Prospect Feature: Amru Magomedov (FdrNphw Exclusive) (Patreon)

Amru Magomedov is THE guy from 'Team Kahbib' that many see as next in line for a move to a major promotion., with good reason. He's 7-0, with five of those seven wins coming in the first round. He's also the UAE Warriors lightweight champion, a promotion that is a great stepping stone for fighters looking to fight on the biggest stage. It's clear that he's a good fighter, the question is how good? Well, as I mentioned, he has a lot of first-round finishes which means a limited sample size to study. Especially when you take into consideration that two fights that made it out of the first round were his pro debut (wasn't able to find the footage) and his third fight. But nonetheless, some tendencies and preferences are noticeable.

The 25-year-old fighter has been Usman Nurmagomedov's training partner for ten years now. First in Muay Thai, and then in MMA. His background is easily visible in his kick-heavy fighting style. His game is based around him kicking his opponent from long range thus provoking them to close the distance, which Amru then counters with punches or a takedown attempt.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rm7UAGbGy04N3jkFFe6QcmWQ25Q-ayfI/view?usp=drivesdk

The main weapon from distance is leg kicks. Naked, with good timing & mostly targeting outside of the opponent's left leg (he only fought orthodox fighters). 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eZmUDFUUWxXw0dqWtl5ctVIO3jzPsNCv/view?usp=drivesdk

In the video below you can see him moving laterally, throwing six leg kicks and nothing else for forty seconds. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EI6ger0xHR6IEmekT1vInnJoZofFu7Oc/view?usp=drivesdk

His second favourite weapon from distance are rear leg front kicks. Amru also does a nice job of flowing from one stance into another when he decides to switch them up, whether it's switching off his thrown kicks or lateral movement. Which deserves to be mentioned on its own, though he doesn't use it enough to retake the center of the octagon.

All five of his finishes came on the ground, with four of them being via rear naked choke. As opponents turn their back to him, either as they're wrestling or trying to turtle on the ground he'll immediately look to get his hooks in and begin wrapping his arm around their neck. Those are the tendencies that were clear to me, but of course, there's more to his game. He's either yet to show parts of it or to prove that parts that he did show flashes of are consistent part of his arsenal.

Few more general observations I had that fall under the second category of the previous sentence: nice knees in the clinch, some nice elbows on the ground, stepping back into different stances to counter.

Final thoughts: he's a good striker but I don't necessarily see him becoming a UFC contender just with his striking, he would need to improve his wrestling further and use both to win. Out-strike wrestlers and out-wrestler strikers. He's at a great camp to do just that so maybe in the future he shows that he can be, not just a UFC fighter, but one that's a factor at 155. But right now, today, I don't see it yet. He can get signed, he's good enough for that but I'm not comfortable predicting him to be a ranked lightweight or above.