- Hellowhosthat
- Black Belt
- Member Since 2020.06.27
My MMA Rankings
Hellowhosthat Light Heavyweight rankings
Have to have fought in last 2 years to be ranked. Fighters still active who haven't fought are in kind of a mini-ranking at the bottom (Corey)
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1
- Alex Pereira
- "Poatan"
- 10-2-0
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1987 - Brazil - UFC Champion
Just has concussive power and doesn't even need to land fully clean to KO people. For some reason dudes seem to think they can stand with him but only really Izzy has ever shown that he can. TDD seems pretty solid, but it would be interesting to see it tested against someone like an Ankalaev.
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2
- Magomed Ankalaev
- 19-1-1, 1 NC
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1992 - Russia - UFC
Has been seen as the uncrowned champion for years at this point, but kind of blew chance against Jan by deciding to strike too long with him and get his leg too damaged before he decided to wrestle. Still probably won the fight in my eyes. Threatening to stand with Pereira when he gets his shot at him but you'd hope he won't make the same mistake twice.
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3
- Jiří Procházka
- "BJP"
- 30-4-1
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1992 - Czechia - UFC
Seems to be doing everything wrong, but it just seems to work out for the guy. Style puts him heavy on the front foot which makes him extremely susceptible to calf kicks but he seems to just be prepared to fight through it rather than adapt his style at all to avoid them. Super tough mentally and is going to be trying to win in every second of the fight until you put him out of there. Ability to overwhelm people with offence and an absolute nightmare if he gets you hurt.
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4
- Jamahal Hill
- "Sweet Dreams"
- 12-2-0, 1 NC
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1991 - USA - UFC
Completely wrong game plan against Alex, trusted his striking too much against a higher level guy there, ****** around and found out. Does have very sharp, fast and accurate boxing with good power so I guess I can see why he had a false sense of security but you'd think having shown an ability to grapple on top of decent people he'd have gone that route. Still a dangerous opponent but hard to think he didn't get a slightly fortuitous run to the title.
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5
- Jan Błachowicz
- 29-10-1
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1983 - Poland - UFC
Now firmly in his 40's but former UFC champ is still dangerous having proved he can still be competitive with the likes of Poatan and Ankalaev. Could drop off at any time, especially competing at such a high level.
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6
- Aleksandar Rakić
- "Rocket"
- 14-4-0
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1992 - Serbia - UFC
Looked pretty good to me in return from long layoff against Jiri, just got out wilded. Striking looked good, landing hard, kicks still there, can mix wrestling in if he wants. Got lured into a bit of a wild brawl against a guy who excels at that, but probably could have won if he'd stuck to task and been more disciplined.
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7
- Corey Anderson
- "Overtime"
- 18-6-0, 1 NC
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1989 - USA - Bellator Champion
Finally got himself a title in a major promotion once Nemkov vacated the division. Feel good for the guy because he does deserve one. Reverted back to being wrestler Corey rather than trying to be exciting with the hands although he does have better striking in his locker than he used to.
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8
- Nikita Krylov
- "The Miner"
- 30-9-0
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1992 - Ukraine - UFC
Balls to the wall and can get caught doing it sometimes. Hits hard and aggressive. Can wrestle if he wants to and has solid ground and pound on top.
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9
- Muslim Magomedov
- 13-0-0
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1995 - Russia - ACA
I maintain that he's probably a bit of a fat Middleweight, but then he goes and gets himself stripped of the ACA title for not making 205. Anyway he's still an excellent LHW. Tends to start a bit slow, then realise he's allowed to grapple then absolutely mauls the **** out of the other dude.
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10
- Johnny Walker
- 21-8-0, 1 NC
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1992 - Brazil - UFC
Forever trying to find a mix between wild Walker and econo-Walker. Ridiculously explosive and loads of power, also good grappling and back takes from top. TDD not great against good wrestlers but I think he is improving his cage get ups. Weird chin where he seems to get wobbled very easily but not actually go all the way out.
