The MMA Prospectus: Paige VanZant & A.J. McKee Jr.
It’s a bit of a strange week for MMA talent. The UFC’s most notable young prospect on display this Saturday will be PaigeVanzant, and while Alessio DiChirico and Kyle Bochniak have a chance to stand out and make a name for themselves, there’s not many other young athletes to get hyped about. Over in Bellator, […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC 202 and Russia is back!
With Ramadan now firmly in the rear view mirror, Russian MMA is back in season. So this week we’re looking at ACB 43 and Plotforma 70 alongside, of course, UFC 202. The UFC’s still got a hold of the two best young talents in MMA this weekend, as Cody Garbrandt and Colby Covington prepare to […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC Salt Lake – Yair, Ishihara, Gigliotti and more
Regional MMA has been at a near stand still for the past couple months. Some of the big hitters have still been out putting on shows, but what was (over the first few months of the year) somewhere between 60-75 events a week has been trending more toward 30-45 in June and July. But that […]
The MMA Prospectus: Namajunas, Grasso, Hawes & UFC 201
We’re back with another episode of Bloody Elbow’s scouting show, the MMA Prospectus. And this week we’re looking at a number of top flight prospects spread out over a number of promotions. In the UFC we’ve got Rose Namajunas (and Justin Scoggins who isn’t fighting). Over in Invicta Alexa Grasso, Jodie Esquibel, and Aspen Ladd […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC on Fox 20 Ngannou, Usman & Caldwell too
We’re alive… Really and truly. After a couple of off weeks to deal with family stuff the MMA Prospctus has returned. Since we’ve missed a bit, this week we’re looking back over the last four UFC events for the highlight prospect performances. Fighters like Doo Ho Choi, Gilbert Burns, and Lando Vannata all got a […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC 200 event week – Brooks, Choi, & Northcutt
There’s almost no MMA going on this week. Not just in the US, but worldwide. It is the definition of a dead fight week. So, what else is there for us over at the MMA Prospectus to do than focus on next week and the triple-header of UFC events featuring some of the best up […]
The MMA Prospectus: MacDonald, Jotko, UFC Ottawa fallout and more
The MMA Prospectus is here for some non-event week coverage of regional MMA. And, since it is a lighter week for potential talent, we’re focusing a lot on the fallout of UFC Ottawa, most notably the sense of potential doom and gloom surrounding Rory MacDonald’s next loss. Is he forever going to fall short of […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC Ottawa, EFN, Bellator, WSOF and more
It just so happened that we decided to put on our show immediately after Fedor Emelianenko almost got beat (and maybe did get beat) by Fabio Maldonado. Maldonado nearly KO’d the GOAT, and while he pretty clearly lost at least one round of the fight, generally made himself very competitive in a bout that most […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC 199 fallout & Regional fights
It’s a dead week for MMA. Honest to god, there’s just not much going on beyond a solid Titan FC card featuring top featherweight prospect Andre Harrison. So, we’re spending a lot of our time looking back at UFC 199 and Max Holloway and Jessica Andrade, who both put on standout performances. We’re also scanning […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC Vegas fallout, 199, & losing
UFC 199 may not be the most prospect heavy card in UFC history, but it’s got some interesting names and fighters to examine. The most important matchup of the night being a welterweight battle between Tom Breese and Sean Strickland. Both men are big, powerful, young rising fighters at 170 lbs. It should make for […]
The MMA Prospectus: Garbrandt vs. Almeida & other UFC BWs
It’s a great week for potential UFC talent and most particularly the bantamweight division. Cody Garbrandt, Thomas Almeida, and Aljamain Sterling are all in action and all have the look of potential future title contenders. So, we’re taking this chance to really dive into the division structure and why so many of the bright young […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC 198 fallout, HW MMA, this week in prospects
There’s no UFC this week, but after UFC 198, there hardly needs to be. Stipe Miocic is champ and rarely for the 206+ lb division, he’s hitting his stride at just exactly the normal point for prospect development. So that means it’s time to take a look at heavyweight, why that’s so rare, and why […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC 198, BAMMA, Cage & more
It’s another stacked week for developing MMA talent. UFC 198 features some big names on the rise, most importantly wit Warlley Alves, Renato Moicano, and Zubaira Tukhugov. We’ve also got a BAMMA show chock full of top talent, including Tom Duquesnoy, Marc Diakiese, and Walter Gahadza. Throw in some Cage MMA from Finland, a Bellator […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC Rotterdam & recap
We’ve missed a couple weeks, which means there’s plenty of catching up to do this time around on the MMA Prospectus. This week, outside the UFC isn’t exactly bustling with prospects, but last week was flooded with them. Of course we’re talking Albert Tumenov, Kyoji Horiguchi, and Chris Wade (among others) on this weekend’s UFC […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC 197 – The Cejudo & Yair show
We’re back for another round of the MMA Prospectus the sportiest (maybe) MMA talking head show in MMA talking head shows. All we’re interested in is new, fresh UFC talent, and potential future UFC fighters out on the regional scene. Oh and some Bellator guys too, but when it comes to talent acquisition, the UFC […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC Croatia & ALL THE PROSPECTS!
