Limelight My big stupid hype trains thread.

[The_Renaissance]

Heard they maybe planning on expanding DWCS next year. Supposedly it will be a double season with the first one starting in March.

I could see one around spring and one towards end of year, yeah.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Heard they maybe planning on expanding DWCS next year. Supposedly it will be a double season with the first one starting in March.

I remember Dana saying this but lets be real for a second, does it really matter? They sign mostly trash.

They let...Patrick Habirora, Salamat Isbulaev, Renat Khavalov, Amru Magomedov, Manoel Sousa all go to the PFL this year. And so many more guys tried to get on that they ignored, but man did they sign a lot of cans.

 

[STAY GOLD]

I remember Dana saying this but lets be real for a second, does it really matter? They sign mostly trash.

They let...Patrick Habirora, Salamat Isbulaev, Renat Khavalov, Amru Magomedov, Manoel Sousa all go to the PFL this year. And so many more guys tried to get on that they ignored, but man did they sign a lot of cans.

Manumito is in the UFC.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Manumito is in the UFC.

Yup, but first they let him sign with PFL. Because they dont care.

 

[STAY GOLD]

Yup, but first they let him sign with PFL. Because they dont care.

Yeah and I agree with you that the scouting for DWCS and signings aren't the best.

It's bizarre when they pass on fighters who win like Chapolin, but sign people who lost and lost decisively like Medina.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Agreed and I agree with you that the scouting for DWCS and signings aren't the best.

It's bizarre when they pass on fighters who win like Chapolin, but sign people who loss and loss decisively like Medina.

At 155lbs for 2025 my number 1 LW for DWCS was Amru Magomedov and they let him go to PFL. Patrick Habirora they also let go to the PFL. Damian Rzepecki they passed on this year. Bojkovic got derailed and they signed Yuji Yannick Ephoeviga but he flopped. That was my top 5, they signed 1...cannot really think of any better LWs than these guys that they actually acquired this year. Juan Pablo Viera, Adam Masaev, Magomed-Giri Umarkhadziev were like following ones I wanted to see them pick up but nah.

Guys like Razhabali Shaydullaev, Renat Khavalov, Asaf Chopurov get passed on which is really absurd (I was touting Shaydullaev a few years ago, they could have signed him when he was in UAE and smashed Khabibs boy). But they have no interest in this region. Talent pool is so bad in the UFC but its not a concern. Damn dude. They dont want Soviet block guys but they also refuse to pay more to actually attract meaningful talent from the non Latin American Western World. Either something changes or the sport remains dogshit.

 

[Richard Fannin]

CFFC:
Bilal Hasan (24 yo, 8-0, 7 finishes, trains at AMC with Demetrius) keeps his belt by spamming body shots in one round. He asked the UFC to be on the Seattle card next March


Crazy girl Emily Martins (21 yo, 5-1) keeps the WBW belt vs an 8-6 opponent with her third RNC in a row

At MW, Chris Brown (36yo, 13-5, excl. Rihanna) won the decision despite having shorts with pockets, upsetting 4-1 Georgian fighter Gochashvili. Nick Galanti (27yo, 6-1) won by quick submission vs Derek Benoit. I would like to see Galanti fight Chris Brown for the belt

https://xcancel.com/UFCFightPass/status/2002549868900884485#m

Pancrase:
Yanagawa (8-1 25yo FW) upset Kalybek Arzykul Uulu (24yo, 13-2) by R1 KO

https://xcancel.com/majan_saitou/status/2002665447943278666#m

Sardarov (24yo 6-0 Tajik, IMMAF guy) submitted Sato (24yo, 9-2) for the MW belt in R4

https://xcancel.com/UNEXT_fight/status/2003015148316004566#m

Yamauchi (Bellator vet) submitted Shogo Sato in R2 for the WW belt

https://xcancel.com/UNEXT_fight/status/2003020184626356593#m

Tajima KOed Rui Imura in R1 in a fun fight for the BW belt

https://xcancel.com/UNEXT_fight/status/2003016406506643929#m

Motono dominated Karen for the WSW belt

KSW:
Bartosinski (30 yo, 18-1) kept his WW belt by GnP. I heard he would like to move to the UFC through Joanna's connection

I like your style! Solid post, cheers!
As a long time fan of Pancrase, it was a lot of fun watching their 360th event live, and it delivered!