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11
- Khalil Rountree Jr.
- "The War Horse" | 13-5-0, 1 NC
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1990 - USA - UFC
Breaking out into the top of the division. On a good win streak but probably didn't actually win the Jacoby fight. Always been a hard hitter but now getting better at staying on his feet and timing his punches well. Very good killer instinct and guys can't really afford to get in any kind of trouble against him. Impressively violent in his approach too. Seems much more on top of things mentally than he was a few years ago.
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12
- Volkan Oezdemir
- "No Time" | 19-7-0
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1989 - Switzerland - UFC
Loads of high level experience, fought just about everyone over the years. Solid power on the feet although not as much as it looked like he had when he first turned up in the UFC. Pretty solid on top when he wants to be and fairly solid takedown defence too. Doesn't have it to beat the top guys, but always good for a fraud check.
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13
- Carlos Ulberg
- "Black Jag" | 10-1-0
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1990 - New Zealand - UFC
Seems fairly safe to put the Nzechukwu fight down to inexperience at this point. Dude is looking like a killer now, one of the hardest and most accurate fighters at the weight. Cardio seems fine, defensive grappling is holding up well and he's even starting to develop a bit of an offensive grappling game.
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14
- Faridun Odilov
- "Terminator" | 18-2-2
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1992 - Tajikistan - ACA
Absolute wrecking machine. Physical beast, very strong, hits very hard on the feet, tries to squeeze heads off and pull arms off when grappling. Moving up the ranks and continuing to trash everyone as easily as he was when he was fighting lower down.
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15
- Rob Wilkinson
- "Razor" | 18-2-0, 1 NC
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1992 - Australia - PFL
Completely different fighter from his UFC days and not just because he got on the juice. Changed his style and really worked on his boxing to the point where he's much more effective with it than his BJJ which was his original threat. Good volume and punch selection, hitting hard and tearing through people.
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16
- Phil Davis
- "Mr. Wonderful" | 24-7-0, 1 NC
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1984 - USA - PFL
Kind of turned into a slow paced striker/wrestler. Still pretty effective despite being very boring. Not going to take him down and has one of the best chins ever. Offensively pretty good still.
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17
- Anthony Smith
- "Lionheart" | 38-19-0
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1988 - USA - UFC
Seems on the decline but still grinds out a win sometimes. Not the same fighter he was when he was on the charge to a title shot though. Doesn't seem to be able to handle shots as well as he used to be, can get outworked by grapplers and held down. Does still have decent striking and offensive grappling himself. Gifted guillotine against Petrino.
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18
- Azamat Murzakanov
- "The Professional" | 13-0-0
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1989 - Russia - UFC
Weird fighter, sometimes seems a bit slow and like he's not doing much for most of a fight then deads someone. Sometimes fights a lot better and outstrikes technical kickboxers. Hard to tell how he'll do against the elite of the division.
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19
- Antônio Carlos Júnior
- "Cara de Sapato" | 16-5-0, 2 NC
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1990 - Brazil - PFL
Taken to 205 really well and doesn't seem to have skipped a beat after returning from his hiatus to do a bit of reality TV. Obviously a very high level black belt if he gets guys down, but also getting decent on the feet, he's always had power but now seems able to deliver it better.
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20
- Impa Kasanganay
- "Tshilobo" | 16-4-0
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1994 - USA - PFL
Better than I ever thought he would be and seems very suited to 205. Really carries power at this weight, carries strength and without having much of a weight cut (if any) he can afford to fight at a really high pace. Hasn't really had to show it against a real top flight 205er yet, but the signs are very promising.
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21
- Alonzo Menifield
- "Atomic" | 15-4-1
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1987 - USA - UFC
Athletically gifted dude who's developed his technique over the years. Always been strong and been able to crack but now able to hang in there technically with good fighters like Dustin Jacoby.
