Contender Series 2023: Week 7

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Gaziev vs. Velasco
Shamil Gaziev, DEC
much needed

Gaziev vs. Velasco
Shamil Gaziev, TKO, R1
Levels

That’s guys getting submitted by Greg .. 

@Jay Woodward 

Greg Barley beat a 3-0 and you think he beats gaziev?😂

Gaziev is a beast I’ll be really surprised If he loses 

No way Greg is 6’2” and no way Shamil is only 6’3”

Are their like 3 greg velascos?
Theres at least  2 different records and i recall seeing him asaociated with pfl.

Gaziev vs. Velasco
Shamil Gaziev, TKO, R1
Dagestani giant I wonder was an easier way for to get paid (epicly) in PFL though, at KHK he probably has great support, maybe could have won the million who knows... I haven't seen him so not sure

Kruschewsky vs. Mantello
Kaynan Kruschewsky, DEC
Rooting for the NY fighter but Kaynan has a win over Adriano Martins which is pretty good

da Silva vs. Silva
Igor da Silva, DEC
Silva vs Silva, but Silva on the right's last fight previous to his most recent was 4 years ago

Jones vs. Allen
JaCobi Jones, DEC
FactoryX vs AKA....... Liking this fight

Jones vs. Allen
JaCobi Jones, TKO, R2
Allen wouldn’t get signed with a faster ko than Jorge askren so obviously they want Jacobi to win

Kruschewsky vs. Mantello
Kaynan Kruschewsky, TKO, R2
Kaynan got a nice record but he’s very old for contender series unlikely he gets a contract but second round tko

da Silva vs. Silva
Igor da Silva, DEC
YES young real prospects Igor probably wins and is brought back next year

Gaziev vs. Velasco
Shamil Gaziev, TKO, R1
Gaziev main event material why is he the second fight he disposed of stosic like no one before him not to mention beating kornilov he’ll make light work of velasco

Alencar vs. Luciano
Stephanie Luciano, DEC
Younger fighter with better competition 81 to 19% is crazy

Alencar vs. Luciano
Talita Alencar, DEC
I think Talita Alencar wins by decision, but doesn't get a contract.

Gaziev vs. Velasco
Shamil Gaziev, TKO, R2
This is a crazy fight for DWCS as I think both guys have Top 15 potential. Gaziev is the first of many KHK Team fighters that will go to the UFC in the next few years. He is primarily a wrestler, and a really good one for that matter, specially at heavyweight. Lately, he has been striking with high level regional guys like Stosic and Dailidko being able to knocking them out. He needs to improve his striking defense but that will not be a problem against Velasco who isn´t a good striker. Velasco is really good himself tho, as he excells in two key elements at heavyweight MMA, Cardio and wrestling. When Velasco is on top position he is really dominant, but he struggles when having to defend on the ground and his TDD ain´t the best. Ultimately I am picking Gaziev as he is the better striker and should be able to finish Velasco. He should be careful with gassing out as Velasco is more dangerous in the later rounds

Jones vs. Allen
JaCobi Jones, TKO, R2
This fight is a bit weird, Jacobi is the kind of guy who deserves to be at DWCS, but Allen is a surprising signee given his age, record and level of competition. I guess being an AKA gives you extra points. I am big fan of Jacobi, that loss in his record doens´t look good but he has been improving his ground defense inmesely. He is primarely a wrestler but he has a really enjoyable striking style, where he looks to hurt his oponent with piercing elbows. This violence translates to the ground where once he has secured the position, he shows some of the nastiest G&P I have seen. His BJJ is solid and can finish the fight via submission if necesary. Allen has looked really dominant in his career but it has been against low level guys. I had done some scouting on his last fight before getting signed to DWCS and I was really unimpressed. He has the tools to beat Jacobi as he is a really strong wrestler with decent cardio. If this fight was a year ago I would lean Allen, but with Jacobi's improvements I think he can keep the fight on the feet and find the finish

