We’re again, child!
That’s proper, Season 8 of Contender Sequence is within the books, with 42 new signees becoming a member of the UFC roster in what has grow to be the promotion’s single greatest recruitment instrument. Now, 42 is fewer than final seasons’ 47 signees, but it surely’s nonetheless a large inflow of expertise, and with all these new bright-eyed and bushy-tailed prospects becoming a member of the world’s greatest MMA promotion, it’s as soon as once more time to separate the wheat from the chaff, the longer term contenders from the cardboard fillers.
Final season, I separated Contender Sequence signees into 9 completely different buckets based mostly on their potential, with 10 of the 47 signees being recognized as top-tier prospects. And albeit, I did fairly rattling nicely. The collective information of these 10 top-tier prospects is 16-2 within the promotion, with a type of losses being a controversial break up choice.
However this 12 months we’re going to do issues just a little bit in another way: as an alternative of 9 buckets of nebulous high quality, we’re going to simplify issues and deal with this like an draft board. Prospects are rated by what spherical of a fictional MMA draft I’d choose them in. The tough rubric is as follows:
- Blue Chips: Elite prospects, with the potential to grow to be top-5 fighters of their weight courses, problem for a title, and even grow to be champion.
- Spherical 1: Nice prospects. Good shot at turning into ranked someday and will even battle for a title.
- Spherical 2: Good prospects. They’re lacking one thing in order that they in all probability received’t problem for a title, however they’ve an affordable shot at incomes a rating.
- Spherical 3-4: Strong prospects. They lack main upside however may be Day 1 contributors and grow to be a staple of their division for years to come back. Possibly they even discover their approach to a rating.
- Day 3: Acceptable prospects. Fighters who fill out playing cards and will stick round for a bit however don’t make a lot of an influence. Everybody from time to time somebody from right here would possibly exceed expectations but it surely’s fairly uncommon.
- Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA): They didn’t get a contract however confirmed flashes of one thing that means they might get signed sooner or later.
So with out additional ado, let’s break down the 2024 Contender Sequence prospect class!
Undrafted Free Brokers
An Tuan Ho, Michael Aswell, Jack Duffy, Nick Piccininni, Gauge Younger, Igor Cavalcanti, Otar Tanzilov, Aaron Tau, Rose Conciecao, Sean Gauci, Julieta Martinez, Mohamed Ado
Not everybody that goes on Contender Sequence finally ends up getting signed, particularly as Dana White’s standards is usually a bit inconsistent at occasions. Loads of fighters ship good performances however get snubbed, whereas different fighters have been merely put in there in opposition to elite prospects and fell quick.
This season there have been, frankly, lots of fighters who flashed sufficient that I’m assured they’ll a minimum of get one other shot on Contender Sequence, in the event that they don’t get signed to the UFC in a short-notice substitute kind of state of affairs. So as an alternative of record all of these fighters (it’s a reasonably lengthy record) these 12 fighters symbolize one of the best of the bunch.
Essentially the most notable names listed below are each from Week 10: Nick Piccininni and Julieta Martinez. Piccininni fought twice this season, successful his first outing by break up choice however not impressing Dana White sufficient. He then misplaced within the ultimate episode, however I absolutely count on Piccininni to battle within the UFC quickly. He’s a two-time NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State and has the assist of Daniel Cormier. He received’t set the world on hearth, however he may be Cody Stamann 2.0.
As for Martinez, she is just 20 years outdated and dazzled in her Contender Sequence efficiency, however White declined to signal her as a result of she is “too younger” and “too small.” As an alternative, White desires her to proceed creating outdoors of the UFC, and truthfully, it’s not a horrible thought. Martinez could be a primary rounder if she obtained a contract, however maybe if she goes again for one more 12 months of growth, we’re speaking a couple of top-10 decide.
