As first noted by UFC Roster Tracker, an automated service monitoring the UFC athlete database, Mark O. Madsen, Tyson Pedro, and Jamie Pickett have all been removed from the active roster. All three had previously announced their retirement, with Pedro and Pickett walking away from MMA on the same night, at UFC Vegas 87 on March 2.

Both fighters suffered defeat that night, with both citing time with family among their reasons for walking away. Pedro also renewed the fighter pay debate by suggesting a financial aspect to his decision as well.

Madsen competed for the final time last November at UFC 295, and announced his retirement in January.

Other fighters, however, appear to have been let go by the company. Those are:

• Matheus Mendonca
• Daniel Lacerda
• Denys Bondar
• Luis Saldana
• Fernie Garcia
• Mike Breeden

Many of the fighters exiting the promotion come as no surprise. Lacerda, who had some entertaining bouts, was 0-5 with the company plus a no contest. Bondar went 0-3 in his own UFC run for his part, while Breeden was 1-3, though coming off a win over Anshul Jubli.

In some cases, the UFC may have opted not to re-sign the athletes in question.

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For this instalment, we head to South America. Brazil has seen an obscene number MMA champions year after year, and there’s no surprise: after all, Royce Gracie is where it all began, at least where the UFC is concerned. From there, Vitor Belfort, Shogun Rua, Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, Amanda Nunes, Deiveson Figueiredo, Jessica Andrade, Charles Oliveira — that’s in the UFC alone, and it’s not even a complete list!

Our original Scouting the Globe series singled out the following five Brazilian talents:

• Hugo Cunha who is signed with ONE Championship and is 0-1 for the promotion.
• Leonardo Limberger who is signed with ACA and has lost his last three fights.
• Joanderson Brito who is signed with the UFC and is 1-1 inside the cage.
• Herbeth Souza who recently lost after coming back from a long layoff.
• Luana Pinheiro is signed to the UFC and is 2-0 since making her debut.

Now let’s take a look at this year’s candidates.

Bonfim Brothers

The Bondim brothers actually take two spots on this year’s list, and for good reason.

Both Gabriel (12-0) and Ismael (17-3) are two of the best prospects out in Brazil, if not the best two. Lightweight Ismael is on an eleven-fight win streak. Along with a good amount of MMA experience, he has competed in boxing as well. As an amateur boxer, his record was 24-3 and as a pro, it’s 4-1.

His younger brother Gabriel is a weight class higher fighting at welterweight. He’s undefeated and is LFA’s current welterweight champion.

Both Gabriel and Ismael Bonfim are UFC-level now and are set to prove that soon, as both are going be on Dana White’s Contender Series this season.

The post Scouting the Globe 2022: The Five Best Prospects From Brazil appeared first on Cageside Press.

The heated rivalry between the two, which began with Sterling’s DQ win in a title fight last March, has had the lion’s share of the spotlight ever since. But there are an awful lot of talents still looking for their shot, from legends like Jose Aldo to up-and-comers like Sean O’Malley.

Need more? We’ve got ten names the UFC could add on to the bantamweight division. But first, here’s a look at last year’s list, where nobody was signed to the UFC. Instead, Danny Sabatello signed with Bellator. Mo Miller got a win on Dana White’s Contender Series, but didn’t get a contract.

Ary Farias
Danny Sabatello
Denis Lavrentyev
Herbeth Sousa
Jack Cartwright
Jonas Magard
Khusein Askhabov
Levi Mowles
Mo Miller
Rustam Kerimov

Before we proceed, here are the other instalments from this year’s 10 Prospects series.

10 Heavyweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2022
10 Light Heavyweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2022
10 Middleweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2022
10 Welterweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2022
10 Lightweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2022
10 Featherweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2022

The post 10 Bantamweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2022 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Tale of the Tape

Fighting out of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Age: 22
Weight class: Bantamweight
Height: 5’6”
Training out of Chute Boxe Diego Lima
Record: 6-0
1 KO/TKO, 2 Submissions

Striking/Kickboxing: B+

Mendonca has that Chute Boxe style, full of forward motion throwing punch and kick combinations. He’s a tight-knit striker throwing his hands mainly while in the pocket, slipping and returning. He likes to throw a lot of explosive stuff like spinning back fists, spinning kicks, spinning elbows and he loves to throw flying knees. Mendonca throws a lot of head kicks as well. He could put it together better besides just throwing without any setups.

