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1
- Alexandre Pantoja
- "The Cannibal"
- 28-5-0
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1990 - Brazil - UFC Champion
Now firmly established as the man in the UFC, having picked up further wins over Moreno and Royval. Proved he can fight in tough affairs for 5 rounds and maintain the pace and take his opportunites to get an advantage when they arise. One of the best back takers in the sport, a superb finisher from the back, good wrestler and carries power on the feet too. Does rush forward on the feet and leaves himself open to sharp counters when he do that. Will absolutely dig deep when needs to.
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2
- Steve Erceg
- "AstroBoy"
- 12-2-0
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1995 - Australia - UFC
Proved himself as an elite flyweight against Pantoja. Could have won if a couple of things had gone differently. Very good jab, times strikes well when opponent comes in. Hard to take down, very hard to hold down. Needs to work on takedowns at elite level. Cardio excellent and extremely scrappy, looks like he'll be at or near the top of the division for a while.
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3
- Alex Perez
- 25-8-0
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1992 - USA - UFC
Known as the king of pull outs but looked like he wanted to be there in the Mokaev fight and then turned things up against Nicolau. Nice and fast with high output, gets good pressure on, can mix leg kicks in if he wants and has good body work. Still looks like a contender.
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4
- Matheus Nicolau
- 19-4-1
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1993 - Brazil - UFC
Very skilled but kind of low output on the feet a lot of the time. Tends to wait for the perfect opportuntity and although he has good power for the weight if it lands the right punch might not come against everyone. Solid grappler with decent back takes but hasn't really been a sub threat at the highest level. Will pick off a lot of guys on the counter, but has an issue with high level guys who bring the fight to him at pace and are a bit harder to land counters on.
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5
- Makoto Shinryu
- 17-2-1, 1 NC
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2000 - Japan - RIZIN
Absolute beast for his age. Also an absolute beast for any age. Gave one of the best in the world in Horiguchi all he could handle early before experience got him and has been trashing everyone else. Great sub game, I used to think he was a little physically weak when I first saw him but he's absolutely solved that issue and now seems stronger than most guys he faces. Very good scrambler, controls top position pretty well when he goes there unless he decides to be over aggressive with a sub which happens on occasion. No idea how he isn't in the UFC.
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6
- Aren Akopyan
- 17-3-1, 1 NC
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1993 - Russia - ACA
Very consistent upper echelon ACA guy, his only loss this decade being in his title fight defeat to Bukuev. Very good at cutting off the cage and keeping pressure on his opponent. Gets into range and lands flurries, he's got very quick hands and lands decent shots even if he doesn't have that much power it's good for points scoring. Wrestling is fine but not really the focal point of his game although it gives him an option to mix things up if he wants to.
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7
- Charles Johnson
- "InnerG"
- 15-6-0
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1991 - USA - UFC
Great cardio, really good five round fighter but hard to see him getting to a position to have five rounders in the UFC. Slow starter and quite often loses the first round. Takedown defence usually starts poorly but seems to pick up on what guys are doing, does seem to be improving in this regard. Hard to finish with subs, good at getting back up but not always good at getting away. Striking good volume wise but needs to land a lot over an extended period to hurt people.
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8
- Alessandro Costa
- "Nono"
- 14-4-0
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1996 - Brazil - UFC
Adapting pretty well to life in the UFC and seems very willing to take hard matchups at short notice. Didn't work out against Albazi or Erceg but should gain a lot of experience from fighting guys like that. Breezed through Flick, good grappler with one shot power at least against lower level guys. Powerful leg kicks took Borjas apart, punches a little loopy sometimes but can throw them tighter. Good when coming forward, really good BJJ when gets on top with very active ground and pound.
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9
- Jake Hadley
- "White Kong"
- 10-3-0
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1996 - England - UFC
Brutish strength for the weight class, okay offensive wrestling but doesn't seem to have translated that well at UFC level, doesn't get people down as easily as he did in Cage Warriors, not such good takedown defence but good at instigating scrambles and throwing up subs against anyone who's not a high level grappler who can shut that down like Nascimento. Decent power on the feet, good hard body punching, although less accurate when going upstairs. Maybe a bit chinny, has been hurt by people I don't think of as power punchers.
