Limelight My big stupid hype trains thread.

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Mehemmedeli Osmanli

Country - Azerbaijan
Weight Class - Bantamweight
Age : 21
Promotion - UAE Warriors
Team - Zabit Samedov Fight Club
Record : 12-1

Fuck it I've been inspired to do a couple of posts by guys this weekend and it's about time I gave Osmanli his flowers.

I've been impressed with him before and we've mentioned him but he's never quite had that performance which made me want to make a post for him but that changed when he took what was a pretty nuts fight against fellow undefeated prospect Bakhtovar Yunusov and made it look pretty easy.

Osmanli is always making guys work. Even if they take him down he's working to change position, to get back up and it just looks very tiring. Once he's back up he'll be straight on guys with a kind of Diaz brothers volume based style of striking where he's not throwing individual shots that hard but he's throwing a shitload of them.

He'll also be mixing flashier shit in too and it seems to get harder and harder for opponents to deal with the more tired they get. If he wants he's got offensive wrestling chops too which he tends to use more just to tire guys out even more.

Also I think he might be dating Liana Jojua and if that's true the dude is just winning at life in general.

Kids really handsome, lucky Liana Jojua.
 
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Gable Steveson

Country - USA
Weight Class - Heavyweight
Age : 25
Promotion - LFA/APFC
Team - Jackson Wink
Record : 2-0


Kind of an obvious one to do but I've watched him twice now and it's clear that although my initial concern with him was that MMA was kind of a last resort it's pretty clear that he's taking this deadly seriously.

My other concern was that like Anthony Cassar he might have been more of a wrestler than a fighter and just hold people down but after a couple of fights my fears there have been allayed too. In his debut he was framing off and beating the fuck out of the guy on the ground so we're looking for damage.

The last thing people needed was for him to have power on the feet, but he took a fight in Dirty Boxing and KO'd a guy quickly in that and then in his sophomore MMA fight he quickly knocked his opponent out with a hook. The really scary thing is he turned the punch straight into a takedown but then when he got the guy down he found that he was unconscious anyway.

Obviously we're only fighting bums so far but honestly I don't think people are queuing up to fight this guy.

Looks like I'm going to have to make sure I get my brain used to the fact that it's Steveson not Stevenson.
 
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Damian Fernandez

Country - Mexico
Weight Class - Bantamweight
Age : 22
Promotion - LUX Fight League
Team -Inv1cus Dgo
Record : 6-0

The latest one in the seemingly endless production line of Mexican Bantamweight prospects I seem to find myself mentioning on here.

I just love how calm this kid is. He's a really good boxer, but it's more the his defensive ability to stand in the pocket and calmy keep himself covered while picking his offensive shots that really impresses me. He's got good footwork too so when he wants to drift out of range and move his feet to get himself an angle he can do that too, all the while keeping his hands in a good defensive position.

Pummeling if he gets cage clinched is really good too, when I've seen wrestlers get to him he's been able to get a strong bodylock, jack it and turn them round most of the time. If he gets taken down he bounces up quickly and he looked comfortable working on top of Andre Barquero who's a black belt.

The fight with Barquero was a step up for him, going up against a more experience guy who trains at the Mexico PI but he made it look pretty straightforward.

At only 22 years old the sky is the limit here.
 
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Gable Steveson

Country - USA
Weight Class - Heavyweight
Age : 25
Promotion - LFA/APFC
Team - Jackson Wink
Record : 2-0


Kind of an obvious one to do but I've watched him twice now and it's clear that although my initial concern with him was that MMA was kind of a last resort it's pretty clear that he's taking this deadly seriously.

My other concern was that like Anthony Cassar he might have been more of a wrestler than a fighter and just hold people down but after a couple of fights my fears there have been allayed too. In his debut he was framing off and beating the fuck out of the guy on the ground so we're looking for damage.

The last thing people needed was for him to have power on the feet, but he took a fight in Dirty Boxing and KO'd a guy quickly in that and then in his sophomore MMA fight he quickly knocked his opponent out with a hook. The really scary thing is he turned the punch straight into a takedown but then when he got the guy down he found that he was unconscious anyway.

Obviously we're only fighting bums so far but honestly I don't think people are queuing up to fight this guy.

