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UFC Vegas 19 - New Blood: A crushing quartet
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Photo by Chris Unger/DWCS LLC/Zuffa LLC
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, this Saturday (Feb. 20, 2021), featuring a quartet of fresh faces with plenty of potential. On this edition of “New Blood,” the series where I get a newfound appreciation for what coaches go through when making gameplans, we look at two “Contender Series” alums, a nasty Philly finisher, and an extremely promising young Flyweight.
Watch UFC Vegas 19 On ESPN+ Here! UFC continues its live events schedule on Feb. 20 from APEX in Las Vegas with its Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lewis-led “Fight Night” MMA card available to stream RIGHT HERE don’t miss a single second of face-punching action!
Vyacheslav Vasilevskiy (33-8) vs. Bogdan Guskov (10-1)
Fight Nights Global celebrates Christmas weekend with a doubleheader that starts on Thursday with the league’s Winter Cup entry. The lineup is heavy on prospects, but it also features some established names, including that of 41-fight veteran Vyacheslav Vasilevskiy. The former M-1 Challenge champion will serve as the next test for Bogdan Guskov, who enters the cage for this affair with a strong 10-1 mark.
Despite a career that extends back to 2008, Vasilevskiy is still just 32 years old. “Slava” got off to an excellent start in which he went 17-1 through his first 18 fights. This run included a light-heavyweight title reign with M-1 Challenge and a successful Bellator debut against Victor O’Donnell. He also notched stoppages over Xavier Foupa-Pokam and Tomasz Narkun along the way. After a decision loss to Maiquel Falcão in his second Bellator appearance, Vasilevskiy returned to his homeland and started another winning
Welcome to year eight of the annual “Prospects the UFC Should Sign” series, in which we’ll examine five MMA prospects per division the UFC should sign in the upcoming year.
This series started during my time as a writer for Bleacher Report, continued through my tenures at Today’s Knockout and FanSided, and now it stays alive another year here at Combat Press.
Let’s examine the featherweight division, a weight class that is loaded with good, young talent.
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In picking these prospects, I’ll try my hardest to stay away from fighters who are currently in top organizations, such as Bellator or the Professional Fighters League, but a couple may pop up. In the past, I’ve had some great picks on the list and some that haven’t worked out. Below are the previous year’s selections, followed by the five men the UFC should offer roster spots to in the coming year.