Top 15 Undefeated Lightweight Prospects To Keep An Eye On (Mattandbenny's 2020 Edition)

[mattandbenny]

So I am no longer very active on these forums unfortunately due to a variety of reasons, essentially culminating in me having much less spare time than I used to. I do still keep tabs on prospects just as much as before but have basically cut out putting together and publishing my scouting.

Times are tough for everyone at the minute and I have recently come into some more spare time, so thought I would publish lists of my favourite prospects of 2020 and who I believe could be big names in MMA in the future. Unfortunately I haven't got time to go into detail about each fighter, but if you are interested I would recommend watching some fights of these guys as some of them are very good prospects. The last few guys on the list are wildcards - young guys very early into their careers who haven't really fought anybody yet - but I like what I see from them and they have the potential to do well.

Like always I have a few rules I go by - for the lightweight division my rules are:
a) Maximum Age Limit: 25 years old
b) Must be active: Ideally fought within the past 6 months
c) Must have had at least 3 professional fights
d) Must be undefeated as a professional
e) Must not fight be signed to / have fought for a large organisation (UFC, Bellator, One, Rizin, Dana White Contender Series etc)

So here is my top 15 Lightweight undefeated prospects of 2020:
1) Usman Nurmagomedov, Age 21, Russia, 9-0 Pro Record (1-0 Amateur)
2) Max Rohskopf, Age 25, USA, 5-0 Pro Record (1-0 Amateur)
3) Evan Elder, Age 22, USA, 3-0 Pro record (6-1 Amateur)
4) Anthony Romero, Age 23, Canada, 7-0 Pro Record (9-1 Amateur)
5) Mason Jones, Age 24, Wales, 9-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)
6) Manoel Sousa, Age 22, Brazil, 5-0 Pro Record (3-0 Amateur)
7) Ferdun Osmanov, Age 23, Bulgaria, 3-0 Pro Record (13-3 Amateur)
8) Mochamed Machaev, Age 20, Austria, 8-0 Pro Record (0-1 Amateur)
9) Khalid Satuev, Age 25, Russia, 8-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)
10) Petru Buzdugan, Age 19, Moldova, 4-0 Pro Record (2-0 Amateur)
11) Alex Martinez, Age 25, Canada, 6-0 Pro Record (15-4 Amateur)
12) Bogdan Grad, Age 24, Austria, 3-0 Pro Record (8-5 Amateur)
13) Adam Masaev, Age 20, Russia, 3-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)
14) Patrik Celic, Age 20, Croatia, 3-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)
15) Khalil Amir, Age 20, Turkey, 3-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)

 

[kingmob6]

Usman Nurmagomedov - 2 UFC Champion Names in 1. His brother already signed as well recently.

 

[mattandbenny]

Usman Nurmagomedov - 2 UFC Champion Names in 1. His brother already signed as well recently.

Yea interestingly the 3 of them all have quite contrasting styles. Khabib is a pure wrestler, whereas Umar & Usman are both really well rounded, with the slightly older & more experienced Umar favouring grappling and the younger Usman favouring striking. Wouldn’t surprise me if we have all 3 Nurmagomedov’s in the UFC in the next couple of years.

 

[careto]

PFL should sign a couple of them and build them in their tournament. Bellator could use a couple of these young prospects for their depleted LW division. The UFC doesnt really need any more LWs, they have a shark tank as it is.

 

[careto]

So I am no longer very active on these forums unfortunately due to a variety of reasons, essentially culminating in me having much less spare time than I used to. I do still keep tabs on prospects just as much as before but have basically cut out putting together and publishing my scouting.

Times are tough for everyone at the minute and I have recently come into some more spare time, so thought I would publish lists of my favourite prospects of 2020 and who I believe could be big names in MMA in the future. Unfortunately I haven't got time to go into detail about each fighter, but if you are interested I would recommend watching some fights of these guys as some of them are very good prospects. The last few guys on the list are wildcards - young guys very early into their careers who haven't really fought anybody yet - but I like what I see from them and they have the potential to do well.