Movement: C

Mendonca is a quick explosive fighter but is a bit plodding in his footwork. He’s not stationary all the time as he’s always moving, but he just has a problem planting his feet too frequently.

Clinch: B

The clinch is where Mendonca finds ways to get takedowns. He’s not the strongest guy but knowing his positioning has helped him get takedowns and on the other side defend takedowns as well. He’s good at breaking away and landing short shots as well.

Wrestling: A-

Being a better grappler it’s important to have good wrestling and Mendonca has developed exactly that. He’s not the most proficient takedown artist at a distance as he mainly makes it dirty. He will explode from the outside and while he doesn’t usually complete the takedown on the first attempt his chain wrestling comes into play and works his opponents to the mat. Being able to chain-wrestler is a fantastic quality to have especially for a young fighter. Mendonca is excellent at pushing guys against the fence to use the body lock, trips, and drop levels on the leg(s).

Grappling: A

Mendonca has excellent jiu-jitsu which is by far his greatest asset in my opinion. His record only featuring two subs doesn’t do justice to the submission threat that he truly is. There have been many submissions attempted but not finished but to instead used to get into better positions and even create sweeps/scrambles. Although he can be over-aggressive he’s all over the place on the mat while landing good ground and pound. Mendonca floats on top while being insanely quick as he stands out in scrambles. He fits the bill as an all-around excellent grappler.

Cardio: B+

Mendonca has gone the distance three times and out of five fights, that’s a good look for his gas tank. He does slow a bit as the fight goes on but with the pace he fights at his cardio is darn good. Especially while on the mat his cardio looks the same from start to finish.

Defense: C+

Mendonca has solid takedown defense but the few times he’s found himself on his back it’s when he pulled guard for a guillotine. Although he’s never been in trouble on the mat he has been wobbled and stunned on the feet before. Mendonca can be flat-footed and his head will become stationary so he’s not too hard to hit and sitting in the pocket too long doesn’t help. So far his chin has held up and that’s taking a few good ones right on the chin.

Overall: A-

Brazil’s Mendonca is an outstanding prospect. He may just be only 6-0 but with good wins especially against a veteran like Pedro Nobre in his last fight, he has proved he is a top 135er out of Brazil. Billed more of a striker it’s the grappling/jiu-jitsu that makes his the special prospect he is. Mendonca trains out of an excellent team in Chute Boxe Diego Lima. He’s a training partner of UFC lightweight contender Charles Oliviera. Mendonca also trains with Brendo Bispo who I wrote about in my last Brazilian prospect watch.

This young man is only 22-years-old so there is nothing but time on his side. On the feet, he just needs to work on his defense and put together combinations better. On the mat, he can be more calmer so he won’t lose position as much. His strengths heavily outweigh his flaws. He’s an explosive, hard-hitting, athletic striker with a high-level ground game.

The post Prospect Watch: Brazil’s Matheus Mendonca appeared first on Cageside Press.

Lightweight, Maciej Kazieczko (6-1)

Maciej Kazieczko fought a veteran of seventeen fights in Michael Dubois. The technical kickboxer in Kazieczko got it done quickly with his hands in under a minute. He landed a counter overhand right knocking Dubois out cold. Kazieczko moves to 5-1 in the KSW cage and is now on a three-fight win streak.
Grade: C+

Bantamweight, Bartosz Wojcikiewicz (6-0)

Bartosz Wojcikiewicz looked good here, with this being the first time I’ve sat down and watched him fight. Wojcikiewicz was a bit dynamic on the feet but it was the takedowns he was precise on. On the mat is where he did all the damage, eventually getting the stoppage. Wojcikiewicz was really dominant on top and landed some big cutting elbows. The elbows caused a cut in round two and at the end, in between rounds the doctor called the fight off.
Grade: B-

Lightweight, Shamil Musaev (14-0)