Looks like I'm going to have to make sure I get my brain used to the fact that it's Steveson not Stevenson.


Matter of time with this guy isn't it, I doubt there's anyone on the regional circuit who can give him much of a test. In LFA for example, someone like Denzel Freeman would've been a bit of a test, but he and Asplund are already in the UFC now. No clue who's left there but it's not gonna be anyone close to testing him.
 
LFA223 (good event, lots of good fights): Jonathan Piersma (11-3 local NY fighter) upsets Luis Francischinelli (5-1 Brazilian, I expected him in DWCS) to get the WW belt

In a tough fight between 2 TUF alumni from last season, Jeff Creighton (12-1, Team Cormier) has beaten by UD Diego Bianchini (9-2, Fighting Nerds)
Steve Collins (6-0 LW) GnPs Pufahl
Joe Taylor upsets young prospect Shealor Ladd (Aspen's brother) by KO in 35 seconds before retiring

RJ Harris (27 yo 4-0 HW) beats Alex Marro by R1 KO. I think the UFC is testing him in LFA


Cage Warriors: Omiel Brown (12-3), teammate of the Edwards brothers, has upset prospect Omar Tugarev (8-1) and won the LW belt by UD
Jack Humphries (BW) submitted a Brazilian jobber to reach 5-0

Shay Ingram (4-0 LW) has beaten a somewhat decent Brazilian by GnP in R2

Nell Ariano (5-0 French LHW) GnPed a mediocre fighter in R2. I think he's stacking somewhat easy wins before getting a DWCS call
Damon Wilson got submitted by a 13-10 fighter 2 months after losing in DWCS

Brave: Miha Frlic (6-0) GnPs Patryka Dubiela in R2


LUX: Santiago Prieto (Colombian BW) moves to 9-2 by GnPing a vet in R1. Brandon Gonzalez (Mexican BW) also moves to 7-2 by RNCing Saavedra. The issue with these guys and LUX is that lots of their prospects train at Entram and will not fight each other

Oktagon: Felix Klinkhammer (11-0 German WW) just joined and won his first fight by kneebar in R1. I hope he starts at some point fighting good competition


Anthony Pettis FC: Gable Steveson KOs a guy in 24 seconds. I think he will be in the UFC by the White House card


Samourai (Canadian show): Michael Dufort (ex-PFL) won the LW belt by GNP against a Brazilian journeyman, and Tommy Morrison (10-0 flyweight) won another decision vs a mid-tier fighter. This guy is talented, but cannot get a finish

HEX (Australian show): Kasib Murdoch (Volk's team) kept his BW belt in a tough 5-round fight. I think he will be tested in Road to UFC or DWCS at some point. Or, maybe jump in an Aussie card on short notice
 
Tommy Morrison (10-0 flyweight) won another decision vs a mid-tier fighter. This guy is talented, but cannot get a finish
He had to fight hard to get that win. His opponent was very game.

Thankfully us Canadians still have Radley da silva and Cody Chovancek to get behind.
 
Not sure if this gets updated anymore but Sultan Omarov is one to look out for.

 
He had to fight hard to get that win. His opponent was very game.

Thankfully us Canadians still have Radley da silva and Cody Chovancek to get behind.

The guy he fought was actually the last guy that Taira fought before he got in. Taira finished him in round one though.

I dunno with Tommy, for me if feels like he's missing something but I think he'll still get signed because Canadians generally do.
 
LFA223 (good event, lots of good fights): Jonathan Piersma (11-3 local NY fighter) upsets Luis Francischinelli (5-1 Brazilian, I expected him in DWCS) to get the WW belt

In a tough fight between 2 TUF alumni from last season, Jeff Creighton (12-1, Team Cormier) has beaten by UD Diego Bianchini (9-2, Fighting Nerds)
Steve Collins (6-0 LW) GnPs Pufahl
Joe Taylor upsets young prospect Shealor Ladd (Aspen's brother) by KO in 35 seconds before retiring

RJ Harris (27 yo 4-0 HW) beats Alex Marro by R1 KO. I think the UFC is testing him in LFA


Cage Warriors: Omiel Brown (12-3), teammate of the Edwards brothers, has upset prospect Omar Tugarev (8-1) and won the LW belt by UD
Jack Humphries (BW) submitted a Brazilian jobber to reach 5-0

