Prospect in the Spotlight (Nov 2-3): Artem Frolov

Introduction

Saturday, November 2nd, Russian middleweight prospect Artem Frolov will be in action overseas on the M-1 Challenge 98 card. He will be competing against Brazilian veteran Bruno Silva in the main event, as Frolov looks to keep his 185-pound title. Frolov represents the Legion Fight Team, a respected camp in Russia. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”

Strengths

Striking: Frolov spends a majority of his time on the feet and he has impressive knockout power. Part of that knockout ability is that he’s very accurate when landing punches. He’s very technical on the feet, too. He tends to utilize punches, but he does use kicks to set up his hands. Though he does have more submission wins, he has destructive knockout victories on his record as well. He generally does not get super flashy with his techniques, as he’s a more traditional striker.

Takedowns: Though Frolov tends to strike in his fights, he is a Master of Sport in combat sambo and possesses strong wrestling. He doesn’t use it as much as he could, but when he does, it’s powerful and impressive. He has used his takedowns to score powerful slams on the mat, which inflict damage on his opponents. He also uses it defensively to keep fights on the feet. Overall, there aren’t going to be many fighters that outwrestle him in a fight.

Needs Improvement

Competition Level: For a champion of a major MMA organization, Frolov’s competition could be a little better. His current opponent, Silva, is one of his better opponents in history. He has taken on Joe Riggs (past his prime) and Caio Magalhaes (UFC vet), but outside of that, it’s has been average or subpar talent. With that stated, it’s really the only improvement Frolov needs and is ready for the UFC.

Outlook

UFC Contender: Frolov is easily UFC ready. He was actually linked to fight CB Dollaway in a late notice UFC bout, but pulled out due to injury and was not retained on the UFC roster. Should Frolov defeat Silva in this main event offering, the UFC should sign him. He would be a contender in the middleweight division and a top-15 fighter. I’m not sure he’d ever get a UFC title shot, but he’d definitely be in the mix.