Kruschewsky vs. Mantello
Dylan Mantello, TKO, R3
This is a fight where I like both guys, and should be a banger. Kruschewsky is the Jungle Fight champ and he has been on a few wars during his reign where he has shown a lot of good things: cardio, toughness, decent chin... I really like when he closes the distance and uses some clinch striking. He can take the fight to the ground too, where he is a decent grappler who can do a bit everything there. I really like Mantello´s striking, he uses his size really well while picking shots from the distance. He is a better wrestler than Kruschewsky, so if the fight goes there I would favor Mantello. I would normally pick Kruschewsky, specially because I think he matches up really well against Mantello, but I will go with the dog this time. It´s probably just bias I have been finding myself liking Mantello a lot more than I expected, but in a season where a lot of dogs have surprised I think Mantello has the tools to pull the upset

da Silva vs. Silva
Igor da Silva, SUB, R3
Like almost every flyweight fight this season, this should be a crazy banger. Igor is already a great fighter for his age, I am really impressed with his fight IQ. He can adapt to his oponent strengths and plan multiple ways to counter it. Jhonata is a really slick striker with crazy kicks that can put out anyone, but he lacks size and strength for the division. His TDD isn´t the best either, so I think Igor´s gameplan will lean towards taking the fight to the ground and submitting Jhonata. Jhonata´s ground defense is solid but I expect Igor to eventually have a great scramble and find the finish

Gaziev vs Velasco Gaziev KO RD 1
This is a very interesting one. Its very rare we get two good heavyweight prospects matched up against one another. It does sucks that they are fighting one another tho. Both are very good compared to normal HW prospects, BUT, they do still have their flaws. On paper, shamil gaziev looks like a monster. Hes undefeated, was an immaf champion, and has a really high level of competition. He is good by heavyweight standards and definitely better than most outside of the top 15 but, he has a ton of flaws. The biggest thing for me is his striking. He has insane power for a hw but no idea how to strike. He never moves his head and is very stiff. His striking is mostly slow, straight punches with some looping hooks. Gaziev makes up for this by having crazy power; every time he lands clean he puts his opponents out cold. However, its very concerning to see him going life and death with everyone he fights. Power is always an equalizer but you cannot be striking like that at the ufc level. What makes gaziev so good is he can wrestle. Its not like hes the next khabib but for a heavyweight its very good wrestling. He can be taken down and reversed but everytime he has, he never accepts bottom position and wrestles his way up. He can get telegraphed with his shots but once he gets you to the fence he will dominate with his wrestling. Another issue with gaziev is his poor cardio. He will fight through it & his technique remains even when hes tired but, he gets sloppy with his attempts and becomes very hittable as the fight goes on. Greg Velasco is another unique heavyweight prospect. Greg is not much of a threat on the feet. Hes not like shamil, whos slow and lumbering, Greg actually moves his head and puts out feints. Greg just doesn’t strike that much; he mostly only throws one at a time and prefers to strike in the clinch. Greg is actually a pretty good wrestler & is one of the rare heavyweights who has bjj. Greg is a little bit slower than shamil & his control isnt nearly as good; Greg is bad at maintaining position after getting takedowns. If he does get on top, his grappling is pretty good. Overall, shamil’s technique is much better and I dont see greg getting him down. Greg has struggled to take down a lot of people & been taken down himself before. Greg’s cardio is also not great. I know he went 4 rounds before but in that fight his opponent just accepted bottom position the whole time and let him work. I think Gaziev is going to get exposed at some point in the ufc but velasco isnt the one to do it. His wrestling isnt as good and he doesn’t present much of a threat on the feet.



