Best Prospects of the Week (Aug 21-23)

After a strong weekend of prospect action, we have another exciting weekend in the regional MMA scene. Here are quick notes on ten prospects to look out for this weekend:

1. Namo Fazil (Welterweight, United States, DWCS): We kick off the week in the Contender Series and take a look at MVP MMA vet Namo Fazil, a guy who got his first widespread look on that circus of a card on Netflix. Fazil is a physical specimen with nasty one-punch knockout power and an imposing ground game. He’s a good size for the weight class at 6’1″, especially considering he’s thick and muscular on top of that. He takes on a wily veteran in Kaik Brito this week in what should be the best fight of the night.
2. Douglas Rodrigues (Middleweight, Brazil, DWCS): In the co-main of the Contender Series we will see Douglas “Blade” Rodrigues, an outstanding striker known for his exciting style and his finishing prowess. He has a variety of solid techniques and some really good power, which combine to make his striking style effective. His level of competition has not been the highest, but either is his competition here when he takes on Trent Miller.
3. Cristian Perez (Lightweight, Mexico, DWCS): Sticking in in the Contender Series main event and possibly the best prospect fighting there this weekend in Cristian Perez. He lost a slugfest last year on the show to Manoel Sousa, a borderline contender in the UFC at this point. Perez is exciting on the feet with some solid striking, but also has some solid submission grappling to boot. He likes to finish fast, which he will look to do against wrestler Logan Paxton.
4. Mahamed Aly (Light Heavyweight, Brazil, DWCS): Mahamed Aly, another veteran of the Contender Series, is looking for redemption after coming up short last year. Aly is an outstanding Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist that runs with Team Lloyd Irvin (another renowned artist), but he also has added some strong striking to his game. He was quickly knocked out last season by Iwo Baraniewski, who has been steamrolling everyone. Before that, Aly had shown off some impressive on-the-feet skills, including two wins by head kick knockout. He may want to incorporate that aforementioned ground game this week, though, as he’s matched up with brawling striker Alik Lorenz.
5. Taner Trembley (Featherweight, United States, DWCS): Saint Cloud St. wrestling standout Taner Trembley has really taken well to MMA thus far, especially under the tutelage of MMA standout Brock Larson. He’s gone undefeated to this point utilizing mostly his wrestling and underrated jiu-jitsu skills, though it appears he has added some solid striking as well. He’s been a finishing machine thus far, only seeing the third round once. He is matched up with Roman Puga this week in a fight that could net him a ride to the UFC.
6. Marcos Breno (Bantamweight, Brazil, LFA): A disciple of Glover Teixeira and looking to restart after a tough ending to his Bellator/PFL run, Marcos Breno is still a bantamweight to watch out for. Breno is a nasty striker with insane power for a 135er. he gets to work quick with a front-foot, aggressive style where he looks to toe tag his opponent as soon as possible. Over half of his wins come by way of knockout. He looks to put an end to his two-fight skid when he takes on Bektur Zhenishbek.
7. Khotam Boynazarov (Welterweight, Uzbekistan, Mangu FL): One of the best prospects outside the UFC in the welterweight division, Khotam Boynazarov is 13-0 in his pro career and truly UFC ready. Boynazarov has solid fundamentals on the feet that he largely uses to set up his strong takedowns and overwhelming ground game. He has a really good submission game that he uses in unison with ground-and-pound. This weekend, he takes on respected veteran Rangel de Sa.
8. Luke Trainer (Light Heavyweight, England, PFL): Possibly the most underrated light heavyweight competing right now might be Luke Trainer, a fighter who has been hitting his prime lately and racking up major wins. Those wins include names like Rob Wilkinson, Grant Neal and Sullivan Cauley, which is highly impressive. He is primarily a ground fighter and has some very good submission ability. He also has some solid striking, which makes sense given one of his coaches is Brad Pickett. He takes on a fellow prospect in Roland Dunlap this weekend, who will give him a helluva time in the wrestling department.
9. Makkasharip Zaynukov (Lightweight, Russia, PFL): The last PFL fighter we will look at this weekend is Makkasharip Zaynukov, a Muay Thai stylist and wrestler who has been dominant since coming to the PFL. He’s hard to measure up, as he has a good punch-kick game to go with a strong clinch game and underrated wrestling attack. That complete game makes him hard to prep for and deal with in the cage. Thus explains his success in the cage. He finds himself most in trouble when being outwrestled, something I don’t see Natan Schulte doing this weekend at the PFL event.
10. Muhidin Abubakar (Flyweight, England, Fightstar Championship): Multi-promotional champion Muhidin Abubakar is a highly underrated prospect, but a guy I expect to be in the major leagues shortly. He is the current UAE Warriors and FightStar Champion which is a testament to his dominance in the regionals so far. He has beaten some tough competition and fellow prospects as well, which has helped build his reputation. A fighter with good takedown defense and superior striking looks to be his kryptonite. That said, he fights Ronaldo Oliveira this weekend with his FightStar belt on the line in a performance that he hopes to catch the attention of the UFC.

LAST WEEK’S PROSPECT RESULTS

1. Kyoma Akimoto scored the biggest win of his career in the Rizin main event, taking a unanimous decision over Kleber Koike Erbst.
2. Anthony Wint ran through Matt Adams via TKO at Dana White’s Contender Series, earning a contract for his effort.
3. Abe Alsaghir won a questionable split decision over Fabrizio Escarrega at Dana White’s Contender Series.
4. Bilal Hasan destroyed Mridul Saikia via first-round knockout at Dana White’s Contender Series, earning himself a UFC contract.
5. Jon Kunneman took his first career loss by unanimous decision to Joe Kropschot on Dana White’s Contender Series.
6. Julieta Martinez had her opponent drop out of their fight and she did not compete at Lux Fight League.
7. Magdalena Czaban scored a unanimous decision victory over Natalie Salcedo at ONE Championship.
8. Jarret Betancourt won his fight at CFFC and was promptly given a slot on the Contender Series later this year.
9. Ricky Rojas scored a TKO win over German Ponce at Fury FC.
10. Alikhan Vakhaev TKO’d Amir Aliakbari in the ACA main event to keep his title belt.