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)    

At 26 years of age and fighting out of Dueren, Germany by way of Dagestan, Russia; Abusupiyan "Abus" Magomedov is one of the most talented Middleweight, as well as Welterweight, prospects on the Western European Circuit right now.

In terms of his striking and stand up game, Magomedov is great.  He has solid KO power, he has great variation in his strikes, blocks strikes well, he gauges distance well, maintains distance well, closes distance well, puts together solid combos, has a good chin, properly utilizes the jab, counter strikes well, feints well, and has okay footwork for a fighter in his weight class.

There are two complaints I have with Magomedov with regards to his stand up, however.  First is his lack of head and body movement.  While he does do a good job of blocking strikes and maintaining distance, the lack of significant head movement in Magomedov's game is a little disconcerting, especially since a heavy reliance on blocking and chin alone is a dangerous gambit in MMA.  The other noticeable, but minor, hole I see in Magomedov's game is his struggles in the clinch; which is odd since he seems to have a Muay Thai base for his striking.  In the fights I have watched (ex. Magomedov's fight with Andreas Birgner), while he can make good use of the clinch, Magomedov can at times get overpowered in the clinch by stronger fighters.

In terms of his grappling and ground game, Magomedov is decent.  He has good takedowns, has good takedown defense, passes guard well, sweeps well, controls position well, and he has good ground and pound.

However like I said with regards to Magomedov in the clinch, a lot of how well he does is predicated on strength.  In watching Magomedov's fights, especially when watching his fight with ex-Bellator fighter Mikkel Parlo, Magomedov was struggling in the clinch and with defending Parlo's takedown attempts.  Now, to be fair, a lot of these struggles came about while Magomedov was still fighting at Welterweight and making his transition up to Middleweight.  It is possible that with the added muscle to his rather lanky frame, Magomedov has made this a non issue.  Still it is something to watch for if he goes to the next level.  Another thing I noticed is the lack of positional awareness on the ground when watching Magomedov try and pass guard, which has allowed more craftier ground fighters to go for submissions on him and has caused him to tap.  One fight I noticed this in was with his fight against Rafal Blachuta.  In that fight, while Magomedov was controlling position well, Blachuta was able to make Magomedov hesitate and almost catch him in submissions multiple times. 

Overall, Abusupiyan Magomedov is a really solid fighter that, if he stays in the Middleweight division and has added some muscle to his frame, could be a real contender in the UFC.

Here is a video of Magomedov's victory over Rafal Blachuta: 

Russia has so much potential it is amazing.

I saw his name two or three times in this conversation, but almost nobody in the media are talking about him right now!

At only 23 years old, with a 13-1-1 reccord (his only loss being a submission to the excellent UFC fighter Amirkhani), he is a TWO DIVISION CHAMP (bantamweight and featherweight) in BAMMA, and is defending the bantamweight belt against Philpott this weekend ( december 16) on the Bellator+BAMMA card...

The ufc proposed him a contract a few years ago, because he was already a hot prospect, but he refused (!) to gain some more experience before the big league.

If he wins tomorrow night, it's the last fight on his BAMMA contract, and the UFC will sign him immediatly.

Good to see an update on him.

At 25 years of age and hailing from Wonju, South Korea; former ONE Championship Bantamweight Champion and ROAD FC star Soo Chul Kim is a fighter the UFC absolutely needs to sign.

In terms of his striking and stand up game, Kim is very good.  He has solid power in his strikes, gauges distance well, great variation in his strikes, has great head and body movement, closes distance well, pressures well, and has a solid chin.  One small flaw in Kim's game is that he fights with his hands low and can rely on his chin a little more than he should. 

In terms of his grappling and ground game, Kim is decent.  He has decent takedown skills, good ground and pound, scrambles well, and can lock up a submission well.  The one area of his ground game that is a little bit iffy is his takedown defense.

Overall, Kim is the best Bantamweight in Asia not named Bibiano Fernandes or Rafael Silva and I think the UFC should absolutely try and make a play for him once his contracts with both ONE and ROAD are up for re-negotiation.

Here is a video of Kim's dominant victory over Marcus Brimage:

yes, he could be a superstar for Asian UFC events.

* Edited at 01.19.2017, 8:02 AM ET *

Ranked NCAA D2 wrestler, current coach for the Limestone College D2 wrestling program. Wonderboy's main training partner and Ray Thompson's main prodigy (aside from his son of course). He also does training camps with Chris Weidman. He's been training under Ray for a few years now, so his karate kickboxing is evolving fast. He weighs in at about 230, and moves like a WW. Basically he's a super athletic wrestler with Wonderboy's striking.

They paired him up with one dimensional wrestlers in most of his ammy fights, so a handful of his ammy fights are him just outwrestling and beating up guys on the ground. Here's a clip of his striking

I wouldn't say he has Wonderboy's striking. lol.

At 26 years of age and fighting out of Moscow, Russia by way of Odessa, Ukraine; former amateur boxer and Muay Thai fighter Helena Kolesnyk is a talented prospect fighting on the Chinese circuit that the UFC should look at.

