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MOORE: Breaking down the state of European fighters in the UFC (Part Five - Lightweight)
Jul 23, 2015 - 10:05:52 AM MOORE: Breaking down the state of European fighters in the UFC (Part Five - Lightweight)

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By: Dan Moore, MMATorch UK Columnist

A couple of years ago I wrote a series of articles for MMATorch covering every single European fighter on the UFC roster. As we know only too well, a lot can change in the MMA landscape, and it certainly has as far as who's still on the roster, and who isn't. Over the next few weeks I will take a look at who's on the roster in 2015 (division by division), and report on how they're all doing. I will also attempt to predict what outside talent may join them in the next year or two. This week I take a look at the UFC lightweight division (Check out part one with the heavyweight division here, part two with the light heavyweight division here, part three with the middleweight division here, and part four with the welterweight division here).

CONTENDERS

There's one European in this division who stands tall among the rest, and that is Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC). If not for injuries he might already be the Lightweight Champion. He's that good. His last win, in April of last year, came against Rafael dos Anjos (UFC on Fox 11), the same man he needs to beat to win the title. His grappling style is relentless, and if he continues to improve his stand-up, Nurmagomedov could be champion before he even hits his physical prime.


VETERANS

I have classed Reza Madadi (13-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) as a veteran because he first fought for the UFC over three-years ago. His recent release from the organisation wasn't performance related, but because he felt like taking some time off in prison. Madadi is a huge fan favourite in Sweden and his win over Michael Johnson (UFC on Fuel TV 9) was an excellent back-and-forth encounter that I was lucky enough to see live in person.

Another man I've seen fight many times in person is Ross Pearson (17-9 1 NC MMA, 9-6 1 NC UFC). Very rarely is he involved in a dull and boring fight, but his lack of grappling ability has really cost him dear, none more so than in his loss to Evan Dunham (UFC Fight Night 72) last weekend. Pearson will be a tough fight for anyone in the division due to his excellent stand-up skills, but sadly he's a million miles away from ever being a contender at this level.


ESTABLISHED

In typical German fashion, Nick Hein (12-2 1 NC MMA, 2-1 UFC) proved himself to be very effective and efficient in his last fight. His bounce back win over Lukasz Sajewski was dominating, if not unspectacular, but it's getting the win that counts. His loss to solid prospect James Vick (UFC Fight Night 57) proved he still has plenty of work to do, but it appears he is moving in the right direction.

One man definitely moving in the right direction is Russian, Mairbek Taisumov (24-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) who has now reeled off three consecutive wins since his loss to Michel Prazeres (UFC Fight Night 39). Granted, from his wins, only Alan Patrick (UFC Fight Night 69) can be considered a really tricky opponent, but Taisumov is starting to make a name for himself and continues to get better and better.

A fellow Russian who was very highly touted is Rustam Khabilov (17-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC). Like Taisumov has, he reeled off three consecutive wins, against even better opposition. The last of those against Jorge Masvidal earned him a rankings spot, and, a big main event fight against former champion, Benson Henderson (UFC Fight Night 42). Then it all went south. Henderson beat him as expected, but so to did Adriano Martins (UFC Fight Night 31). For now the bubble has well and truly burst.

One man hovering under the radar is Rashid Magomedov (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC). His three wins over Tony Martin (UFC 169), Rodrigo Damm (TUF Brazil 3 Finale), and Elias Silverio (UFC Fight Night 58) were all solid, as was his win over Alexander Yakovlev (22-6-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) when they fought in M-1. Magomedov deserves a bigger test when he returns to action after his current injury woes. As for Yakovlev, he looked much better as a lightweight against Gray Maynard. His welterweight win over Paul Daley earned him a UFC debut fight against Damian Maia, but it was too much, too soon in the wrong weight class.

Norman Parke (20-4-1 MMA, 4-2-1 UFC) began his UFC run like a bull in a china shop, but the wheels have started to fall off recently. After winning TUF Smashes, the man from Northern Ireland reeled off three good wins with a draw to Leonardo Santos (UFC Fight Night 39) sandwiched in between. A scheduled fight with Diego Sanchez in Mexico never materialised, and that was followed with consecutive losses to two tough Brazilians in Gleison Tibau (UFC Fight Night 59) and Francisco Trinaldo (UFC Fight Night 67).


NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Both Joseph Duffy (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Steven Ray (18-5 MMA, 2-0 UFC) have won their first two respective fights in the UFC since signing earlier this year. Duffy is most famous for being the last man to defeat fellow Irishman Conor McGregor, and his recent performances have shown us that he's got the potential to cause plenty more upsets in the future. Former Cage Warriors champion Ray looked very good in his first fight against the recently released Marcin Bandel (UFC Fight Night 64), but he looked even better in his win over Leonardo Mafra (UFC Fight Night 72) last weekend. Big things are now expected from both of them.

Neither Mickael Lebout (14-4-1 1 NC MMA, 1-1 UFC) or Teemu Packalen (7-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) covered themselves in glory when fighting each other at UFC Fight Night 72 last weekend. It wasn't a horrible fight, but it certainly wasn't great either. It further highlighted the fact you don't need to be particularly good to earn a shot in the UFC these days. I'll cut Packalen some slack because he took this fight on very short notice. Despite his win, Frenchman Lebout must rapidly improve if he wants to stay in the big leagues.

I knew Islam Makhachev (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was good, but I didn't expect him to be that good. Leo Kuntz isn't too well known but he's a talented prospect, yet Makhachev dispatched him with relative ease at UFC 187 a few months ago. Tougher tests will surely follow but he's certainly one to keep an eye on. Same rule applies to Magomedov Mustafaev (12-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who in his debut handily defeated Piotr Hallman in Berlin, Germany (UFC Fight Night 69). I look forward to seeing both of them fight again soon.


HEADING FOR THE EXIT

After a good start, Piotr Hallmann (15-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) is walking a fine line. Consecutive losses to Gleison Tibau (UFC Fight Night 51) and Magomedov Mustafaev (UFC Fight Night 69) sandwiched in between a failed drug test has taken completely taken the gloss off of his impressive debut win against Francisco Trinaldo in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (UFC Fight Night 28).

No one needs a win more than Anthony Christodoulou (12-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) ahead of his fight with debutant Scott Holtzman at UFC Fight Night 73 next month. The very first Greek fighter in the UFC looked so far out of his depth against Mairbek Taisumov (UFC on Fox 14) in Sweden. I even ended up feeling really sorry for him. It was horrible to watch until Taisumov took pity on him and knocked him out early in the second round.

Polish star, Lukasz Sajewski (13-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is another man who didn't look very impressive in his UFC debut, losing comfortably to the aforementioned Nick Hein. Sajewski has been on the books for a while but his debut took longer that expected. That loss was his first professional defeat and it automatically puts him only a win away from being cut if he doesn't impress soon.


ON THE RADAR

Pretty much all of the best European lightweights already compete in the UFC, but one man who doesn't is Marcin Held (21-3 MMA). Since a fairly early career loss to Lukasz Sajewski, the current Bellator star has only lost twice (Dave Jensen and Michael Chandler). He's had a very successful career in Bellator thus far though, so it's unlikely we'll see him in the UFC anytime soon. Held beat a highly-touted Russian earlier this year in Alexander Sarnavskiy (30-3 MMA) and he's another man with Bellator who would be a good signing for the UFC.

I'm not sure the rest of the UFC roster really wants to see any more dominating Russians in their division, but both Eduard Vartanyan (11-1 MMA) and Ramazan Esenbaev (8-1 MMA) may very well be next. Vartanyan lost his MMA debut fight but it has been win after win ever since. He fights for ACB and could easily be signed in the very near future. Esenbaev is very much untested, but the potential is there if he can reel off a few more good wins over respectable opposition.

Frenchman Mansour Barnaoui (12-2 MMA) is a very young rising prospect who's only two defeats have come against rising UFC stars in Kevin Lee and Islam Makhachev. He's also easily beaten former UFC talent in Colin Fletcher and Curt Warburton whilst part of the BAMMA organisation.

KSW lightweight contender Mateusz Gamrot (9-0 MMA) is another young prospect probably on the UFC's radar. His biggest win came against Andre Winner two-years ago, but a few more like that and his time will come.

Next week I'll cover the Featherweight division.

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