Vadim Nemkov when he found out 'Rumble' Johnson had signed w/ Bellator...

[careto]

Depends on what you mean by "contender" but Rashid Yusupov would be a great pickup imo, even if he wouldn't be near the title for a while. He's hit a rough patch but he's still only 28 and is 1 - 1 with Viktor Nemkov, his best years are still ahead of him. With his very technical fading and countering style I feel like he does much better when he can prepare for a specific opponent (outside the PFL tournament format). He had a ton of trouble countering and stopping the wrestling of Viktor their last fight, whereas he seemed consistently a step ahead the first time. I guess you could include Jordan Johnson, but he's already 32 and has plateaued as a mid-tier blanket, I just don't think he's going to develop much more, I don't see him being a contender in the future. Stephan Puetz is on a nice can-crushing run right now, he might be worth filling out the middle tier of a division with.

But yeah, other than Sordi who's locked down in the PFL, and Narkun locked in KSW, pretty much all the bright prospects from mid-high tier orgs have been split between the UFC and Bellator. As a lot of people have commented, I think Bellator was actually a step ahead with notable free agent LHW signings the last few years; UFC picked up Jiri and Khadis Ibragimov (he REALLY sucks now unfortunately), whereas Bellator got both Nemkov Brothers, Yagshimuradov, Albrektsson, Biyong.

Bellator was close to signing Jiri back when Bader was the LHW champ, by now Bellator would have been by far the best LHW division. I think the two divisions are very close to each other, I was just wondering what additions by either promotions could sway the balance one way or the other. Sordi and Narkun are solid, paritcularly Narkun IMO, but I dont think either of them would be instant contenders. Bellator still has Neal, Edwards, and Trainer as prospects to build off of, whereas the UFC has more solid short term contenders like Crute and Ankalaev.

 

[TheBiggestLittleTinyMan]

Bellator was close to signing Jiri back when Bader was the LHW champ, by now Bellator would have been by far the best LHW division. I think the two divisions are very close to each other, I was just wondering what additions by either promotions could sway the balance one way or the other. Sordi and Narkun are solid, paritcularly Narkun IMO, but I dont think either of them would be instant contenders. Bellator still has Neal, Edwards, and Trainer as prospects to build off of, whereas the UFC has more solid short term contenders like Crute and Ankalaev.

Yeah losing Jiri hurts but he has lots of good matchups in the ufc. Back then I was rooting for the implausible scenario of Bellator picking up both Jiri and Narkun. The independent European LHW scene was very exciting back then, I wanted to see Jiri-Narkun in Rizin, as well as Nemkov-Jiri 2, Narkun-Nemkov, Jiri-Bader. But, hypothetically, if they could pull the coup of signing Sordi-Narkun-Yusupov and maybe Puetz, I think it would be cut and dry that Bellator's was stronger overall, they would fill in the difference of mid-tier depth that is the UFC's biggest advantage.

Signings that they could more plausibly make? That's more difficult, Yusupov-Puetz is attainable, and from there you've got to keep an eye for guys who're starting to stand out in the little leagues. I'm not aware of anyone who's on much of a hot streak, but Cage Warriors, LFA, and M-1 are probably the smallest promotions I pay any attention to at all, and I don't follow them super closely.

 

[TheBiggestLittleTinyMan]

Bellator was close to signing Jiri back when Bader was the LHW champ, by now Bellator would have been by far the best LHW division. I think the two divisions are very close to each other, I was just wondering what additions by either promotions could sway the balance one way or the other. Sordi and Narkun are solid, paritcularly Narkun IMO, but I dont think either of them would be instant contenders. Bellator still has Neal, Edwards, and Trainer as prospects to build off of, whereas the UFC has more solid short term contenders like Crute and Ankalaev.

Trying to think of any other prospects I had a browse through fightfinder and stumbled on an interesting guy I had actually seen before but forgot Azamat Murzakanov.

He has a KO victory over Andre Muniz, as well as a decision over Guto Inocente. His last opponent even has a tko over Kleber Silva, so not bad either. I think that's quite an impressive strength of schedule for only 9 fights, none being in the big leagues (not counting a semi-big league win over a total can in ACB). That's about as good as it gets outside of the UFC/Bellator/PFL/KSW, even a significantly more proven guy like Yagshimuradov doesn't have many wins far and away better than Muniz + Inocente.

