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Limelight My big stupid hype trains thread.

I thought he made harder work of it than I would have liked tbh, but some of his trips were lovely.

His game isn't super fleshed out yet, the talent is there and so is the showmanship but he doesn't set things up or build with the fight much at all. He's athletic and very big for the weight class and talented kind of everywhere but he feels very untested/unfinished as a fighter. I think Divnich was his biggest test by far though, he didn't do bad. Hoping he winds up on the contenders series along with Edil THE GOAT Esengulov.
 
His game isn't super fleshed out yet, the talent is there and so is the showmanship but he doesn't set things up or build with the fight much at all. He's athletic and very big for the weight class and talented kind of everywhere but he feels very untested/unfinished as a fighter. I think Divnich was his biggest test by far though, he didn't do bad. Hoping he winds up on the contenders series along with Edil THE GOAT Esengulov.

He's got the final of this Nashe Delo thing next which will probably be Grozin I would imagine. Another decent test but one he should pass if he's as good as I think he is. Hopefully that's wrapped up in time for DWCS season.
 
He's got the final of this Nashe Delo thing next which will probably be Grozin I would imagine. Another decent test but one he should pass if he's as good as I think he is. Hopefully that's wrapped up in time for DWCS season.

When does DWCS start again? Bekzat Almakhan left Naiza and is fighting in UAE warriors vs some Argentinean prospect who's also 14-1, he's doing this in a further effort to get signed by the UFC. Samandar is still hopeful the UFC will sign him and Azat has been trying hard to get signed. Kinda curious if we are going to see more of these guys on the contender series or if the UFC just isn't too interested. They are over qualified for the job mostly.
 
Also is that tournament he's in going to count as pro? I didn't see a reason why it wouldnt but I mightve missed something
 
Also is that tournament he's in going to count as pro? I didn't see a reason why it wouldnt but I mightve missed something
Yeah. I remember reading that their standard bouts are either 2 rounds or 3 minutes rounds (I don’t remember exactly) and this bouts in Grand Prix are normal rounds.
 
Yeah. I remember reading that their standard bouts are either 2 rounds or 3 minutes rounds (I don’t remember exactly) and this bouts in Grand Prix are normal rounds.

Someone needs to send to information to tapology and sherdog I guess.
 
When does DWCS start again? Bekzat Almakhan left Naiza and is fighting in UAE warriors vs some Argentinean prospect who's also 14-1, he's doing this in a further effort to get signed by the UFC. Samandar is still hopeful the UFC will sign him and Azat has been trying hard to get signed. Kinda curious if we are going to see more of these guys on the contender series or if the UFC just isn't too interested. They are over qualified for the job mostly.

DWCS is July/August start
 
Someone needs to send to information to tapology and sherdog I guess.
Nashe Delo's kind of a touchy subject because of the dodgy ruleset and unreported fights to fluff up fighters records.
 
Updated rankings


Since last time #18 WW Rolando Bedoya signed with the UFC.


Heavyweight



  1. Kirill Kornilov (31/Russia/14-1-1)
  2. Alikhan Vakhaev (29/Russia/12-2)
  3. Ben Tynan (28/Canada/3-0)
  4. Shamil Gaziev (31/Russia/9-0)
  5. Slim Trabelsi (30/Tunisia/5-0)
  6. Thomas Petersen (27/USA/7-1)
  7. Mukhamed Vakhaev (32/Russia/11-6-1)
  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/6-2)
  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. Said-Magomed Gutaev (21/Russia/1-0)
  21. Greg Velasco (29/USA/5-0)
  22. Jordan Heiderman (31/USA/6-0)
  23. Adam Palasz (32/Poland/8-1)

