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List the BEST PROSPECTS by division + say how far you think they can go ?

2K views 35 replies 18 participants last post by  limba 
#1 · (Edited)
will update...

prospects defined as without a top 10 victory.

jump in with opinions even if you cant make all divisions.

all contributions welcome.

Heavywieght ...............................

Light Heavyweight.........................

Middleweight..............................

Welterweight.............................

Lightweight...............................

Featherweight.............................

..........................................
 
#2 ·
Heavywieght - Jon Madsen - he might get a title shot.
Light Heavyweight - Phil Davis - he'll be champion.
Middleweight - Mark Munoz - I think he'll get over the hurdle and make the top ten at some point.
Welterweight - Kim Dong-hyun - He'll contend at some point.
Lightweight - Charles Oliveira - scary talent, could be on the p4p list.
Featherweight - Jonathan Brookins - he gave Jose Aldo the best fight of his career and he's winning the Ultimate Fighter, with more experience and Greg Jackson he could be the guy to dethrone Aldo.
 
#3 ·
Heavyweight - There are no great prospects ATM but Brendan Schaub is probably the best of the bunch. I think he could be a top 10 guy but never a champion.

Light Heavyweight - The two big guys who i am really in love with (no ****) are Phil Davis and Jon Jones. I think they are the future and will both be title contenders with one - if not both - of them becoming champion at some point. Although i believe Jones will eventually move up to heavyweight.

Middleweight - Court Mcgee comes to mind as the recent TUF winner. I cant see him being champion worthy but maybe if everything pans out he can be top 5 at best.

Welterweight - Dong Hyun Kim has to be the guy here. He's still undefeated at 13-0 and definitely has real skills. I think hell get a title shot at some point after he beats a couple top guys.

Lightweight - There's a lot of talent here in what i think is currently the deepest division in the UFC, especially now with the merger. I think Evan Dunham has to be the guy here, and i believe he can be a champion, but first must get past Kenny Florian. I would name GSP2 here but he jsut beat Lauzon who is probably a top 10 guy.

FW/BW - too early to tell, havent done anything yet in the UFC.
 
#4 ·
Heavyweight - He might be champion, but Cain Velasquez is still the best prospect at HW. He could be scarily good in a few years.

Light Heavyweight - This division is going to be ruled by 2 fighters in the near future. Those fighters are Jon Jones and Phil Davis. Both have fantastic wrestling credentials (more-so Davis) and are improving their all-round MMA game at incredibly fast levels.

Middleweight - At 185 Alan Belcher is the dude I see as most promising. He has ever improving, vicious stand-up, he's exciting to watch and proved with his submissions over Patrick Cote and Denis Kang that he's no mug on the ground either. He seems to have been around the sport a long time, but at only 26 I think we're going to see a lot more from 'The Talent'. An honourable mention also has to go to C.B. Dollaway. His face might be the most punchable at 185, but with wrestling as good as Dollaway's and an ever improving submission game, good luck landing that punch on him.

Welterweight - At 170 Dong Hyun Kim clearly stands out. He looked hugely impressive in his last fight against Sadollah, and other than a split decision loss to Karo Parisyan (which was turned to a NC due to Karo testing positive for steroids), he has an unblemished 13-0 (with 1 draw) MMA record. His next fight against a fellow prospect, Nate Diaz, will be a huge test. Nate possesses a very similar fight style to his brother Nick. He's tall, has rangy boxing with decent power, more than decent takedown defence, and is a brown belt in BJJ under Cesar Gracie. That fight, to me, will show us who the most promising prospect is. I'm personally going to go with Diaz. Honourable mentions also have to go to high level wrestler Johnny Hendricks and impressive youngster Rory MacDonald.

Lightweight - Probably the most stacked division in the world. The UFC 155lb division houses some of the best fighters in the world, and hence, some of the most promising prospects. It's a relative newcomer to the UFC I'm most excited about however, that being Charles Oliveira. As soon as I saw his first fight, against Darren Elkins, where he regained composure immediately after being slammed, to pull out a slick triangle choke I knew we had a prospect on our hands. He mixes that vicious brand of Jiu Jitsu with surprisingly explosive strikes. He mixes up his punches and kicks superbly and in his last fight against Escudero put on an absolute clinic before finishing the fight via a choke. Oliveira's not the only prospect though, honourable mentions also have to go to Evan Dunham, Cole Miller and Jim Miller.
 
#5 ·
There's a lot of talent to watch at LW right now I think. The kid has some seriously vicious kicks (he's won two fights by leg kicks, one in the first round!) and he's finished everyone. Charles Olivera needs watching as well, that dude's something special in the making. Eban Dunham is also very deserving of this IMO. Dennis Siver and G-Sot both deserve mention as well.

Others: Miquel Falcao is very obviously a monster. Phil Davis, JBJ and a few others that I can't remember off hand.
 
#6 ·
HW: Brendan Schuab. I think he has a lot of talent. His striking looks good and is still improving. He also trains out of Greg Jackson's camp. I think he will do good things.

LHW: Phil Davis. This guy is ever improving and always impressing. I expect to see him tear through some higher opposition as well.

MW: Court McGee. Court has a good wrestling base with a solid ground game. His striking has been improving and he has the gas tank to outlast opponents as well.

WW: Dong Hyun Kim. Kim's grappling is very good and I can see him using it to move up the rankings and get some tougher challenges in the future.

