Future UFC Stars Who Aren't In UFC Yet

Lets hear about some good prospects...

I'll start with 2 I think could be contenders and maybe Champions in the UFC at 145 lbs and 155 lbs.  One has had 4 pro fights and one has had 8 pro fights...but they both unbeaten and have big time talent.  Another interesting thing is they are training partners.

1) Gregor Gillespie 155 lbs. (4-0....4 1st rd stoppages)  Was a 4 Time All American and D1 National Champion wrestler.  Interesting story and has a similar buzz of dominance like Chris Weidman had a few years ago when he was 4-0 as a Ring Of Combat fighter from Long Island before getting his UFC call.  Gregor trains with Keith Trimble at Bellmore Kickoxing/MMA around guys like Costas Philippou, Ryan LaFlare, Dennis Burmudez, World Champion Boxer Chris Algieri and many others.  Great talent, great coaching...I believe he could make a big noise sooner than later despite only having 4 fights.

2)  One of the others Gillespie trains with is his training partner undefeated 145 lber Andre Harrison Former Ring Of Combat Champion now in Titan FC.  Andre was 6-0 as an amateur and is currently 8-0 as a professional. He was a 2X All American D2 wrestler and is a physical specimen who is athletic, big and strong for that weight class.  Andre is fighting 17-3 Cody Bollinger March 20th in Titan 33. Keep an eye on him and Gillespie.   (Recent videos below)    

@mmawizzard  Well in that case, Chookaigan would be a fantastic addition to the UFC's Women's Bantamweight division.  My apologies for not being up to date on info.

* Edited at 02.13.2016, 10:06 PM ET *

I didn't if she could make BW or not until I asked her but hopefully dana will sign her I think its a easy move to make Murphy wants a fight bad and Chookigan is from Pitsburgh so that is as simple as it can get

BTW Lee is a beast im really high on her

Hailing from Bucharest, Romania, 21 year old Cristina Stanciu is a solid women's flyweight/women's bantamweight prospect.  In terms of striking and standup, Stanciu is very good.  She has great variation in her strikes, solid power in her strikes, good head movement, good footwork, aggressively pressures her opponents, and does great at closing the distance.  In terms of the ground game and grappling, Stanciu is decent from what I have been able to see.  She has good TDD, good ground and pound, hunts for submissions, does a good job at taking her opponent's back, and can get takedowns.  However, when in guard, Stanciu is stationary.  Overall, Stanciu is a solid prospect and would be a good addition to Bellator's new Women's flyweight division or the UFC's Women's Bantamweight division. 

Here is a video of Stanciu's victory over Alice Ardelean: 

probably already been posted, but a great prospect who could really help the german market for UFC,  could draw interest from Germany's wrestling community (pretty hardcore people), and  would also bring some fresh energy to a growing bantamweight division. His stand up is still a bit clunky, but if he can find fluidity and more balance/timing to his strikes, he could develop into a serious contender. His mma wrestling,  chaining strikes with take downs is pretty great already, at least at regional level. credentials are detailed in following link ;

* Edited at 02.14.2016, 12:23 AM ET *

http://www.mmaspirit.tv/en/teamspirit/instructors/mixed-martial-arts/saba-bolaghi.html

At 24 years of age and hailing from Belem, Brazil, Jungle Fight Women's Strawweight Champion Polyana Viana is a decent women's strawweight prospect that the UFC should look at.  In terms of stand up, Viana is good.  She has decent power, good variation of strikes, good movement, and is very good at throwing counter strikes. However, she can get pushed around in the clinch, which is something she needs to address. In terms of her grappling and ground game, Viana looks okay, but needs improvement based on what I've seen.  She does a good job at getting submissions and has good ground and pound.  However, from what I have watched, she has very little in the way of takedown defense and can get muscled around when she is on the bottom, despite the threat she poses with pulling off submissions off her back.  Furthermore, when she is fighting off her back, she doesn't scramble much and is very stationary.  Overall, while she probably needs a few more fights in Jungle Fight before getting called up, Viana is still a good prospect at Strawweight.

Here is a video of Viana's victory over Giselle Campos: 

* Edited at 02.14.2016, 12:53 AM ET *

TJ Laramie 18-year old kid from Canada. So far has won 1 ammy and 3 pro fight very dominantly. In kickboxing he is IKA World Champion and also is IBJJF Juvenile World Champion. In his young career no one haven't even managed to land a strike into his face. Very interesting and confident prospect. Next weekend he will fight Vince Murdock @TXC Legends 7. His goal is to be @UFC when he's 21, but if he keeps running through his opponents like he has so far, it will be so much sooner. In his last fight he KO'd Yvon Agenord with huge right hand, he set it up with double left jab and landed that punch beautifully.

