ninja choke as soon as he had his man hurt for the finish.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Bruno Fontes

Country - Brazil
Weight Class - Featherweight
Age : 27
Promotion - Jungle Fight
Team - Fighter One
Record : 6-0

Yet another Brazilian Featherweight (do they have a factory down there or something), Fontes looked very good is dispatching of Willian Colorado who was supposed to be on the Contender Series this summer to take the Jungle Fight title. One of those fighters who doesn't seem to be excellent at anything in particular but is just very good at everything. Good solid boxing, good cardio, good composure to not get bothered by any of Colorado's taunting, good defence, good wrestling, good top game, good back takes. Just has something everywhere the fight goes.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Azamat Kerefov

Country - Russia
Weight Class - Flyweight
Age :
Promotion - UAE Warriors
Team -
Record : 16-0

Should give Azamat some shine now he's the latest dude to leave ACA to try and get into the UFC. After a while of trying he was finally able to get someone to fight him as he took on 10-1-1 Felipe Pereira and made it look pretty easy in beating someone with a good record. Clearly he's going to be far too good for most people he can fight on the regionals as he was already champ of the 2nd best Flyweight division in the world, but time will tell if the UFC decide to give him a chance or not.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Joshua Van

Country - Myanmar
Weight Class - Flyweight
Age : 21
Promotion - Fury FC
Team -4oz Fight Club
Record : 7-1

I don't think anyone improved more in 2022 than this dude. I caught his fight with Devon Jackson at the end of 2021 and he got pretty dominated, but fight after fight this year he's looked better and better to the point where after taking out Paris Moran and Cleveland McLean he's the man in the Fury flyweight division.

Fearless is a pretty good nickname for him because he will absolutely go for shit, maybe he shouldn't some of the time but it's fucking fun. Dude goes for calf slicers and other funky stuff. He's really good at striking off the break, has a nice varied striking arsenal and is showing much improved TDD and offensive wrestling.

Really nice jumping back take before working through good choke defence to take a decisive victory over a very solid regional flyweight who came in heavy.

Dude is kinda young, but he could be ready.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Josiel Silva

Country - Brazil
Weight Class - Flyweight/Bantamweight
Age : 31
Promotion - ACA
Team - Top Brother MMA
Record : 18-5

Not really a prospect per se and someone who's had his ups and downs in ACA, but Josiel seems to be developing into a top fighter on his current run and seems to be coming into his peak.

He's recently been displaying spectacular boxing, picking people apart, mixing in shots to the head and body, but against Islam Meshev he decided to start really sitting down on his punches and he knocked Meshev out with a spectacular hook inside a minute, becoming the first man to stop Meshev in his 23 fight career and extend his win streak to 5.

 

[FraudGoat]

Salahdine Parnasse

Country - France
Weight Class - Featherweight/Lightweight
Age : 25
Promotion - KSW
Team - Atch Academy
Record : 17-1

I like to make even dudes who've been in the rankings since the start earn a hype train post and after a couple of performances which would have been fine for most people, but not for Parnagoat, he's finally claimed his hype train by moving up and absolutely dominating Seb Rajewski to take the interim Lightweight belt to go with his Featherweight one.

Although I've always thought of him as a striker, honestly his grappling might be even better than his striking now, with his bodylocks, sagging, back takes and active sub hunting proving too much to deal with. When a guy is as well rounded as Parnagoat is now, it's difficult to know what to do against him.

Parnasse's striking seems to have declined somewhat. His jab has developed significantly and is now an integral part of his striking. He's less aggressive and "safe now." He's a lot more of a backfoot counter-striker than he used to be. But the problem is that he's not very good at it; his footwork really let him down in this regard because his lateral movement is subpar, he backs up in a straight line until he hits the fence too much for my liking. And because of his safer approach, he's also less aggressive with his counters and doesn't seize opportunities enough whenever his opponents provide him with an opening.

Then there are his recurring issues, such as his exaggerated head movement/ducking. And he can be stalled out in the clinch against the fence.

 

[TorontoTO]

Parnasse's striking seems to have declined somewhat. His jab has developed significantly and is now an integral part of his striking. He's less aggressive and "safe now." He's a lot more of a backfoot counter-striker than he used to be. But the problem is that he's not very good at it; his footwork really let him down in this regard because his lateral movement is subpar, he backs up in a straight line until he hits the fence too much for my liking. And because of his safer approach, he's also less aggressive with his counters and doesn't seize opportunities enough whenever his opponents provide him with an opening.

Then there are his recurring issues, such as his exaggerated head movement/ducking. And he can be stalled out in the clinch against the fence.

The Torres KO changed his striking, it was a freak KO really (like the forearm clipped the top of his head) and he seems to be more cautious now. He is still very young so we shall see

 

[Hellowhosthat]

First time I've done rankings for a while so they might look a bit different with ONE and PFL guys gone.