Jones vs Allen  Allen KO RD 1
Jones is a very good prospect. His lone loss is a very bad one but he has proved it was a fluke since then. He was getting the better of wourms before randomly getting caught in an armbar. Jones trains at elevation & as a result, sets a crazy pace from beginning to end. He gets right in your face and starts swinging. He likes to put the pressure on yet despite the pressure, remains technical in the heat of battle. His boxing is crisp, he works the bosy a lot then sends shots up to the head. He mixes in knees up in the clinch and constantly switches stances as well. Jones comes from a wrestling background and mixes that in as well. He throws a lot of gnp including vicious, slicing elbows that cut all his opponents. Jones makes up for what he lacks in technical skills by turning the aggressiveness to 10. He forces his opponents to think on a dime and actually thrives in ugly fights. He can still be hit & he can still be taken down but jones does a good job of fighting out of it. His last fight vs lebosnoyani was super impressive to me. It was not the cleanest performance, but he fought a very gutsy fight & it paid off. He met right in the middle with lebosnoyani & didn’t back down once. Despite getting hit a lot, he was able to stay composed and land the harder shots on the feet. He did a great job of dealing with the high level bjj of his opponent & cut him open with some of the worst elbows ive ever seen. I had never heard of dan allen before this fight. I couldnt find much on his background but I have heard from talent scouts & people on twitter that this guy is the real deal. A lot of the reason hes so inactive & only fought bums is due to ducking. He made a post on his ig saying he was having a lot of trouble finding opponents & was also dealing with injuries. Im ngl, I was very impressed with the tape i saw on allen. I dont want to put a ton of weight into it since he has fought nobodies, but the skill level is definitely there. To start, he is a huge 155er, standing at 6’1. He is a wrestler by trade but isnt scared to strike. His striking actually looks very competent. He is not nearly as comfortable as jacobi is but he knows what hes doing. He is explosive with every shot and has one punch ko power. However, he knows where hes best & uses his striking to set up the takedowns very well. His wrestling is also incredible. I know hes fighting cans but you can see the level of his wrestling. Not only are his takedowns phenomenal but his control is like a blanket. He is able to effortlessly transition and throws tons of gnp. His bjj is pretty bad; he cannot finish a choke to save his life but, he makes up for it with gnp. Honestly on his tape, he looks phenomenal. The only problem is the level of competition. On the feet I favor jacobi; he is super aggressive and hits hard. Allen can also crack but he is not super comfortable on the feet. The caveat of jones forward pressure is he eats a lot of shots so allen will have some success. When it comes to the wrestling I think allen will dominate. Jones is a great wrestler himself but he has shown he can be taken down before. He has a good getup game but allen’s wrestling looks seriously good. His control is incredible and I think he is a better wrestler than jones is. My only worry is inexperience and level of competition. However, he is handling them as he should be. I’ll take a risk and go with the underdog here.

Luciano vs Alencar  Alencar DEC
Luciano is not very good. I dont know why shes called Rondinha because her judo is almost nonexistent. In her last fight, every time she attempted a head and arm throw, she ended up on the bottom. She is very aggressive on the feet but her striking is not very good. She takes one to give one and also doesnt have much power. Her gameplan is mostly to clinch & try and get a takedown. She throws some gnp but never really tries to pass guard or finish. Her opponents have gotten up most of the time and luciano’s bjj doesn’t seem very good either. She does have pretty decent cardio, having gone 5 rounds in her last fight at a steady pace. Alencar is a really fun fighter. She comes from a bjj background, having won 6 ibjjf world championships. Her grappling in mma is top level but everything else in her game needs some work. For starters, she is really small & at a big disadvantage here. As a result of her small size, alencar is very scrappy. What I do like is that, despite lacking technical skills, alencar has no shortage of confidence in her striking. She will blast kicks to the body and throws flurries of punches when shes up close. The issue is that she lacks head movement and throws strikes without setting them up.  Alencar lacks the footwork of luciano so i worry she just chases & gets picked apart. Neither girl has strong takedowns but I would definitely rate lucianos more. Alencar’s takedowns have looked much better in her last two fights tho; she has started to use double legs and single legs so her wrestling knowledge is improving. When she does get a takedown, she is dominant. Her ability to move from position to position on the mat is effortless. She either takes the back and goes for an RNC, or she goes to mount and throws gnp. Even if she cant get to a dominant position, she stays active with gnp. My issue is that We have never seen what happens when talita gets taken down. Now, maybe thats not in the gameplan of luciano but i am worried that talita may play bjj off of her back if she gets taken down. Either way, luciano has not shown a good top game at all. I am worried that alencar cant get the takedown & gets pieced up but if she does, I think she will dominate this fight. 

