My big stupid hype trains thread.

[Feniamin]

Midaev is fighting Nurtilek Jalynbekov 29 June at RCC intro 32

Chakhaev said that he is gonna fight in 1,5-2 months at Fight Nights Global event

 

[GreenGorilla]

Might be a bit early but since I trashed Jeka in my last posts, this Kid Cornelius Aritonang is probably the best talent I have seen thus far from Indonesia. Still a bit early in his career at 4 fights to say how far he can take it but at 22 years of age still plenty of time to grow.

Training mainly in the USA probably the most potential. Kid started fighting at Cagewarriors at his second fight and won all 3 of his fights there thus far.






Hope he continues to train in San Diego, the difference between his second fight (first link) and his debut at Cagewarriors is huge imo.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Gonna try and catch up on a few I've missed.

Joo Sang Yoo

Country - South Korea
Weight Class - Featherweight
Age : 30
Promotion - Zombie Fight Night
Team - Tiger Gym
Record : 7-0

Handsome fucker who was a good ammy then took a few years off for some reason before returning and going on an undefeated run thus far as a pro. Recently beat Reinaldo Ekson who had a brief run in PFL. Looks strong and athletic and uses good pressure to get his opponent to open up on him and then counter the shit out of them. Can wrestle offensively and do good damage on top too. My only slight concern is his takedown defence and tendency to give his back while getting up but he still looks worthy of a UFC opportunity for me whether that's direct or via Road to UFC.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Inglesson de Lara

Country - Brazil
Weight Class - Featherweight
Age : 29
Promotion - LFA
Team - Galla Fight Centre
Record : 9-1

I was very impressed with this guy on the LFA card at the weekend. He was in there with an Argentinian kid called Lucas Miletich who I thought looked pretty good himself but just had too much pace and offensive variety for him.

Loved the movement and hand speed, dude is explosive with good knees and body kicks. His takedown defence was slightly questionable at points but he's got some good late stage turning off stuff that you don't really see people do (and I'm having a hard time describing in text) and once he's down he's pretty urgent about kicking off and getting back up again.

His only loss is to Icaro Brito who's going to be on DWCS this year who I need to refresh my memory of because if he beat this guy I'm probably underrating him.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Carlos Leal

Country - Brazil
Weight Class - Welterweight
Age : 30
Promotion - LFA
Team - Thai Brasil
Record : 21-5

Fuck knows what PFL were thinking releasing this guy. He only ever lost in the semi-finals to Sy in two razor close fights and beat dudes like Cooper and Brown while he was there. Gone back to the regionals and is currently murdering overmatched people and really should get picked up by the UFC where he could slot straight into the middle of the division immediately.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Cody Chovancek

Country - Canada
Weight Class - Bantamweight
Age : 25
Promotion - Unified MMA
Team - Niagra Top Team
Record : 7-0

The most excited I've been about a Canadian prospect in a minute, Cody really impressed me in his recent Unified title fight against another undefeated kid in Gage Gill. Cody quickly established himself on the fight using great fundamentals, timing counters well and breaking out the grappling later in the fight to wear his man out and then when it gets into the 5th and he could have just cruised to a 50-45 victory he fucks that off and sets up a beautiful calf slicer to really capture my heart.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

David Samuel

Country - Russia
Weight Class - Welterweight
Age : 21
Promotion - Nashe Delo
Team - Dunno
Record : 3-0

I'm interested to see how far this kid can go as he's got one of the most boxing centric striking styles I've seen in MMA in terms of how he bobs, weaves, rolls and fades away while defending in a boxing style. He's also a really good wrestler and back taker, but I just love the way he strikes and pivots back off into space to go back to work again. Would probably have had a good shot at being IMMAF champ were it not for the whole Ukraine thing and he's already Nashe Delo Champ as a pro.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Elijah Smith

Country - USA
Weight Class - Bantamweight
Age : 21
Promotion - Fury FC
Team - Team Victory
Record : 6-1

Elijah is a second generation fighter and son of Gilbert Smith who was on TUF a couple of times but only got one fight in the UFC. It looks to me like Elijah is poised to have a better career than his dad did.