Rafael Domingos, multiple-time BJJ World Champion. Yesterday he just run through his toughest test yet, Rafael Macedo. His improved striking showed yesterday, he landed couple of beautiful left straight, knocked down Macedo and finished him with beautiful mounted guillotine. I would be shocked if he isn't fighting bigger organizations within this year.

Jesse Arnett, most likely his next fight is @UFC already. Great wrestler and now he has focused on striking and jiujitsu and you can see results. Fast pace entertaining fighter with awesome personality.

* Edited at 02.14.2016, 7:54 AM ET *

@Alienator  All three are very good prospects.

I know he is not going to fight mma but I wish Jordan Burroughs would do it. There was a rumor he would but I guess it was false.

This will be a guy to watch for this year he is originally from Russia then moved to Israel and then moved to Canada being very mobile in his life and the same can be said for his career he has done grappling tournaments, wrestling, muay thai, boxing and mma and he shows all that in his fights he has very crisp boxing he uses combinations very well and he has alot of power for the division and on the mat he is excellent as well with ground and pound, good control being heavy on top, and versatile with submissions attacking being on top or if he was on his

* Edited at 02.14.2016, 4:03 PM ET *

@wizzard  Sherbatov is a fantastic prospect.  My one hang up on Sherbatov is his height, as he would be the smallest Flyweight in the division.  Still, I think he is good enough to minimize any potential limitations brought on by his height.

* Edited at 02.14.2016, 5:14 PM ET *

How tall is he?

he is 5"2"

My bad Greenhornet I didn't know you posted Yoni on here before I must of looked over it somehow.

@mmawizzard It's cool, dude.  I don't mind.  I think I may have done the same as well, earlier in the thread.

With Sarah Moras out the only replacement I see is Katlyn Chookagian who is a home town fighter.
With Lineker out I can see hometown fighters Brian Kelleher or Dominic Mazzotta but they could also bring in Manny Vazquez.

Tachi PF 26, Thursday.

-Fly, Casey Kenney(2-0): My latest prospect added he is very very solid all around his standup he uses a little of everything as knees, leg kicks, head kicks, and striking he is very picky he lands at will with good accuracy and he has solid striking defense as well with good footwork and really good head movement and on the mat he is very good but his wrestling and judo is spectacular he can not just be dangerous with a double leg takedown but he is just as dangerous using his jusdo for the trip takedowns and the hip tosses and while on the mat he is very heavy on top and can transition well, watching his fights I see no flaws in him as of yet. He fights Abel Garcia who I can't find no footage on but I think he is a BJJ guy but his record dosen't seem so good yeah he is 1-0 but his armature record is 2-5.

-LW, Drakkar Klose(5-0): Also my prospect im excited to see how he does here cause im not sold on him completly just yet cause he does need some work defense wise like on his TDD its not bad it just needs to be better but he has powerful hands which standed out alot and he also has solid wrestling and cardio and there is a reason he is undefeated as a pro and a armature having a total of 12 straight wins. He fights Joshua Aveles who has multiple the fights and is a big knockout power with 20 of his 22 wins by ko/tko and most being by knockout and it seems like his TDD is his weakness so Klose will sure have to get this fight to the mat.

RFA 35, Friday. 

-BW, Ricky Steele(4-0): He is a karate fighter and he reps that style well he has solid kicks not that they are just really powerful but he covers distance and very well I like how he attacks the legs so much and then go to the head and he always throws with 100% speed being very fast, he does very good at keeping his opponent at range using alot of side kicks and oblique kicks and he moves in and out very quick with not much damage at all and also he has good takedowns getting a few takedowns in all of his fights and actually his two amateur wins are by submission so he is very well rounded. He fights LJ Schulz who I can't find any footage on but it seems he is more of a aggressive wrestler so this should be a good fight.

-HW, Curtis Blaydes(4-0): He is a wrestler based fighter being very experienced in wrestling and he transitioned it well to mma dominating with wrestling and heavy top control he is freakishly strong making it very easy for the takedowns and hes not the type of HW that just puts weight on their opponents to drag them to the mat he actually will either slam you to the mat or drag you to the mat with his strength or a signal leg and he also has alot of power in his hands to end it in one punch. He fights Luis Cortez who has very dangerous hands but is sloppy so Blaydes needs to slow the pace down.