If you love JMMA and can't wait for the RIZIN NY card

, check this one out in the meantime!

KSW:113 didn't disappoint either

"Bartos" is on a nice run, 5 title wins at WW in a row, with just one loss to MW Mamed "Canibal" to have a "freakshow spectacle" for KSW:100 in the middle, so I don't really hold that one against him.
I was a bit salty at first since he beat my man Salah-Dine Parnasse in 2023, when the Frenchman was the KSW 3xFW champ and 1xLW champ, and trying to tale El Bartos' WW belt...
He failed, but at least after that he kept accumulating defenses for his belts, adding 3 defenses to his LW belt (and hopefully a 4th one at KSW:114 next month)

and 2 months ago won his first boxing bout against fellow Frenchie, Franck PetitJean



who started as an amateur boxer but quickly went pro,
-became the 5x French champion at Super-light, then relinquished his "Champion de France" belt in 2015
-to go after the WBC Francophone Super Light belt, which he won in 2016,
-then in 2017 he went after the IBO European Super Lightweight belt, and he won against Italian elite Andrea "Sugar Ray" Scarpa (a very good boxer, he ended his career with a respectable record of 28-6 against other very good European boxers) before losing it to (25-7) Mohamed Mimoune for his 7th title win in a row
-Franck PetitJean then went after the EBU European Super Lightweight Title, which he'd capture against the 32-4-1 youth elite Spaniard Samuel Molina

- Sadly, Petitjean would quickly lose his belt to the now 14-0 British-Pakistani rising star Adam "The Assassin" Azim (the younger brother of Hassan Azim) in 2023 (and in the process became the quickest British male boxer to win the EBU title; he then quickly defend his title a couple times, and then moved on to win the IBO Light-WW title, and in his last fight bagged the WBO Inter-Continental light-welterweight title ), and that was pretty much Franck PetitJean's retirement as a competitive boxer...
- in 2025, Frank took on the much younger (precisely 10 years younger), much taller, much bigger Salah-dine Parnasse but it was a good deal for both guys, Parnasse got his first boxing bout against someone who was, sure, a bit out of his prime, but he wasn't just a tomato can there to get trounced; he had decades of experience on Salah-dine and would be a good test.
Franck Petitjean got some much needed exposure for his last boxing bout, and hopefully some nice €€€
Well, we got a very entertaining bout, it ended at the end of the second round but it was a good scrap while it lasted

CFFC 149: Cafaro vs. Patton​

I don't follow this org all that much, but reading your thread I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was headlined by Ryan "Korean Thunder" Cafaro, who's first pro fight I caught on the prelim of Bellator 108: Rampage vs Joey Beltran , in which poor Ryan "Kim" Cafaro got completely demolished in under 2 rounds by fellow newcommer Dan Matala, who looked somewhat unrefined, but promising in that first bout.
Sadly Matala never fought again in pro MMA, and never competed in any other combat sport from what I could find...
He's a BJJ Black Belt under André "Deco" Galvão, but aside from that...
Guess pro MMA isn't for everyone, even if they're pretty good at it.

Anyway, good for Cafaro, I see that he called for a UFC shot after defending his CFFC title,
(and specifically called for a shot against Tommy "Gun" McMillen, who is 7-0 as an amateur and 9-0 as a pro, he spars with Sean O'Maley, and his last fight got his a UFC contract at DW Contenders)
at 36 he'll probably won't get many more chances so I hope he gets it. He at least deserves a shot at DW Contenders...


WAR CAFARO \o/

 

[Richard Fannin]

Guys like Razhabali Shaydullaev, Renat Khavalov, Asaf Chopurov get passed on which is really absurd (I was touting Shaydullaev a few years ago, they could have signed him when he was in UAE and smashed Khabibs boy). But they have no interest in this region.

Indeed, but on the bright side, it leaves guys like Razhabali for RIZIN, where he's their current FW champion and will defend his title for the 3rd time in one week against the older Asakura brother, the former RINGS champion & RIZIN regular Mikuru Asakura.
I like how the UFC doesn't have the absolute monopoly on talented undefeated fighters from that part of the globe.

