Open Fighting Championship 11 | Russia | Friday

Heavyweight, Alexander Soldatkin (10-3)

Soldatkin is a big, muscular guy and someone you don’t expect to throw a lot of spinning attacks — but that’s exactly what he does. The big man doesn’t overuse the flashy attacks but uses them just to keep his opponent guessing. His movement can be a bit stationary and he will let guys come to him instead of going forward himself. At times that works out for him because he can lull opponents into his power. Soldatkin does a fine job throwing kicks and punches together flowing through. He fights Jackson Gonçalves (10-3).

Bantamweight, Artem Semyonov (8-3)

Semyonov has seven of his wins via submission but is very comfortable on the feet. He throws a lot of output just letting loose with his hands and mainly his kicks. On the mat is where he wants to be even if it’s off his back. His takedown defense does struggle but off his back, with his guard he’s dangerous. In fact, most of his submissions are off his back. Semyonov is talented but he needs a lot of work. He fights Mukambet Kadyrali Uulu (5-0).

 Armia Fight Night 11 | Poland | Friday

Featherweight, Mansur Azhiev (6-0)

6-0 as and pro and 5-0 as an amateur, this young man from Poland has a bright future. On the feet, Azhiev has a good jab, long punches, and solid kickboxing. Azhiev will kick the legs and go up top quite often. He excels more on the mat and his wrestling to get it there is pretty strong. Azhiev has glue-like grappling, controlling every movement. His ground and pound is his best weapon. He will unload with punches in any position and getting into the crucifix is something he’s liked to finish with in the past. He fights Amaury Junior (13-9).

ACA 131 | Russia | Friday

Featherweight, Mehdi Baidulaev (11-2)

Baidulaev is a volume striker on the feet but is a much better wrestler and grappler. His wrestling as really good. Being able to shoot in and cut the corner and get the body lock and throw guys around. Baidulaev has five submission wins – attacking the neck is what he does so well. If it’s in a guillotine, darce, and taking the back for the RNC he goes for the neck. He fights Caionã Batista (12-4).

Bellator 270 | Ireland | Friday

Bantamweight, James Gallagher (11-1)

Gallagher fights at a karate stance but is a solid kickboxer. Gallagher is very unpredictable with his kicks— he goes to the legs, body, and head and throws spinning kicks and throws with some heat. Even though he is so good on the feet, all of his best work is on the mat. James has very good wrestling and movement on the mat, he can get dominant positions, rain down ground and pound, and go for the chokes. He fights Patchy Mix (14-1).

Gallagher recently made the move to the U.S. to train under James Krause — you can read up on that here.

LFA 117 | US | Friday

Bantamweight, Ricardo Dias (10-4)

Since moving to Huntington Beach, California from Brazil, Kings MMA has turned Dias into a much better fighter. He’s looked good in his last two fights and especially his last one. You can’t teach killer instinct and that’s what Dias brings to the cage. Dias has four submissions and four KO/TKOs which proves how well-rounded and dangerous he is. Everything he throw on the feet is with ill intentions. His hands are heavy, he throws a lot of elbows, a variety of kicks, and knees. His ground game is even better attacking limbs in a blink of an eye. Not fully sold on him but it will be interesting to see how good Kings MMA is making him. He fights former UFC fighter Michinori Tanaka (13-3).

Flyweight, Mark Climaco (6-0)

Climaco is a scrapper 125er that is a treat to watch. On the feet, he’s like a firecracker that is firing on all cylinders. He throws a lot of output and from all angles. Climaco hits hard, he’s quick, and throws in volume very well. The young 22-year-old is already very well rounded so the wrestling and ground game are there. Climaco can wrestle all fight with a relentless style. For a young flyweight prospect, he’s oozing with potential. He fights Yuma Horiuchi (8-4).

LUX Fight League | Mexico | Friday

Flyweight, Alessandro Costa (9-2)

Costa, although more of a jiu-jitsu player, is a dangerous guy on the feet. Costa’s right hand is his money shot. He has a good lunging right hook and when pressed back has a sharp counter right hand. Costa throws with some big power but his hand speed really stands out. The Brazilian doesn’t shy away from throwing explosive shots such as flying knees, rolling thunder, cartwheel kicks. He’s good at using trips/throws in the clinch.