Russian Shamil Musaev took out a tough opponent in Grzegorz Szulakowski, a former KSW title challenger, and made it look easy. Musaev started off early with his kicks taking out the legs and going to the body. Later, it looked like Musaev was throwing a spinning kick but came with a back fist instead, and it landed flush. That stunned Szulakowski and the extra punches sent the ref in. Flawless performance and now 2-0 for KSW.
Grade: A

Featherweight, Salahdine Parnasse (14-0-1)

Salahdine Parnasse took on his biggest challenge in the well-known veteran Ivan Buchinger. Parnasse passed the test with flying colors and kept the interim KSW title. For five rounds he battered Buchinger putting him in danger many times, having him on skates for a majority of this fight. Parnasse showed excellent defense stuffing all takedown attempts. His head movement was slick slipping punches and finding home with his left hand many times. His speed was just too much of a difference and he used his speed to pick Ivan apart.
Grade: A+

Lightweight, Blake Donnelly (4-0)

Fundamentals are important in a fighter and Blake Donnelly displayed nothing but that in this fight. His jab was crisp and on point landing countless times. Donnelly doubled up on the jab and really made a mess of his opponent’s face swelling up his eye. Donnelly used plenty of feints and landed a lot of lead leg kicks. As the fight went on he got better and better and always had control with his striking. In round three the doctor called a stop to the fight. This is also his first title win beating a tough guy in David Martinez winning the Australian FC title.
Grade: B-

Bantamweight, Daniel Marcos (12-0)

Arguably the best prospect out of Peru, Daniel Marcos continued his undefeated run in December. He did a fine job cutting off the cage and landing significant shots against Gaston Gomez Manzur. Marcos put together leg kicks and strikes up until the finish. While mixing it up he landed a big knee in the clinch stunning his opponent. Off the clinch, Marcos landed a textbook uppercut scoring the knockdown. The extra strikes being hammer fists put the man out cold. It would be nice to see him be a bit more technical as he gets a bit wild at times.
Grade: C

Strawweight, Denice Zamboanga (6-0)

This was a very good fight between Denice Zamboanga and Jihin Radzuan. This was also the first time Zamboanga fought someone with a win, and she looked just as good. The fight spent a large amount of time on the mat. With some brief exchanges on the feet, Zamboanga was really getting the best of Jihin busting her nose up. She probably could have found the finish if it stayed standing as she was landing her left hand with ease. It was Jihin getting the takedowns but Zamboanga quickly hitting nice sweeps. Lots of back and forth on the mat with position and submissions but Zamboanga had more control. Very good fight and two good prospects.
Grade: B-

Lightweight, Chang Min Yoon (4-0)

At the begging of the fight, it was back and forth with some leg kicks. While his opponent landed more, Chang Min Yoon was landing heavier kicks. The second half of the first round, Yoon got the fight down and controlled with position and ground and pound.  Second round Yoon was very much in his groove landing heavy leg kicks. He landed a jumping knee into a tight ninja choke for the submission win.
Grade: B-

Bantamweight, Matheus Mendonça (5-0)

This was a scrap all the way up until the finish. Matheus Mendonca fought through some adversity getting tagged on the feet. He recovered very quickly and took the fight right back to the mat. Mendonca secured three solid takedowns and displayed some good BJJ. In the brief exchanges on the feet he was a bit behind but very much held his own. On the mat, he looked good in scrambles and mainly dominated there. Mendonca finished the fight getting into the mount and transitioning into an armbar. He switched to a triangle and finished with the straight armbar.
Grade: B+

Featherweight, TJ Laramie (11-3)

Going the full five rounds TJ Laramie dominated his entire fight against Andrew Cruz winning the vacant PFC Featherweight Championship. This time Laramie only used his wrestling lightly and instead got some work on the feet. He fought behind his left jab which was his most active and proficient weapon. Laramie coming off the jab found a home with his right-cross multiple times. He also chewed up the body with the lead left leg to the liver and digging the left hook in there as well. He looked good the entire fight always throwing while showing solid takedown defense. Laramie went for the guillotine many times which allowed him to win every scramble.
Grade: A-

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