Unsigned Heavyweights - Thread Three

[Paul L]

Bartlomiej Bartnicki defeats late replacement Kacper Dopierała by submission in 18 seconds.

As a former Olympic wrestler for Poland, I wonder what Bartnicki's ceiling is. His main problem is he's 34 years old, and fighting lower level Polish heavyweights only twice a year at best. I'd like to see him fight someone even mid level to see where he's at.

 

[Nathanli]

Alex Nicholson (5-1) vs. Chaz Morgan (9-0) for the right to call themselves the best Heavyweight prospect in Florida and probably the whole Southeast. Nicholson definitely belongs at Light Heavyweight and has a fight at that class 5 weeks before this fight against Mo De'Reese, but he has looked good at both weights. Morgan has been training at American Top Team with guys like Todd Duffee and Walt Harris.

 

[Paul L]

Alex Nicholson (5-1) vs. Chaz Morgan (9-0) for the right to call themselves the best Heavyweight prospect in Florida and probably the whole Southeast. Nicholson definitely belongs at Light Heavyweight and has a fight at that class 5 weeks before this fight against Mo De'Reese, but he has looked good at both weights. Morgan has been training at American Top Team with guys like Todd Duffee and Walt Harris.

Or "A LHW who was brought in to lose to Chase Sherman takes out all of Island Fights best heavyweights" :icon_chee

Morgan can win it if he uses his weight to grind Nicholson out. Otherwise Nicholson will get the TKO on the feet, Morgan's striking is bar brawler level.

 

[Dirtey]

https://twitter.com/BrigitteNarcise/status/591964383695089664

UFC apparently signed 0-0 Olympic Wrestler. Great prospect tho.

 

[graveyardman]

https://twitter.com/BrigitteNarcise/status/591964383695089664

UFC apparently signed 0-0 Olympic Wrestler. Great prospect tho.

One of the best, if not THE best, heavy weights in the world. Looks like UFC is encouraging him to get it done in the Olympics and carry that momentum into the UFC for 2016.

With K Dojo behind him I would expect him to make an impact. They have introduced and continue to work with some great talent. (Khabib, Amagov both started there. Also have ties with Alexey Oleynik. Currently training Yakovlev and Albert Tumenov. They also have one of the best grapplers in the world Rustam Chsiev.

 

[Paul L]

https://twitter.com/BrigitteNarcise/status/591964383695089664

UFC apparently signed 0-0 Olympic Wrestler. Great prospect tho.

I love signings like this, and to the UFC is even better. This is an investment they sorely need in the division. When guys like Nog, Cro Cop, Mir, Gonzaga etc... Begin to filter out and retire, they need ultra high level athletes to replace them or else the HW division will die out.

Keep it coming. Ali-Ahkbari and Tyrell Fortune next please.

 

[Slongkong]

They're getting scared of the early Bellator signings

 

[The_Renaissance]

They're getting scared of the early Bellator signings

I agree with your point but certainly not with HW's. Who was the last HW you signed with any pedigree? Cheick Kongo.

I say 'you' coz you clearly work for Bellator.

Bellator are doing the right thing with signing up 0-0 dudes with pedigrees, but you need the stepping-stone talents to build them up.

Makhov will fight random dudes from random countries like South Africa, Jordan, Finland, with 1-0, 2-0 records who are clearly not UFC/Bellator material.

In Bellator, he'd fight some 40yr old bloke from (insert Indian -territory city/state) with a 1-9 record to open his account. Big difference, sunshine. Aaron Pico will debut against a 1-4 dude who's 39yrs old from Bumfuck, Arkansas.

 

[MMALOPEZ]

They're getting scared of the early Bellator signings

I hope u are not talking about hw's?

 

[Slongkong]

I hope u are not talking about hw's?

obviously not. Just playful banter about how Bellator signs wrestlers before they turn pro and not UFC is follwing suit.

ps don't tell the renaissance i replied to you. He'll get jealous and start crying. He desperately wants my attention.

 

[Gendry]

I kind of hope Bellator scraps their HW division. No real point to it/

 

[CC27]

Great pickup, some signings like this or Pico are worth making years before they will fight. Not always and its def not done alot but this was smart.

HW div really needs it. Now just hope Tybura signs and in maybe another years Blaydes gets built up in RFA and then signs with UFC.