Heavyweight

1. Kirill Kornilov (31/Russia/13-1-1)
2. Alikhan Vakhaev (29/Russia/12-2)
3. Mukhamed Vakhaev (32/Russia/11-5-1)
4. Ben Tynan (28/Canada/3-0)
5. Shamil Gaziev (31/Russia/9-0)
6. Slim Trabelsi (30/Tunisia/5-0)
7. Thomas Petersen (27/USA/6-1)
8. Eduardo Neves - (22/Brazil/6-1)
9. Adam Bogatyrev (27/Russia/9-3)
10. Vitor Resende (32/Brazil/4-0)
11. Aleksandr Maslov (29/Russia/9-1)
12. Alexander Soldatkin (29/Russia/13-3)
13. Tsuyoshi Sudario (25/Japan/6-1)
14. Grigoriy Ponomarev (27/Russia/5-2)
15. Denzel Freeman (30/USA/3-0)
16. Anton Vyazigin (29/Russia/15-4)
17. Ricardo Prasel (32/Brazil/13-4)
18. Yusup Shuaev (Russia/9-1-1)
19. Robelis Despaigne (Cuba/1-0)
20. Jordan Heiderman (31/USA/6-0)
21. Greg Velasco (29/USA/5-0)

Light Heavyweight

1. Muslim Magomedov (27/Russia/12-0)
2. Oumar Sy (France/7-0)
3, Bruno Lopes (29/Brazil/11-0)
4. Bogdan Gnidko (Ukraine/9-0)
5. Elkhan Musaev (Russia/9-1)
6. Rodolfo Bellato (26/Brazil/8-2)
7. Nikolay Kovalenko (Russia/7-0)
8. Diyar Nurgozhay (24/Kazakhstan/8-0)
9. Lukasz Sudolski (29/Poland/10-1)
10. Yuri Panferov (26/Russia/4-0)
11. Nasrudin Nasrudinov (31/Russia/10-2)
12. Kerim Daudov (24/Kazakhstan/6-0)
13. Ivan Erslan (31/Croatia/12-2)
14. Igor Glazkov (23/Russia/7-0)
15. Grigor Matevosyan (29/Armenia/11-3)
16. Acacio Dos Santos (31/Brazil/14-5)
17. Asylzhan Bakhytzhanuly (Kazakhstan/13-4-1)
18. Junior Tafa (26/Australia/3-0)
19. Uran Satybaldiev (Kyrgyzstan/5-1)
20. Hasan Yousefi (29/Iran/8-5-1)
21. Amirkhan Guliev (Russia/12-2)
22. Chuck Campbell (USA/5-1)

Middleweight

1. Sharaputdin Magomedov (28/Russia/17-0)
2. Vladimir Mineev (32/Russia/16-1-1)
3. Murtaza Talha Ali (Bahrain/6-0)
4. Magomedrasul Gasanov (Russia/18-2)
5. Lucas Fernando (25/Brazil/8-1)
6. Christian Leroy Duncan (27/England/7-0)
7. Eli Aronov (26/Israel/6-0)
8. Salamu Abdurakhmanov (Russia/14-1)
9. Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz (32/Canada/10-2)
10. Matej Penaz (25/Czechia/6-1)
11. Azamat Bekoev (26/Russia/14-3)
12. Boris Medvedev (Russia/15-2)
13. Will Currie (24/England/9-2)
14. In Soo Hwang (South Korea/6-1)
15. Djati Melan (Senegal/8-1)
16. Faridun Odilov (30/Tajikistan/14-2-2)
17. Dylan Budka (22/USA/4-1)
18. Florian Aberger (Austria/9-0)
19. Chad Hanekom (South Africa/9-2)
20. Vladimir Vasiliyev (23/Russia/10-2-1)
21. Vladislav Yankovskiy (Belarus/9-1)
22. Mario Sousa (26/Brazil/15-3)
23. Ozzy Diaz (32/USA/7-2)
24. Ivan Valenzuela (30/Mexico/8-2)
25. Cezary Kesik (32/Poland/13-3)

Welterweight

1. Abdoul Abdouraguimov (27/France/15-1)
2. Cezary Oleksiejczuk (22/Poland/10-2)
3. Vitaly Slipenko (27/Ukraine/16-4)
4. Samandar Murodov (23/Tajikistan/8-0)
5. Tahir Abdullaev (25/Azerbaijan/14-2)
6. Shamil Musaev (28/Russia/15-0-1)
7. Baissangour Chamsoudinov (21/France/5-0)
8. Shakhban Alkhasov (25/Russia/7-0)
9. Felix Klinkhammer (29/Germany/8-0)
10. Kaleb Rideout (25/Australia/7-2)
11. Ramazan Kuramagomedov (Russia/10-0)
12. Isaac Moreno (25/USA/4-0)
13. Adrian Bartosinski (27/Poland/13-0)
14. Islam Dulatov (24/Germany/7-1)
15. Kamal Magomedov (30/Russia/10-0)
16. Ilyas Khamzin (31/Russia/11-2)
17. Rolando Bedoya (Peru/14-1)
18. Ray Waters (USA/3-0)
19. Magomed Magomedov (Bahrain/10-0)
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/7-2)
24. Mateusz Figlak (Poland/7-2)
25. Vadim Kutsy (31/Belarus/17-1)

