Bantamweight, Firuza Sharipova (3-0):
Sharipova is a well-known boxer who was the WIBA lightweight champion. She’s looked good in MMA even in the grappling. The only issue is boxing still may be her main focus. Her last fight was an MMA fight so if she’s serious about it she could be a real threat. Her striking is already at a high level, especially at women’s bantamweight.
Bantamweight, Gamlet Aslanov (5-0):
Aslanov hasn’t shown too much of his striking but I’ve liked what I saw. He uses feints well, and sticks on the outside well with his jab and kicks. He’ll use a lot of feints to create openings for takedowns or set up a big shot. He does hold a knockout from a flying knee. Aslanov does such a good job of setting up his takedowns. He’ll blend his shots off feints. He will strike his way into a takedown. He will also time takedowns perfectly when guys are coming forward on him. Aslanov can chain wrestle when needed. An accent to his wrestling is his ground game. Aslanov is a strong grappler once he gets the fight grounded. He’s actively landing fight-ending ground and pound softening up his opponents. His positional grappling is good and he controls every scramble.
Lightweight, Karshyga Dautbek (13-3):
Dautbek lost two fights to start 2019 and since then he’s won five in a row. Dautbek is coming off a key win over former UFC fighter Diego Brandao. He’s primarily a striker who has finished eleven times by KO/TKO and a few of those by a single strike. Dautbek does a great job of using feints and setting traps while using slip counters effectively. His left hand is a missile going to the body and the head. I’m not sold on the fact that he’s UFC level but he can be. He just needs another significant win to be sure.