He's got solid take downs and very nice fast hands, he passes the eye test, I'd like to see how he does with the big boys:

 

[The ScorpioN]

If Bellator plays this right, we could see Nemkov vs Davis II, followed by Nemkov vs Corey, and Nemkov vs Johnson. \

This is fucking awful, I don't want to see Nemkov vs 2 blankets. It's enough we're getting tortured with the Davis rematch. If he wins, give him winner vs Romero/Rumble right away.

 

[careto]

This is fucking awful, I don't want to see Nemkov vs 2 blankets. It's enough we're getting tortured with the Davis rematch. If he wins, give him winner vs Romero/Rumble right away.

As much as I dont like Davis style of fighting, he is very legit and has earned a titleshot. In any case, I dont think neither Davis nor Corey would have a chance to blanket over Nemkov, they would both get KTFO before getting a takedown. But I do agree that the most interesting match up for Nemkov is Rumble or Yoel. However, they have not earned a titleshot. I would assume they need, at least, 2 quality victories before fighting for the title.

 

[careto]

Trying to think of any other prospects I had a browse through fightfinder and stumbled on an interesting guy I had actually seen before but forgot Azamat Murzakanov.

He has a KO victory over Andre Muniz, as well as a decision over Guto Inocente. His last opponent even has a tko over Kleber Silva, so not bad either. I think that's quite an impressive strength of schedule for only 9 fights, none being in the big leagues (not counting a semi-big league win over a total can in ACB). That's about as good as it gets outside of the UFC/Bellator/PFL/KSW, even a significantly more proven guy like Yagshimuradov doesn't have many wins far and away better than Muniz + Inocente.

He's got solid take downs and very nice fast hands, he passes the eye test, I'd like to see how he does with the big boys:

https://m.sherdog.com/news/news/Aza...SADA-Sanction-for-AntiDoping-Violation-152431

Interesting, apparently he had already made his way to the UFC but pissed hot back in 2017 and was handed a 2 year suspension. He did not fight at all during 2020 so hopefully he makes his way back to the big leagues. I doubt the UFC will take him or someone like Shytkrov back after pissing hot. But maybe Bellator or RIZIN would take a chance.

In their last podcast Big John and Josh mentioned that they just signed 2 Russians who are solid. We all heard about Yagshimuradov but i was wondering who the other one could be. Unless they are referring to Viktor Nemkov but he signed a while ago and I think they would have referred to him as "Vadim's brother" rather than some Russian.

 

[The ScorpioN]

As much as I dont like Davis style of fighting, he is very legit and has earned a titleshot. In any case, I dont think neither Davis nor Corey would have a chance to blanket over Nemkov, they would both get KTFO before getting a takedown. But I do agree that the most interesting match up for Nemkov is Rumble or Yoel. However, they have not earned a titleshot. I would assume they need, at least, 2 quality victories before fighting for the title.

Theyre more deserving that Corey even right now. Fighters of their caliber dont need to beat on Manhoef's corpse to earn anything.

 

[The ScorpioN]

https://m.sherdog.com/news/news/Aza...SADA-Sanction-for-AntiDoping-Violation-152431

Interesting, apparently he had already made his way to the UFC but pissed hot back in 2017 and was handed a 2 year suspension. He did not fight at all during 2020 so hopefully he makes his way back to the big leagues. I doubt the UFC will take him or someone like Shytkrov back after pissing hot. But maybe Bellator or RIZIN would take a chance.

In their last podcast Big John and Josh mentioned that they just signed 2 Russians who are solid. We all heard about Yagshimuradov but i was wondering who the other one could be. Unless they are referring to Viktor Nemkov but he signed a while ago and I think they would have referred to him as "Vadim's brother" rather than some Russian.

Yagshimuradov will be interesting. In an ideal world, Nemkov fights Rumble/Yoel winner, Yag fights the loser, and the 2 blankets Davis/Corey fight to a draw so boring Coker cuts them out of disgust.

 

[careto]

Yagshimuradov will be interesting. In an ideal world, Nemkov fights Rumble/Yoel winner, Yag fights the loser, and the 2 blankets Davis/Corey fight to a draw so boring Coker cuts them out of disgust.

LAO, who would you have Nemkov fight in the meantime, though?

 

[The ScorpioN]

LAO, who would you have Nemkov fight in the meantime, though?

Melvin Manhoef

 

[imbossing]

We'll see. I tend to think of Rumble as being pretty overrated.

.
I kinda agree with you on this

 

[imbossing]

He tried to take Rumble down immediately and paid for it.

It's a horrible style match up for him.

