THE FUTURE OF MMA – THE TOP 10 FIGHTERS AGED UNDER 25
BY Derek Bolender
ifight365.com
Thursday August 20, 2009
The sport of mixed martial arts is in good hands.
With thousands of new gyms sprouting up all over the world due to
the surge in the sport’s popularity, and kids honing their skills
younger and younger, there should be no shortage of talent in the
pipeline for many years to come.
People of all ages are chomping at the bit to participate in the
sport. However, a very small percentage of these individuals
will eventually make an impact as a professional fighter in a
major organization. An even smaller few may even have superstar
potential–the ability to challenge for a belt, draw a crowd, and
have his name ring out around the world.
Currently, a crop of megastars led by Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson
Silva, and Georges St. Pierre are carrying the torch, but in time
they will leave the sport on top or gradually slide back down the
ladder to make room for others.
The revolving facade on the Mount Rushmore of MMA will once again
have to be filled.
As the MMA gods look down into their crystal ball and peer into the
future, what do they see? A list of new names and faces trickling out
of the proverbial woodwork who, collectively, are a group of young
and hungry potential stars-in-the-making.
"Generation Next" is a group of talented fighters who are currently
under the age of 25.
Some of the names may be more recognizable than others and they have
had varying degrees of success so far in their brief careers.
One thing they all have in common is that they will be instrumental
in writing the next chapter in the evolution of MMA.
Without further ado, here are the top 10 fighters under the age of 25:
1) Gegard Mousasi–24 years old–Strikeforce/DREAM –(26-2-1) At the
ripe age of 24 this mild-mannered Dutch-Armenian fighter has already
cemented himself as one of the top MMA fighters in the world today.
This teammate and striking coach of Fedor Emelianenko at Red Devil
Sport Club is coming off an impressive and dominating performance
against Renato "Babalu" Sobral in which he recorded a first round
TKO to become the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion.
"The Dreamcatcher" really stormed onto the scene in impressive
fashion in 2008 when he captured the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix
Championship in Japan. He defeated Korean judo specialist Dong Sik
Yoon, Dutch kickboxer and muay thai wrecking machine Melvin Manhoef,
and jiu-jitsu world champion Ronaldo Souza consecutively to capture
the title. To cap off the year he defeated former world heavyweight
muay thai champion and K-1 World GP finalist Musashi via first round
TKO fighting under K-1 rules. Cumulatively he was 6-0 in MMA and 1-0
in K-1 in a single calendar year against some of the best competition
in the world.
"The Dreamcatcher" is next scheduled to fight Rameau Thierry
Sokoudjou at DREAM 11 on October 6 in the semifinals of the Super
Hulk tournament. Mousasi continues to make the slow transition from
middleweight to his eventual final pit stop at heavyweight, where he
eventually would like to follow in Fedor’s footsteps. Their mutual
Red Devil Sport Club teammate Kirill Sidelnikov may already stake
his claim to the "Baby Fedor" nickname, however, it may be more
appropriate for Mousasi.
2) Jon Jones–22 years old–UFC–(9-0) Jones burst onto the scene on
the undercard of UFC 94 and took it to UFC veteran Stephan Bonnar
displaying a wealth of striking and wrestling talent. He followed
that up with another impressive performance against Jake O’Brien at
UFC 100, which saw him win via submission in the second round and run
his undefeated record to 9 – 0 overall in his relatively brief career.
With a deep 205 pound division sitting in front of him the UFC is
slowly feeding him opponents so he continues to master his craft and
build up a fan base.
"Bones" may not be a household name yet but someday he could be
mentioned in the same breath as the elite fighters in the UFC. It
appears to be only a matter of time for a guy who has this much raw
talent and natural ability.
3) Jose Aldo–22 years old–WEC–(15-1) Quick, explosive, powerful,
and hungry; these are all adjectives to describe this up-and-coming
Brazilian superstar. This Nova Uniao product is a handful to deal
with for any featherweight in the WEC. His highlight reel flying knee
knockout of Cub Swanson just eight seconds into the fight was enough
to convince the WEC management to grant him his first title shot. The
win ran his WEC record to 5-0 with all victories coming by way of KO
or TKO.
He will now take on current featherweight champion Mike Brown in
November in what is the opportunity of a lifetime and the toughest
test in his relatively brief MMA career.
4) Jamie Varner–24 years old–WEC–(16-2, 2 no contests) This Arizona
native is the current WEC lightweight champion. After losing his UFC
debut at UFC 62 via submission to Hermes Franca back in 2006 he made
the move to the WEC and it has been his best career move to date. Since
joining he has gone 4-0 including victories over Rob McCullough
(to win the title) and Donald Cerrone (his first title defense).
