10 Heavyweight prospects the UFC should sign - 2024
Additional heavyweights wanted
Happy New Year burley gang and sorry it’s been a while. Hope everyone is doing well.
As we all know the UFC’s heavyweight division is doing great but it could always get better. The heavyweight division is consistently one of the shallowest divisions with only around 40 active fighters at any one time. Compare this to lightweight which has over 90 signed fighters and you can see why Dana White’s always looking for new heavyweights. Luckily there’s a great crop of unsigned talent out there so I wanted to look at who I believe the UFC should sign right now.
A couple of things to note regarding this list. Firstly, although Bellator, The PFL and One Championship have a lot of top prospects it’s unlikely any of them will go to the UFC. This is because these promotions don’t want their rivals to pinch their best young talent. As a result I haven included fighters who are already signed to these promotions unless there’s a good chance they could move. I’ve looked mainly at fighters from second-tier promotions who are more likely to be signed by the UFC.
Secondly, prospects, by definition, carries an implication that these are young up-and-coming fighters. Heavyweights have a higher age ceiling then in most divisions but realistically if someone’s over the age of 35 I’m not considering them as a prospect. Exceptions would be made if there were any over 35 guys that were Ngannou-level talents however this list is primarily for young guys who still have most of their careers ahead of them. Personally, I think 33 is probably the highest age for a fighter to still be considered a prospect and that would be pushing it in any other divsion to be honest. As a result youth was definitely taken into account when considering who to include but it’s not to say that there aren’t some tough older fighters out there who are just as good as these guys.
And with that out the way let’s have a look at our contenders:
Adam Palasz: 33 years old, 6’4, 245lbs, 9-2-0 (W-L-D)
Dajčman vs. Pałasz | OKTAGON 37
I’ve been flying the flag for Palasz pretty hard this last year so I don’t know how much more there is to say that hasn’t been said. Palasz is a tall, lean, well-rounded heavyweight whose been fighting and mainly winning against good competition for years. I think he could easily hold his own and/or beat most of the unranked guys in the UFC right now and has top 15 potential.
Palasz fights for Oktagon, who are the organisation Martin Buday was formerly the heavyweight champion of, so there’s a pathway to the UFC there. Palasz is coming off a win against tough veteran, Sofiane Boukichou and is fighting another solid test in Stuart Austin in January. If Palasz beats Austin lets hope he gets a UFC call up before he ages out of consideration.
Tsuyoshi Sudario: 26, 6’3 (likely 6’1), 260lbs, 8-2-0
Sudario already has experience fighting top opponents on the big stage despite being only 26. For all intents and purposes he is Rizin’s de-facto heavyweight champion.
In addition he has an awesome back story as a professional sumo wrestler who was kicked out for bad behaviour before pivoting to mma under the tutelage of former PRIDE veteran Enson Inoue.
Sudario has been fighting a good level of competition in RIZIN, including ex-UFC heavyweight Roque Martinez (pictured). It looks like Sudario has been in talks with Dana White so if he wins his fight against Mikio Ueda on new years eve 2023 expect the UFC to give him a call.
**EDIT** Sudario lost his fight against Ueda on RIZIN’s NYE card which is a bummer. However I’m still keeping him on the list as he’s a young guy who can get the call with a few wins.
Hugo Cunha: 30, 6’4, 258lbs, 8-1-0
Hugo Cunha has had a weird career. Back in 2021 he was scheduled to fight on Dana White’s Contender Series but ended up pulling out for unkown reasons. He then turned up fighting in One Championship in 2022 before dissapearing again for over a year.
He’s now re-appeared in the LFA, winning his first fight with them earlier this year before beating Eduardo Neves to become LFA’s heavyweight champion.
The big guy has a wrestling and Ju Jitsu background and has long been a sparring partner for Junior Dos Santos and other top brazilian heavyweights.
Despite a fairly long career Cunha is still only 30 years old and looked physically in the best shape I’ve seen him in his fight against Neves. Another guy who could stand out from the pack in the UFC.
Speaking of Eduardo Neves…
Eduardo Neves: 23, 6’2, 264lbs, 7-3-0
Neves has appeared on the Contender Series twice already and lost both times so you could argue the UFC has given him enough chances.
However, although he lost, his fight against Jhonata Diniz was easily the best heavyweight fight from the last season of the Contender Series and he’s got a lot to give.
Neves is ridiculously young, especially for a heavyweight, at only 23 years old and is fighting top competition. He reminds me of Tai Tuivasa or Justin Tafa in that he’s short (for a heavyweight) and stocky but has a natural striking instict and big power. In his fight defending the LFA heavyweight title against Hugo Cunha he looked a lot more solid and had trimmed the belly while putting on muscle.
Neves has been going at it pretty hard, fighting Cunha only 2 months after his knockout loss to Diniz. I’d like to see him take a bit of time to rest up and recover properly before getting back in the ring.
Neves isn’t a guy who would shoot up the rankings in the UFC but I could see him being a fan friendly brawler who’d have some exciting fights. Definitely a fun guy to have around and at such a young age who’s to say what his ceiling is?
Mario Pinto: 25, 6’4, 249lbs, 7-0-0
LFL MMA - Mario Pinto vs Bejamin Sehic
Keeping the youthful theme going we have Mario Pinto. Mario’s a Portugese fighter but is based in London (big up) under the coaching of UK veteran Stuart Austin (pictured on the right, the same Stuart Austin whose fighting Adam Palasz in January).