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10
- Alibi Idiris
- 10-0-0
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1995ish - Kazakhstan - Naiza FC
Another beast from the Kazakh flyweight production line. Tearing through a gauntlet of Brazilians at the moment and starting to get more highlight reel finishes which will hopefully catch the attention of the UFC. He's really fast, swings very hard for the division, has excellent spin attacks, good wrestling and top control, is really aggressive and really good killer instinct when he gets his opponent hurt. Really need to see how this guy gets on in the big leagues.
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11
- Iago Ribeiro
- "Pitbull" | 13-3-0
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1993 - Brazil - UAE Warriors Champion
Absolutely mad bastard. Crazy aggressive and pushes an absolutely wild pace. Throws everything hard, has a bit of wrestling if he wants to use it, happy to jump on a guillotine if he thinks he has it. Throws really hard elbows for ground and pound if he gets on top. Did get dropped badly against Fujita but responded by getting up and slinging hard as ****. Looks a really tough guy to fight because he's always going to be on you.
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12
- André Lima
- "Mascote" | 9-0-0
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1999 - Brazil - UFC
Bad weight miss in his 2nd UFC fight might call his future at this weight into question. This coming after being the victim of the bite DQ means he's had quite the eventful early UFC career.
Fighting wise if you let him fight you at range he's a problem. He's got really powerful calf kicks and mixes in kicks to the body and head so you can't get overly fixated on defending one target. Seems to have been working on an intercepting knee for when people shoot on him. Hard to get inside on him but can be taken down once you're there, Severino was having success there but he was working up well. Doesn't mind paying dirty and will fence grab a lot. Fights at a pretty even pace so cardio should be fine as long as he can maintain a semblance of control.
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13
- Alan Gomes
- 15-6-1
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1994 - Brazil - ACA
Very solid dude who's been fighting the best flyweights in Russia for over half a decade at this point. Obviously when you do that you're probably going to get mixed results at best and Alan has his fair share of good wins there. He's just a solid all round dude with a good jab, cross and leg kicks to go with a hard body kick, he's sharp and accurate when guys try to pressure him and when he gets taken down he's good at creating space and works back to his feet well.
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14
- Reece McLaren
- "Lightning" | 17-9-0
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1991 - Australia - ONE Championship
Really good BJJ, good at taking and keeping the back. Wrestling not very good so struggles to get it there against guys with solid TDD, kind of just runs forward into high up double legs for his shots and they don't work that well. Clockable on the feet but tough and throws back. Good cardio so can drown gassy guys.
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15
- Yamato Fujita
- 11-5-0
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1992 - Japan - UAE Warriors
Good fighter who's decided to spread his wings a bit and fight on the Fight Pass promotions rather than stick to Japan. Came up as a kickboxer but he's got a decent grappling game now with some nice guillotines. Has solid power on the feet. Fought pretty well against Ribeiro but waned under the absolutely insane pace in the end to lose his belt.
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16
- Luis Gurule
- "Grim" | 8-0-0
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1993 - USA - Fury FC
Just about came through toughest regional test against Trujillo. Big and strong for the weight, cracks with power, decent speed good takedown defence. Kept pace pretty well with a guy with a lot of output in the Trujillo fight.
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17
- Sean Gauci
- 9-1-0
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1996 - Australia - HEX Champion
The only guy to beat Steve Erceg before he was in the UFC and is finally back to being pretty active after taking a while to get back to action after covid. He looks to have a bit of power on the feet and a decent sprawl. Disengaged from a guy who wanted to grapple's guard which showed a bit of fight IQ.
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18
- Luis Elías
- "Aiapaec" | 8-0-0
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1992 - Peru - UWC
Crushing everyone in UWC with a variety of finishes. Has a pretty sharp one two down the middle and a good looking high kick. Deals with guard pull sub attempts fine. Sprawl seems decent, turned it into a nice hip toss against Meza. Once on top just jumped straight past the guard into a mounted triangle which was great. Would like to see against slightly better competition but looks well equipped for it.
