mmawizzard

The Next Generation - Vol 6

In this piece, I highlight three promising fighters on their journey to potential UFC stardom, giving them well-deserved recognition before they reach the big stage. Each fighter is introduced with a brief background, followed by their responses to three key questions—offering insight into their mindset, expectations, and what fans can look forward to in their careers.

Radley Da Silva (Featherweight, Canada)

Da Silva is arguably Canada’s top MMA prospect—a notable distinct...

Road to UFC 4 Fight Breakdowns (Updated frequently)

Flyweight, Wataru Yamauchi (7-1) Vs. Namsrai Batbayar (7-1)

Wataru Yamauchi

Pros:
-Combination striker
-Strong kickboxing combinations
-Goes to the body well
-Accurate
-Good jab
-Excellent teeps

Cons:
-Sits in the pocket too long
-Poor head movement
-Questionable cardio
-Will get drawn into brawls

I see Yamauchi as a strong prospect, but his lone loss to Jo Arai raises some concerns. In ...

Prospect Exclusive: Juan Pablo Vieira

Pros

-Manages distance well
-Submission threat
-Uses length well
-Dangerous off his back
-Times takedown entries well
-Good head movement
-Good counter striker
-Athletic
-Combination striker
-Good use of kicks

Cons

-Pulls guard
-Can get overzealous with his hands

Vieira comes from the lesser-known Centro de Lutas Dyogo Teles, a small gym in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil. That hasn’t held hi...

The Next Generation - Vol 5

In this piece, I highlight three promising fighters on their journey to potential UFC stardom, giving them well-deserved recognition before they reach the big stage. Each fighter is introduced with a brief background, followed by their responses to three key questions—offering insight into their mindset, expectations, and what fans can look forward to in their careers.

Luke Fernandes (Light-heavyweight, USA)

Fernandez turned pro in 2023 and has been tearing it up, racking up t...

The Next Generation - Vol 4

In this piece, I highlight three promising fighters on their journey to potential UFC stardom, giving them well-deserved recognition before they reach the big stage. Each fighter is introduced with a brief background, followed by their responses to three key questions—offering insight into their mindset, expectations, and what fans can look forward to in their careers.

Brayan Aspegren (Middleweight, Finland)

Aspegren by default is a middleweight to watch for due to his undefea...

Career Forecasting: AJ Hotchkins

In this piece, I will take a young/raw/inexperienced prospect. I'll break down the said fighter and give my prediction on the career trajectory of the highlighted fighter, AJ Hotchkins.

Hotchkins has an athletic background as a former D1 college linebacker, playing for both Oregon and UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso). He was known as a hard-hitting and versatile defensive player, traits that have carried over into his MMA career. After college, he pursued professional football, pl...

The Next Generation - Vol 3

In this piece, I highlight three promising fighters on their journey to potential UFC stardom, giving them well-deserved recognition before they reach the big stage. Each fighter is introduced with a brief background, followed by their responses to three key questions—offering insight into their mindset, expectations, and what fans can look forward to in their careers.

Rafael Tobias (Light-heavyweight, Brazil)

Tobias has been fighting since 2022 and has been very active as he'...

The Next Generation - Vol 2

In this piece, I highlight three promising fighters on their journey to potential UFC stardom, giving them well-deserved recognition before they reach the big stage. Each fighter is introduced with a brief background, followed by their responses to three key questions—offering insight into their mindset, expectations, and what fans can look forward to in their careers.

Martin Kozak (Middleweight, Slovakia)

At just 22 years old, Martin Kozak remains undefeated,...

The Next Generation - Vol 1

In this piece, I spotlight three rising prospects on their journey to potential UFC stardom. My goal is to give these fighters well-deserved recognition before they reach the big stage. Along with a brief introduction to each fighter, I asked them all the same three questions—offering insight into their mindset, expectations, and what fans can anticipate from their careers.

Dominykas Norkus is an under-the-radar prospect with a quietly impressive resume. As an am...

Prospect Exclusive: Michael Aljarouj

Pros

-Power jab
-Good knees
-Quick release
-Scrambles well
-Good ground and pound
-Quick twitches/Subtle feints
-Explosive
-Heavy right hand
-Credible TDD
-Blistering one-two

Cons

-Rushes in recklessly/Over committing
-Can be too willing to exchange
-Oftenly gets out-timed

Aljarouj, originally from Syria, has spent most of his life living and training in France. He began his MMA journey in 2017, but it wasn’t until 2023 that ...

Welcome to the UFC: Alice Pereira

t’s rare to see prospects signed straight into the UFC, but Pereira is an exception—largely because she’s a young female fighter in the bantamweight division. Women’s bantamweight is notoriously shallow, so when a promising fighter emerges, the UFC tends to snatch them up quickly.

I understand why they signed Pereira. She’s just 19, competes at bantamweight, has a high finish rate, and possesses a solid frame for the division. She started as a raw athlete and is entering the U...

Amateur Watch: Three Prospects To Watch For

Jake Ferri
Flyweight
4-0
USA
25-years-old

Like many MMA fighters, Ferri comes from a strong wrestling background. A Division I wrestler, he was a four-time league all-star in high school, a two-time Division I state champion, and a two-time New England champion. His high school record—203 wins and 24 losses—is impressive. He continued his wrestling career at Kent State University, where he was a four-year starter, winning the 125-pound title at the Cleve...

Prospect Exclusive: Muhidin Abubakar

Flyweight, Muhidin Abubakar (9-1)

Pros

-Submission threat
-High work rate/Always working
-Scrambles effortlessly
-Strong kickboxing base
-Good cage wrestling
-Fluid hips
-Dynamic
-Excelling jiu-jitsu
-Explosive takedown entries
-Intelligent ground and pound
-Solid positional grappling

Cons

-Can be flat-footed at times
-Can lack useful feints

A lot of times you don't really know...

My Top 25 Prospects Worldwide

-My personal top 25 fighters
-Nobody signed to the UFC, PFL, KSW, and ONE.
-Nobody 32-years-old and over
-Updated regularly

• Amru Magomedov

• Rasul Magomedov

• 2025-02-21 00:22:39 +0000 UTC View Post

TUF 33 Cast Breakdown: Welterweight

Jeff Creighton
USA
29-years-old
11-2-1
54% finish rate (1 KO/TKO, 5 Submissions)
A1 Combat welterweight champion
Combined opponents' record: 68-50

Pros

-Good use of elbows
-Good knees
-Gets better as the fight goes
-Tough as nails/durable

Cons 

-Low volume
-Advances in straight lines
-Slow
-Reaches on his punches
-Terrible TDD
-Struggles against the cage<...

TUF 33 Cast Breakdown: Flyweight

Alibi Idiris
Kazakhstan
30-years-old
10-0
55% finish rate (4 KO/TKOs, 1 Submission)
Naiza flyweight champion (two title defenses)
Combined opponents' record: 66-21-2

Pros

-Good vision
-Scrambles really well
-Useful teep
-Good bodywork
-Diverse
-Good shot selection (never throws repetitive strikes)
-Excellent timing on takedown entries
-Good knees
-Durable/Tough
-Good cardio

Co...