In terms of her striking and stand up, Kolesnyk is good.  She has power in her strikes, decent variation in her strikes, and makes solid use of the clinch.

In terms of her grappling and ground game, Kolesnyk is average.  She has good takedowns, solid ground and pound, decent scrambling, and can lock on a submission.  Her biggest weakness on the ground, however, is with fighting off her back; as she can get muscled around rather easily, like she did against Xiaomin Wang.

Overall, while rough around the edges, Kolesnyk is a Woman's Featherweight prospect that the UFC should keep an eye on and look at signing.  As of right now, however, she needs a bit more experience under her belt.

Here is a video of Kolesnyk's victory over Xiaomin Wang:

At 24 years of age and hailing from Colombo, Parana, Brazil; Rogerio Bontorin is an elite flyweight prospect on the Brazilian circuit.

In terms of his striking and stand up game, Bontorin is decent.  He gauges distance well, makes good use of the clinch, has a decent amount of variation in his strikes, and he has decent head and body movement.  The only thing I would argue Bontorin is missing in his game is power in his strikes, as he primarily uses his strikes to set up grappling.

In terms of his grappling and ground game, Bontorin is excellent.  He can lock up a submission with ease, has great takedowns, passes and transitions in guard well, has decent ground and pound, can scramble well, and controls position well.

However, the one big problem Bontorin has had in recent times is with weight cutting.  Bontorin missed weight for Pancrase 283 in his upcoming fight against Takeshi Kasuagi, and as a result was docked a part of his purse and had his win (arguably over his most highest profile opponent to date) turned into a no contest.  His next fight is going to be up at 145, which is a big leap of weight class for a man of his size as he is 5'5".  If Bontorin is to succeed at the next level, he needs to master a proper weight cut so that he doesn't pull a John Lineker and have to go up to a weight class he doesn't fit into.

That all being said, I think Bontorin is a fantastic Flyweight prospect that the UFC should absolutely look at bringing in. If I had to compare him to a fighter, he reminds me a bit of Demian Maia.

Here is a video of Bontorin's victory over Israel "Falkinho" Lima: 

Always a need for more flyweights.

At 25 years of age and hailing from Guarulhos, Brazil; Acacio "Pequeno" dos Santos is a top Middleweight prospect fighting in the Brazilian circuit.

In terms of his striking and stand up, dos Santos is solid.  He has solid KO power in his strikes, great variation in the strikes he throws, gauges maintains distance well, makes good use of the clinch, puts together good combos, counter strikes well, and has some decent head and body movement.

With regards to his grappling and ground game, dos Santos is decent.  He has decent takedown defense, he has solid ground and pound, transitions in guard well, and controls position well.

Overall, Acacio dos Santos is a good Middleweight fighter that the UFC should look to sign in the future.

Here is a video dos Santos victory over Otavio Sagas: 

Speaking of Brazilians, whatever happened to Julio Cesar?  Last I saw he was 30-1.

At 27 years of age and fighting out of Geneva, Switzerland; Marko Kovacevic is an exciting Bantamweight fighter from the Western European circuit.

In terms of striking and standup, Kovacevic is good.  He has solid KO Power, has tremendous speed in his strikes, has good variation in his strikes, and has fast footwork and body movement.

In terms of grappling and ground game, Kovacevic is amazing.  He has solid takedowns, controls position well, can lock a submission up well, he scrambles well, passes guard well, and has solid ground and pound.

Overall, Kovacevic is a solid prospect that the UFC should keep an eye on, especially now that he is fighting for Cage Warriors.

Here is a video of Kovacevic's win over Arnaud Calcus:

At 24 years of age and fighting out of Washington, D.C.; Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He stands 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighs 230 pounds (100 kg). Harper was chosen by the Nationals with the first overall pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft.

Harper won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award, awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player. Going into the 2012 season, baseball prospect-watchers, including Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus routinely ranked Harper as a top-3 prospect. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals on April 28, 2012. Harper was selected for the 2012 All-Star Game, becoming the youngest position player to ever be selected. He has been touted as a "five-tool player".

Harper won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2012. He tied for the NL lead in home runs in the 2015 Major League Baseball season, and was named the National League Most Valuable Player for 2015 by unanimous decision of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Here is a video of Bryce Harper vs. Hunter Strickland:

@WorstPredictionMan

Good one.

Rob Wilkinson (11-0)
Height: 6'2" Weight: 185 Age: 23 Reach: 75.5"

A product of the growing Australian MMA scene, Rob is a tall MW that is comfortable wherever the fight goes. While he does tend to favor striking instead of grappling most of the time, he is somewhat slow and predictable with his combinations and movement. He has proven to be tough, and if he ends up in trouble on the feet, he will take the fight to the ground and try to choke his opponent out. A versatile finisher, he has only gone the distance once, in his 5th fight against a then 9-3 Ben Kelleher.

His win over Jamie Abdallah

He is undefeated so a good choice.