The holiday season is in full swing, but there are still a few MMA prospects to check out between digesting Christmas dinner and ringing in the New Year!
Brave CF 33 | Friday | Saudia Arabia
Welterweight: Rami Hamed (8-2)
The Russian-born American Top Team-product Rami Hamed is a nice MMA prospect but still needs some work. Hamed has grown through his career with good footwork, kickboxing, and boxing fundamentals. The flaws shown early in his career included takedown defense along with his ground game as a whole are a work in progress. He can be sloppy at times, especially in scrambles but has seemed to improve in his defense all around. Hamed is a feared striker with excellent body work and power in his hands. He fights Issa Isakov (6-1) who doesn’t have a whole lot of footage available.
Featherweight: Shoaib Yousaf (6-1)
Only 6-1 as a pro, Shoaib Yousaf went 10-0 as an amateur and was the 2016 IMMAF Featherweight World Champion. Yousaf is dynamic on the feet with both his kickboxing and his counter-striking along with the great timing he has. His ground game is arguably his best aspect. His jiu-jitsu is also fantastic, as he has a very active guard as well. He fights Hassan Talal (3-0).
Bellator 237 | Saturday | Japan
Lightweight: Sidney Outlaw (14-3)
Sidney Outlaw is always pressing forward and once he gets his hands together, he is most likely getting the fight down. He is a powerful athlete and he also has very high grappling IQ, as he knows when to level-change to complete the takedown. Once on the mat, he excels as he is a veteran of regional jiu-jitsu contests. Outlaw is the former Ring of Combat and Titan FC champion and has fought stiff competition. He fights former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler (19-5) who is a big step up in competition.
Lightweight: Goiti Yamauchi (24-4)
A Bellator veteran with a total of 28 fights, shockingly enough Goiti is still only 26-years-old and has already fought solid competition. Goiti is predominantly a grappler. He’s a black belt in BJJ and he is very dangerous on the mat. When Goiti first takes the fight to the mat it’s always on his back, he loves to pull guard which is a bad move most of the time, but it works so well for him. He’s very dangerous off of his back, attacking every limb possible, while using submission attempts to wind up on top where he can take the back and lock up the RNC, which he does perfectly. Goiti has 19 submission wins. He fights the well-known Daron Cruickshank (22-12) who represents RIZIN in this clash of promotions.