We’ve got a UFC card to talk about again, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that the MMA Prospectus can really sink its teeth into. There’s tons of fighters to talk about, top to bottom on this UFC Croatia offering, especially in the heavyweight ranks with Derek Lewis, Curtis Blaydes, Francis Ngannou, and Marcin […]
The MMA Prospectus: Regional roundup & what’s up with Russia?
The MMA world is in a bit of a dry spell right now, which means the MMA Prospectus is diving deep into the regional MMA scene to try and find some of the best rising talent fighting in MMA over the next few days. This week we’re highlighting Raufeon Stots, Michael Tobin, Sam Creasey, and […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC Brisbane fallout
It’s as close to a non-fight week as MMA gets. No UFC, no Bellator, no WSOF, no RFA, or ROC, or just about anything else. We’ve got a Jungle Fight card and a Legacy FC card and those represent the bulk of the prospects on display this week. So, it’s gonna be a short show. […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC Brisbane, Brazil & Poland talent
Even with a UFC event this week, it’s not a big week for UFC prospects. Jake Matthews and Antonio Carlos Junior are about the only young fighters really worth paying attention to on a card that is otherwise geared especially toward regional talent (and watching them get beat up). So, we’re back looking at the […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC 196 aftermath & more regional standouts
It’s a non-UFC week, which means some heavy regional scouting on our end. We’re talking the fallout from last week’s UFC 196 and a run of top tier regional cards, including Titan FC, Ring of Combat, RFA, and of course Bellator 151. And then we’re diving back into the sticks for a good look at […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC shmu-fc, the prospects are everywhere else
It’s a huge week for MMA prospects, and almost none of them are coming from UFC 196. McGregor vs. Diaz is a huge fight card with two great bouts at the top of it, but most of it is filled with longtime veteran talent. The young guns are all firing away on the regionals this […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC London and Bamma 24
The UFC has been running some prospect heavy shows lately and none moreso than their upcoming London trip. Between Tom Breese, Makwan Amirkhani, and Arnold Allen, they’ve got three bright rising stars and a lot of other solid talent. We’ll also be taking a brief check by Bellator 150 (there’s not much there) and moving […]
The MMA Prospectus: Week in review
It’s an off week for MMA, but that’s why the MMA prospectus is here. We’re talking about all the other stuff that goes on outside the big fights in the world of combat sports, most importantly those fighters on their way up in the world. First and foremost this episode, we’re looking back at UFC […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC Vegas, Fox 18 standouts, and regional expectations
The MMA Prospectus is once again invading your internet space to talk all things new and fresh in the MMA world. It ‘s a huge week for prospects this time around, with tons of fallout from the UFC on Fox 18 card that saw Sage Northcutt take his first career loss. In other news, Carlos […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC on Fox 18 & more LWs
The MMA Prospectus is back again after a week of non-scouting due to me being tired. We’re here once more to look at the ins and outs of fighters on the rise, including looks back at the top performers of UFC Boston (that means you Luke Sanders and Chris Wade), and WSOF 27 (Shout out […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC Boston & LW scouting
It’s UFC fight week again, with a fun fight night card in Boston, overflowing with new talent, a lot of it coming in on short notice. Joey Gomez, Augusto Mendes, and Luke Sanders are all solid young talent coming in on short notice, not to mention more established vets like Mehdi Baghdad and Elvis Mutapcic. […]
The MMA Prospectus: UFC 195, RIZIN, and more
December was a big month for prospects… Unfortunately, due to holiday stuff (like families or whatever) the MMA Prospectus was on a bit of a hiatus for most of it. But we’re back now to review the last month of action and the young fighters that really stood out. The 2015 RIZIN Grand Prix was […]
The MMA Prospectus – UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor and more edition
The MMA prospectus is back to focus on yet another UFC show with some great young talent to focus on as UFC 194 approaches. Weirdly, the 38 year old Yoel Romero is still a fighter on the rise, and has shown improvement each and every time out. Max Holloway may already be a top 10 […]
Greg Jackson on top MW prospect Phil Hawes: ‘The kid’s going to be good’
A few months back now, the 2015 Bloody Elbow scouting report highlighted one of the world’s top middleweight prospects, Phil Hawes. In fact, he took the no. 1 spot on our list, just edging out Chechen Rahman Dzhanaev. At the time he had just moved to the Blackzilians camp and it sounded like he was looking to […]
The MMA Prospectus: Bellator 147, M-1, and prep for UFC hell week
The MMA Prospectus is back and thankful for a reasonably dead week in MMA events, so that we could get a bit of a jump on next week’s hellish UFC schedule. We’re covering Bellator 147 a bit this week, just to get a look at headliner Pablo Villaseca and jumping over to M-1 Global to […]