Gonzalo Garcia is well-respected across our MMA space. He is a big MMA nerd that’s always providing us some brutal knockouts and submission clips on his Twitter profile. As well as bringing up a lot of up-and-coming prospects. His top ten submissions/knockouts he does on his profile are must-see every week. Every MMA fan should be following him and you can do that right here on his Twitter.
George Hardwick (12-1) is the current Cage Warriors lightweight champion and is one of the top prospects in the world today. He is carrying a streak of eight wins defeating some really good competition on the European circuit. His stand-up is undoubtedly where he shines. He is an in-your-face technical striker; George doesn’t waste his energy throwing meaningless punches. For him quality is better than quantity and damn, he does it right. Very good low kicks, he has destroyed some livers with his excellent bodywork as I said he knows exactly where and when to hit. Hardwick is not a one-trick pony, his wrestling and his BJJ are pretty good and he is not afraid to use it if necessary. He has three victories via guillotine and has dominated opponents on the ground. A very talented fighter and with the UFC going to the UK quite often I think is a no-brainer to sign this kid
Islam Omarov (13-0). If you read the words Dagestan, wrestling and undefeated I think you can already get an idea of how talented this kid is. Russia is a factory of excellent fighters, standing out there is not an easy thing and Omarov is undoubtedly one of the Russians with the best present and future. He has a 13-0 record with six of those wins coming in the always-tough ACA promotion. He has defeated many good fighters on the road such as Bibert Tumenov, Dzhikhad Yunusov, Abdul-Rakhman Temirov, and Luis Rafael Laurentino, among others. A very complete fighter with amazing wrestling, very strong, perfect cardio, always pressing, vicious submissions, and excellent level changes. Honestly, this guy is a machine. It’s hard to know what’s going to happen but at only 25 years old Islam Omarov seems to be a future champion for one of the big promotions.
Josefine Lindgren Knutsson (5-0) has a long career in kickboxing/muay thai and in 2021 she transitioned to MMA and so far she looked like a beast. Basically, her striking is excellent. Good combinations and always marching forward and pressing. She has beaten up all the girls she has faced in the striking. Josefine is very strong, her work in the clinch is beautiful, knees, elbows, punches, if you want to hug her, prepare to receive hits from all sides. She’s not just a stand-up game girl, her wrestling, and her groundwork has proven to be pretty good. As we would all expect her opponents have constantly tried to take her down and Josefine has been able to defend takedowns very well. She has even used her wrestling to take down and gain top positions. In her last fight undefeated Jacinta Austin tried to take her to the ground during the 15 minutes and Knutsson did a great job of grappling to win the fight by decision. I was really surprised that the UFC didn’t sign her after her fight on Road to UFC in Singapore. She is so good and would be an excellent acquisition for the 115lbs division.
Makoto Takahashi (16-1-1) at only 22 years old is the new great Japanese hope and one of the best prospects in Asia. A super talent grappler with great cardio who never stops transitioning and going for submissions. As if he were a magician he can spawn submissions from nowhere. His striking isn’t bad but he can certainly improve it, luckily for him his ability on the floor is so good that he can cover up any problem he has on the feet. He has defeated legend Hideo Tokoro, veteran Yusaku Nakamura, Daichi Kitakata with a arm triangle, Seiichiro Ito with a flying knee to the guillotine in Rizin, Yamato Fujita with a Ninja Choke to win the DEEP flyweight belt, and Demian Maia black belt Diego Paiva in USA with an excellent rolling Ninja Choke to win the CFFC flyweight belt. Takahashi is on a 10 win streak and at such a young age he’s only going to get better.
Jean Matsumoto (13-0) is one of the best Brazilian prospects at the moment and being Brazil is one of the top countries in MMA its saying a lot. The undefeated 23-year-old is a very complete fighter. Although he comes from muay thai he has proven to be very versatile in all areas, with three KO/TKO victories and five by submission he has won and dominated both on the ground and standing up. One of the things that stands out most about Jean is that despite being so young he has faced very good opposition on the local scene winning the SFT bantamweight and flyweight belts and the Fight Pro Championship bantamweight belt. Matsumoto fought for LFA in his last two fights defeating two tough opponents such in Inaildo Santos and Marlon Basílio. Summing up Jean Matsumoto is a well-rounded fighter who has been tested and being very young with everything to grow. I think it’s a matter of time before the UFC signs him up.