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22
- Dustin Jacoby
- "The Hanyak" | 19-8-1
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1988 - USA - UFC
Very technical striker and tough. Solid TDD and cardio, should have got the nod over Khalil, would have expected him to probably outstrike Murzakanov and Menifield but didn't really. Still a solid test for up and comers.
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23
- Vitor Petrino
- "Icão" | 11-1-0
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1997 - Brazil - UFC
Arguably the most physical guy at the weight. Massive and strong for the weight, hits hard, drops hard ground and pound. Wrestling isn't the most technical but strong enough to just rag most guys about. Makes a few technical mistakes in the grappling but just muscling out of them so far. Didn't respect the guillotine against Smith and is going to have to learn from that.
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24
- Yoel Romero
- "Soldier of God" | 16-7-0
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1977 - Cuba - Bellator
Feels like the wheels should fall off at any time but they somehow seem to stay on. As long as the fight is at a pretty slow pace he's still very capable. Can still clock people and although doesn't wrestle offensively that much he's still very hard to take down. Still looks relatively quick, especially for his age.
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25
- Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
- "Wolfhound" | 22-7-1
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1989 - Turkmenistan - PFL
Dude brings hard punches and aggression and he brings them well. He will absolutely swarm people when he has them hurt. Capable of using a more wrestling based approach to shut guys down too, used a fair bit of cage work back in ACA.
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26
- Ibragim Chuzhigaev
- "The Million First" | 18-5-0
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1997 - Russia - PFL
Former KSW champion predictably signed for PFL with UFC having a lack of interest in Russian wrestlers. Good cardio as a former middleweight, good wrestling, good top control and does damage well. Striking not main strength but perfectly serviceable.
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27
- Bogdan Guskov
- "Czarevitch" | 16-3-0
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1992 - Uzbekistan - UFC
Deadly on the feet, very good power, good accuracy with his punches and killer instinct when he hurts people. Really good chin too, took clean shot from Spann without flinching. Bit of a hole in his grappling, doesn't look good at all when he ends up underneath people.
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28
- Ryan Spann
- "Superman" | 21-10-0
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1991 - USA - UFC
Dude sometimes looks great and sometimes looks terrible, just frustratingly inconsistent. Very dangerous early, powerful punches and has decent offensive grappling early if he wants to use it too. Seems to fall apart mentally if his opponent survives his initial onslaught and starts to come back at him. Not sure if it's cardio or just a mentality thing.
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29
- Dominick Reyes
- "The Devastator" | 12-4-0
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1989 - USA - UFC
Oh what could have been. Probably should have been UFC champion, but got robbed of it, then Jan cracked his chin, then Jiri absolutely ruined it and he's looked a shadow of himself since. Didn't really look like he was planning to change his style up at all against Spann.
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30
- Philipe Lins
- "Monstro" | 18-5-0
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1985 - Brazil - Free Agent
Left the UFC by choice after one of the best runs of his career. Looked good since return to 205, showing a good mix of striking, pressure and offensive wrestling with good top BJJ. Not that exciting which is maybe why he didn't get the contract offer he wanted.
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31
- Jimmy Crute
- "The Brute" | 12-4-1
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1996 - Australia - UFC
Worrying lack of durability, seems to get badly hurt or finished in every fight at the moment. Shame because offensively he's got pretty aggressive BJJ and he can crack. Giving chin some time off, which is a good idea given that he's still in his 20s, needs to shore his defence up so he's not shipping so much punishment.
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32
- Karl Moore
- 12-3-0
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1991 - Ireland - Bellator
Predictably thwarted in his title tilt against Corey Anderson but had a good run with some wins over some solid guys to get there. Pretty good grappler, shown he can hang with some wrestlers when it comes to that.
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33
- Nicolae Negumereanu
- "Nicu" | 13-2-0
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1994 - Romania - UFC
Tough bastard with good cardio who'll drag dudes deep into a fight and drown them. Often doesn't look great early but pushes and keeps coming as things get deeper and is someone who'll expose a lot of flakes. Style means he's willing to take shots while coming forward, which is a problem against powerful accurate guys like Ulberg.