He's been matched very tough so far for his age and experience level and as such has a loss against DWCS veteran Reyes Cortez which he took in his 3rd fight 6 months into his pro career and only about 2 years after even his amateur debut which was just too soon.

He seems to have learned from that and has righted the ship since then though and started cruising through people who are more reflective of who he should be fighting at this stage of his career, taking out fellow prospects and getting finishes with smooth countering, good power and really good killer instinct when he has someone hurt.

Probably one for the contender series next year.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Bilal Hasan

Country - USA
Weight Class - Flyweight
Age : 22
Promotion - CFFC
Team - Charlie's Combat Club
Record : 4-0

This kid looks really fucking special. Looks an absolute monster offensively with quick kicks with either foot, super fast spins and just general a torrent of hard to read offence. Very good at misdirecting opponents with kicks and then stepping in really hard with punches in a classic Conor style too. Also looks to have very good attacking BJJ. Already beating solid level regional guys like Shamal Findley really easily and has the look of a future UFC contender.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Marko Bojkovic

Country - Serbia
Weight Class - Lightweight
Age : 22
Promotion - FNC
Team - Ahilej Fighting Academy
Record : 6 -0

Big prospect who's in the crushing journeyman Brazilians stage of his career but he's doing so with style right now. Really good power on his left hook, almost Conor like in that regard. Dangerous with kicks and big powerful knees up the middle too. He's a little bit reckless in his defence at the moment as he fights with a bit of disdain for his opponents offence which might be something he learns about the hard way at some point. Strong against the cage, good top grappling, nasty ground and pound when he gets on top, really good killer instinct when he has someone hurt, has all the makings of a future ranked UFC fighter if everything goes well for him. Physicality and aggression reminds me of Rebecki a little bit but he's on the come up a lot younger.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Nikola Joksovic

Country - Serbia
Weight Class - Welterweight
Age : 29
Promotion - FNC
Team - Borilacki Club
Record : 15-0

A little overshadowed by Bojkovic on the Serbian scene and a little on the older side but I think this guy is an interesting prospect in his own right. The 15-0 is a little padded but he has been fighting journeymen rather than cans for the most part and he's been getting them out of there. In his latest fight he stepped up a bit in taking on the other candidate for best WW in the region in Negucic and got him out of there in a good high effort fight. Negucic went to a decision with Michel Prazeres so I think getting him out of there shows something.

Just a fundamentally solid guy offensively who keeps his punches straight and seems to have a bit of power on them. Negucic's face was getting really marked up as the fight progressed. Mixed striking with level changes into doubles and singles well and looked nice and tight on top.

I think he's due a shot in the UFC to see how he does.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Sean Gauci

Country - Australia
Weight Class - Flyweight
Age : 27
Promotion - Hex Fight Series
Team - Not sure
Record : 9-1

Gauci's main claim to fame is being the only guy to beat Steve Erceg before Steve made it to the UFC. That was quite early in both their careers and Gauci ended up having three years off through the pandemic but now he's back and competing regularly he's showing why he managed to beat Steve and will hopefully get to join him in the UFC.

Good power on the feet for a flyweight, looks to have a solid sprawl when guys try to engage with him and smart enough to disengage if someone clearly wants to grapple with him. Looks like the kind of guy who could come into the UFC and fight solid competition there straight away.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Julieta Martinez

Country - Argentina
Weight Class - Strawweight
Age : 19
Promotion - Samurai Fight House
Team - Not sure
Record : 7-0

Insanely talented girl who looks to have a big future and already picking up regional belts at 19 years old. She's fought 7 times in her first year as a pro so her level of activity is excellent. Seems to have a taekwondo background, although I'm not 100% sure about that people who can get their kicks up as fast and fire them in combos like her usually do. Has some grappling chops too as she's winning some fights by sub. One of the first batch of invitees to the Mexico PI, so already on the UFC radar and will have access to a first class training facility as she develops.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Asaf Chopurov