DAY 3
Bruno Lopes, Contavious Romious, Rizvan Kuniev, Andreas Gustafsson, Bogdan Grad, Andrey Pulyaev, Djorden Santos, Seok Hyun Ko, Ahmad Hassanzada, Nick Klein
There’s not loads to say about this crop of fighters. Every of them received on the present, and did sufficient to catch White’s consideration, however they didn’t bounce off the web page as prospects to get enthusiastic about. However hey, loads of uninspiring fighters have made a profession within the UFC, successful greater than they lose and hanging round.
In the event you’re in search of doable risers from this group, Rizvan Kuniev really holds a win over Renan Ferreira in PFL that was overturned to a no-contest after he popped for all of the PEDs. The Dagestani is an affordable fighter, and given how dangerous heavyweight is, I may see a Shamil Gaziev-like run the place he’s on the border of a rating and in a foremost occasion, however don’t envision lots of long-term success.
If I used to be placing cash down, I’d wager on Bogdan Grad to be the man who exceeds expectations from this group. Grad’s solely profession loss is to Tom Nolan on Contender Sequence final 12 months (a prospect I used to be very excessive on) and whereas he isn’t nice at something, he’s an aggressive scrapper within the vein of Nate Landwehr, so he would possibly carve out a enjoyable profession.
Spherical 3-4
Jose Miguel Delgado, Marco Tulio, Kevin Christian, Daniel Frunza, Torrez Finney, Alberto Montes, Artem Vakhitov, Yadier DelValle, Luis Gurule
This group proper right here, these are the workhorses. Most of them are just a little too outdated to be an actual high-upside prospect, however most of them are prepared to leap in and contribute instantly, and maybe just a few will occasion shock us. Both method, I count on most of this group will dangle across the UFC for a while, and there are just a few notable standouts from this group.
The primary is Torrez Finney who turned the primary man to win 3 times on Contender Sequence after two wins this season. Finney is younger and had just a few excellent traits, but it surely’s onerous to love the long-term ceiling for a 5-foot-8 middleweight, and the person is constructed like William Knight, so I don’t suppose he’s making 170.
Subsequent is Alberto Montes who’s my favourite fighter from this group. Montes is extraordinarily enjoyable, a bit chaotic (the person tried a Peruvian necktie), and kind of fights like Charles Oliveira, with out the restraint. The difficulty is that Montes is 30 years outdated which doesn’t go away him lots of time in a premium weight class like featherweight, however I may see a Carlos Prates run out of him.
And eventually there’s the matter of Artem Vakhitov. Vakhitov is the previous GLORY Kickboxing champion who notably holds a win over Alex Pereira and even had Pereira foyer for him to get signed, however I’ve critical doubts about his capability to transition to MMA the best way Pereira did. They simply don’t have the identical kind of recreation and Vakhitov has not proven a lot aptitude for the assorted components of MMA so far.
In all honesty, Vakhitov ought to in all probability be within the Day 3 group, however given his story, the UFC could also be very selective about his matchmaking so I settled right here.
Spherical 2
Malcolm Wellmaker, Yuneisy Duben, Quillan Salkilld, Nicolle Caliari, Tallison Teixeira, Danylo Voievodkin, Alexia Thainara, Diyar Nurgozhay, Islam Dulatov, Kody Steele, Jonathan Micallef
Now we’re lastly into the true prospects right here. I firmly consider the folks on this group are going to be UFC staples for years to come back, and for many of them, there’s only one huge challenge holding them again from being high prospects. For example, Wellmaker and Duben are a bit too outdated to be nice prospects, and Teixeira and Voievodkin are nice bets to be long-term heavyweights, however lack an A+ trait that’s required to be elite in that weight class. Nonetheless, it is a assortment of expertise that would have various fighters overachieve from.
So far as greatest bets to overachieve from this group and grow to be fixtures of the highest of their divisions two names stand out: Alexia Thainara and Kody Steele.
Thainara is a plus-athlete with good wrestling and the suitable mentality, she’s simply uncooked. However at solely 26 years outdated, she simply beat the undefeated LFA champion and there’s loads of time for her to stand up within the strawweight division if she will merely add instruments to her recreation. Working with the Ribas household is an effective begin, and she or he’s acquired an actual shot at turning into one thing.
