MMA Fighting
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Marcell Fagundes, Shooto Brazil
For the past seven years, MMA Fighting has taken a close look at the Brazilian circuit to scout talent that could make a splash on the international scene in the coming years. That work has discovered talents such as flyweight championsDeiveson Figueiredo and Juliana Velasquez, as well as Alex Oliveira, Alexandre Pantoja, Renato Moicano, Leandro Higo, Virna Jandiroba, Matheus Nicolau and 21 other future UFC or Bellator fighters.
The 12 months of 2020 were unique, however, since a global pandemic forced a halt in events around the world. It was no different in Brazil, with dozens of MMA promotions cancelling shows and struggling financially once cleared to return even though the health crisis is still rampant in the country.
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 this 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 continues again this year at Combat Press.
Let’s examine the women’s bantamweight division, a weight class that was the original women’s division in the UFC. It’s been thinned out due to the recent addition of the flyweight and featherweight divisions, so the UFC needs to look to add talent here.
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 women’s bantamweight division, the original female weight class within the UFC. It’s been thinned out due to the recent addition of the flyweight division, so the UFC needs to look to add an injection of new talent.
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 254 and UFC 256 HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 254 and UFC 256
Bellator 254 and UFC 256 were both this past week. Let’s get to the rundown.
Bellator 254
GOOD- Romero Cotton submits Justin Sumter
Cotton got a takedown early in the first round and went to work. They grappled back and forth for a while before Cotton locked in a rear-naked choke to get the submission a little over three and a half minutes into the first round. Good win for Cotton.
GOOD- Linton Vassell stops Ronny Markes
Grappling Report: Kaynan Duarte submits Viera, Israel Adesanya gets purple belt from Galvao
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The final Who’s Number One event of 2020 was headlined by an exciting match between Kaynan Duarte and Rodolfo Vieira but in the end, Duarte made short work of the ADCC & IBJJF World Champion. That wasn’t the only exciting matchup on a card that was stacked with elite grapplers however, and 10th Planet was heavily represented with three competitors taking on big challenges.
Jon ‘Thor’ Blank and Grace Gundrum led the charge against Vagner Rocha and Mayssa Bastos respectively, although both would come up just short in close decision losses. Then the co-main event saw Geo Martinez face off with the streaking young competitor Kennedy Maciel and although he made a valiant effort for the first ten minutes, he was eventually forced to tap to a tight Head and Arm Choke.