Introduction
Sunday, May 4th, Kyrgyz featherweight prospect Razhabali Shaydullaev will be in action for Rizin, where he will be looking continue his winning ways against Kleber Koike Erbst. He will be looking for another win, as Shaydullaev looks to inch closer to a Rizin belt or UFC contract. He represents Ihlas, a smaller camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Overall Ground Game: Like many fighters from Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, Shaydullaev has a strong ground game that is the base to his MMA game. He is wrestling heavy and very successful at scoring takedowns. From there, he gets to work quickly. He isn’t just a lay-and-pray type ground fighter as well. He has ferocious ground-and-pound, but his positional dominance and ability to get to a position to score the submission. His submissions are especially brutal, as he has nasty choking strength and technical ability when grabbing limbs.
Power Punching: Shaydullaev is a very powerful guy, including the stopping power he has in his hands. If he lands one big shot, he can end a fight in the blink of an eye. His aggression aids him in that, as he moves forward hard, mostly to look for takedowns, but to also look to land a big shot on the button.
Needs Improvement
Question Marks Against Top Wrestlers: While Shaydullaev is a good wrestler and grappler himself, coming to the United States eventually means he will have to be ready to go against American amateur wrestlers, especially if he goes to the UFC. The company has a number of National Champions and wrestling-heavy fighters, especially in the featherweight division. He could thrive or he could falter, we just don’t know based on his lack of sample size against those types of fighters.
Outlook
UFC Top-20 or Contender: Shaydullaev is just 24 years old and he’s already shown he can hang with world class talent like Juan Archuleta. This is a skilled fighter that has not even hit his MMA prime yet, and he’s continually getting better against more experienced/worthy fighters. Shaydullaev could definitely be a Rizin Champion, but I would love to see him jump over to the UFC, where I think he can be a contender in no time. He’s well-rounded, tough and young, something that will carry him for years to come.
MMA Intel 