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34
- Josh Silveira
- "Coninha" | 13-2-0
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1992 - USA - PFL
Would be better off as a middleweight but PFL don't have that division. Striking is pretty aggressive, good high kick, throws punches hard looking to dive in for takedowns off it, defence not too good. Strong and can hold people against the cage, wrestling isn't that smooth but can just power a lot of people down but more athletic guys seem to be able to hold it off. Solid top game. Sometimes tires himself out wrestling.
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35
- Ion Cutelaba
- "The Hulk" | 17-10-1, 1 NC
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1993 - Moldova - UFC
He's just Cutelaba isn't he? Big spaz, strong, good wrestling, can hit hard, can get hit hard, can sub, can get subbed. Doesn't really work when he tries to be more patient so really needs to just go full chaos and what happens happens.
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36
- Ovince St. Preux
- "OSP" | 27-17-0
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1983 - Haiti - UFC
Showed he might have something left in fight against Nzechukwu, although that could well be as much because of Kennedy fighting to the level of his opponent as he tends to do than something to do with Ovince. Did seem to handle the pace of the third round well although nothing happened before that so could be why. Clearly not the force he used to be but maybe not quite done.
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37
- Kennedy Nzechukwu
- "African Savage" | 12-5-0
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1992 - Nigeria - UFC
Frustrating habit of fighting to the level of his opponent. Has all the physical tools you could really want but too low output unless his opponent pushes it and mostly ambles about not doing as much as he could while his coach goes nuts at him. I'd have to rank him higher than some people he's lost to just because he could also give a decent fight to better people than them.
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38
- Oumar Sy
- 10-0-0
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1995 - France - UFC
Beast of a grappler, excellent wrestling against the cage, really good at controlling wrists to stop guys coming back up and if they do just takes them down over the other leg. Really good at working to the back, slapping on a body triangle and finishing with a choke. Looks to have the potential to be a serious contender.
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39
- Da Un Jung
- "Sseda" | 15-5-1
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1993 - South Korea - UFC
On a bit of a skid at the moment and next fight is going to be hugely important to UFC survival. Would have expected him to be able to deal with Devin although there's no real shame in losing to Ulberg or Jacoby..
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40
- Rodolfo Bellato
- "Trator" | 12-2-0
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1996 - Brazil - UFC
Excellent top BJJ, back takes and ground and pound. Only issue so far is he's a bit too hittable on the feet and whether or not your chin is good you can't really afford to be getting cracked too clean too often at 205. Does seem to have good survival instincts and an ability to battle back if he's not completely out.
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41
- Julius Anglickas
- 10-4-0
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1991 - Lithuania - Bellator
On a bad run but against very good guys. Very big for the weight, pretty good boxing which he doesn't use all that much as he prefers to go a boring wrestling route for the most part.
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42
- Thiago Santos
- "Marreta" | 22-12-0, 1 NC
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1984 - Brazil - PFL
Looks like he's absolutely falling off a cliff to me and that all his injuries are catching up to him at once. Looks plodding and struggles to get out of the way of shots. Can't really impose himself physically like he used to do and finds it hard to land his power against anyone decent. Might be time to think about calling it a career.
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43
- Maxim Grishin
- "Maximus" | 32-10-2, 1 NC
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1984 - Russia - RCC
Back to Russia for Maxim after the UFC didn't renew him presumably not seeing much upside in a guy turning 40 who's not winning a lot. Always competitive though and pretty solid everywhere, looks like he still has a decent run in him in the Russian promotions.
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44
- Modestas Bukauskas
- "The Baltic Gladiator" | 15-6-0
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1994 - Lithuania - UFC
Doing fine after managing to earn his way back to the UFC for the second time by winning the Cage Warriors title again. Couldn't quite handle the power of Petrino but that's on the extreme side of physicality. Got a good upset win over Pedro where his hands and volume for LHW looked good.