Krushewsky vs Mantello  Mantello KO RD 3
Seems to be a theme this season matching up two random people with good record. Mantello has an ugly record but fights much better than it looks. I wish i could find footage of his loss to john ramirez. I assume it was a robbery since he rematched and won by you never know. His other loss was to archie colgan who we know is a very legit talent. Colgan whooped him from pillar to post but not much you can do when being matched against him. Mantello is a tall lightweight standing at 6”1 and he uses his height well when fighting. His striking is basic yet effective; he uses his legs to keep distance, using push kicks and leg kicks on the outside. He has decent boxing as well but again, its very basic. He has a decent jab, good body shots, and powerful counters. I really like his movement in the pocket; he is able to slip and counter punches very well. Mantello has good defense but he does take a lot of hits due to his style of fighting up close. He also gets a bit too reliant on his height for defense at times; in his last fight he was getting lit up on the feet before his opponent basically just fell into a guillotine. Normally, guys from LAW are well rounded but I havent really seen any grappling from mantello besides that guillotine. He has never attempted a td and subsequently i dont think ive seen him ever defend one either. Mantello is skilled but he doesnt seem ready for the ufc just yet imo. Kaynan is just a very questionable choice for dwcs. Sure, he has a nice record but this guy sucks imo. His lone loss is to an eu journeyman & he has already tested positive for roids on the regional scene before. He was juiced up against damien lapilus & still somehow lost that fight. That was a concerning fight to me because thats one of the only quality guys hes fought & lapilus put a vet lesson on him. I hate watching him strike; kaynan is super fast but throws with little technique. He just flails around at you until something connects. As a result, he misses a lot and also leaves himself open for counters all the time. Little head movement from kaynan as well; he keeps it straight on the centerline when throwing and his punches are also very telegraphed. When he connects, there is a big impact but he misses quite a lot. Because of these misses, kaynan also gets tired as the fight goes on. Kaynan’s version of takedown defense is to pull guillotine, which we all know has a great success rate. Since that fight, Kaynan has done a better job of slowing down the pace, however, he is still very sloppy. His fights since the lapilus fight are just awful. He is lying on people doing no damage, or having boring sparring matches until finding a finish. He was actually death gassing and getting hurt by john david before david stupidly shot a td. This fight is gonna be all standup so I favor mantello. He is much more technical, cleaner, and just an overall better fighter. Kaynan could catch mantello but i think that is his inly chance.

Da silva vs SIlva  Da silva SUB RD 2
Silva is mostly a mystery to me. He has been fighting for almost 10 years but is still so young. Silva has had many periods of inactivity in his career, recently returning from a 4 year hiatus. One fight i found of silva’s was his loss to teixiera (one he later avenged). Its hard to take much from it since it was 7 years ago, but it was not a good performance from either guy. Silva struggled with the size advantage but was able to land some good shots. His tdd looked good and he was able to reverse but also got reversed himself. His opponent really gassed out halfway through round 2, silva couldve gotten the nod if he would’ve stepped on the gas a little more. In the Brcic fight, he had to kick off a little ring rust early on but then put on a great performance. Silva is a really sharp striker; he has a very kick heavy style and is very good at timing head and body kicks. He doesnt throw a lot of combos, instead picking his shots & making sure to throw power with everything. When he does throw combos, its short but clean strikes, like a body shot to a hook for example. I like his body work with his hands specifically. He did a really good job of standing back up each time but I did not like how easy it was for brcic to take him down. Someone with strong wrestling could give him a lot of issues. Silva is also really hittable at times. Hes normally pretty evasive but he can be caught with his guard down at times. Brcic was hitting him with some good shots. Silva is able to win moments in close fights because every strike he throws is a heater. Igor is incredibly young but oozing talent. He is only 20 years old and has already won the shooto brazil championship. He trains out of chute boxe and fights exactly how you would expect. Now, while he is very talented, there is still a lot of refining to be done. The biggest thing igor needs to work on is striking. He is not afraid to brawl and has good technique & great power but he is also reckless. He gets hit a lot in exchanges and has been hurt badly by some bad fighters before. He can still strike with talented people but he does take a lot of damage. Where Igor is best is his grappling. He has pretty good takedowns and is active on the mat. He constantly throws gnp with full intentions of hurting you and actively hunts for subs. He loves to pull guillotine but he is smart with it unlike certain other fighters. On the feet its close but i favor silva. Igor is gonna keep the pressure on him but silva is the superior striker and will have much more impactful shots. I could see igor drop him or even finish him as well tho. I favor igor here because of the grappling. Silva does not have good wrestling at all. His grappling seems decent but if Igor can mix it in i think he will beat silva there.

https://open.substack.com/pub/mmawise/p/dwcs-week-7-early-predictions?r=2kp62i&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

1. Igor Da Silva Severinov. Johnata Silva: Igor has better striking, grappling and can counter Johnata. Igors also six years younger. On the other hand Johnata has good kicks, knees and td defense. However, in comparing the striking pick is Igor Da Silva.

