During this MMA hiatus, we’ve taken to scouting world and selecting five favorite prospects from each country for the most part. Sorry if we’ve missed any, but there’s still lots more to come. In this edition, we take a look at some of the top fighting prospects coming out of Peru.
Peru hasn’t yet had that one fighter that has been a truly stand-out fighter to put the nation on the mixed martial arts map. With that said they do have some talent with the likes of Claudio Puelles, Carlos Huachin, Luis Palomino, Sergio Giglio, and Enrique Barzola.
Bantamweight, Daniel Marcos (12-0)
Daniel Marcos may indeed be the very best prospect out of Peru among all weight classes. His record is impressive and it’s against decent competition in Peru, which is hard to find at times. In his most recent fight in December, he won the 300 Sparta Bantamweight Championship. Marcos is an aggressive fighter who will move forward and throw volume. While he doesn’t have power, he will let his hands go and throws a lot of heavy leg kicks. His wrestling is very good as well, and he has solid ground-and-pound.
Featherweight, Rudy Gavidia (13-2)
Rudy Gavidia is quite the showman and he has every right to be, after stringing together eleven wins in a row after losing his first two fights. Gavidia has a background in jiu-jitsu and was a boxing champion in China in 2008 and 2009. Rudy still has a lot to prove as his competition has been weak but he’s looked good despite that. Gavidia is well-rounded as he has a good jab with leg kicks on the feet. He moves well on top but is very heavy at the same time, and while he has good ground-and-pound, he does hold five submissions. Rudy has a fun fighting style and his personality alone should draw in a wide audience.
Bantamweight, Renzo Mendez (14-6)
Renzo Mende has had a lot of setbacks in his career already with six losses. However, he’s currently on the second six-fight win streak of his career. Mendez has made a lot of strides recently and his last three fights have been against fair competition. “El Nene” on the feet is a banger. He loves to let his hands go, going head-hunting with big looping punches and head kicks. He’s super aggressive the entire fight. His takedown defense does need work but off his back his jiu-jitsu is strong. On top or off his back he has shown good grappling.
Flyweight, Jose Alberto Ochoa Oblitas (4-0)
Jose Ochoa is a young kid as I believe he’s only 18-years-old, but he’s ultra-talented. Ochoa loves to throw a lot of different flashy attacks, like superman punches, flying knees, and switch kicks. Ochoa is a kickboxer at heart finishing fights with both a head kick and a liver kick. He’s really quick which compliments his hands and kicks. Ochoa is always throwing more than one shot, always throwing a lot of output. He has shown solid takedown defense thus far but competition on his side has been poor.
Featherweight, Alejandro Chávez (4-0)
Alejandro Chavez is untested and still very green. I’m not fully sold on him but his fights have been nothing but one-sided in his favor. On the feet, he strikes to close the distance where he utilizes takedowns along the cage. Of what has been seen from him so far, his grappling looks strong. Chavez is a strong submission threat as his awareness of his opponents’ neck is there. He’s really good at taking the back effortlessly and sinking in the RNC. He is someone that has talent but it’s hard to tell how high his ceiling is right now.
