2023 Prospect GP Draft

Here is the final draft order which starts tomorrow (29th) at 12 pm EST

mmameditations 
Brodybjb
Hellowhosthat
HectorTheInspector
Giovanni907
AyyLmaonnaise
MajestyMMA
TWJake
goinjacarezy
DopemoonMMA
MMAFan223
GoBucky5233
jacomalfoy1
Casual008
AmishWoodMilk
johnmma2000
Idonaldo
PaulLmma
UBE discord
artem_mma_analysis
Barrelelapierna
phre
n8freeman
MMARanks
Tidy_MMA
RWHockeyJohn
PottsJackson
beefcake180
ryanhallstan
Gilbert
JustBleedFan
laibasaqlain
Deel
Prodiigy
Stanko
Cheese32165
mmawizzard
Irishwhiskey119 
DenverM80
BelugaLibrary
jrscolwell
Mitch94
HiDeff
Warrior13
TOWELSAMA
WastelandWanderer
David492
mmmma
bigbirdph
CangrejoRuiz
FBonada
StreetFiteBancho
bknee21
ryanmafan23
CaptnKbec

Okay I'll we need is for wasteland and deel to post their last pick here and the draft is final

Ok guys that was just a test-run, the real draft starts tonight at 7pm EST !

No seriously best of luck to everyone who signed-up, I'm hoping we get a close competition all year long !

Alright let me just not pick so this never ends...

Jk. Shakhban Gapizov

Just waiting for WastelandWanderer to make a pick and we are finished 

Edoardo Caiazza

* Edited at 01.03.2023, 4:26 PM ET *

He’s already picked 

What? By who?

Nevermind give me a minute

Al zullino took him I’m pretty sure

I was curious if you guys had a strategy for how you picked? For instance activity is super important for points so I tried to find fighters who fought 3x within the last calendar year or 5x over the last 2 years minimum. Beyond that, I didn't want to pick above WW as MWs and up tend to fight less often and be more injury prone. Obviously picking guys who have a high likelihood to get signed by the UFC or Bellator is huge, I ****** up on Samandar Murodov he would have been my first pick if I had remembered he wasn't officially signed but Cezary and Asu are one the short list of guys the UFC could very likely sign this year. 

Beyond that Obviously I picked guys with strong records and strong well rounded games, athletic fighters too. I stayed away from ACA fighters because while I like a lot of them, they don't too often get signed by Bellator/UFC and the competition in that promotion is SUPER HIGH so there's a higher likelihood of them losing compared to fighters in other promotions. 

Did any picks get snapped up from underneath you? If so who? For me Nick Piccininni and Anthony Cassar kind of did but I'm happy with Jacobe Smith, he seems the most talented of the the Bryce/Piccininni/Jacobe group of wrestlers and the most likely to get on the contender series or scouted by Bellator. Gasanov was another I wanted but don't mind missing out on. Also Jean Matsumoto. 

A few Brazilians I think are super talented that I considered picking were Rangel De Sa and Vinicius De Oliveira but opted out of picking them because of how wild they are, very incomplete strikers with tons of natural talent, I hope to see them become a bit more polished because they're so dynamic. I also tend to pick fighters with a sturdier wrestling base which partially lead to me not having many Brazilians on my short list. Ali Taleb got taken early too who upset Vinicius. 

Anyways guys this was fun, you are some knowledgeable fellows. Really curious to see how the points play out over the year and also who gets picked up by Bellator/UFC. 

My 3 fights or less pick is Freddy Crazy Horse Kemayo

I will back Crazy Horse to win the ARES FC title then get onto the UFC 

@khanate my strategy was find active guys who fit the bill of a dwcs fighter. I wanted guys who are marketable, young, from markets the ufc wants (I had a big focus on uk guys), under 10 fights, actuve, and lots of finishes. 

As for picks I had taken, I wanted Rei Tsuruya, islam dulatov, and losene Keita 

@Khanate

I looked at activity, organization of provenance, hype behind the prospect, weight classes, management team and do they fit the DWCS mold or the late replacement for a fight. By exemple, UFC is going back to Brazil, so I picked two Brazilians. My first pick is signed in Fury FC (3 of their fighters got signed on DWCS last year) and will fight for the belt. I took a Women who's a champ in her organization, UFC tends to sign womens earlier in their pro career, so seemed like a good bet. Finally, my last pick is undefeated and just signed with Irridium management, so I won't be surprised if he ends up on DWCS. 

@Khanate
Ren Hiramoto Did it for the memes & his last performance despite being 2-2. Ramil Kamilov ( I did this to space out a round to see who everyone picks\His Activity. Marcus Buchecha ( The oll grappler at HW strat) - Geovanis Palacios WW( wanted to focus on activity so I made a judgement call after watching tape, was originally gonna draft him like 5th)
- Rangel Del Sa another judgement call, I liked this one KO where  his opponent disengages & he headkicks him lol
-Shakhban Gapizov there's only so many 3-0 or less ers

Obviously for the 3-0 There's x mount of names like Gable Steveson Slayer & Tynan, Richie, Delyan Georgiev, Levi Rodrigues, Bryce Meredith

Tried not to go for the mega obvious ones for 1-5 & to avoid having people pick my picks Leroy Duncan (Everyone knows he'd get picked), Will Currie, Took Hughes & Shelley\Lone'r\Jose Perez off my board, Caolan was one of my super late backups that's why I expressed such shock when he was 4th, Kaua Fernandes, Wanliss, Cristian Perez was gonna be in the judgment call stage, Jean Matsumoto .