Like always I have a few rules I go by - for the lightweight division my rules are:
a) Maximum Age Limit: 25 years old
b) Must be active: Ideally fought within the past 6 months
c) Must have had at least 3 professional fights
d) Must be undefeated as a professional
e) Must not fight be signed to / have fought for a large organisation (UFC, Bellator, One, Rizin, Dana White Contender Series etc)

So here is my top 15 Lightweight undefeated prospects of 2020:
1) Usman Nurmagomedov, Age 21, Russia, 9-0 Pro Record (1-0 Amateur)
2) Max Rohskopf, Age 25, USA, 5-0 Pro Record (1-0 Amateur)
3) Evan Elder, Age 22, USA, 3-0 Pro record (6-1 Amateur)
4) Anthony Romero, Age 23, Canada, 7-0 Pro Record (9-1 Amateur)
5) Mason Jones, Age 24, Wales, 9-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)
6) Manoel Sousa, Age 22, Brazil, 5-0 Pro Record (3-0 Amateur)
7) Ferdun Osmanov, Age 23, Bulgaria, 3-0 Pro Record (13-3 Amateur)
8) Mochamed Machaev, Age 20, Austria, 8-0 Pro Record (0-1 Amateur)
9) Khalid Satuev, Age 25, Russia, 8-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)
10) Petru Buzdugan, Age 19, Moldova, 4-0 Pro Record (2-0 Amateur)
11) Alex Martinez, Age 25, Canada, 6-0 Pro Record (15-4 Amateur)
12) Bogdan Grad, Age 24, Austria, 3-0 Pro Record (8-5 Amateur)
13) Adam Masaev, Age 20, Russia, 3-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)
14) Patrik Celic, Age 20, Croatia, 3-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)
15) Khalil Amir, Age 20, Turkey, 3-0 Pro Record (0-0 Amateur)

Are there any fights from these guys that you recommend watching? I've only heard about Nurmagomedov and Rohskpof, hope to see them in a big promotion soon.

 

[mattandbenny]

Are there any fights from these guys that you recommend watching? I've only heard about Nurmagomedov and Rohskpof, hope to see them in a big promotion soon.

Manoel Souza vs Vandrison Negao is a pretty good KO. Mason Jones has been in some fun fights, his most recent ones are on fight pass.

A couple of them didn’t have videos on youtube and i had to find videos from their facebook etc. And the Russians you get more videos if you google translate their name into Russian and search for the Russian version of their name.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Are there any fights from these guys that you recommend watching? I've only heard about Nurmagomedov and Rohskpof, hope to see them in a big promotion soon.

Any Mason Jones fights are entertaining, he fights in Cage Warriors so they're on fight pass.

I'd personally rank him a lot higher than he's ranked on there, he reminds me of Gaethje a little bit.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Oh and are you counting Combate as a major organisation? If not then I think Rafa Garcia should be on the list.

 

[Koniradi98]

Would also add Mateusz Legierski, Oktagon LW champ
https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Mateusz-Legierski-154507

Became 26, 3 months ago but Shamil Musaev looked really promising in his KSW fights .
The record is a bit padded though.
https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Shamil-Musaev-119289

 

[mattandbenny]

Would also add Mateusz Legierski, Oktagon LW champ
https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Mateusz-Legierski-154507

Became 26, 3 months ago but Shamil Musaev looked really promising in his KSW fights .
The record is a bit padded though.
https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Shamil-Musaev-119289

I do like Musaev a lot, just discounted him as he is 14-0 and fighting for KSW. Tried to go for some more under the radar prospects. But Musaev would be right up there, like you say his record is a bit padded - he has only fought 3 decent guys but he has finished each of them

 

[europe1]

Nice list!
No love for Shamil Nikaev though? 24 years old with a 9-0 record and has recently beaten Alexander Sarnavsky. Has also defeated UFC fighter Christos Giagos.
https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/100429-shamil-nikaev-little-fedor

 

[careto]

Nice list!
No love for Shamil Nikaev though? 24 years old with a 9-0 record and has recently beaten Alexander Sarnavsky. Has also defeated UFC fighter Christos Giagos.
https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/100429-shamil-nikaev-little-fedor

He recently signed with Bellator, he was going to fight on the Cyborg vs Budd event but his fight was cancelled due to visa issues or something, it was strange. They fight was scheduled and it just did not happend, no announcement or reason for the cancellation given.

 

[mattandbenny]

Nice list!
No love for Shamil Nikaev though? 24 years old with a 9-0 record and has recently beaten Alexander Sarnavsky. Has also defeated UFC fighter Christos Giagos.
https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/100429-shamil-nikaev-little-fedor

Yea it was 2 reasons - recently signed with Bellator and also his inactivity (not fought for over 2 years).

 

[careto]

Max Rohskopf just signed with the UFC and will be making his debut this saturday against Austin Hubbard.

 

[TCE]

Max Rohskopf just signed with the UFC and will be making his debut this saturday against Austin Hubbard.

That ended very surprisingly, tbh. Max quit on the stool.