I'm a fan of Razhabali Shaydullaev, but with Kai Asakura gone to the UFC, Mikuru needs to become to RIZIN champ of the family!
Damn, this one is going to be tough, I want both guys to win, it rarely happens when it's 50/50 like that but... may the best man win I guess, I'll be happy/sad regardless >_>

When it comes to Renat Khavalov, he's an excellent fighter and I'm not mad about PFL signing him (first time I saw him fight was at Eagle FC 34, when he smashed amateur elite Sharapudin Magomedov, who is also a good pro MMArtist, but is also a former amateur elite),

And Asaf "Honey Badger" Chopurov, he's putting together a solid pro MMA career
(I first saw him at the prelims of a UAE Warriors card in which my man Reiner De Ridder fought to stay busy between his ONE and UFC runs, and Honey Badger was up against Shooto veteran and now ONE fighter Su Sung Cho Gotoh , from Team Krazy BEE, and dominated him)
but what really impresses me is his amateur record, some of the guys he beat at IMMAF or or Russian Cup or other AMA tournaments are no joke.

Looking back at that card where I saw him compete first, the main event winner was Amru Magomedov, who was defending his UAE LW title for the first time against Ali Kabdulla, who had just beaten his 2 opponents at WW at ONE ; solid defense against a bigger guy used to the big stage.
Amru would defend it a second time in 2025 against Brazilian UFC veteran Alex "Leko" Da Silva, and Amru is now signed with PFL too! He's having his debut at PFL Dubai: Nurmagomedov vs. Davis against Kolton "White Assassin" Englund.

This card is so stacked that crazy match-ups like the followings are on the prelims =>
- the French Abdoul "Lazy King" Abdouraguimov (former 3x Ares FC champion and 3-0 in PFL) vs "Prince" Magomed Umalatov (former Eagle FC champ, and 9-1 in the PFL)

- Amru Magomedov (solid prospect, already covered him) vs Kolton Englund (whose last loss was at Dana White's Contenders back in 2021 when he lost to Manuel "El Loco" Torres, who got a UFC contract out of that bout and gone 5-1 in there against good competition, bagging 5 POTN bonuses in the process, one for every win!... since that loss in 2021, Englund has gone 6-0, KOing UFC veteran Carlton "Clutch" Minus in one min in his last bout)

The other 2 prelim fights are also impressive, and I didn't even touch on the main card which is stacked to the max.

Crazy that fights like those ended up on the prelims, especially Lazy King vs Prince (looks like one of those match-ups put together because the names make for a nice poster, like Mousasi vs Musashi in K-1 back in the days ^^).

That's one of the reasons why I'm glad that the UFC doesn't have the monopoly anymore, that way PFL and RIZIN can also get stacked cards (especially since PFL bought Bellator, and since RIZIN and Bellator were very willing to co-promote

I hope it means that we'll get some RIZINxPFL cards in the future...

... and frankly compared to most of the watered-down UFC cards we've been getting lately (there are always exceptions, but...), PFL: Dubai has me way more hyped.

In the meantime, while waiting for RIZIN I guess I'll put on my boxing gloves and wait 3 more days for "Monster" Inoue vs "El Rey" Picasso.
With a co-main like Junto "Big Bang" Nakatani vs Sebastian "Logan" Hernandez, it's going to be insane.

Kenshiro Teraji aka "The Amazing Boy" coming back after his very close split decision loss to Ricardo "El Nino" Sandoval to take on Willibaldo "Buscara" Garcia is another banger; If hope Kenshiro wins decisively so he and El Nino can have a rematch in 2026.

It's doing me head in to realize that David Picasso, is a bigger underdog against Naoya Inoue, than a joke like Jake Paul was against a legit HW world ranker like Anthony Joshua.
(soze, I guess I'm still sad that Jake Paul wouldn't even take the risk of boxing the much smaller Mike "Platinum" Perry [who took the fight on short notice to replace old ass Mike Tyson, mind you], under bare-knuckle boxing rules... and Paul had the balls to claims that he only outweighed him by a slim margin, and that's "it's common in boxing, quit it with the excuses" ><)

 

[STAY GOLD]

Jungle Fight FLW's Diego Rojas and Rafael Sanson have looked pretty good, but they're both at a point where they need to move up now.

If the rumors are true of DWCS expanding next year starting in March, I hope they get a chance.