Best Bantamweights This Week (Patreon)

I'm very high on the 21-year-old Austin Bashi (7-0). I will state the obvious his footage does lack so it would be nice if these promotions got with the times. His wrestling is his bread and butter. He can put his wrestling on his opponents all fight long, going three rounds three times. He stays all over his opponents with fluid grappling and a strong base. The wrestling is top-notch and he has solid cardio. Bashi is already so good now he's gonna be great in the future. This will be for the Lights Out Championship 135-pound title.

Hunter Starner (1-0) is still early in his pro career but I've been scouting him since he was an amateur. As an amateur, Starner was 7-0 and won three regional titles. He came to MMA with a wrestling background. He wrestled in high school and throughout college from 2015 to 1019. He was a D1 wrestler for the Virginia Military Institute. Starner is an excellent wrestler and it’s going to take a darn good fighter to fend him off. In all facets, he’s a solid all-around wrestler. Starner is good at letting guys come forward and use their momentum to take them down. He’s got a good single leg, and double leg at space, good at catching kicks, and has outstanding chain wrestling. Even as impressive as his wrestling has been, Starner is also a skillful grappler. His positional grappling has looked outstanding. Being able to methodically set up each move/pass is a fantastic feat.

Brazil's Kauã Fernandes (5-0) is unbeaten in MMA, has a background in Muay Thai, and is a BJJ black belt as well. He’s based out of Rio de Janeiro and trains out of the well-known Nova Uniao. Fernandes is a BJJ guy as three of his wins come by submission. Don’t sleep on his stand-up because he will put you to sleep. Fernandes uses good length and snips on the outside with his kicks and punches. He uses a lot of feints and everything he does is sought out. His striking is that good and his ground game is his bread and butter.

Speaking of footage lacking Mateus Soares (3-0) does lack it. From what I've heard and seen there is a lot of potential. Soares is a small compact powerful explosive guy. He throws heavy punches and at any point can launch in the air with something explosive. Soares seems to be most dangerous on the feet with his power and speed but has shown to be able to stop the fight on the mat as well. More needs to be seen but I have a good feeling about him.

One of Georgia's best underrated fighters in Zuriko Jojua (8-1). The striking isn't great as it's a lot of looping and single strikes. He does throw a lot and mixes up his attack to be fair. What he does best is smothering guys with mainly forward pressure and wrestling. His relentless wrestling attack has no doubt broke guys en-route to a decision or finish. Jouja actively hunts for the finish when on top frequently attacked the neck and arm and ground and pound.