Best Prospects in Action This Week (Patreon)

Lux Fight League 22 | Mexico | Thursday

Luis Rodriguez
Bantamweight
12-2
22-years-old
1-fight win streak

Rodriguez is only coming off one win and that last loss came in the contender series in 2020. With that said he arguably beat Jerome Rivera. Since that setback, he got back on the board with a win. Rodriguez is back at bantamweight too where he’s looked much better. He’s a polished compact striker that slings heavy leather. He’s definitely got knockout power in his hands and is very explosive. He's coming off over a year layoff due to injury so it will be interesting to see how he looks. Rodriguez fights César Vásquez (5-1).

CFFC 109 | US | Friday

Manoel Sousa
Lightweight
8-0
24-years-old
11-fight win streak

Sousa has had an outstanding career thus far that's barely talked about. He handed prospect Mauricio Ruffy his first loss and beat a high-profiled Brendo Bispo. Sousa is a heavy-handed fighter who slings powerful right and left hooks. He does a good job going to the body and throwing kicks behind his strikes. He has good head movement and good footwork as well. The very athletic Sousa also has a strong wrestling attack and is a submission threat that he can use all fight. He fights Felipe Main (11-5) who falls short when gets matched up against good fighters. I will guarantee if Sousa can go 2-0 in the states for CFFC he'll either get on the contender series this season or sign straight to the UFC.

Unified MMA 45 | Canada | Friday

Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz
Middleweight  
10-1
32-years-old  
2-fight win streak

Even since losing on the contender series which is a fight he should've got the nod he's won his last two. Which those two wins he's won by vicious knockouts. Early footage on Ksiazkiewicz I was more impressed with his ground game. He's a jiu-jitsu black belt with good control and finishing ability. Lately, on the feet, Ksiazkiewicz has put his hands together well. He has good long punches using his reach and has some real power when he connects. He is already 32 so he can't afford a loss. Ksiazkiewicz fights Eli Aronov (5-0) who I'm not impressed with.

KSW 70 | Poland | Friday

Rafał Kijańczuk
Light-heavyweight   
11-4
29-years-old   
3-fight win streak

Kijańczuk is someone that was on my radar in 2019 but a pair of consecutive losses set him back pretty far. Now, he's riding a three-fight win streak looking like his old form. Kijanczuk is a legit finisher with ten finishes and six finished under a minute. He’s very athletic and has very good footwork as he cuts angles and explodes in very well. He hits like a truck and has shown pretty solid cardio as well. Kijańczuk fights Ivan Erslan (11-1).

Ivan Erslan
Light-heavyweight
11-1
30-years-old
2-fight win streak

On the feet, Erslan is dangerous with the power in his hands. Where at times he can swing wild he does throw a good jab and settles down more. Erslan hasn’t wrestled lately but is more of a threat on the mat. His ground and pound is by far his best weapon — it’s a fight changer. He is a good prospect but the question of what's his ceiling is still in the air. He fights Rafael Kijanczuk (11-4). This is a fight where I think the winner will go on to do bigger things and the loser will be forgotten about.

Damian Piwowarczyk
Light-heavyweight
11-1
30-years-old
2-fight win streak

Piwowarczyk is an interesting young man, standing tall at six-foot-six. Obviously, his size is the first thing that stands out. Talent-wise, he’s still young, has a good frame, and has shown vast improvements with each fight. Even though on paper he’s a distance striker, he likes to explode forward with short punches and likes to throw the flying knee. He’s perfectly fine closing the distance because in the clinch he’s very comfortable. Using front chokes to get out of a bad position is something he does well. Sometimes being so comfortable Piwowarczyk will pull guard to attack the guillotine or a triangle. Some questions do need to be answered though. It’s unknown how his wrestling is and how he responds after facing some real adversity. He fights Bartosz Leśko (11-2-2) who is a good test.