 Lots of great picks on in this draft.

I looked at management somewhat, I know Cezary is a top prospect in MMA right now and his brother is already in the UFC so good chance ge gets signed. Also Asu Almabaev has the same manager as Shavkat and trains at ATT so he's got a few ways in the door for sure. Jacobe is AKA fighter and a heavy handed athletic wrestler so a good chance he winds up in Bellator or contender series. I'm not confident Salahdine will get signed since KSW probably pays him very well but I'll get my champion defending bonus at the very least, I know Bekzat Almakhan is trying to get signed and he has a bunch of impressive knockouts as a Bantam and is a regional org champ, I hope him and Azat get signed this year from Octagon. Ramazan Ritinov has been fighting in amateur world and continent tournaments so he racks up like 8 fights a year so he should be a points cash cow. 

Well Kemayo isnt young in sports terms and a bit of wear and tear, but 40 can be prime for heavys and he is an elite kickboxer, im gambling he will stay active in ARES FC, win a heavyweight title and go directly to UFC they always need more heavys and Paris fights

* Edited at 01.03.2023, 6:46 PM ET *

Ahh we’re talking about reasoning for picks 

Caolan - ufc loves a good Irish prospect. Caolan has been super super impressive to me; dominating every step up in competition and nearing closer to a title shot. I think he fights for the title next year (against martigoni who I think is bad) and then goes to dwcs and wins there, getting me points. High chance he gets signed because he’s a really good Irish prospect coming out of cage warriors. 

Lewis mcgrillen-evans - a little bit of a gamble because his competition is bad but he has the makings of a super star. Insane highlight reel, ****y as all hell, pulls huge crowds at every fight, is half Irish half aussie (covers two very popular markets), and puts on exciting fights. I’d say one quality win and he goes on dwcs. He’s a bit too reliant on his left hand, but the skill and potential is there; he has that “it” factor. Watch his fights and how he carries himself and you’ll see what I mean. Ufc could make a huge star out of him if they put him on the O’Malley path 

Raheam forest - what I love about forest is his heart and willingness to improve. He went from being a can to an actual legit fighter, improving at a massive rate. Became Cffc champ which ufc loves and always puts on bangers (just watch his last fight; amazing display of heart). He’s also been training with said saparov of sanford mma (has a connection through Kevin pease), so that will help elevate his game and fix one of his biggest holes (his tdd). I think he will either defend the belt or just wait and get signed to dwcs. He still makes some mistakes and has some things to patch up, but the talent is there 

Mark ewen - kind of a risky pick because I doubt he gets signed to the ufc this year, however if he wins just once I feel like it’s hard for the ufc to ignore a 14 fight winstreak with all wins inside the distance. He’s also legitimately very talented along with being fun to watch. He also fights in ares so he’s getting the exposure. He also tried to fight 4 times this year but had opponents pull out. I’m hoping he fights 2-3 times this year but wouldn’t be shocked if he goes to dwcs as he has been trying to get signed to a major org in 2023. 

Akonne Wanliss - dual purpose with him. First, I have been very impressed with tape, especially his domination of former dwcs signee Manuel gaxja. I was even more impressed after going back and watching his Bellator run, as you can see the improvements he’s made since his tenure. I think it’s a bit of a risky pick given that he’s not crazy active and 30 years old, but if he wins in Feb I think it’s hard to deny his streak. He reminds me of Jalin turner; huge for 155, aggressive and powerful striking, long reach, solid grappling, and dangerous front chokes. If ufc passes on him, he has been in bellator so that’s always an option. Also the second purpose, he’s fighting a prospect who someone else picked. No offense to whoever picked him, but I’m not really impressed with cohen at all, so a win gets me a lot of points 

Adamu Isah - I actually think I could’ve picked a lot better guys for 6 (in terms of who would get me points) but I really like isah a lot. The tape I’ve seen has been amazingly impressive and lfa clearly knows his talent level if you’ve seen his fight odds (-1600 and -350 in his two pro fights). He competed in taekwando at a very high level, winning the commonwealth games one year, and trains at Sanford mma. He is a freak athelte and gigantic for the weight class (5”11 73 inch reach). He fights even longer because of his use of kicks. Very dynamic striking too. I think he will be an even better pick next year, but I see a bright future for him so thinking he can fight 2-3 times and get me points. I chose him over ither guys  mostly because I wanted to showcase him to you guys who aren’t alreayd aware of him

* Edited at 01.03.2023, 7:17 PM ET *

CaptnKbec is issued a replacement where Nick Aguirre made his UFC debut

Boom Junior Tafa got signed fighting Austin Lane, not the best style match for Lane him being a kind of football athlete turned technical brawler against a skilled kickboxing finisher

* Edited at 01.16.2023, 1:32 PM ET *