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45
- Magomed Gadzhiyasulov
- "MG" | 8-0-0
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1993 - Bahrain - UFC
Looked very much UFC ready on DWCS and had a solid win in BRAVE before over Maalem. Would have likely got a good finish if Medina wasn't so tough. Looks well rounded with the Dagi spin kick game that you wouldn't expect from a guy his size mixed with the wrestling and grappling.
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46
- Rafał Haratyk
- "Polish Tank" | 19-5-2
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1987 - Poland - KSW Champion
Really a middleweight but seems to be getting away with it at 205 so far. I'm not sure he actually won the Piwowarczyk final but got the belt after a 4 man tournament. Not the prettiest striker but slings hooks hard as **** and if they catch people they're in trouble. Decent wrestling and good base, but might find guys this size are harder to hold.
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47
- Nasrudin Nasrudinov
- 10-2-0
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1991 - Russia - RCC
Solid but a bit pedestrian, likes to cage push and do the usual Dagi wrestling stuff from there. Got dominated physically a couple of times by bigger stronger guys but will be able to grind down most.
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48
- Marcin Prachnio
- 17-7-0
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1988 - Poland - UFC
Pretty much just backpedals and leg kicks until he feels confident enough to start coming forward and leg kick, but it seems to work well for him against more plodding lower level guys. Good at staying out of wrestling range. As soon as someone has a slightly more developed striking game than him it's a tough night at the office though.
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49
- Devin Clark
- "Brown Bear" | 14-9-0
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1990 - USA - Free Agent
Always seemed to alternate the odd decent performance with a bunch of bad ones. He's pretty strong and a reasonable wrestler, not too much of a striker, pretty tough and with pretty good cardio.
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50
- Alex Polizzi
- "Eazy" | 10-4-0
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1991 - USA - PFL
Should have always fought at middleweight, too small for this weight and always relied on having an excellent chin but now unfortunately it feels as if that's cracked, which is a massive problem for him. Good wrestler with some good subs and good cardio, but taken an awful lot of punishment.
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51
- Wagner Prado
- "Caldeirão" | 18-8-1, 1 NC
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1987 - Brazil - ACA
I think his durability is starting to fade a bit. Used to be absolutely iron chinned but now gets wobbled a bit when he didn't used to. Still likes to get into wars and throws hammers and hopes he knocks the other guy out first. Has issues with wrestlers, but if you want to strike with him it's likely to be a violent night.
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52
- Diyar Nurgozhay
- 9-0-0
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Kazakhstan - UAE Warriors
Quite small for the weight, mostly looks to sling crosses but doesn't always set them up that well. Does the stick your arms out whenever you disengage thing that Shogun used to do for some reason. Does have decent power and if he cracks you he's got good finishing instincts. Went through Sordi comfortably enough but I'm not quite sure exactly how good he is yet.
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53
- Tanner Boser
- "The Bulldozer" | 21-10-1
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1991 - Canada - Free Agent
Left UFC of his own accord on a win but hasn't pitched up anywhere else yet. Smashed in his LHW debut against Cutelaba but then got a decent win over Camur, bit too early to see how well he'll do at the weight.
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54
- Luke Trainer
- "The Gent" | 8-1-0
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1996 - England - Bellator
Putting things back together well after his upset loss against Biyong. Big dude for the weight, uses his length pretty well. Does a good job anti-wrestling, using his length to stop wrestlers fully turning him over by locking under the butt on doubles.
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55
- Mingyang Zhang
- "Mountain Tiger" | 17-6-0
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1998 - China - UFC
Very powerful striker, had a lot of stoppage losses early in his career which raises glass cannon questions but he's the guy landing hard first at least for now. I don't think he's as interested in defence as he is in offence though.
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56
- Sadibou Sy
- "The Swedish Denzel Washington" | 16-8-2, 1 NC
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1986 - Sweden - PFL
I'm not convinced the two division jump to 205 is going to work out for Sy. At 170 he worked because he was so tall for the weight he was difficult to take down, at this weight it feels like guys will just pick him up and put him down.