Cage Warriors 137 | UK | Friday

Adam Cullen
Lightweight
4-0
24-years-old
6-fight win streak

Cullen has looked stellar so far in his pro career. Last fight he smoked a dude in under a minute who was talking a ton of trash. He’s won all four of his fights in the first round; three by the way of an RNC and another by knockout. Cullen is aggressive out of the gate with pressure. He has some pop behind his left hand but expect him to shoot. The wrestling has looked solid being able to readjust when needed. Cullen on top will posture up and give space and let his opponent make his move. As soon as they do Cullen easily takes the back and finds the RNC super quickly. Cullen fights Arnaud Kherfallah (5-2) which is a set-up fight for Cullen.

Combate Global | US | Friday

David Martinez
Bantamweight
6-1
23-years-old
3-fight win streak

Martinez is solely a striker/kickboxer with very little of his cage time spent on the mat grappling. "Black Spartan" has finished three fights in under two minutes. If he doesn't finish the fight in that time frame he's finished two fights in the second round. He's also gone the distance twice. That being said, Martinez has the endurance to go three rounds and with the same pace throughout. More of my in-depth piece on Martinez you can find here. He fights Arturo Vergara (2-0)

Demo Fight 13 | Brazil | Friday

Darlan Ferreira
Featherweight  
8-1  
26-years-old  
8-fight win streak

The Brazilian is all action once the bell rings. He throws a lot of kicks up the middle, goes to the legs, to the head, and will throw a lot of flashy kicks. He fights long throwing a lot of straight punches and throwing different patterns of combinations. Ferreira stays busy and is always the one that tends to set the pace. He will motion his opponent to come forward and then blast them with a knee. The knee being his best weapon whether that's stepping in with it, from the muay thai clinch, or launching through the air. He's exciting, always brings it, high-paced, violent finisher, and awesome personality. Ferreira fights Manuel Exposito (5-0).

Eternal MMA 66 | Sunday | Australia

Jack Becker
Lightweight
10-2
29-years-old
3-fight win streak

Becker is a jiu-jitsu specialist that was even an ADCC trials medallist. Becker is all pressure using striking to close the distance to work takedowns. To complement his ground game Becker is a solid wrestler. When you see Becker on his back he quickly goes into offensive mode or quickly gets back to his feet. When it’s Becker on top he’s lockdown with impressive control. With control, when the opening is there Becker will transition to better positions. He’s position over submission and he still has five submission wins. All five of Becker’s submissions come from different submissions as well. He fights Aidan Aguilera (8-5).

Jarrett Wilbraham
Bantamweight
5-0
28-years-old
5-fight win streak

Wilbraham can striker, kickbox, wrestle and grapple. Wilbraham on the feet fights at a high pace. He's busy unloading with straight punches and kicks from both sides. He's become more composed and everything he throws just blends perfectly together in the flow. What he brings to the table on the feet makes his opponents close the distance to get the takedown. It turns out they are the ones getting taken down. Then it's them getting their head smashed in from Wilbraham. Wilbraham uses trips for the takedowns from the clinch. He's good at shifting his hips on the way down to assure he gets the top position. The footage does lack on Wilbraham but he's really impressive to me. He fights Cody Haddon (5-0).

Brazilian Fighting Series 10 | Brazil | Sunday

Jair Leonel
Bantamweight
10-2
22-years-old
5-fight win streak

Crazy enough Leonel is six foot and usually competes at flyweight. He is moving up to 135 for this fight. Leonel is a jiu-jitsu guy and a damn good one at that. So comfortable he's very willing to fight off his back. Being so long it's basically a cheat code for the young man. His legs are so long and so are his arms so he can throw up submissions easier than most. You mix the length with the excellent BJJ knowledge that's a massive threat. On the feet he just spams a lot of head kicks not fearing being taken down. There is concerns there but he's gonna be a tough one to be figured out. He fights Tayron Pedro (9-4) who was submitted last fight.

Felipe dos Santos
Flyweight
5-0, 1 NC
21-years-old
5-fight win streak

Santos is a product out of Chute Boxe Diego Lima. He's a young 125er that is very talented. He's an athletic explosive striker on the feet. A high-velocity fighter that frequently presses the pace. Santos is an even better grappler even if that's off his back. He's a submission threat in all areas attack the neck and the limbs. There still needs a lot to be shown but he's very talented and at 125 that's even more exciting. Santos fights Rafael Montouro (5-2) who is a decent test.