Introduction
Thursday, August 27th, Russian middleweight prospect Anvarbek Daniyalbekov will be in action for BetCity Fight Nights, where he will be looking continue his winning ways against Sergei Martynov. He will be looking for another win, as Daniyalbekov looks to inch closer to a UFC. He represents Club Varian, an unknown camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Kickboxing: On the feet, Daniyalbekov is a very gifted kickboxer that mixes up his techniques well. He’s good in the pocket and is aggressive in coming forward, using speed and footwork to establish control. He has one-punch knockout power in his hands and very effective kicks, especially to the legs. He also can rip those kicks to the body, whether it’s his lead kick or a teep/front kick to the body. He has multiple finishes with his kicks, showing the diversity of his striking and finishing.
Ground-and-Pound: While Daniyalbekov is not a world-class wrestler, he can get the fight to the mat when he wants to. Most of the time, he can score ground-and-pound finishes after clipping his opponent on the feet and they go down. From there, he follows them and blasts them with a nasty mix of punches and elbows. He has immense power from that short distance and is relentless in causing damage that forces the ref to step in and stop the fight.
Needs Improvement
Unknown: To this point, I have not really seen a glaring weakness in Daniyalbekov’s game that can be pointed out. His wrestling is good, not great…but certainly no weakness. He doesn’t have any submission wins, but that’s because he’s able to finish fights on the mat with his ground strikes. We haven’t really had to see him fight off his back. He’s able to implement his game so well it’s hard to see where he struggles.
Outlook
UFC Top-25: Daniyalbekov is a very dangerous middleweight that has even succeeded up at light heavyweight, showing that he’s versatile. He has good speed on the feet and is vicious on the mat. He certainly has a style that would entertain Dana White and his kin, as he’s a knockout artist with a satisfying striking style. I think there are a number of fights in the UFC for him right now and he could certainly be successful. He already was linked to the Contender Series next year, so obviously the matchmakers are aware of him.
MMA Intel 