Victory FC 48, Friday.

-FW, Kamuela Kirk(5-1): He is as well rounded as I can get he has done judo, bowing, and now mma and he is only 21 and he shows excellence in every aspect his striking is fast with alot of power, he has good defense all aroung, good wrestling, and a very dangerous submission game and he is a quick finisher if not in round 1 then in round 2 with 100% finish rate. He fights Anthony Baccam who is very solid but very good on the mat so this will be a tough fight.

One Championship, Saturday.

-WW, Luis Santos(61-9): He is as legit as any non UFC fighter there is only reason he isn't my prospect is cause he is 36 years old but he is solid all around he can use any submission there is and he can knock you out with a punch or a kick and remember he was beating  Ben Askren stopping the takedowns and getting some of his own before the eye poke happened to result to a no contest. He fights Rafael Silva who Santos should just run through.

-HW, Marcin Prachnio(9-2): A karate fighter that is a HW now that is dangerous and that he is not just with his kicks but his hands is just as dangerous the dude is a athletic beats he is strong and super fast he fights like a LW his stand-up you can't beat his but it does seem that his TDD needs some work but I don't think its a must for him. He fights Alexandre Machado who is a decent grappler so this will be a tough test.

-WSW. Angela Lee(4-0): My prospect she has very good judo and fights like a vet on the mat she has really good control and can go from position to position easily and sets it up with amazing takedowns weather if that is her suplexing you or tossing you over her body and has a 100% finish rate with all 4 of her wins by submission, her striking isnt much but she is slick at closed distance and can get the fight to the mat easily. She fights Rebecca Heintzman who I can't find no footage on but she has only 1 loss to a good fighter and has a good armature record so this should be a interesting fight.

Aspera FC 32, Saturday.

-BW, Luis Rafael(31-0): He has been destroying people all around Brazil and being so dominate and undefeated with 31 straight wins at only 23 years old is amazing. His grapping is great as his wrestling is as he can get takedowns easy but on the mat is where he shines he had countless submission attacks just always active and always in control and on the feet he isn't so good he shows that he can pull off the athetic moves but his stand-up is by far his weakness but I do see improvement with each of his fights. He fights Fabricio  Sarraff who shouldn't be a problem.

TXC Legends 7, Saturday.

-LW, Adrian Hadribeaj(5-0): My prospect he fights at a karate stance which helps TDD, keep distance, and use attacks at range he does all that very well he is so fast with his hands he reminds me of a sage northcutt his standup is really good he can drop you with anything his leg kicks are more dangerous but he usually finishes with his hands and also having great TDD dont hurt either and going 5 rounds before says alot about his cardio and it did look good. He fights Kyle Prepolec who is very solid all around but he does wanna keep the fight standing which is good for Hadribeaj.

-LW, Troy Lamson(5-0): Im not sure on this guy cause his stand-up I dont like to much he is kinda slow and his footwork isn't so good but his wrestling is very good he usually gets a takedown at will and he is very good on top he can get into dominate positions fairly easy he does good job at ground and pound and looking for the choke and his stand-up isn't real bad he is still a threat there his biggest weapon their is his kicks cause he is tall and he can kick from a distance. He fights Brandon McLaughlin who is a wrestler as well but I believe Lamson has the better TDD.

-BW, TJ Laramie(3-0): I haven't seen but one fight of his where he won by a vicious straight right hand knockout in just 25 seconds but he is also a kickboxing champion and a BJJ champion and the most insane thing is he is only 18 years old, I expect alot from this kid. He fights Vince Murdock who is a member of Team Alpha Male and he is a very good fighte mainly his stand-up with great kicking attack where he goes high and low and throw alot of nice tricky spinning kicks and he has tons of power in his hands, this will be not only a great fight but the toughest fight for Laramie by far.

Hailing from Aubervilliers, France, Zoumana Cisse is a dominant Heavyweight fighter that should be in the UFC.  In the limited footage that I have access to, Cisse has amazing power in his strikes, he is well rounded in his striking game, makes good use of the clinch, gauges distance well, aggressively closes the distance, aggressively pushes the pace of the fight, can get takedowns with ease, and can lock on submissions at the drop of a hat.  I wish I had more to go on, but from what I've seen, Cisse looks like he would be a solid fighter in the UFC and could be a real force at Heavyweight.

Here is a highlight video of Cisse's fights: 

UFC does need new heavyweights.