Lightweight

1. Adam Masaev (22/Russia/9-0)
2. Magomed Kabardiev (27/Kazakhstan/9-0)
3. Losene Keita (24/Senegal/9-0)
4. Roberto Satoshi Souza (33/Brazil/14-1)
5. Milson Castro (29/Brazil/14-3)
6. Cristian Perez (23/Mexico/11-1)
7. Yusuf Raisov (27/Russia/19-3)
8. Vasiliy Takhtay (Kazakhstan/9-0)
9. Khalid Satuev (28/Russia/12-0)
10. Charlie Campbell (27/USA/6-2)
11. George Hardwick (26/England/11-1)
12. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (23/USA/5-1)
13. Yann Liasse (Luxembourg/9-1)
14. Samat Mamedov (Kazakhstan) 4-0)
15. Jose Ferreira (24/Chile/10-0)
16. Brendo Bispo (29/Brazil/17-5)
17. Jack Becker (29/Australia/10-3)
18. Tom Nolan (22/Australia/4-0)
19. Luiz Gustavo (26/Brazil/12-2)
20. Adam Cullen (24/England/6-0)
21. Melquizael Costa (26/Brazil/19-5)
22. Dylan Salvador (29/France/5-1)
23. Lee Hammond (26/Ireland/5-0)
24. Predrag Bogdanovic (Serbia/13-0)
25. Koji Takeda (27/Japan/15-3)

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Featherweight

1. Salahdine Parnasse (25/France/17-1)
2. Islam Omarov (25/Russia/12-0)
3. Alikhan Suleymanov (19/Russia/15-3)
4. Paul Hughes (Northern Ireland/9-1)
5. Bibert Tumenov (25/Russia/12-2)
6 Jose Delano (26/Brazil/12-2)
7. Tae Kyun Kim (South Korea/9-1)
8. Wellington Prado (23/Brazil/13-2)
9. Gabriel Santos (26/Brazil/9-0
10. Evgeniy Ignatiev (27/Russia/19-2-2)
11. Ilkhom Nazimov (27/Uzbekistan/9-2)
12. Anzor Chalaev (27/Russia/6-0)
13. Bruno Fontes (27/Brazil/6-0)
14. Marcio Barbosa (24/Brazil/13-2)
15. Andrey Goncharov (25/Russia/16-4)
16. Diego Lopes (27/Brazil/21-5)
17. Mukhamed Eminov (Russia/18-1)
18. Dawid Smielkowski (27/Poland/10-0)
19. Ary Farias (33/Brazil/12-3)
20. Hyder Amil (32/USA/7-0)
21. Jordan Vucenic (26/England/9-2)
22. Patryk Kaczmarczyk (24/Poland/9-2)
23. Hae Jin Park (30/South Korea/9-2)
24. Luke Riley (23/England/5-0)
25. Georgy Shakhururamazanov (Russia/12-1)

Bantamweight

1. Rustam Kerimov (30/Russia/17-0)
2. Renat Khavalov (24/Russia/7-0)
3. Felipe Lima (24/Brazil/11-1)
4. Austin Bashi (21/USA/8-0)
5. Khuseyn Shaykhaev (25/Russia/12-0)
6. Jean Matsumoto (Brazil/12-0)
7. Muin Gafurov (26/Tajikistan/18-4)
8. Vinicius De Oliveira (27/Brazil/17-3)
9. Mehdi Baidulaev (25/Russia/14-2)
10. Fernando Laurenco (28/Brazil/16-3)
11. Herbeth Sousa (28/Brazil/15-2)
12. Otar Tanzilov (24/Georgia/8-0)
13. Nicholas Hwende (Zimbabwe/5-0)
14. Kai Asakura (29/Japan/19-4)
15. Jakub Wiklacz (26/Poland/14-3-1)
16. Levi Mowles (27/USA/16-4)
17. Kevin Cordero (23/Spain/14-3)
18. Sebastian Przybysz (29/Poland/10-3)
19. Max Holzer (20/Germany/5-0)
20. Bernardo Sopai (22/Albania/9-2)
21. Rickson Thai Zenidim (23/Brazil/13-0)
22. Yanis Ghemmouri (27/France/11-1)
23. Nkosi Ndebele (South Africa/6-1)
24. Caolan Loughran (23/Ireland/7-0)
25. Michele Martignoni (26/Italy/8-1)

