MMA news updates

Instead of spamming the boards everytime I see some cool news, I’ll post it here. I’ll also keep track of prospects I like, new signings to ufc/dwcs/Bellator/etc.

* Edited at 05.02.2022, 4:44 PM ET *

I've criticised the contender series a lot but this lineup looks sick. 

Season starts next month btw; july 26

We're in May. 

And I am ********. Thank you

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Nate diaz put out a cryptic tweet saying july 30th 170 lbs. thoughts on who this could be? Could likely be Khamzat as we already know the ufc was headed in that direction. Could also be porier as I know he said fight news coming up

@AyyLmaonnaise

Hasn't Nate Diaz already turned down the Khamzat Chimaev fight before? I doubt he'd take it unless it was for a huge pay day. Plus, that fight doesn't really make sense for Chimaev's career now that he's beaten Gilbert Burns as no disrespect to Diaz but Gilbert Burns is a better fighter. Whoever it is, it's almost certainly going to be Diaz's last UFC fight.

@stephen yes he did turn it down originally but when we had those war room leaks last week Khamzat vs diaz was one that was targeted for 276. We now know that volk vs max 3 replaced that so I would assume that fight is a possibility for 277. Plus, I think diaz didn’t want to fight him cuz he wasn’t top 5

* Edited at 05.08.2022, 7:03 PM ET *

@AyyLmaonaisse

I honestly don't really put too much stock into those leaks tbh. I just wrote it off as what the UFC were hoping to make rather than anything confirmed. I just assumed that he'd turned the fight down as he was hoping to try and maybe get another fight with Conor McGregor.

Yeah fair, I just trust the leaks because 80% of those fights have been booked already. Dustin porier is likely his opponent although I could see mcgregor trilogy too

* Edited at 05.08.2022, 7:15 PM ET *

Well, here’s something I didn’t expect. Josefinne lindgrwn knutsson, top Swedish prospect who was supposed to be on dwcs will be fighting ye dam seo on the first road to ufc event. It’s like a quasi-dwcs fight where the winner will revive a contract. I haven’t heard of seo but from what I know about Josefinne, I don’t think she stands much of a chance 

Also bo nikal is making his debut in masvidals promotion. Kind of dissapointed but at least he’s getting mma exposure. I would have preferred LFA

I think LFA may have just made main event of the year on paper. Muin gafarov vs Herbeth Souza. I was very dissapointed in Muin after his dwcs loss to the admittedly poor Chad anheilger but he’s looked exciting besides that. Herbert souza hasn’t fought in a while but is the former Cffc BW champ and also has a quite impressive record 

So looking around I have found a list that contains I few guys signed for the DWCS that have not been mention in the thread. I find the link a bit dubious so I would believe it with a grain of salt.

Anyways, I guess the link will be updated regularly, so I will just leave it here for anyone interested

https://mmaintel.blog/dana-whites-contender-series-2022/


They are Charlie Campbell (Lightweight, 6-1) really fun guy on the feet, Francis Marshall (Featherweight, 5-0) who appararently has a fight at Ring of Combat next week, Phumi Nkuta (Flyweight, 5-0)  a dominant champ at CFFC, Denise Gomes (WFlyweight, 5-1), Nayara Maia(WFlyweight, 6-0-1), Jaqueline Amorim (Strawweight, 5-0) she has been dominating at LFA where she is the current so probably one of the highest level woman in the list.

There is also a set of dates for the events so I will leave it here too

Week 1 (July 26)

BW: Willian Souza (11-1) vs. Farid Basharat (8-0)

MW: Joe Pyfer (8-2) vs. Ozzy Diaz (7-1)

BW: Andres Luna Martinetti (12-0) vs. Alessandro Costa (10-2)

Week 2 (Aug 2)

HW: Danilo Suzart (9-1) vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (6-0)

FLY: Shannon Ross vs. TBD

FW: Connor Matthews (5-0) vs. Francis Marshall (5-0)

Week 3 (Aug 9)

LW: Mateusz Rebecki (15-1) vs. Rodrigo Lidio (12-2)

HW: Paulo Renato Jr. (10-1) vs. Caio Machado (6-1-1)

WFLY: Sandra Lavado (10-2) vs. Karolina Wojcik (8-2)

Week 4 (Aug 16)

WBW: Claudia Leite (7-2) vs. Hailey Cowan (6-2)

Week 5 (Aug 23)

Week 6 (Aug 30)

WSW: Maria Silva (8-0) vs. Viktoriya Dudakova (5-0)

MW: Matej Penaz (6-0) vs. Sedriques Dumas (6-0)

Week 7 (Sept 6)

LHW: Rodolfo Bellato (8-1) vs. Vitor Petrino (6-0)

WFLY: Nayara Maia (6-0-1) vs. Tereza Bleda (5-0)

Week 8 (Sept 13)

Week 9 (Sept 20)

Week 10 (Sept 27)

Fights Without a Date

HW: Eduardo Neves (5-0) vs. Michael Parkin (4-0)

FW: Erik Silva (8-1) vs. Anvar Boynazarov (3-0)

FLY: Steve Erceg (8-1) vs Clayton Carpenter (5-0)

I did not know phumi was signed. He’s ufc ready anyways but that’s a good signing 👍 

Same with amorim. She’s a beast

Nate saw his name leaked on the photo next to Khamzat and all of sudden wants to fight Chandler or literally anyone else. 

