Introduction
Friday, July 24th, Russian light heavyweight prospect Nasrudin Nasrudinov will be in action for Absolute Championship Akhmat, where he will be looking to stay undefeated against Evgeny Egemberdiev. He will be looking to continue his streak, as Nasrudinov looks to impress in an attempt to possibly earn a UFC contract. He represents Krepost Fight Club, a solid camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Striking: My favorite part of watching a Nasrudin Nasrudinov fight is when he stands and bangs. Nasrudinov has solid kickboxing ability. The best part of his striking is the use of his hands. He defends strikes well with those hands, but it’s his offensive striking ability that is his bread and butter. He has a very dangerous overhand right, which is seen in most of his fights. It is what put away Rasul Saithozhaev, as he tagged him several times with that overhand before setting up the finish with a near knockout with that right. He also has a very effective uppercut. He has pretty good kicks; I just wish he would use them more often. Lastly, it’s not just his on-the-feet striking that is strong. His ground-and-pound is also very effective, when he’s able to start throwing hammers from the top.
Wrestling: Although Nasrudinov is a strong striker, he also has a good wrestling ability. He is very sturdy when it comes to defending takedowns, which allows him to stay on the feet and pick apart opponents. He’s also a solid offensive wrestler. He gets inside, pushes his opponent against the cage and drags them to the mat. When he gets them down, he is heavy and deliberate. It’s hard to get from under him and Nasrudinov scores points down there. That said, he could be more active when he gets a guy to the mat. That can be fixed going forward.
Needs Improvement
Submission Question Marks: While Nasrudinov has proven himself a good wrestler, there are question marks about his submission ability on the mat. In his eight pro fights, he has just one submission. That one submission was against a low-level regional opponent. Also, while fighting on the mat, it doesn’t appear that he threatens with submissions very often. Take his Cory Hendricks fight for example. He mostly held Hendricks down and looked for ground strikes, as opposed to looking to open up with strikes to find submission attempts. If he were to add submission threats to his arsenal, Nasrudinov would become a massive overall threat to whoever he squared off with.
Outlook
UFC Midcarder: Nasrudinov is 28 years old, so he is approaching his prime, in theory. With that in mind, if Nasrudinov continues the way he is fighting, he has a chance to be a top-25 light heavyweight in the UFC. On his plate right now is potentially the biggest test he’s had to date in Evgeny Egemberdiev, a fellow top-25 prospect. A win will be huge for Nasrudinov. A finish should not only get him the attention he deserves, but a UFC contract offer. He has the well-rounded ability to establish himself in the world’s largest MMA promotion.
MMA Intel 