During this MMA hiatus, we’ve taken to scouting the globe and selecting five favorite prospects from each country, for the most part. In this edition, we take a look at some of the top fighting prospects coming out of Ukraine. Some notable fighters from the country include Aleksander Doskalchuk, Lena Ovchynnikova, Dmitriy Sosnovskiy, and Yaroslav Amosov.
Strawweight, Svetlana Gotsyk (13-4)
Svetlana Gotsyk is a two-time (and current) WWFC champion, a promotion out of Ukraine. Gotsyk is mainly a wrestler with ferocious ground and pound until she sees an opening for an armbar. On the feet, she stands at 5″2′ making it hard for her to get inside and strike but that doesn’t affect her being able to stand and brawl, which is where she thrives. She is still really green but is young and getting better with each fight.
Lightweight, Kiril Gorobets (9-1)
Kiril Gorobets is one of the most electrifying prospects out there today. He’s a human highlight reel with finishes from a head kick, spinning back kick, peruvian necktie, and a banana split. Gorobets is a legit all-around finisher and gets to work quite quickly with six first-round finishes. He’s dynamic on the feet throwing a bunch of different attacks from different angles. As he is a dangerous dude on the feet all around he’s an even better wrestler. Gotobets is a submission ace with three submissions all from different kinds of submissions.
Middleweight, Robert Vorobyov (11-2)
Robert Vorobyov suffered two defeats early in his career, but right now is on a tear consecutively winning seven fights in a row. Vorobyov is a good wrestler executing single legs and double legs while chaining together takedowns as well. On top he is always active wanting to move into better positions. Vorobyov has active ground and pound to open up his opponent’s hands to sink in a choke. That is a big reason Vorobyov has six submission wins. On the feet, Vorobyov will leave his chin out there a little bit too much but has avoided getting hit overly frequently thus far. He’s a technical fighter throwing the jab, low leg kicks, and has some sharp boxing.
Welterweight, Maxim Shvets (18-3)
Maxim Shvets is a former kickboxing world cup winner, a two-time world combat sambo champion, and a ProFC welterweight champion. He’s on a seven-fight win streak with wins over good fighters including most notably former UFC fighter Leandro Silva. The first thing to note is Shvets has solid cardio going the distance eleven times. That doesn’t mean he’s not a dangerous fighter, because he actually is everywhere. Shvets on the feet will burst forward with combinations of kicks and punches. Not exactly having a lot of power he does mix it up rather nicely. Although he’s more of a striker he’s easily capable of getting takedowns and does have two submission wins.
Bantamweight, Liudvik Sholinian (9-1-1)
Liudvik Sholinian has already fought for big promotions such as Bellator, LFA, and M-1 Challenge. From Ukraine, Sholinian now lives in the US residing in California and training out of Kings MMA. He’s had his fair share of lower-tier opponents but at the same time has beat records like 4-0, 6-1, and 7-1. Sholinian is a Ukrainian Wrestling Cup winner so his wrestling is his bread and butter. On the feet, though, he is aggressive and throws good long punches coming forward. He’s just better on the mat holding two submission wins. All in all, he thrives in scrambles and can easily grind out his foes all fight.
