Just a few guys that I see being the future of their respective division. I plan on doing this for the other major weight classes as well.
Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm: 14-0
Beerbohm started his career after a stint in prison for drug related charges. Since going pro he has won all 14 of his fights with 12 of those wins coming via stoppage. His biggest wins have come against UFC vets Rafaello Oliveira and Duane Ludwig (a win via bulldog choke that he predicted) as well as Victor Ribeiro. Beerbohm currently fights for Strikeforce and could be one win away from challenging for the promotion's lightweight title. After watching his beatdown of Josh Martin, it became apparent to be that Beerbohm is going to be a handful, even against Strikeforce's elite. With Josh Thomson's recent win, he has made a case for a 3rd match with current champ Gilbert Melendez. I'd like to see a fight set up between Beerbohm and Thomson to see who gets the next shot, but with the strange booking that has become routine with Strikeforce, who knows what direction the promotion will head in.
Evan Dunham: 11-0
I had the opportunity to see Dunham fight in person back in January when he faced Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 20. After a back and forth fight Dunham finished the fight with a Dustin Hazelett style armbar in the 3rd round. I had seen Dunham fight once before when he knocked out Per Eklund, but I had no idea how truly talented he was. Since joining the UFC Dunham has the wins over Eklund and Escudero as well as wins over Tyson Griffin and Marcus Aurelio. In all of the fights that I have seen, Dunham has shown strong takedowns to go along with striking that continues to get better. Dunham's next fight will be against former UFC champ Sean Sherk, and if Dunham should win he'll be able to start making some noise for a title shot.
George Sotiropoulos: 13-2
George is probably one of my current favorites in all of MMA, so forgive me if I sound a little biased. George is another guy I had the opportunity to see fight in person at UFC 101 when he submitted George Roop via kimura in a dominating performance. Since then Sotiropoulos has a submission win over Jason Dent as well as one-sided decision wins over Joe Stevenson and Kurt Pellegrino. What I really like about Sotiropoulos is that despite his being a guy that was primarily known for his BJJ (and one of the few people I've seen implement the rubber guard correctly), his boxing continues to improve. As with Dunham, after one more big win, Sotiropoulos could start making arguments for a title shot.
I am willing to bet that Nate Diaz will make it back to 155 within the next couple of years. He is only 25 now and after subbing Davis he will probably be slated to fight one of 170's wrestlers. This could lead him back down to the division where he has the longer reach and size advantage.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt Nate will end up back at 155 due to the fact that he wants to jump around. That being said I don't think he's going to be much more than an upper level gatekeeper in either division. I don't think he needs to face a wrestler at 170 to send him back down considering Joe Daddy muscled him at 155. Oh yea, don't go sleepin on my boy Marcus Davis.
ReplyDeleteI would not say Ben Henderson is an "up an comer" but I definitely think if he got thrown into the UFC he would do well and the level up in competition would propel his skills.
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