HW/LHW can really use fresh fighters.

 

[Paul L]

Great pickup, some signings like this or Pico are worth making years before they will fight. Not always and its def not done alot but this was smart.

HW div really needs it. Now just hope Tybura signs and in maybe another years Blaydes gets built up in RFA and then signs with UFC.

HW/LHW can really use fresh fighters.

Agreed, the classic scouting/matchmaking will soon be obsolete for these divisions. Guys like Joe Silva and Rich Chou will need to be a bit more tactical and think outside the box, and this signing shows that the UFC is starting to make that necessary shift.

Makhov's path to the UFC is really how future stars will appear. Invited to help train a current UFC fighter at a big gym like AKA, Blackzillians, ATT, Jackson's, etc... then see if they like the environment there, if they do and show they want to take MMA seriously, sign them up and develop them right away.

Makhov and Aliakbari were both in AKA camps, and Fortune is with the Blackzillians. These guys have already been seeded and are being prepared for big careers. The same goes with Curtis Blaydes and RFA, Blaydes is a bit beyond the above guys in MMA experience, but now that he's in RFA he's being prepared for a UFC run.

You have to plan out your moves years in advance if you're going to create new heavyweight stars, guys like JDS and Cain are more exceptions rather than rules, if you want high level fighters at HW and LHW lately, you have to create your own rather than relying on the regional scene to create them for you.

 

[MMALOPEZ]

Eric Prindle the American soldier and Shannon The Cannon Ritch are fighting Aug 9 in Japan
The fight will be televised
WE NEED SPONSORS please inbox if interested

Eric prindle's Facebook page!

So he Will debut in Pancrase in August, no opponent yet

 

[Dirtey]

You have to plan out your moves years in advance if you're going to create new heavyweight stars, guys like JDS and Cain are more exceptions rather than rules, if you want high level fighters at HW and LHW lately, you have to create your own rather than relying on the regional scene to create them for you.

I agree, but Cain would probably also fit that rule. He did his pro debut in Strikeforce challengers and got signed by UFC as 2-0.

 

[Bahoosh]

Very happy they signed Makhov. He was a three time world champ plus his olympic bronze (where he kind of chocked IMO, could have easily won gold) makes him relatively easy to promote and is a sign that he can go very far in MMA. Seems like he's going to be focusing on wrestling for one more year since the Olympics are so close and then go into MMA. UFC will be backing him hard to win gold and if he does then that is a huge boost to the promotional effort. A case could easily be made that Makhov is the best wrestler to ever be part of the UFC, even pre-Zuffa. He's certainly the best out of the current guys.

I hope this signals a new trend of the UFC going out of their way to sign guys like this. Would they do the same for Amir Ali Akbari? I'd love for them to sign him now and i'd guess he will eventually be in the UFC but not right off the bat like Makhov, the positive steroid test could make them reluctant to sign him before he's had any fights.

 

[The_Renaissance]

obviously not. Just playful banter about how Bellator signs wrestlers before they turn pro and not UFC is follwing suit.

ps don't tell the renaissance i replied to you. He'll get jealous and start crying. He desperately wants my attention.

I was absolutely gutted mate, to be honest and I did shed a tear, not ashamed to admit that.

 

[Paul L]

I did a bit of amateur fighter digging this week and added some new names to my amateur listing. Nothing standout this round, but some good former (and current) college athletes floating around the scene.

 

[Paul L]

Tybura gets his first loss against LHW Stephan Puetz. Since Smoldarev recently lost to Tybura, I've had to change how I weigh certain things. I've decided to make potential a higher priority than experience/current ability, and shuffled things around accordingly. It will all work out in the wash when future bouts happen regardless, but Tybura's performance really messed things up in the Russian/Eastern European HW scene.

 

[MMALOPEZ]

Tybura gets his first loss against LHW Stephan Puetz. Since Smoldarev recently lost to Tybura, I've had to change how I weigh certain things. I've decided to make potential a higher priority than experience/current ability, and shuffled things around accordingly. It will all work out in the wash when future bouts happen regardless, but Tybura's performance really messed things up in the Russian/Eastern European HW scene.

Wow! Did not see the fights today! Big surprise, i agree 100%