Yazmin jauregui signed to the ufc. She’s one hell of a prospect 

* Edited at 05.11.2022, 1:17 PM ET *

Expect her to make waves in the ufc. I wouldn’t be surprised if they throw her to the wolves right away

John adajar - 6-1 5 kos. hast fought since 2019 but clearly the ufc has had their eye on him.


Angga Hans - 13-2 4 ko 8 sub. very good grappler. was a finalist in one pride's WW tournament and then went on to become the One Pride MMA LW champ with 3 title defenses. Good experience and good level of competition 

Kai Lu - 7-3 4 ko 3 sub. oddly enough, hes Chinese but trains and fights out of Prague? not something you see everyday. got a nice ko in his last fight but overall hard to tell his skill level. Has some bad losses and fought shady competition too 

Han Seul Kim - 12-4 7 ko. a product of Korean zombie mma. hes the former IC and current double G WW champ. good ko power 

Won Bin Ki - 15-7 9 ko 3 sub. has quite the ugly record and has been finished a lot, but most of that stems from his early career when he was fighting better guys like bruno miranda and mansour barnaoui. 7-2 since miranda loss and double G 155 champ. 

Min Woo Kim - 10-2 3 ko 2 sub. ROAD FC BW champ. avenged his first loss (which, because it was a majority dec, im assuming was a bad judging call) 

Jung Young Lee - 7-1 3 ko 2 sub. ROAD FC FW champ. has some serious ko power despite only having 3 Kos. pretty good level of competition too

Bin Xie - 8-3 1 ko 4 sub. competed on dwcs last season. I thought he won the fight but he didnt do enough. has a lot of experience in one championship. 

Balajin - 17-2 (sherdog says 22-3 with 6 ko 12 sub). was very happy to see balajin was competing as I think hes one of the better unsigned Chinese fighters. as with pretty much every Chinese fighter tho, his record is quite padded. I like what ive seen from him thus far tho. 

Mingyang Zhang - 15-6 9 ko 6 sub. He was the WLF HW tournament winner but is a LHW normally. good win streak and finishing ability. Hes very active too as hes fought 8 times since his last lost in 2019 

Qiu Lun - 14-8 4 ko 4 sub. fought on last season of dwcs. wasn't very impressed and not really sure why get got dwcs look anyways with such an ugly record. 

Zha Yi - 18-3 6 ko 9 sub. actually fought decent competition for Chinese regionals. 7-1 in last 8 and only loss in that stretch is to keremuali (who is also competing in road to ufc) 

Long Xiao - 24-7 4 ko 10 sub. another dwcs fighter from last season. ill cut him more slack than the other dwcs guys because he fought a pretty solid looking prospect and was competitive with him. WLF BW champ and loads of experience despite being only 24. 

Keremuaili Maimaitituoheti (I almost had a stroke trying to pronounce this) - 26-10 8 ko 9 sub. despite the ugly record, he has fought very good competition and enters on a 7 fight win streak. I know for a fact he was supposed to be on dwcs last season but couldn't compete because of visa issues so cool to see hes getting another opportunity. Hes beaten 3 competitors on road to ufc (wuijiburen, long Xiao, zha yi) and overall just fought the "best" guys on the regional scene 

Askerbai Jinensibieke - 33-10 7 ko 11 sub. much like keremuaili, ugly record (in terms of losses) but tons of experience. hes not fighting the best guys, but at least hes fighting people with winning records. WLF FW tournament winner 

Wulijiburen -  20-8 3 ko 13 sub. had a very forgettable run in the ufc but has rebounded nicely going 4-1 with 4 finishes (including a flying knee and von flue choke). his only loss in that stretch is to keremuaili. I dont expect a ton from him but at least he has ufc experience. 

Ye dam Seo - 6-2 1 ko 3 sub. Oddly enough, she's fighting top prospect josefinne Lindgren Knutsson at this event in a quasi-dwcs match where winner gets a contract. she's only lost to ayaka Miura and weili Zhang but she's getting thrown into the deep end here against josefinne 

Hyun Sung Park - 5-0 2 ko 2 sub. nice, undefeated record. Double G FLW champ also went 3-0 as an amateur 

Jeremia Siregar - 6-2 3 ko 3 sub. one pride mma FLW champ. despite never going to decision, he has gone into the 4th round before so we know his cardio is good. pretty good level of competition too. 

Rama Supandi - 7-3 7 subs. hes been inconsistent, but is a very good grappler. good level of comp too. 

Seung Guk Choi - 4-1 1 ko. korean zombie mma product. 6-3 as an amateur. hasn't beaten anyone with much experience or of merit but his only loss is to dwcs season 7 competitor (and potentially future ufc fighter) Steve erceg. 