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19
- Damir Tolenov
- "Voitel" | 12-1-0
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1995 - Kazakhstan - Octagon
Really nice movement, hops in and out and creates angles well, tough to pin down and can generally find space to get own stuff off. Level changes and top control also fine. Looking like quick sub loss to journeyman Brazilian was an anomaly.
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20
- Alberto Trujillo
- 9-4-0
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1992 - USA - Fury FC
Underrated regional guy. Very good level of volume and pace, really wears guys down well. Short but comes forward constantly, shoots well and is a hard night for anyone. Tends to outwork guys late in fights.
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21
- Lincon Santos
- 8-2-0
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1988 - Brazil - LFA
Has been caught early a couple of times but when he gets into his flow he's good. Good level changing and a really aggressive passing game, goes from side immediately to mount and back and looks heavy there. Aggressive on the feet too, hits pretty hard and has nice ground and pound.
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22
- Jung Hyun Lee
- "The Phenom" | 4-2-0
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2002 - South Korea - RIZIN
Good prospect, taking the Shinryu fight after Road to UFC was pretty crazy but he didn't look too bad, was doing a lot of things right defensively in the grappling, just found Shinryu able to break through eventually. Good boxing on the feet, quick, moves around well, darts in and out and lands but maybe doesn't have the power to trouble guys at a higher level. Pretty nice high kick too.
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23
- Cody Davis
- 9-2-0
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1994 - USA - LFA
Former LFA champ is tiny for the weight. Pretty fast and a decent wrestler, has good bodylock trips and good back takes. Feather fisted on the feet and if he can't get his wrestling going he doesn't seem to have a plan B.
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24
- Carlos Lozoya
- 9-4-0
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1995 - USA - Combat FC
New England Cartel member is a decent flyweight with his losses coming against solid regional guys. He's got a decent jab and cross and a solid enough double leg. Top BJJ is really good when he gets there, controls well and advances position taking mount and back, also takes some more advanced positions with good turtle crucifix setups. Really good damage from ground and pound, likes to get to mount and drop hammers. Has been dropped a couple of times. UFC likes NE Cartel guys so might have a chance of a late replacement fight at some point.
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25
- Mitch Raposo
- 9-2-0
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1998 - USA - UFC
Finally got into the UFC after a couple of tries between TUF and DWCS. Didn't really look like he has much of a future at this level in the Lima fight. Allowed himself to get stuck on the outside and just ate a lot of leg kicks. Hands are reasonably fast when he can get inside but didn't do that too often. Double leg isn't bad but doesn't use it as much as he should.
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26
- Anatoly Kondratiev
- "The Diamond" | 10-4-0
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1995 - Russia - ACA
Good win over Abiltarov in the best peformance of his career. Has good boxing on the back foot, ends up going backwards most of the time but hits good volume when the opponent enters into range Gets taken down quite a bit, but is quite good at finding the opponents hips and kicking off and getting back up.
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27
- Yong Hu
- "Wolf Warrior" | 12-5-0
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1996 - China - ONE Championship
Dangerous in the first round because he does hit really hard early with the hooks and he has somewhat of a sprawl at that point, but when someone drags him deep into a fight the power fades, the sprawl goes and he gets stuck on the bottom or with someone on his back.
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28
- Ruslan Abiltarov
- "The Predator" | 25-13-1
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1992 - Ukraine - ACA
Has had a lot of fights and seems to be on the downslide to me. Dangerous with subs early and has a good guillotine, decent at single legs too but when he comes into range he gets there then doesn't throw and covers up before waiting for the right time to shoot and leads to him getting way behind on volume if he can't get people down. Doesn't really do a lot on top anymore either.
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29
- Jhonata Silva
- 9-2-0
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1997 - Brazil - Shooto Brasil
Returned from his DWCS defeat by making slightly hard work of a can at 135 in Shooto. Pretty fast when he comes in and throws tight flurries with his hands when he can get his opponent going backwards. Does get tagged up a bit coming in and doesn't seem to bother recognising leg kicks.