LW: Charles Oliveira. Oliveira's ground game is incredible. His striking is good and he has very good cardio. Expect him to really start shaking things up here soon.
 
#15 ·
IDK what to think of Davis/JBJ in all honesty, Davis is a very, very good wrestler with fantastic technique. Then JBJ is a sort of "freestyle" Greco wrestler that threw around Matt Hammill like he was a 12 year old child. Davis I think is more well versed in the submission game as far as offense goes, but JBJ's ground and pound is second to none. The stand up obviously goes to JBJ as he's much more diverse and unorthodox without being sloppy. He also has a huge reach.
 
#17 ·
HW - Christian Morecraft - Dominated Struve and nearly tko'd him til Struve bitched out with his kick in the 2nd and Morecraft lost focus.

LHW - Phil Davis - Need i say more?

MW - Kyle Noke - Really liked him on TUF. He is another guy who is good on the feet and on the ground.

WW - Rory MacDonald - Carlos Condit is considered one of the best at 170lb and this guy put a beating on him for 2 1/2 rounds. Good boxing, Knockout power, good subs and a hell of a lot of heart. This kid will go far.

LW - So many to chose from but i'm gonna pick firstly Anthony Pettis - can't wait for his fight with Bendo - always looks to finish and succeeds most of the time!
Secondly i wanna mention Edson Barbosa - brutal debut at UFC 123 and only 24 - i think he could destroy the legs of a lot of LWs before he is done.
 
#18 ·
HW: In the UFC? Probably Schaub, but that's not saying much. I think he's a fringe top 10 guy at best. In MMA as a whole, Konrad has top 5 potential with his elite wrestling and smothering top game.

LHW: Phil Davis by a long mile. He's already beaten the 3rd best prospect quickly in Alexander Gustaffson. He's almost a sure-thing top 3 title contender down the road. The only guy that comes close to him is Roger Gracie, but there are questions about his committment and his ability to take the fight down to the ground.

MW: Very weak division for prospects. The best in the UFC is probably Brad Tavares, and I'm not even sure he's a long term UFC fighter to be honest. I think if he puts everything together he can be in the 7-10 range of the weak MW division. Overall, Chris Weidman is clearly the best prospect. A near can't miss. I think he's one of the most sure-fire future champions in the sport simply because of the division he fights in.

WW: Rory McDonald is the best WW prospect in the world right now. To think, that this guy as pretty much a kid was probably 10 seconds away from being a Carlos Condit who could be challenging for the title in the near future is astounding. Slick ground game, good chin, cardio, and respectable stand-up and wrestling skills give this youngster top 3 potential at the weight.

LW: Narrowly eeking out Mr.Barbosa is Charles Oliveira. Guy is a fearless striker and a slick, lightning quick ground game that can only get better as he ages. At only 20, this guy will improve by leaps and bounds and as all the physical tools, including lighting speed and agility and a neverending gas tank(a quite hyperactive one at that) to be a future champion, possibly a dominant one.

FW: Tough, tough, tough, but have to go with Chad Mendes. He's so inexperienced but beating all the top guys in the WEC/UFC with simply his stupifying top control and improving striking. He's a top 3 guy in the near future, but I don't think he gets by Jose Aldo.

BW: This is pretty clearly Michael McDonald. This guy is SUPER impressive, and like Oliveira and his fellow McDonald, Rory, he's still a baby in age terms. However, mentally, this guy is a 30 year old contender in his prime. He's THAT confident, THAT mean, and THAT cerebral. He'll take your punches, knock you out, or sub you, but at any rate you are going to get finished, and Michael prefers it quickly.
This guy is a sure-fire thing to fight for a title one day.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I don't think Jones and Schaub can be considered prospects, Jones is in the top ten and Schaub is the UFC's 8th best HW at the moment.
What significance does that have? The UFC has very little HWs in general, and he's not a top 10 fighter by any stretch of the imagination.

Definitely man, honestly...the guy looked scary, precise, quick, and strong man. I can see the guy being a future MW Fedor like champ, he was so quiet and gracious looking.
Definitely man, honestly...the guy looked scary, precise, quick, and strong man. I can see the guy being a future MW Fedor like champ, he was so quiet and gracious looking.
Alright, calm down. The guy lost to Fabio Maldonado ffs. I think this was a case of an extremely unrefined striker spending too much time on the feet against a striker, then getting too much taken out of him before he could take him down. Besides, the guy through like 5 strikes a round and has questionable cardio, which would explain his low output. I expect him to do well, but Fedor-like is a hyperbole too strong even for the likes of Jon Jones.
 
#28 ·
Heavywieght ...............................Madsen/Schaub (They can engineer a title shot for either, but ATM Brock, Carwin and JDS are better, tough road blocks)

Light Heavyweight.........................Phil Davis...JBJ is right there to contend as well as anyone else in increasingly smaller crowded LHW pool. (JBJ is the best LHW right now IMO)

Middleweight..............................Falcoa I guess he tooled Harris, but didn't finish a finishable Harris. Really, I see veteran WWs/LHWs moving up and down once Silva is finished and JBJ takes a hold of LHW. (Parity throughout MW)

Welterweight.............................Rory McDonald (champion)

Lightweight...............................Evan Dunham or Jose Aldo (champion)
 
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