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 (21/Ukraine/9-0)
  5. Elkhan Musaev (Russia/9-1)
  6. Rodolfo Bellato (26/Brazil/8-2)
  7. Diyar Nurgozhay (24/Kazakhstan/8-0)
  8. Abdulrakhman Yakhyaev (22/Turkey/4-0)
  9. Yuri Panferov (26/Russia/5-0)
  10. Nasrudin Nasrudinov (31/Russia/10-2)
  11. Kerim Daudov (24/Kazakhstan/6-0)
  12. Ivan Erslan (31/Croatia/12-2)
  13. Igor Glazkov (23/Russia/7-0)
  14. Faridun Odilov (30/Tajikistan/15-2-2)
  15. Grigor Matevosyan (29/Armenia/11-3)
  16. Acacio Dos Santos (31/Brazil/14-5)
  17. Asylzhan Bakhytzhanuly (Kazakhstan/13-4-1)
  18. Nikolay Kovalenko (Russia/7-1)
  19. Uran Satybaldiev (Kyrgyzstan/5-1)
  20. Hasan Yousefi (29/Iran/8-5-1)
  21. Amirkhan Guliev (Russia/12-2)
  22. Lukasz Sudolski (29/Poland/10-2)
  23. Chuck Campbell (USA/5-2)
Middleweight



  1. Vladimir Mineev (32/Russia/16-1-1)
  2. Murtaza Talha Ali (Bahrain/6-0)
  3. Magomedrasul Gasanov (Russia/18-2)
  4. Lucas Fernando (25/Brazil/8-1)
  5. Eli Aronov (26/Israel/6-0)
  6. Matej Penaz (25/Czechia/7-1)
  7. Salamu Abdurakhmanov (Russia/14-1)
  8. Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz (32/Canada/10-2)
  9. Azamat Bekoev (26/Russia/14-3)
  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. Florian Aberger (Austria/9-0)
  16. Ibragim Magomedov (27/Russia/10-2) (New entry)
  17. Chad Hanekom (South Africa/9-2)
  18. Vladimir Vasiliyev (23/Russia/10-2-1)
  19. Nayib Lopez (30/Mexico/15-0) (New entry)
  20. Vladislav Yankovskiy (Belarus/9-1)
  21. Mario Sousa (26/Brazil/15-3)
  22. Ozzy Diaz (32/USA/7-2)
  23. Vlasto Cepo (27/Serbia/11-2)
  24. Cezary Kesik (32/Poland/13-3)
  25. Naglis Kanisauskas (22/Lithuania/5-2)

Welterweight



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

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. Cristian Perez (23/Mexico/11-1)
  6. Yusuf Raisov (27/Russia/19-3)
  7. Vasiliy Takhtay (Kazakhstan/9-0)
  8. Khalid Satuev (28/Russia/12-0)
  9. Charlie Campbell (27/USA/6-2)
  10. George Hardwick (26/England/11-1)
  11. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (23/USA/5-1)
  12. Yann Liasse (Luxembourg/9-1)
  13. Samat Mamedov (Kazakhstan) 4-0)
  14. Jose Ferreira (24/Chile/10-0)
  15. Milson Castro (29/Brazil/14-4)
  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. Dylan Salvador (29/France/5-1)
  22. Lee Hammond (26/Ireland/5-0)
  23. Predrag Bogdanovic (Serbia/14-0)
  24. Angel Alvarez (27/Cuba/5-1)
  25. Lucas Clay (27/USA/9-2)
 
Featherweight



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

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/9-0)
  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. Mitch McKee (25/USA/4-0)
  19. Sebastian Przybysz (29/Poland/10-3)
  20. Max Holzer (20/Germany/5-0)
  21. Bernardo Sopai (22/Albania/9-2)
  22. Yanis Ghemmouri (27/France/11-1)
  23. Caolan Loughran (23/Ireland/7-0)
  24. Nkosi Ndebele (South Africa/6-1)
  25. Michele Martignoni (27/Italy/8-1)

Flyweight



  1. Azat Maksum (27/Kazakhstan/16-0)
  2. Igor Da Silva (19/Brazil/7-0)
  3. Azamat Kerefov (Russia/16-0)
  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/17-2)
  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/3-0)
  6. Firuza Sharipova (28/Kazakhstan/2-0)
  7. Jacqueline Cavalcanti (25/Portugal/4-1)
  8. Taneisha Tennant (33/USA/5-2)
  9. Mafalda Carmona (21/Portugal/4-2)
  10. Lisa Verzosa (27/USA/6-2)
  11. Hope Chase (24/USA/3-1)
  12. Olga Rubin (33/Israel/8-3)
  13. Melissa Croden (30/Canada/4-1)
  14. Luana Santos (22/Brazil/4-1)
  15. Karolina Sobek (23/Poland/4-0)
  16. Alexia Thainara (25/Brazil/7-1)
  17. Serena DeJesus (30/USA/5-3)
  18. Auttumn Norton (28/USA/2-2)
  19. Meruert Ibraeva (22/Kazakhstan/3-1)