Country - Georgia
Weight Class - Bantamweight
Age : 22
Promotion - RCC
Team - Sambo 34
Record : 4-0

Insanely experienced amateur with a 31-1 record who's first year as a pro is going amazingly well. Took an insane step up for someone in their fourth pro fight taking on Denis Lavrentyev who's the main training partner of Petr Yan and has beaten current UFC fighters. Handled the step up beautifully and absolutely dominated and got a finish in the first round with ground and pound to highlight what an insane prospect he is.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Nkosi Ndebele

Country - South Africa
Weight Class - Bantamweight
Age : 29
Promotion - BRAVE
Team - Soma Fight Club
Record : 8-2

I'm not sure why I don't seem to have done a post for Nkosi before but I might as well make up for that now. He's really grown as a fighter which has kind of been encapsulated by his trilogy with Shorty Torres which he should really be 3-0 in but got robbed in the first fight. Shorty is a high quality dude, so Nkosi just working with his straight strikes and volume to pick him apart and really put damage on him (especially in the second fight) was highly impressive. Now he's got that much experience with a fighter of that level under his belt he's going to be a nightmare for anyone else.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Mansher Khera

Country - USA
Weight Class - Lightweight
Age : 32
Promotion - Fury FC
Team - Not sure
Record : 7-0

High level competitive BJJ guy who's one of the seemingly few these days who's managing to adapt to MMA well. He's worked enough at his striking that it looks fundamentally solid and he can hang with guys there, so he won't have to spam kicks and guard pull like a lot of BJJ players end up doing. He's also got a really nice single leg which allows him to get guys to the mat and he times the entry to it really well. Obviously on the mat he's excellent, very offensive minded grappling and always looking for sub opportunities.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Geovanis Palacios

Country - Cuba
Weight Class - Welterweight
Age : 27
Promotion - LFA
Team - Fighting Nerds
Record : 7-0

Cuban wrestler who's aligned himself with Caio and the gang down at Fighting Nerds which is obviously a pretty hot gym right now. He seems to be basing his striking style on Caio with quite a karate based style which isn't perfect but he's working on it. Where the dude excels is the wrestling, he's strong as fuck and he loves suplexing the shit out of people. Part of me would like him to establish control a bit better, part of me is happy for people to get back up so he can just suplex them again because that shit is fun.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Alain Van der Merckt

Country - Belgium
Weight Class - Middleweight
Age : 31
Promotion - Levels Fight League
Team - Combat Brothers
Record : 8-0

Beat Bellator heavyweight Slim Trabelsi as an amateur and finally got active as a pro over the past couple of years and has been getting out there three times a year and finishing everyone en route to winning a solid regional Euro title. Primarily a striker with fast and hard kicks but also a good grappler who's got his fair share of sub wins too.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Abdulrakhman Yakhyaev

Country - Turkey/Russia
Weight Class - Light Heavyweight
Age : 23
Promotion - Ares
Team - Not sure
Record : 5-0

Yakhyaev came on to my radar when he beat a guy I'd previously liked in Kovalenko, then he ended up getting scheduled for a fight in the purgatory that is ONE MMA but thankfully he's out of that and back on the track to getting to a promotion that takes MMA seriously.

Absolutely dominant performance against Begai to take the Ares title. I thought he'd just wrestlefuck him but he wobbled the kickboxer with the hands with a speedy combo before going into the grappling. Begai did well to survive for a little bit but when he got his back to the cage Yakhyaev jumped on a really nasty gilly Jones Vs Gane style but even tighter and dropped to his back for the win making it look easy.

The way he links aggression with striking and the Dagi wrestling reminds me of a young Ankalev. Looks UFC ready now imo.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Mario Pinto

Country - Portugal
Weight Class - Heavyweight
Age : 26
Promotion - Levels Fight League
Team - Fight Zone London
Record : 8-0

London based Portuguese dude who fights in a style that reminds me of Gane a bit. Very calm and smooth striker who lands accurately and at a decent level of volume. Fairly comfortably working his way through Euro competition aside from being briefly hurt against Sehic and now the Levels champion.