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30
- Ramzan Suleymanov
- 8-0-0
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1995 - Russia - ACA
Just graduated to the main ACA roster from Young Eagles and made the step up look pretty easy. Sticky, solid wrestler who gets guys down and looks for back takes and kills time there, not very exciting but gets the job done.
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31
- Wagner Reis
- 8-3-0
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1994 - Brazil - Jungle Fight Champion
Forward pressure pretty bouncy. Looks to get into punching range and bomb, pretty committed to doing it, could probably get tagged by a good counter striker.
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32
- Dong Hoon Choi
- 7-0-0
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1999 - South Korea - Gladiator
Got the nod in a fairly close decision in first round of Road to UFC. Looks alright on the feet, punches a bit looping and got tagged a bit by some straight ones but has a nice body kick. Mixed in wrestling a little bit and looked pretty comfortable on top.
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33
- Jiniushiyue
- "Little King Kong" | 13-4-0
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2000 - China - JCK
Seems a bit of a Road to UFC mainstay at the moment. Pretty poised and calm striker with a decent jab. Not that great at wrestling and takedown defence not the best. Doesn't seem to like it so much when fights get a bit messy.
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34
- Gilbert Nakatani
- 7-1-0
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1994ish - USA - LFA
Pretty tough nosed wrestler, was getting cracked early on against Gomes as head movement not great but got it together to start pushing forward and crowding the space so he could get him down and work from the top. Pretty decent back takes.
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35
- Kiru Singh Sahota
- 11-2-0
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1995 - England - BMF
Very tall for the weight, awkward to take down because of that. Likes to go in for awkward clinches a lot, doesn't really use his length to strike that much. Decent work with knees in clinch, not sure really has any power. Pretty solid cardio.
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36
- Shuai Yin
- "Black Panther" | 16-5-0
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1997 - China - JCK
Messed up Road to UFC opportunity a little bit. Sits down on punches quite well and his wrestling is okay but ended up stuck in the clinch with lanky opponent too much.
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37
- Luiz Paulo Barbosa
- 8-4-0
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1998 - Brazil - Jungle Fight
Fights a bit like a poor man's Jonas Bilharinho. Looks a little bit like him too. Easy to push on the back foot and can lose fights there but does get kicks up better than most people at short range while under pressure so dangerous with those.
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38
- Rodney Kealohi
- "The Captain" | 7-5-0
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1995 - USA - LFA
Too prone to getting stuck on his back at the moment. Takedown defence in the clinch varies and seems to get a bit better as his opponent tires but he just sucks at avoiding cage clinches. Gives up back too easily when trying to come back up. Does have solid cardio and a will to win, can land some decent front kicks to the body if he can stay on his feet.
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39
- Gabriel Gomes
- 5-1-0
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2000 - Brazil - LFA
Very pretty striking on the back foot when he has things his own way, moves back in space pretty well and cracks hard and accurate. Struggles when crowded back towards the cage and doesn't have space to do his thing. Big hole in the grappling, gives back too easily and gets stuck on bottom turtling a lot.
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40
- Kaito Oda
- 4-1-0
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1998 - Japan - ONE Championship
Decent bodylock trips. Top control alright. Just grapples into clinch, knows what he wants
Doesn't do a lot on top. Boring win over Royal but got it done.
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41
- Roque Junior
- 8-2-0
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1999 - Brazil - Demo Fight
Scrappy dude who hits hard, scrambles up well when taken down and has pretty decent offensive wrestling. Pretty quick and athletic. Timed a bomb in fun fight against Natan.
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42
- Nate Smith
- "The Savage" | 8-4-0
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1995 - USA - LFA
Former contender series alumni went on a bit of a skid after losing on the show and then losing LFA title fight. Starting to build himself back up and returned to the LFA with a big knockout.
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43
- Cooper Royal
- "Rush" | 5-1-0
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Australia - ONE Championship
Very deliberate Muay Thai style. Moves very slow for a flyweight doing it. Takedown defence sucks, does have a couple of sub wins off his back against lower level guys but the first dude who was a competent grappler on top shut that down pretty easily.
