Contender Series 2022: Week 5

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

anyone know where to find saimaan’s fights? cant find them anywhere

* Edited at 07.28.2022, 4:39 PM ET *

@Ayy was going to post the same right now lol. Givem JWK's level and Saaiman's opponents I am confident in the outcome, but it would be cool to get a grasp on Saaiman's actual skill level.

* Edited at 08.05.2022, 7:54 AM ET *

Exactly, I mean I obviously was going to pick JWK anyways but I can’t find **** on Saaiman🤣I thought I could at least find something given that there’s available tape on other efc guys lol

All I know is he's a south African kid who trains with the Du Plessis family. Kids a stud. 

@osama oh ya, I’m well aware of him, just can’t watch his fights lol. I think JWK beats him tho; JWK is legit 

@AyyLmaonnaise I think if you go to EFCs Facebook page they have some fights up. At least his first pro fight against Blom. I'd hate to see you download or use Facebook if you don't already but unfortunately that's EFC's main social media channel... They can regularly pull millions of views there. 

Obviously I am incredibly bias but I rate Cameron very highly, like Osama alluded to, Saaiman also trains at CIT in Pretoria and is Dricus' protege. His opponents are at a much higher level than meets the eye, Billy, Roevan and Sindile are all very solid competition and tough challenges. Donald Cerrone recognised his potential when he was an amateur and was supposed to fight on his Fight Series but got injured.

Saaiman's style does have some similarities to Dricus, but nowhere near as awkward and more technically traditional. Good size for a Bantamweight. Fast and fluid striking that has been consistently improving but can still leave himself open in exchanges. Great ground-game with imposing top-control and the ability to jump on submissions when his opponents present the opportunity. If he can get to a submission position chances are he finishes the fight, very tight chokes. Obviously great cardio ability having gone five rounds with Sindile and winning the championship rounds. 

I am in the opposite position where I haven't seen JWK fight so hard to say how he'd match up but I'd never count out Saaiman. Dude is a hugely bright prospect and I've been tapping him to join the big leagues since 2018 when he was still an amateur.

Tl;dr:  Saaiman fight(s) on Facebook. Trains at CIT with Dricus. Very skilled. Opponents better than records suggest. 

  

@ajbo thanks bro I’ll definitely check that out. Really appreciate the insight into Cameron; I’ve known he’s legit but sadly have yet to see him fight🤣🤣 

This fight should be amazing because JWK has the adequate skills to match him in ever area sounds like. He fights in a wonderboy-esque karate stance on the feet and has a beautiful bjj game where he can effortlessly chain submissions. His dq loss was a weird one; he was dominating the fight but landed a “12-6” (more like an 11-5 elbow) that his opponent kind of milked (only the last one landed behind the head and even then it grazed it). His opponent then proceeded to try to attack JWK, which should have resulted in a dq win for JWK, but frank trigg can’t ref for ****. 

 This should be a great fight and I think we will see the loser in the ufc in the future for sure; both guys have very high ceilings 

* Edited at 08.12.2022, 9:42 PM ET *

@AyyLmaonnaise  This should be a great fight then. Sounds like a massive test for both. I feel like they'll get past the first round but when they're starting to lose a bit of steam someone is going to slip up and it'll be over 

Yeah for sure, I can’t wait. Someone is probabyk getting finished 

* Edited at 08.12.2022, 9:53 PM ET *

Gorgoladze is definitely a man that you should pay attention to, the young man has a lot of room to work, but I believe that he will make it through a few matches in the UFC and that one day he will be in the top 15 and that he will match everyone.

#PROSPECTWEEK5

* Edited at 08.16.2022, 11:03 PM ET *

Neves vs. Parkin
Eduardo Neves, TKO, R1
Nothing like good ol low level heavyweight swang n bang. Neves could turn out decent but yeah, heavyweights man

Gogoladze vs. Flowers
Amiran Gogoladze, TKO, R1
Gogoladze is pretty solid but very limited. Once he leaves the first (not a worry this time) he gasses bad. He also has very bad tdd and ground game but again, that’s not really going to be a worry here. Decent fighter but limited in skillset

Ferreira vs. Santos Aguilar
Erisson Ferreira, TKO, R3
I was very unimpressed with ferriera last season but after watching Aguilar I was even more unimpressed with him. He only has the guilllotine and not much else. Despite having late finishes and going the distance, his cardio is shockingly bad. Idk how he’s beaten the names he has either, he is not good

Wang-Kim vs. Saaiman
Josh Wang-Kim, DEC
I cannot wait for this fight. Both guys have tons of potential and a very bright future. I’m going to be biased and pick JWK because he’s one of my favorite prospects

Gomes vs. Amanda
Denise Gomes, TKO, R2
This could actually be a decent fight. Neither girl is great but going Gomes because she’s at least fighting girls with a pulse.

I can see why Aguilar is the favorite, his strength of schedule is ridiculous for a flyweight.

It is, but look into it and you will be very unimpressed. I thought he was a beast on paper but he is super underwhelming when you look into how he fights 

* Edited at 08.16.2022, 11:53 PM ET *

Saaiman looks to be the most interesting one; @ 21 years old, if he pulls thru it would be amazing and pretty crazy for somebody so young @ arguably the most difficult division in MMA.

* Edited at 08.17.2022, 12:38 AM ET *

Neves vs. Parkin
Eduardo Neves, TKO, R1
I don´t think this will be the expected brawl, Parkin will probably try to take the fight ground where he should be better. Thing is Neves has good TDD and a good ground defense, so he should fare well with it and score first round KO. But if the line is interesting, It may be wise to bet on Parkin as I don´t see a big skill level difference between them.

Gogoladze vs. Flowers
Amiran Gogoladze, TKO, R1
Gogoladze is a really complete fighter, so when dealing with a guy with great KO Potential the intelligent strat would be taking him to the ground. With Flowers on his back I can see the fight finishing by G&P or a submission

Ferreira vs. Santos Aguilar
Jesus Santos Aguilar, SUB, R3
Wasn´t impressed by either guy, I can see Santos taking the fight to the ground and try to submit Ferreira from there. Santos has a nasty guillotine but I don´t see him pulling it out on this fight

Wang-Kim vs. Saaiman
Josh Wang-Kim, TKO, R2
This should be a fun one, as both guys are really skilled strikers. Saaiman has a bright future but he is a bit hot headed, something really dangerous against a polished guy like JWK. He has some heart so I don´t expect Saaiman to go down early. Something I have noticed is JWK has a tendency to perform illegal strikes (not only in his DQ loss) so that´s something to watch out for

anyone alse notice that Wang-kim blatantly hits his opponents in the back of the head in a lot of his fights? lol

Wang-Kim vs. Saaiman
Cameron Saaiman, DEC
No disrespect to either of these fighters but if one of these guys get a contract and Alessandro Costa & Andres Luna Martinetti didn’t then there’s a serious problem with DWCS. I can’t help but feel Costa & Andres would defeat both of these fighters 🤷‍♂️

They fight in diferente weight classes tho

Lol what a terrible take