Back on the MMA math front, Rumble also beat Davis much easier than Nemkov did.

But that was years ago. No idea is Rumble is still the same guy.

MMA says dude lost to Vitor and koscheck

 

[careto]

Melvin Manhoef

Im assuming you are kidding.

 

[careto]

Trying to think of any other prospects I had a browse through fightfinder and stumbled on an interesting guy I had actually seen before but forgot Azamat Murzakanov.

He has a KO victory over Andre Muniz, as well as a decision over Guto Inocente. His last opponent even has a tko over Kleber Silva, so not bad either. I think that's quite an impressive strength of schedule for only 9 fights, none being in the big leagues (not counting a semi-big league win over a total can in ACB). That's about as good as it gets outside of the UFC/Bellator/PFL/KSW, even a significantly more proven guy like Yagshimuradov doesn't have many wins far and away better than Muniz + Inocente.

He's got solid take downs and very nice fast hands, he passes the eye test, I'd like to see how he does with the big boys:

https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020...s-stephan-puetz-former-m-1-challenge-champion

They just signed Stephan Puetz, i dont know much about him but sounds legit.

 

[tehMoose]

https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020...s-stephan-puetz-former-m-1-challenge-champion

They just signed Stephan Puetz, i dont know much about him but sounds legit.

Great addition to an already stacked division!

 

[TheBiggestLittleTinyMan]

https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020...s-stephan-puetz-former-m-1-challenge-champion

They just signed Stephan Puetz, i dont know much about him but sounds legit.

Puetz is very solid, heavy on top and a good grinder, but I see him as probably the least of the 3 big M-1 performers of the last few years, behind Nemkov and Yusupov, who are 2 of his last 3 losses. I know a single loss shouldn't be the end all be all of a guy's body of work (and right now I'd rate Puetz as better overall for sure), but damn has that Ibragimov loss aged badly, Ibragimov can't buy a win against a half-decent opponent. But that's counterbalanced by a very high quality TKO of A-level athlete slayer Tybura. Excited to get this division rolling, I think Puetz vs Albrektson, Biyong, Polizzi, possibly Anglicas would all be solid debuts for him. Or maybe if they want to get him a decent "name" and they're done feeding Sakara cans, they could match them up since Puetz isn't likely to crack his chin in the first minute at least.

Side note: I don't really like insinuating PED usage without a failed test very much (aside from very obvious common sense cases), but Ibragimov might be the most extreme example I've ever seen of a regional guy's skills and conditioning just falling off a cliff as soon as he runs into any testing.

 

[careto]

Puetz is very solid, heavy on top and a good grinder, but I see him as probably the least of the 3 big M-1 performers of the last few years, behind Nemkov and Yusupov, who are 2 of his last 3 losses. I know a single loss shouldn't be the end all be all of a guy's body of work (and right now I'd rate Puetz as better overall for sure), but damn has that Ibragimov loss aged badly, Ibragimov can't buy a win against a half-decent opponent. But that's counterbalanced by a very high quality TKO of A-level athlete slayer Tybura. Excited to get this division rolling, I think Puetz vs Albrektson, Biyong, Polizzi, possibly Anglicas would all be solid debuts for him. Or maybe if they want to get him a decent "name" and they're done feeding Sakara cans, they could match them up since Puetz isn't likely to crack his chin in the first minute at least.

Side note: I don't really like insinuating PED usage without a failed test very much (aside from very obvious common sense cases), but Ibragimov might be the most extreme example I've ever seen of a regional guy's skills and conditioning just falling off a cliff as soon as he runs into any testing.

Yeah, i dont think Puetz would be an immediate contender, granted i dont know much about him, but he adds more depth and legitimacy to the division. Right now, there is a lot of talk about the LHW division in Bellator and they keep adding talent to it.

Alberktsson, Polizzi, Biyong, Puetz, and Viktor Nemkov should fight each other to get a clear contender out of the group.

 

[Kforcer]

Nemkov by

That is one of the coolest, most creative things I've seen in grappling. And I watch tons of Japanese catch-wrestling and luta livre, so I have seen plenty of cool stuff. You got a video for this? I'm now a fan. Hopefully he's a classy guy as well as an awesome grappler.

 

[r-harper-1]

Dunno about that, I think Rumble when he left was the third best LHW of all time head to head.

He completely quit in his last fight and ballooned up to 280 lbs ..... I think the jury being out on him is fair

 

[Aldo145]

Rumble quit twice against DC hard to put him in top. Scary power tho