Costa has the ability to chain wrestle as if he doesn’t complete the first takedown, he can cut a corner and adjust to get it down. What’s even better than his wrestling is his grappling. On top or on bottom Costa is a big submission threat. He has fluid hips off his back, being able to quickly attack an armbar. Even on top the armbar is what he likes to attack with. He’ll take risk going for armbars, jumping to a triangle, and taking the back because he’s so good in any position. He fights Kike Gonzalez (10-2).

VTJ 2021 | Japan | Friday

Bantamweight, Tatsuro Taira (9-0)

Taira is one of the brightest young prospects out of Japan. He’s well-rounded: on the feet, he’s got an explosive barrage of strikes he closes the distance with well. He’s got some solid takedowns and on the mat is where he’s best. Taira has fight-ending ground and pound and is a submission threat. He fights Alfredo Muaiad (6-2).

Brave CF 55 | Russia | Friday

Welterweight, Kamal Magomedov (8-0)

Magomedov is a really good well-rounded fighter that has tons of potential. He has very clean boxing skills and will change levels and shoot for a takedown at any time. The Russian is a big threat when it comes to catching a neck and on the feet, he’s a threat finding that jaw. He needs to just be more active as this is his first fight in two years. He fights Vitaly Tverdokhlebov (11-6).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-f-FIGHTNIGHTSGLOBALTV

Cage Titans 50 | US | Friday

Featherweight, Connor Matthews (4-0)

Matthews trains out of Lauzon MMA with a ton of talented fighters. His first three pro fights he finished in under a minute. The longest he’s fought has been a little over two minutes. Matthews doesn’t waste time taking the fight to his opponent. Sometimes it’s even his foes coming forward and walking into a punch or knee from him. When Matthews gets it to the mat his ground and pound is really good and he has three submissions. Just still really green right now. He fights Kody Allen Murray (1-0).

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Featherweight, Lucas Brennan (5-0)

Brennan came into this fight as a known submission threat and an overall good jiu-jitsu fighter. That didn’t stop his opponent from shooting for a takedown on a level change early on. He did pay for it right away going right into a front choke. Brennan had a tight d’arce choke and although his opponent squirmed to get out of it he eventually tapped. 21-years-old and still an untouched record.
Grade: B

Featherweight, Aaron Pico (8-3)

This was a career performance from Aaron Pico, beating a tough guy in Aiden Lee. Pico put on a wrestling clinic between three rounds scoring nine takedowns. Pico was all over Lee and never let up with trying to finish him. Round one alone he had two d’arce chokes in and an armbar. He kept at it in round two and in round three he finally got the d’arce choke that tapped Lee. Pico looked outstanding.
Grade: A+

Lightweight, John Mitchell (3-0)

Mitchell dominated this fight from start to finish. Right away he took his opponent down. He took him down three times in round one and dominated with top control. Multiple times he worked his way into dominant positions. Mitchell didn’t land heavy ground and pound but kept active and landed slicing elbows creating a cut. The takedowns continued in round two and Mitchell fired constant punches while in mount and on the back. Thanks to all the damage, after the second round the doctor called a stop to the fight.
Grade: B

Welterweight, Daniel Skibiński (18-5)

At the beginning, I was impressed with Skibinski. Through the middle of the fight, I wasn’t. But at the end, he drew me back in with a spectacular finish. Skibiński fought a guy in Acoidan Duque who was 16-2 and hadn’t lost a fight in nine years. Skibinski in the first round dropped Duque with a beautiful uppercut. His opponent survived and Skibinski was just in cruise control throwing very little and riding out positions. At the start of round three, he landed a perfectly placed flying knee. While standing over Duque, Skibinski landed some nasty hammer fist as Duque just crumbled. The fight was stopped with Duque’s legs behind him.
Grade: C+

Bantamweight, Bakhtovar Yunusov (5-0)

Yunusov fought a game opponent in Artem Lukyanov and Yunusov put on a beatdown. Yunusov got the fight down early and while he almost finished with an arm triangle he didn’t complete it. He landed a barrage of ground and pound but Lukyanov escaped to round two. Yunusov got the takedown right away in round two. Lukyanov did get top position briefly but right away Yunuson used a triangle to get the top position back. Yunuson got into mount and continued raining down punches until the ref stepped in.
Grade: A

Light-heavyweight, Vadim Rolich (3-1)

