Prospect in the Spotlight (July 17-18): Mehdi Baidulaev

Introduction

Friday, July 17th, Russian featherweight prospect Mehdi Baidulaev will be in action for ACA, where he will be looking continue his winning ways against Gadzhimurad Aliev. He will be looking for another win, as Baidulaev looks to inch closer to a UFC or PFL contract. He represents Berkut FC, a strong camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”

Strengths

Submission Wrestling: Baidulaev is very good at wrestling and grappling, which is a big portion of his game. Ten of his nineteen wins come by way of tapout, including by D’arce choke and rear-naked choke. He has tremendous grip strength when it comes to looking for chokes and clasping his hands when going for the takedown, which make him hard to deal with in those grappling exchanges. He doesn’t give up position much on the mat, as he is very good at controlling and advancing positions.

Strength of Schedule: When it comes to prospects, there are a number of guys that fight lower-level talent to build up their own records. That can’t be said about Baidulaev, who has fought a plethora of strong opponents to date. Some of those fighters include UFC vet Magomed Bibulatov, top prospect Makharbek Karginov, and 30-fight vets Marcos Rodrigues and Gilberto Dias.

Needs Improvement

Fighting Good Counter Wrestlers: While it hasn’t happened often, when Baidulaev takes on a guy with stout takedown defense and can keep at a distance, he can be tamed a bit. His lone two losses came in 2019 and 2017, which means it’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen any of those weaknesses come out, so it’s quite possible he has patched up those holes in his ship.

Outlook

PFL Champion/UFC Top-15: Baidulaev is clearly a guy ready for the PFL or UFC, he’s just waiting on his shot. He has cleaned up relatively tough competition while fighting in Russia, which is no easy feat. If he gets snagged by the PFL, who seems to be scoring more of the Russian talent lately, I think he could be PFL Champion. If the UFC inks him, I think he has a tougher road, but could get into title contention given his toughness and skill set. He is entering his athletic prime, so the time to get him to the big leagues is now.