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. Paula Cristina (27/Brazil/6-1)
  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/4-0)
  16. Liana Pirosin (29/Brazil/8-5)
  17. Kaytlin Neil (30/USA/6-4)
  18. Lucrezia Ria (30/Italy/8-4)
  19. Daiana Torquato (32/Brazil/11-6)
Strawweight minus



  1. Josefine Knutsson (26/Sweden/4-0)
  2. Fatima Kline (22/USA/3-0)
  3. Maria Silva (27/Brazil/8-1)
  4. Valesca Machado (27/Brazil/12-3)
  5. Giovanna Canuto (19/Brazil/4-0)
  6. Seika Izawa (25/Japan/9-0)
  7. Ewelina Wozniak (29/Poland/7-1)
  8. Julia Polastri (24/Brazil/11-3)
  9. Sveltana Gotsyk (26/Ukraine/13-5)
  10. Hannah Rokala (25/USA/1-0)
  11. Jessica Delboni (29/Brazil/12-4)
  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/7-2)
  17. Karolina Wojcik (28/Poland/10-3)
  18. Fabiola Pidroni (29/Italy/5-0)
  19. Marnic Mann (29/USA/5-1)
  20. Brenda Gottig (31/Argentina/6-1)
  21. Anastasia Svetkivska (25/Ukraine/2-2)
  22. Talita Alencar (32/Brazil/3-0)
  23. Ediana Silva (21/Brazil/12-3)
  24. Loveth Young (33/USA/3-2-1)
  25. Rayanne Amanda (27/Brazil/12-6)

Next fights etc are listed on the Tap lists linked on the front page.
 
Steve_Erceg.png


Steve Erceg

Country - Australia
Weight Class - Flyweight
Age : 27
Promotion - Eternal MMA
Team - Wilkes MMA
Record : 9-1

Erceg was supposed to fight Clayton Carpenter on DWCS last year but had a visa issue but couldn't. Since then, he's seen two guys he's beaten in Shannon Ross and Seung Guk Choi get UFC fights while he hasn't.

Anyway he looked every inch the UFC fighter in this one as he absolutely ran through Soichiro Hirai. Granted it's the kind of guy he should be running through, but you still have to put the guy away and the back take and subsequent choke was an excellent performance from Steve. You all know I love a good fluid back taker.

Rodrigo-Vera-1.jpg


Rodrigo Vera

Country - Peru
Weight Class - Bantamweight
Age : 27
Promotion - Fusion Fight League
Team - Not sure
Record : 15-1-1

Gato Loco has kind of snuck up on me. I've watched his last 6 fights and I'm kind of now just realising how good he is. The dude is just so fundamentally sound. There's nothing really flashy about his striking, but everything is in the right place defensively as he marches his opponent down, while throwing simple but technically sound stuff to get to his wrestling.

Once he gets to the wrestling he's at his best, he's strong and with a really good double leg. Very good from back bodylock too and was ragdolling Zenidim with suplexes in the third round in a very comfortable win against a 13-0 Brazilian.
 
Bekzat should be getting a spot up on the Bantamweight list soon after his UAE win brother.

He could well do. I would say Bantamweight is the hardest division to get a ranking in though. There's guys outside the rankings there who'd be well inside the top 10 if they were heavyweights.
 
ZXa96ep8DQ8.jpg


Khalim Nazruloev

Country - Tajikistan
Weight Class - Bantamweight
Age : 24
Promotion - RCC
Team - Club Bushido
Record : 6-0

Impressive performance from an inexperienced fighter against a much more experiened opponent in Ricardo Dias. Looked really dominant physically with well timed doubles, mixed in with powerful leg kicks and good overhands to set up the wrestling. Decent ground and pound once on the ground too and never looked in any real danger of a sub while pounding away. Definite potential here.

 
Already hype trained but here's the latest Evgeny Ignatiev fight.

This dude needs to be in the UFC immediately, he's just a joy to watch.

He'll be top 5 next rankings update.

 
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