1. Kanyan Kruschewskyv. Dylan Mantello: Kruschewsky has more xp, has a chin, and good striking. Mantello fighting out of logno and weidman has 3 inch reach advantage, and good kicks. However, he has less xp and his td defense is poor. Furthermore, Mantello hase exhibited poor iq for example in his fight vs alexander almost got put out, also some bad iq and trying stupid guillotine. Pick is Kruschewsky.

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1. Jacobi Jonesv. Daniel James Allen: Pick is Jacobi fighitng out of factory x muay thai. He has more experience and has faced tougher competition. He is also four years younger than Allen. Pick is Jones.

1. Shamiel Gazievv. Greg Velasco: Shamil Gaziev fighting out of Bahrain and training with Gym KHK MMA Team is the pick. Velasco has bad td defense, and his cardio is questionable. Thus, Gaziev is the pick.

Thank you all for your support and appreciation of this free publication and have a great day.

Ready for all the asinine picks, and the tears when their pick gets starched in 30 seconds. 

Love watching people give opinions about fighters they know nothing about 

* Edited at 09.17.2023, 1:08 PM ET *

Gaziev vs. Velasco
Shamil Gaziev, TKO, R2
This I trust in it ending in a RD 2 finish as well, more so by K.O. and in that case I lean to Gaziev at this time.

Jones vs. Allen
JaCobi Jones, TKO, R2
Jones by RD 2 finish for sure I'd say. Just not confident as to how really tbh. K.O. / T.K.O. finish in RD 2 for Jones I guess? If it goes to a decision tho, I'd trust my money on Allen to get it done.

Alencar vs. Luciano
Talita Alencar, SUB, R2
Alencar by RNC in the ladder half of this fight; possibly even a DEC win. Confident in my fighter picks, just not as much w/ the method of victory this time around lol.

Kruschewsky vs. Mantello
Kaynan Kruschewsky, SUB, R3
Kruschewsky by Guillotine sub / finish or a UD win.

da Silva vs. Silva
Igor da Silva, TKO, R2
Da Silva has that finishing potential and can see him getting yet another stoppage win via TKO during the halfway point of this bout

Gaziev vs. Velasco
Shamil Gaziev, TKO, R1
Gaziev by mauling

Shamil Gaziev Tko rd 1 or 2 if it goes to a third round it will be the grossest thing we will ever see.
Daniel Allen tko
Talita by submission. Armbar
Kanyan itd
Igor

Gaziev vs. Velasco
Shamil Gaziev, TKO
I really like Gaziev! He's got a lot of talent and has a solid resume. Something I can't say about MOST of this season's heavyweight, quote en quote, prospects. I mean, don't get me wrong, Velasco ain't half bad himself. That being said, his cardio just isn't up to par with Gaziev's. Also, he doesn't strike that much, which is not a favorable thing to do when not only does the other guy can strike, but can also wrestle. Especially if he wrestles better than you.

Jones vs. Allen
JaCobi Jones, TKO
I'm sorry, but I just don't like the look of this Mr. Daniel James Allen. He's basically only fought cans, he's 31 which in MMA years is close to his mid 40's, and basically only fights every 2 years for some reason. Oh, what's that? It's because of supposed injuries? Why, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that he so prone to injuries a lot. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!! Also, what's with the 3 1st names? Is it Daniel, James or Allen? Dude, you only pick one okay? No need for anymore 1st names like that.

Kruschewsky vs. Mantello
Kaynan Kruschewsky, TKO
It's now or never for Kruschewsky. Let's hope he makes the most of it!