Welterweight, Magomed Umalatov (11-0)
Umalatov went to the distance for the first time and it was against former UFC fighter Leandro Silva. I was impressed with the way Umalatov kept composed and picked his shots. Umalatov threw a lot of leg kicks, jabs, and hooks while using good side-to-side footwork. He even landed a few right hands that snapped back the head of Santos. Nothing flashy but still a good performance.
Grade: B-
Strawweight, Yasmine Jauregui (6-0)
Combate Global held an eight-women one-night tournament to crown a strawweight champion. Yazmin Jauregui won three times in one night to claim the title. In her first fight she went the distance and beat a vet in Stephanie Frausto. In her second fight she finished another good prospect in Criszaida Adames with a barrage of strikes. In the final, she took out her opponent with a nasty flurry against the fence. When it comes to being a top prospect in MMA it’s hard to argue with three wins in a night.
Grade: A+
Lightweight, Bekzat Isakov (5-1)
Isakov looked good here. On the feet, he was landing well on the outside moving in and out. Isakov landed a takedown and shortly after finished the fight. As soon as he got into mount he jumped into a triangle, rolled to his back, and forced his opponent to tap. A very clean performance and a beautiful submission.
Grade: B+
Lightweight, Milson Castro (14-3)
Castro dictated the entire fight and against a well-equipped veteran in Timur Nagibin. Castro just kept Nagibin on the outside for three dominant rounds. The Brazilian landed straight punches and the jab at will. Every time Nagibin came forward Castro would stick him with a combination. Castro found home many times going to the body and landing a step-in knee. He threw a lot of kicks and went to the legs, body, and head. Hardly any power was shown but you can’t ask more for mixing it up.
Grade: A+
Middleweight, Lydell Poag (1-0)
Jackson-Wink’s Lydell Poag made light work in his pro debut after a 2-0 run as an amateur. His opponent tried to take him down right away but Poag defended and landed right on top. Right away Poag landed two massive elbows. The first one put the guy out and the second one was for good measures. Vicious finish in only under thirty seconds. Watch out for Lydell Poag.
Grade: B+
Featherweight, Timothy Cuamba (3-0)
James Lyons was a guy that was on my prospect list but with this performance, Cuamba took that spot right from him. Lyons is a jiu-jitsu guy and Cuamba kept the fight standing and pieced him up for three rounds. Cuamba especially in round one put on a clinic with his hands. He threw rapid combinations to the body and head. He had Lyons in some danger in round one but didn’t finish. Even though he slowed in rounds two and three, Cuamba fought very technical still staying in control. He threw with volume always throwing combinations mixing it up. Just a striking clinic from the young man.
Grade: A-
Featherweight, Deandre Anderson (5-0)
In the main event of CFFC 99, it only took Anderson eleven seconds to knock out Jose Perez who was 4-0. Anderson opened with a left hand and two outside leg kicks. It took one more left-hand right on the button for the one-punch knockout.
Grade: A
Heavyweight, Bruno Henrique Cappelozza (13-5)
Mr. violence himself Cappelozza did it again with another finish. This time it was over Jamelle Jones to advance him to the PFL finals. Jones was stuck on the outside while Cappelozza was landing heavy kicks and picking him apart. Jones tried to explode in and get takedowns but Cappelozza defended perfectly. In round two Cappelozza landed a jab that froze Jones and a follow-up shot sat Jones down. After a barrage of ground and pound the ref stepped in. Cappelozza has looked unstoppable this year.
Grade: A
Lightweight, Kayla Harrison (11-0)
It took Harrison longer to get the takedown than usual but it was still another dominant performance. She pressed her opponent against the cage and took her opponent down into side control. Harrison transitioned into mount and unloaded with ground and pound until the ref stepped in. Harrison probably won’t ever lose a fight in the PFL.
Grade: A
Heavyweight, Renan Ferreira (8-2)
Ferreira smoked Stuart Austin in under a minute. He opened up with a few kicks and bam! He landed a one-two with the straight right landing. It put Austin out cold and Keith Peterson stopped Ferreira before Austin took any unnecessary damage. Some really freakish power from Ferreira.
Grade: A
Heavyweight, Bailey Schoenfelder (2-0)
Schoenfelder made his Bellator debut and made an impression. His striking was pretty sloppy with the punches he was throwing. He still landed a right hand that hurt his opponent and he got the fight to the mat. From there Schoenfelder was all over the guy landing active ground and pound. As soon as he got it the mount he picked up the pace. When the elbows started raining in the ref stepped in.
Grade: C+
Welterweight, Archie Colgan (3-0)
What a finish from Colorado’s Archie Colgan. In under a minute Colgan got the takedown off a nice double leg. He had trouble passing the guard but kept in full control. When his opponent tried to get up Colgan got onto the back and into side control. His opponent locked in a buggy choke. Colgan stood up and slammed him back down emphatically. The impact broke the hold and Colgan started dropping down nasty elbows and punches. It cut his opponent open and the ref stepped in.
Grade: A