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44
- Angad Bisht
- 10-3-0
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1995 - India - Matrix Fight Night Champion
Looks pretty stacked and strong for a flyweight. Took Almanza down easily enough and got some good ground and pound. Likes to throw a big overhand. Not sure how good he is yet as Almanza not really a test.
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45
- Christian Ynastrilla
- 10-5-0
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1996 - USA - LFA
Does fine against very low level guys on the small regional shows, but whenever he ends up on a fight pass promotion the dude seems to get spectacularly finished.
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46
- Lukas Natan
- "Babidi" | 7-1-0
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Brazil - Demo Fight
Looked fine in fight against Roque, good back and forth fight before he got caught. Decent offensive wrestling, top game and striking both looked fine and seems pretty athletic. Did look a little suspect defensively and then got bombed.
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47
- Firdavs Khasanov
- 9-5-0
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1994 - Uzbekistan - Combat FC
Decent power when countering heavy but that's about it and just throws one at a time. Absolutely awful takedown defence for someone from his region and very poor on the bottom, gets stuck in bad positions and doesn't seem to know how to get out of them.
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48
- Ruan Miqueias
- "Hunter" | 8-4-0
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1993 - Brazil - ACA
Did alright back in Brazil but has been steady a steady diet of killers since turning up in ACA. He does keep trying all fight so I'll give him that, most flys wouldn't have any wins in ACA against the guys he's been fighting.
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49
- Edilson Santos Jr.
- "Zé" | 10-3-0
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1986 - Brazil - Naiza FC
Returned from 4 years of probable semi-retirement to face a beast like Alibi Idiris and it kind of went as you'd expect. Was doing everything fundamentally fine, solid stance and correct form but just not enough to be able to hold off someone like that. Record in Brazil was solid so could still be a decent regional guy/jobber to Kazakh prospects if he decides to stick around.
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50
- Renildo Monteiro
- "Carangueijo" | 7-1-0
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1999 - Brazil - LFA
Absolutely battered in his step up in competition against Lincon Santos. Couldn't stay off his back at all and couldn't get much off on the feet. He is however absolutely tough as nails, fought out of a pretty much locked in RNC and was taking clean shots on the feet and zombieing forward.
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51
- Rafael Calderon
- "Leprechaun" | 6-1-0
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1996 - Spain - WOW
Very short dude, got to the later rounds of the IMMAF as an ammy. Throws short bombs down the middle in combos when comes forward. Picked up on sprawl against Abadie during the fight but didn't try to get up when did get put on his back and didn't look dangerous from the bottom. Wrestling not bad, seems like a fairly solid regional Euro guy.
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52
- Giovanny Meza
- "The Scorpion" | 8-2-0
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1999 - Mexico - UWC
Record looks like a can crusher who dabbles in boxing. Caught his fight with Luis Elias, he's an aggressive guard puller and threw up an early triangle but then got battered.
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53
- Brandon Amaro
- "Adesanya" | 6-1-0
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2006 - Uruguay - Samurai Fight House
Young talent who's very aggressive and fun offensively, fights with a complete disdain for opponents offence but paid for it getting KO'd by a 1-4 can. Very talented and super young but needs to go back and seriously tighten things up defensively or at least realise there's dudes out there who can crack.
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54
- John Dave Almanza
- "The Striker" | 6-1-0
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2004ish - Philippines - UGB
Road to UFC callup came far too soon for this kid. Striking looks alright, has an interesting little jumping hopping front kick to the mid section he uses. Doesn't really move head off centre line. Easy to take down and looks terrible off the bottom for now. Maybe could be something one day, but serious development needs to happen first.
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55
- Denilson Abadié
- 3-1-0
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2004ish - Peru - WOW
Doesn't look like this kid will go anywhere to me. Pretty weak, flicks out very poor leg kicks, switches stances a lot but with no real purpose. Shots very obvious and not good when he ends up on the bottom. Very young but can't see a lot of upside.