Flyweight

1. Igor Da Silva (19/Brazil/7-0)
2. Azamat Kerefov (Russia/16-0)
3. Azat Maksum (27/Kazakhstan/15-0)
4. Jaret Betancourt (24/USA/4-0)
5. Makoto Takahashi (22/Japan/15-1-1)
6. Joshua Van (21/Myanmar/7-1)
7. Asu Almabaev (28/Kazakhstan/27-2)
8. Kurban Gadzhiev (Russia/18-3)
9. Murad Magomedov (Russia/12-0)
10. Davi Costa (Brazil/14-3)
11. Tony Laramie (23/Canada/6-2)
12. Imran Bukuev (26/Russia/14-2)
13. Alibi Idiris (27/Kazakhstan/7-0)
14. Jung Hyun Lee (20/South Korea/8-0)
15. Dias Erengaipov (27/Kazakhstan/13-3)
16. Andres Luna Martinetti (27/Ecuador/12-1)
17. Abdula Aliev (26/Russia/11-1)
18. Joao Elias (27/Brazil/17-4-1)
19. Eduardo Henrique (27/Brazil/10-2)
20. Oleksii Kryvets (25/Ukraine/6-0)
21. Christian Natividad (USA/5-0)
22. Mitch Raposo (24/USA/7-1)
23. Aren Akopyan (29/Russia/13-3-1)
24. Luis Gurule (29/USA/4-0)
25. Felipe Dos Santos (22/Brazil/7-0)

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. Evelyn Martins (20/Brazil/2-0)
6. Firuza Sharipova (28/Kazakhstan/2-0)
7. Jacqueline Cavalcanti (25/Portugal/4-1)
8. Taneisha Tennant (33/USA/5-1)
9. Mafalda Carmona (21/Portugal/3-2)
10. Lisa Verzosa (27/USA/6-2)
11. Hope Chase (24/USA/3-1)
12. Melissa Croden (30/Canada/4-1)
13. Serena DeJesus (30/USA/5-2)
14. Luana Santos (22/Brazil/4-1)
15. Auttumn Norton (28/USA/2-1)
16. Karolina Sobek (23/Poland/4-0)
17. Olga Rubin (33/Israel/7-3)
18. 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. Melissa Amaya (27/USA/5-0)
5. Qihui Yan (26/China/22-4)
6. Assia Miri (19/France/1-0)
7. Alexandra Tekenah (France/2-1)
8. Claire Guthrie (27/USA/4-1)
9. Kristina Williams (33/USA/6-3)
10. Paula Cristina (27/Brazil/6-1)
11. Thaiany Lopes (21/Brazil/4-0)
12. Daiana Torquato (32/Brazil/11-6)
13. Nayara Maia (32/Brazil/7-1-1)
14. Karoline Martins (25/Brazil/9-5)
15. Lucrezia Ria (30/Italy/8-4)
16. Veronika Borisova (21/Russia/4-0)
17 Liana Pirosin (29/Brazil/8-5)
18. Kaytlin Neil (30/USA/6-4)
19. Ketlen Souza (27/Brazil/12-3)

Strawweight minus

1. Josefine Knutsson (26/Sweden/4-0)
2. Seika Izawa (25/Japan/8-0)
3. Maria Silva (27/Brazil/8-1)
4. Valesca Machado (27/Brazil/12-3)
5. Giovanna Canuto (19/Brazil/4-0)
6. Ewelina Wozniak (29/Poland/7-1)
7. Julia Polastri (24/Brazil/10-3)
8. Sveltana Gotsyk (26/Ukraine/13-5)
9. Hannah Rokala (25/USA/1-0)
10. Jessica Delboni (29/Brazil/12-4)
11. Fatima Kline (22/USA/2-0)
12. Rose Conceicao (25/Brazil/6-0)
13. Tani Torres (Mexico/5-0)
14. Yasmin Castanho (26/Brazil/5-1)
15. Saray Orozco (31/Mexico/7-5)
16. Sofia Bagishvili (23/Georgia/7-1)
17. Brenda Gottig (31/Argentina/6-0)
18. Karolina Wojcik (28/Poland/10-3)
19. Marnic Mann (29/USA/5-1)
20. Anastasia Svetkivska (25/Ukraine/2-2)
21. Talita Alencar (32/Brazil/3-0)
22. Ediana Silva (21/Brazil/12-3)
23. Loveth Young (33/USA/3-2-1)
24. Rayanne Amanda (27/Brazil/12-6)
25. Anita Bekus (32/Poland/6-3)

 

[TorontoTO]

@Hellowhosthat I noticed you don't have Kasum Kasumov on your BW list? But anyway, he got signed to Bellator