The Cerrone fight, which won both men Fight of the Night honors, was
stopped by the referee in the fifth round because of an unintentional
knee strike from Cerrone. Varner ended up winning on the scorecards but
came away with blurred vision, a broken foot, and a broken hand. While
Varner recovers, the WEC has put together an interim lightweight
title match between the aforementioned Cerrone and Ben Henderson,
which will take place at WEC 43.
5) Dustin Hazelett–23 years old–UFC–(12-4) Hazelett, like Varner,
has seen his ascension halted by an unfortunate injury he sustained
in his preparations for his UFC 96 matchup with Ben Saunders. This
Jorge Gurgel-trained jiu-jitsu black belt had accumulated a 5-2 UFC
record up to that point including submission victories over Jonathan
Goulet, Josh Burkman, and Tamdan McCrory.
His standup is still very raw, which was evident in his overwhelming
loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 82. His ground game, on the other hand,
is world class. Nine of his 12 career victories are via submission. At
just 23 years old he has plenty of time to develop into a more
well-rounded fighter.
Make no mistake about it, "McLovin" remains a top tier UFC welterweight
and a tough matchup for anyone in the division even at this early
stage in his career.
6) Nate Diaz–24 years old–UFC–(10-4) This Ultimate Fighter season
five winner is the younger half of the flying Diaz brothers. Both
have already made a name for themselves in the sport and continue to
improve with each passing fight. They are still honing their skills
under the tutelage of Cesar Gracie in California alongside fellow
"Scrap Pack" members Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez.
Nate is as dangerous as any UFC lightweight on the ground having
registered seven of his 10 victories via submission. He stormed
onto the UFC scene winning five fights in a row. But he certainly
has struggled of late losing back-to-back fights against top flight
lightweights Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson.
He will look to get back into the win column when he headlines UFC
Fight Night 19 on Sep. 16 against Melvin Guillard.
7) Dominick Cruz–24 years old–WEC–(14-1) Cruz is coming off a
dominating performance over previously unbeaten Joseph Benavidez at
WEC 42. At this point Cruz has probably done enough to earn a title
shot against newly crowned bantamweight champion Brian Bowles. The
problem, however, is that Bowles is rumored to be out until 2010 due
to a broken hand he sustained in his victory over longtime champion
Miguel Torres at WEC 42.
He could conceivably wait it out or fight once in the
interim. Nevertheless, his victory over Benavidez went a long way in
proving to the world he is a championship-level fighter.
At 135 pounds he is extremely tall and skinny, and uses his long reach
to his advantage. He’s a tough matchup for anyone in the division
because of his physical attributes and his well-rounded skill set.
8 ) Joe Soto–22 years old–Bellator FC–(7-0) Soto has gone from
relative unknown to champion over the past few months. "The Hammer"
defeated Ben Greer, former EliteXC bantamweight champion Wilson Reis,
and Yahir Reyes consecutively to lay claim to the first ever Bellator
FC featherweight tournament championship.
This former Iowa Central Community College teammate of UFC fighters
Jon Jones and Cain Velasquez has transformed himself from a pure
wrestler to a well-rounded mixed martial artist in a very short period
of time. Look for him to only get better with each passing fight as
he progresses in his blossoming career.
9) Jorge Masvidal–24 years old–Bellator FC–(18-4) This American Top
Team product is known for his aggressive and above average striking
that is a staple of all ATT fighters including training partners WEC
featherweight champion Mike Brown, Thiago Alves, Sengoku middleweight
champion Jorge Santiago, Thiago Silva, Gesias Calvancante, etc…
"Gamebred" has notable career wins over Joe Lauzon, Yves Edwards,
and former IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz. However, he has had
mixed results so far since signing with Bellator FC. He was expected to
reach the finals and take on Eddie Alvarez in the inaugural lightweight
tournament. He defeated Nick Agallar via TKO in the first round of
the tournament but then suffered a disappointing loss to Toby Imada
in the semifinals.
He was on the receiving end of a highlight reel inverted triangle
choke from Imada that is arguably the best submission of the year
in 2009 to date. He quickly bounced back and submitted Eric Reynolds
via rear naked choke at Bellator 12 in June 2009.
Look for him to continue his winning ways some time in early 2010.
10) Rani Yahya–24 years old–WEC–(15-4) This former Abu Dhabi
submission grappling tournament world champion is a menace on the
ground where 14 of his 15 career wins are via submission. Yahya is
currently trying to round out his game at The Arena MMA in San Diego,
California alongside Diego Sanchez and Xande Ribeiro.
Since losing the WEC bantamweight championship in 2007 to Chase
Beebe he has rattled off three consecutive WEC victories and three
Submission of the Night awards as well.
He has once again begun knocking on the door for a potential crack
at the title against current champion Brian Bowles.
***Note: I did not include anyone that was 25 years old. Only
the true "Under 25â~@³ crowd (24 years old and under).***