I came in with little expectations of Rolich but came out impressed. Rolich fought a smart tactical fight on the outside showing his wushu sanda background. Rolich threw a lot of leg kicks and was landing combinations from the outside. He was drawling his opponent in and countering when he pressed forward. Rolich threw a spinning kick to the liver a few times and that’s what he finished within the second round. Off a missed spinning back fist Rolich followed up with that spinning kick to the body and it crumbled his opponent. Rolich was taken down quite easily twice and was slowing down so they’re concerns.
Grade: C+

Strawweight, Anastasia Feofanova (8-1)

Feofanova started the fight off marching across the canvas with straight punches to close the distance. She got the takedown early and beat her opponent up in the crucifix position. After some shots landed she threw up her leg and set up an inverted triangle. She rolled to her back and the crank had her opponent tap out.
Grade: C+

Bantamweight, Abdul Karim Badakhsh (5-0)

Badakhsh was an unknown fighter at the time and fought a highly touted prospect in Aydemir Kazbekov. Kazbekov took Badakhsh which was expected. Badakhsh was moving well off his back and as soon as he controlled a wrist he locked in a tight triangle so fast. Kazbekov tried to escape but it wasn’t long until he was put to sleep and was handed his first loss.
Grade: B

Welterweight, Denis Maher (8-0)

Maher fought another undefeated fighter in Rinat Sagyntay handing him his first loss. He fought real smart and was picking his shots. It was a tactical fight, as it was a chess match at the very beginning. Out of nowhere, Maher landed a beautiful uppercut that dropped and finished Sagyntay. Nicely set up and perfectly executed.
Grade: B-

Lightweight, Nic Ouellet (1-0)

Quellet is a jiu-jitsu ace so he wanted this fight down as soon as possible. From an attempted throw he ended up on his back. Quickly he used a heel hook to get top position. He went right after submissions. Quellet had a kimura locked in briefly and then later went to a guillotine. With the guillotine in Quellet locked in a tight triangle. While still having the triangle locked in he locked in a nasty kimura forcing his opponent to tap. Excellent chain-submissions.
Grade: B+

Bantamweight, Gerico Platon (2-0)

Platon put on a frantic pace from the start of the fight. He opened up with combinations coming from his hands and outside leg kicks. It was a left hook coming off a leg kick that dropped his opponent. His opponent got back to his feet and attempted to take down Platon. While defending against the cage Platon sunk in an RNC and then got the hooks and his opponent tapped.
Grade: C+

Welterweight, Preston Parsons (9-2)

Parsons is usually a wrestler/jiu-jitsu guy but his striking was on full display here. While it was competitive at first on the feet Parsons took over pretty quick. Parsons put on a striking clinic landing volume while using some good head movement. It was it the clinch where he shined,  landing excellent combinations to the body and head while landing damaging elbows as well. He did all that while mixing in a few takedowns. Parsons was taken down in the second round but locked in an armbar to get the win.
Grade: A

Bantamweight, Justin Wetzell (7-1)

This was a career performance taking out Askar Askar who was on UFC’s radar. Wetzell was aggressive right away and in every exchange on the feet, Wetzell was beating Askar to the punch. In every exchange, Wetzell was never getting fazed. Askar did get a takedown in round one but Wetzell set up a beautiful triangle and if there was more time in the round he would’ve finished. Wetzell got a single leg takedown in round two and Askar was spent. Wetzell landed a lot of unanswered punches and the ref stepped in.
Grade: B+

Featherweight, Edwin Cooper Jr (4-1)

Robson Junior had some hype coming into this fight. He was 3-0 with three first-round finishes. Cooper wasted no time showing the young man that he’s on a different level. Cooper got a single-leg takedown right away in the fight. Even though he had to fight through a few armbars Cooper was composed. Cooper dominated top position and landed active ground and pound. Junior opened up round two with a takedown and Cooper defended and got top position. Cooper continued to land punches until the ref stepped in. Such a dominant one-sided fight.
Grade: A+

Bantamweight, Steve Erceg (7-1)

This was an awesome scrap between Ecreg and another good prospect in Cody Haddon. It was also a very close fight where Ecreg won in just seconds of two rounds. Haddon was getting the best of Ecreg on the feet. Ecreg did land some good shots on the feet but his wrestling kept him in the fight. He was timing his shots and showing some excellent chain wrestling between three rounds. Round one Ecreg got the back and had an RNC in at the bell. Round three Ecreg closed out the fight with a takedown and got to mount and that won on the scorecards.
Grade: B+

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