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57
- Ibo Aslan
- "The Last Ottoman" | 13-1-0
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1996 - Turkey - UFC
Kind of a big spaz but outlasted Pleasure Man in the battle of the big spazzes. Throws hard early, tends to slow down but still seems to carry decent power even when he's a bit gassed.
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58
- Ozzy Diaz
- 9-2-0
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1990 - USA - LFA
Former LFA MW champ looks a bit flabby at 185 but seems happy there for now. Looked rusty after long layoff but improved in Lewis fight. Takedown defence isn't great when he moves backwards, but better when he moves forwards. At his best when pressuring with the boxing where he can work to the body well and wear his opponent down. Gas tank looks good at 205.
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59
- Anton Turkalj
- "The Pleasure Man" | 8-4-0
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1996 - Sweden - Free Agent
The Pleasure Man UFC experience is over. Never did as well as I'd hoped. He's a decent grappler when he gets on top of people with solid back takes. His cage wrestling isn't brilliant but it's pretty serviceable. Unfortunately he spends too much time charging forward throwing like an idiot with no regard to defence and he doesn't have the chin to allow him to do that.
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60
- Brendson Ribeiro
- "The Gorilla" | 15-6-0, 1 NC
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1996 - Brazil - UFC
Glass cannon, won the fight he was supposed to lose on DWCS against Lopes. I think he loses that more often than not but credit to the dude he can crack and he caught him. Probably going to be the crackee most of the time in the UFC though.
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61
- Tuco Tokkos
- 10-4-0
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1990 - England - UFC
Pretty workmanlike usually, does have okay offensive wrestling, some subs and a bit of power. Unfortunate for him to have to debut against a beast like Sy, but he did work up well and show some good sub defence before the inevitable.
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62
- Alexander Gustafsson
- "The Mauler" | 18-8-0
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1987 - Sweden - UFC
Keeps unretiring but probably shouldn't. Looks like all his durability has completely gone and he's getting easily finished at the moment. Granted they threw him back in there with a ranked guy but it didn't look like it would have gone differently whoever it was really.
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63
- Bevon Lewis
- "The Extraordinary Gentleman" | 7-5-0
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1991 - USA - LFA
Still looks flaky at 205. Had a good start against Ozzy, has a good single leg where he can pick it up from range and suck it in. Decent top grappling and works for chokes quite well. Fades pretty quickly in the 2nd and looks lost when he can't get a takedown. Struggled with pressure fighter, couldn't stop himself getting backed into the cage and then getting stuck there.
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64
- Chuck Campbell
- 7-4-0, 1 NC
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1984ish - USA - LFA
Regional journeyman who fights all over the regionals and had a cup of coffee in LFA. Started very late and in his 40s but looks good physically for the age and can go quite deep into fights with younger guys. Decent power, quite explosive and pretty strong but a little chinny himself.
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65
- Emiliano Sordi
- "He-Man" | 23-13-1
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1991 - Argentina - UAE Warriors
Always been a glass cannon, now seems to give up at any sign of adversity. Looks softer and less explosive than the guy who won the PFL tournament just pre-covid.
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66
- Alexey Efremov
- 23-15-1
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1986 - Russia - ACA
Veteran moving up in weight. Still looks pretty big at 205. Fairly composed in his striking and throws decent straight shots. Defence not as good as his offence and doesn't look too durable.
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67
- Kerim Daidov
- "Doсtor" | 9-1-0
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1997 - Kazakhstan - Octagon
Got sparked by Abdurakhmanov hanging his chin too much a couple of times and seemed to overreact in his next fight just going the wrestling route to crush a can. Top control didn't look brilliant, but able to pass through bad triangle easily enough to get the arm triangle.
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68
- Jacky Jeanne
- 4-1-0
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1994ish - France - Ares
Good striker, hasn't really been tested against a grappler since he got wrestle****** by Augen, but that loss has aged pretty well and Ares have pretty much exclusively put him in against strikers in fights he should be winning since.
My Summary