- Joined
- Nov 13, 2013
- Messages
- 9,913
- Reaction score
- 2
So I'm still relatively new to posting and I'm trying my best not to create crappy, mindless threads because there's enough of that on this site as it is. So I got an idea of periodically making a thread for each weight class and discussing the best choices for BLACK HORSE/overlooked fighters in each respected weight class. I'm sure this has been done before, hopefully not too recently. And if one of you wants to be a total Jocker and start a similar thread on a different weight class, go on ahead!
Anyways, I figured I'd start with arguably, the weight class with the most depth.
Here are my personal nominees:
Adlan "Borz" Amagov
"The Wolf" was thrown the wolves quite early when Strikeforce set him up with a middleweight fight against recent title challenger, Robbie Lawler. He of course, got dispatched quickly by the veteran brawler, he made a quick turn around with a rare finish via kick to the knee. Since then, he has made the transition into the UFC quite impressively, beating fellow stand up fighter Chris Spang by unanimous decision in a fight where he exhibited some flashes of excellence, particularly in his ability to mix up his strikes and exploit small openings. Check out this cool Andy Hug style spinning heel kick to the thigh from the aforementioned fight:
After this fight, he had exhibited some pure brutality in starching TJ Waldburger in one of the most violent finishes of last year. (Side note: my vote for most brutal finish of 2013 goes to Guillard over Danzig) He was then scheduled to fight grappling based, Jason High before he pulled out for personal obligations. It seems as though the UFC is planning on giving this young man a slow road to the top. Which is the smart choice in my opinion, as he has not yet faced a truly well rounded fighter outside of Lawler. I would like to eventually see this guy's ground game get tested and hope they match him up with someone like Mike Pierce to see him against a durable grappler who has enough stand up competency to not get frozen by his versatile strikes.
Kelvin Gastelum
This young wrestling based fighter was incredibly impressive in his recent performance with the battle tested Rick Story, in a fight that I thought could have been nominated for possible Fight of the Year. This tank of a man caught my eye while on TUF by exhibiting great ground competency and fight IQ against Josh Samman (Gif above). I personally love strong wrestlers who aren't afraid to work their BJJ game to take advantage of the positional advantages that come frequently to control based wrestlers. I'm excited to see his next fight against Musoke, but quite honestly want to see his striking get truly tested by a fighter who wont be hesitant to engage despite the threat of the takedown. He got rocked badly by Story, but showed great courage by immediately putting his back to the cage, ditching defense and fighting fire with fire, and for this reason, i'd like to see him against a striker who would take advantage of such openings- such as my next choice:
Brandon "Rukus" Thatch
This physically gifted, long range striker utilizes his size and reach advantage to control distance and is equally adept with all of his limbs. He displayed his competency of adapting his striking for dealing with a grappler trying to close the distance in his last fight with Paulo Thiago. Before landing a devastating step-in knee that made Thaigo crumble and tap, he changed up his style from an aggressive, stalking striker, to a counter striker waiting for the shot by setting it up with beautiful uses of feints and showed his knowledge of cutting off the cage by forcing Thiago to back straight up.
Although he is arguably the least tested of each of the fighters on this list, he most certainly has the physical gifts to expand his skill set in a way that may pose danger to entire grappling-heavy division. Considering his style, physicality and fight IQ; I could see him becoming a very similar fighter to Carlos Condit. And would love to see him fight some of the similar competition they threw at condit. Kampmann, The Dong, and Ellenberger are all fights I would love to see him work his way towards. For now, a i'd be most interested in a fight with Kelvin since both are hovering around the top 10-15 rankings.
I have deliberately chosen fighters who have not yet fought against the top flight competition of the weight class but have showed enough skill in these recent fights to possibly consider them-at least eventually- as a threat to the top echelon at 170. Let's see your choices!
Anyways, I figured I'd start with arguably, the weight class with the most depth.
Welterweight
Here are my personal nominees:
Adlan "Borz" Amagov
"The Wolf" was thrown the wolves quite early when Strikeforce set him up with a middleweight fight against recent title challenger, Robbie Lawler. He of course, got dispatched quickly by the veteran brawler, he made a quick turn around with a rare finish via kick to the knee. Since then, he has made the transition into the UFC quite impressively, beating fellow stand up fighter Chris Spang by unanimous decision in a fight where he exhibited some flashes of excellence, particularly in his ability to mix up his strikes and exploit small openings. Check out this cool Andy Hug style spinning heel kick to the thigh from the aforementioned fight:
After this fight, he had exhibited some pure brutality in starching TJ Waldburger in one of the most violent finishes of last year. (Side note: my vote for most brutal finish of 2013 goes to Guillard over Danzig) He was then scheduled to fight grappling based, Jason High before he pulled out for personal obligations. It seems as though the UFC is planning on giving this young man a slow road to the top. Which is the smart choice in my opinion, as he has not yet faced a truly well rounded fighter outside of Lawler. I would like to eventually see this guy's ground game get tested and hope they match him up with someone like Mike Pierce to see him against a durable grappler who has enough stand up competency to not get frozen by his versatile strikes.
Kelvin Gastelum
This young wrestling based fighter was incredibly impressive in his recent performance with the battle tested Rick Story, in a fight that I thought could have been nominated for possible Fight of the Year. This tank of a man caught my eye while on TUF by exhibiting great ground competency and fight IQ against Josh Samman (Gif above). I personally love strong wrestlers who aren't afraid to work their BJJ game to take advantage of the positional advantages that come frequently to control based wrestlers. I'm excited to see his next fight against Musoke, but quite honestly want to see his striking get truly tested by a fighter who wont be hesitant to engage despite the threat of the takedown. He got rocked badly by Story, but showed great courage by immediately putting his back to the cage, ditching defense and fighting fire with fire, and for this reason, i'd like to see him against a striker who would take advantage of such openings- such as my next choice:
Brandon "Rukus" Thatch
This physically gifted, long range striker utilizes his size and reach advantage to control distance and is equally adept with all of his limbs. He displayed his competency of adapting his striking for dealing with a grappler trying to close the distance in his last fight with Paulo Thiago. Before landing a devastating step-in knee that made Thaigo crumble and tap, he changed up his style from an aggressive, stalking striker, to a counter striker waiting for the shot by setting it up with beautiful uses of feints and showed his knowledge of cutting off the cage by forcing Thiago to back straight up.
Although he is arguably the least tested of each of the fighters on this list, he most certainly has the physical gifts to expand his skill set in a way that may pose danger to entire grappling-heavy division. Considering his style, physicality and fight IQ; I could see him becoming a very similar fighter to Carlos Condit. And would love to see him fight some of the similar competition they threw at condit. Kampmann, The Dong, and Ellenberger are all fights I would love to see him work his way towards. For now, a i'd be most interested in a fight with Kelvin since both are hovering around the top 10-15 rankings.
I have deliberately chosen fighters who have not yet fought against the top flight competition of the weight class but have showed enough skill in these recent fights to possibly consider them-at least eventually- as a threat to the top echelon at 170. Let's see your choices!