Steele, then again, is already near a completed product. The 29-year-old Syndicate MMA product had a ton of hype heading into this season as a wily grappler who also can throw palms. Properly, he confirmed all of that and plus-athleticism which implies he’s nearly assured for an extended UFC profession. My solely concern is that 29 is a late begin for light-weight , the place it might probably take years for fighters to make headway within the stacked weight class. Nonetheless, the ground could be very excessive and there’s reliable ceiling as nicely. Kody is likely to be the “Steele” of the second spherical…
Spherical 1
Now we’re actually into the highest of the expertise pool. The 9 prospects beneath are my greatest bets to have lengthy lasting, significant UFC careers, and provided that, as an alternative of the broad grouping, I opted to provide every of them a one-sentence breakdown.
Navajo Stirling — Metropolis Kickboxing standout who can instantly compete at 205 kilos | shades of Rory MacDonald
Jacobe Smith — 3X All-American wrestler, nice athlete who wants time | hints of Jon Jones
Elijah Smith — Explosive grappling however wants a killer intuition | gentler A.J. McKee
Josias Musasa — Quick, highly effective, and aggressive however a bit one-note | bantamweight Derrick Lewis
Ateba Gautier — Massive fella carved out of wooden, extraordinarily uncooked | subsequent gen Melvin Manhoef
Mansour Abdul-Malik — All of the bodily items on this planet | shades of Joaquin Buckley
Cody Haddon — Tight, polished boxer and BJJ black belt | a touch of Ilia Topuria
David Martinez — Enjoyable, dynamic, and well-rounded, however lacks a superpower | a contact of Jonathan Martinez
Mario Pinto — Massive man who THUDS with out throwing onerous | shades of Alex Pereira
Coincidentally, the order this group is listed in is roughly the order I’d draft them in, with Navajo Stiling being the one I’m highest one whereas Mario Pinto is the fighter almost definitely to be extra of a Spherical 2 expertise. However nonetheless, take a look at the best way the large man can flooring somebody with out attempting.
Blue Chips
On each draft board, there are Spherical 1 prospects after which there are Blue Chip guys. These guys are as near assured successes as doable. Not simply good contributors, these guys are STARS. Folks you’ll be able to construct a franchise round. And this 12 months there are three of them.
I am keen on Kevin Vallejos. The 22-year-old Argentinian is an distinctive expertise who narrowly missed out on incomes a UFC contract final season of Contender Sequence, as a result of he misplaced to Jean Silva. Silva was certainly one of my favourite prospects that season and has seemed sensational within the UFC this 12 months, already knocking on the door of a rating. And this child gave him all he may hand regardless of being barely of ingesting age.
Vallejos has slick, devastating putting with nasty combos and nice physique work. Coincidentally, my favourite comparability for him is Jean Silva, and if he continues to enhance as he ages, the sky is the restrict for this child.
Austin Bashi
Austin Bashi is an distinctive prospect. Simply 23 years outdated, and already sporting an undefeated 13-0 report, Bashi hasn’t simply been beating cans. He has wins over reliable opposition and has been largely dominant in his profession so far.
The Michigan native is a unbelievable athlete and a former IBJJF No-Gi world champion on the brown belt degree. His putting recreation remains to be in growth, however he’s acquired strong kicks already and he’s keen to combine issues up. The perfect comparability I’ve for him is both Henry Cejudo or Aaron Pico, which ought to inform you a large number about how excessive this child can climb.
Lone’er Kavanagh is without doubt one of the higher prospects to ever come by Contender Sequence. Solely 25 years outdated, Kavanagh is straight away prepared to leap into the deep finish of the flyweight division. He’s an excellent athlete with outstanding polish given his age. He’s poised underneath hearth, has a slick, diversified putting recreation, and nasty energy, particularly for a flyweight.
So far as a comparability, one of the best one I’ve is a flyweight Rafael Fiziev, and that’s basically speaking about who Kavanagh is in the present day. Give him just a few extra years of growth and who is aware of the place this younger man would possibly find yourself. Personally, I’m excited to search out out.