Takeru Uchiha - 5-1 5 subs. 5-1 as a pro and 5-1 as an amateur (he fought 4 times in one night as an amateur too). hes only 19 which is pretty crazy. very poor competition but having 12 fights at 19 is pretty good. fights just like tatsuro Taira. 

Toshiomi Kazama - 3 ko 5 sub. very good prospect. long time pancrase fighter. he would probably be in ufc/dwcs already but he got viciously flying kneed in a huge upset in his last fight. I wouldn't take much away from it because he was winning the fight until that point but yeah. 

Top Noi - 7-3 5 ko. Muay Thai background and got some power. struggled as he fights better comp as shown by his rizen run and picking up a majority dec in his last fight at UAE warriors. 

Gugun Gusman - 3 ko 2 sub. Reigning One Pride MMA BW champ. would be 9-2 but lost a fight by DQ. 

Wallen Del Rosario - 10-3 3 ko 1 sub. not really sure what to think here. hasn't fought since 2019 and lost to a 4-8 guy just two fights ago. pretty bad competition as well and hasn't fought for any recognizable organization. 

Tatsuya Ando - 13-3-1 6 ko 4 sub. a lot older than a lot of these guys at 32 but has a ton of experience. Long time shooto BW champ. 8-1-1 in last 10 and only loss was when he moved up to FW and lost from an Injury. fought very good competition as far as Japanese regional scene goes. 

Patrick Sho Usami - 4-1 3 ko. boxing background. only 22 and started his career last year so hes pretty green. he is coming off of a loss but that was also to a much more experienced fighter. 

Jeka Asparido Saragih - 9-2 5 ko 4 sub. This dude looks really exciting. had a war with fellow competitor angga Hans that he did lose, but he rebounded nicely with a first round ko. despite never having gone the distance, he has 3rd round finishes and has been to a 4th round (Hans fight). 

Shohei Nose - 7-2-2 5 subs. 8-0 as an amateur. had two draws to start pro career and both losses came back-to-back against two solid guys (Ryuji kudo and Hikaru yoshino). Picked up a crazy leg scissor choke in his last fight and also has pro kickboxing experience while also having a great grappling background. 

Jun Young Hong - 11-6-1 5 ko. a bit of a weird one but probably signed because he is the double G FW champ. Another Korean Zombie mma product. he struggled to get a good win streak going but he has a lot of championship experience and a lot of his losses are to solid guys. 

Roshan Mainam - 6-3 1 ko 5 sub. all three losses to better fighters (one guy beat him twice). has experience in ONE but fought poor competition. also, fought on Indian regional scene which is notoriously garbage (up there with china or most middle European countries regional scenes) 

Anshul Jubli - 5-0 1 ko 1 sub. 1-0 as an amateur so brings him to 6 fight win streak overall. all pro fights in same Indian regional org so competition and skill level overall is pretty suspect. 

Pawan Maan Singh - 7-2-1 3 ko 3 sub. avenged his draw and one of his losses which is nice to see but, again, the Indian regional scene is just sus. hes fighting good competition for what they have to offer tho. 

Keisuke Sasu - 9-1-1 3 ko 2 sub. solid prospect. lost early in his career now 7 fight win streak thats seen him become the shooto FW champ, beating the very good Ryuji Kudo (even though it was a majority DEC). 

Aili Muratbek - 9-2 4 ko. started career off 1-2 (last loss to the solid Russian Emilbek). Bullet Fly FC LW champ, fought most recent fights in WLF. ****** competition because Chinese regional scene but good win streak (8). 

Ahmad Suhail Hassanzada - 8-1 3 ko 4 sub. He may actually be on dwcs but Afghanistan is an asian country so he could be either really. Bad competition on the regional scene but proved himself with a huge upset over a former college wrestler in LFA. Also trains at Team Alpha Male.  

Koyomi Matsushima - 12-5 7 ko 1 sub. very ugly record but stiff competition. Would have been king of pancrase against the tough isao Kobayashi but lost by DQ. went on to fight for ONE where he couldn't get a win streak going but lost to Martin Nguyen and Garry tonon while also beating Jae Woong Kim, Won Il Kwon, and Marat Gafaurov so clearly, Hes been tested. 

Yusaku Kino****a - 5-1 3 ko 2 sub. Very, very good prospect. finished everyone as a pro an amateur (5-0 5 subs as an amateur) his only loss was a win, but they made it a DQ because he held on to the fence while stomping his opponent (stomping is legal in Rizin but apparently grabbing the cage and stomping isn't LOL). So that basically should have been a ko win. Then, he fought just last month and koed a long time vet in pancrase. 

Rinya Nakamura - 4-0 3 ko. By far the best signing for road to UFC. I think he stands a good chance at winning the whole thing and also making waves in the ufc.  hes only 27 and has won multiple freestyle wrestling championships. Won the 2017 U23 wrestling tournament and won bronze at 2011 world championships. his competition has been very impressive too, being a combined 34-12-4. his last opponent was 23-6 so hes beating experienced guys too. I think he will be a big deal in the ufc if he wins the whole thing.