Shay Ingram (4-0 LW) has beaten a somewhat decent Brazilian by GnP in R2

Nell Ariano (5-0 French LHW) GnPed a mediocre fighter in R2. I think he's stacking somewhat easy wins before getting a DWCS call
Damon Wilson got submitted by a 13-10 fighter 2 months after losing in DWCS

Brave: Miha Frlic (6-0) GnPs Patryka Dubiela in R2


LUX: Santiago Prieto (Colombian BW) moves to 9-2 by GnPing a vet in R1. Brandon Gonzalez (Mexican BW) also moves to 7-2 by RNCing Saavedra. The issue with these guys and LUX is that lots of their prospects train at Entram and will not fight each other

Oktagon: Felix Klinkhammer (11-0 German WW) just joined and won his first fight by kneebar in R1. I hope he starts at some point fighting good competition


Anthony Pettis FC: Gable Steveson KOs a guy in 24 seconds. I think he will be in the UFC by the White House card


Samourai (Canadian show): Michael Dufort (ex-PFL) won the LW belt by GNP against a Brazilian journeyman, and Tommy Morrison (10-0 flyweight) won another decision vs a mid-tier fighter. This guy is talented, but cannot get a finish

HEX (Australian show): Kasib Murdoch (Volk's team) kept his BW belt in a tough 5-round fight. I think he will be tested in Road to UFC or DWCS at some point. Or, maybe jump in an Aussie card on short notice



Cheers for this man!

On the HW front, RJ Harris seems to be going the classic LFA route before a DWCS shot if he keeps winning. Don't know much about him. Miha Frlic is interesting, he's the guy who beat up that Shah Ramali guy who had a bit of mild hype at the time.
 
Almagul has a lot of potential imo just too green at this point.

The chick she lost too is also very good, especially for regional 115, I would be surprised if they weren't on the UFCs radar.

I think Farida Abdueva is probably the outstanding prospect from that region at that weight.
 
Flyweight

21. Andres Luna Martinetti - 1995 - Ecuador - Fusion FC - 15-1
Just picked up a quick RNC win at Budo 32. Layup fight. He was previously on DWCS and lost to Alessandro Costa. No shame as Costa is a decent opponent. He needs to step up in competition if he is to get the call back for DWCS or for the UFC imo.
 
Javier Balladares from Chile looks a prospect worth keeping an eye on. 7-0 and 22 years old. He has 2 wins over Marcus Vinicius Ferreira who is good.
 
Bantamweight

15. Luciano Pereira – 2001- Uruguay – Samurai
He's back. Looked good against Diego Teixeira as he got a quick TKO win. Let's hope he sticks around as he was out for a while.

Johan Murillo has looked relatively good in SFH as well, but need to see him step up in competition before a call can be properly made.
 
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FCC (English show with guys from Liverpool and Manchester teams): Connor Walsh (6-0, Pink Panther's team) is the flyweight champ by beating a Brazilian journeyman

Summer Onley (5-0 WBW) won the belt with a body shot


FNC (South-Eastern European show): Kamil Kraska (14-3 Polish WW) submitted Igor Cavalcanti (DWCS 2024) in R2 by armbar after GnP
Marko Bojkovic (8-2 LW) lost his second fight in a row to Desmae (Belgian brawler, vet fighting also BK) by SD

WOW (Spanish show backed by Topuria and CR7): Fabia Sintes (10-3, 31 yo) took the flyweight belt by R3 armbar against Malekpour (good Swedish fighter)

AEC (small French show): Alvi Dasuyev (8-0 Chechyan-Belgian IMMAF WW) has beaten a good vet


Naiza (good Kazakh show): Kabdrakhmonov (11-4 FW) lost a close decision to Jieleyesi (UFC / Road to UFC Chinese vet)
BUDO (Mexican show on the Fight Pass): Andres Luna Martinetti (16-1 BW) won by R1 submission over a 5-5 local fighter
TNX (small Costa Rican show): Regina Tarin (7-0 Mexican WFW, 6 finishes, 21 yo, she had a canceled DWCS fight in 2025) got another KO
 
Zhakshylyk Myrzabekov just ran through Uzair Abdurakov and choked him out to sleep in 33 seconds.

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