Mario is definitely one of those guys who could fight at either light heavyweight or heavyweight. However he’s had a lot of success at heavyweight becoming LFL MMA’s heavyweight champion and defending the belt against Benjamin Sehic in October. For a heavyweight Mario is fast and athletic but if he did move to the UFC he may need to put on a bit of extra bulk.
Mario’s defending the LFL belt against Kasim Arras, who was recently fighting for Bellator, in February.
If Mario wins the UFC should sign him outright as there isn;t another unsigned talent out there with as good a record or experience.
Brando Pericic: 29, 6’5, 260lbs, 1-0-0
I know what you’re thinking. Burley H this guy has 1 professional fight and you’re saying the UFC should sign him??? What the fuck?
Hear me out…
Pericic first came to my attention when I saw footage of him with Israel Adesayna in the lead up to one of Adesayna’s fights. My heavyweight radar was going off. All I could think was: who is that big cunt in the background?
After a bit of research it turns out Pericic is an ex-rugby player who moved to City Kickboxing to follow his dream of fighting in the UFC.
Since 2020 Pericic hasn’t been able to get a fight, with multiple fighters pulling out of bouts. It seems very similar to what happened to Tom Aspinall who couldn’t get matches on the regional scene as other fighters knew they’d probably lose to him and didn’t want to risk it.
Camps make champs and at City Kickboxing Pericic is sparring not just Adesayna but top light heavyweights Tyson Pedro and Carlos Ulberg regularly. The Tafa brothers have also used him as a training partner in the lead up to their fights.
Pericic is a real heavyweight, standing 6’5 feet tall and weighing around 265lbs yet still having the movement that’s sets top heavyweights apart from the pack. Oh yeah and he’s got Croatian heritage which grants an immediate +20 to all your heavyweight stats (please see Stipe Miocic and Mirko Cro Cop).
Burley H says fuck it, chuck him on a Contender Series card against a top American regional heavyweight and lets see how he does. I reckon Pericic gets the win.
Here’s hoping he can get some fights in 2024 and get that momentum going.
Isaiah Pinson: 28, 6’4, 247lbs, 3-0-0
Isaiah Pinson has been an unexpected standout in the PFL in 2023. He first fought on the PFL Challenger series with only 1 professional fight and it seemed he was being used as a sacrificial lamb. However Pinson suprisingly beat 4-0 Vitor Resende with some impressive boxing and fast hands. He then went on to secure another win against a more experienced prospect Denzel Freeman later in the year.
Pinson’s reminds me of Chris Daukaus as he isn’t the most powerful or phyiscally imposing heavyweight but his tight boxing, speed and technique give him an advantage.
Although he’s fighting for the PFL he hasn’t been signed to their regular season roster so I’m hoping there’s a bit more wiggle-room in his contract for the UFC to poach him. If I was the UFC thats what I’d do.
Alikhan Vaekhaev: 30, 6’6, 262lbs, 13-3-0
Denis Smoldarev vs. Alikhan Vakhaev | ACA 108
I’m not quite as high on Vaekhaev as I was last year but he’s still one of the best heavyweights currently not signed to a top promotion.
Vaekhaev lost the ACA MMA heavyweight title to Evgeny Goncharov this year in a gruelling back and forth decision. He then ended the year with a grinding decision win against Yuri Fedorov in November.
Vaekhaev hasn’t looked like the force he was in those last 2 fights, not being as explosive or agressive as usual. The fight against Yuri Fedorov in partciular was one you’d expect him to finish and not let go to decision. Although he’s only 30 he’s been fighting since 2014 so the damage may be beggining to catch up with him.
That being said, you could chuck Vakehaev into the UFC top 15 right now and he’d hold his own. Guys with his size, length and skill are rare and signing him would give the UFC an immediate contender to throw into the mix.
Stefan Vojcak: 33, 6’5, 262lbs, 7-1-0
One of Martin Budays main training partners, Vojcak is a physical beast and a grappling machine. He’s just been signed to KSW this year and has picked up one loss and one win in the promotion against good competition.
Although he’s 33, Vojcak only started fighting professionally in 2021 so he’s still young in the fight game and has a lot of years left in him still.
The UFC don’t seem to pinch heavyweights from ACA MMA and KSW anymore which is a shame as there’s some great talent at heavyweight in both those promotions. Here’s hoping they make an exception for Vojcak.
Kirril Kornilov, 32, 6’5, 260lbs, 15-1-1
Kirill Kornilov vs. Salimgerey Rasulov | ACA 154
Making the list again this year is ACA MMA’s Kirril Kornilov. Like Vaekhaev, Kornilov is another fighter who would be ready to compete with ranked UFC fighters immediately. He’s tall, powerful and has fought a great level of competition including competing in Glory kickboxing.
Unfortunately, as with Stefan Vojcak, the UFC don’t seem to sign heavyweights from KSW and ACA MMA anymore.
Kornilov won his first fight in ACA MMA this year and although it was not the most exciting performance he’ll likely be fighting for the title if he gets another win. Let’s hope the UFC comes knocking.
Honorable mentions:
Fillip Stawowy, 27, 6’2, 260lbs, 10-4-0
KSW - Filip Stawowy vs Michael Martinek
Stawowy is a heavyweight I’ve had my eye on for a while. Currently fighting in KSW he’s getting the chance to prove himself against top guys at a relatively young age. He may look a bit chubby and undersized but he’s got decent cardio, solid striking and an all important love for brawling. The only thing that kept him off the list this year was having lost 2 out of his last 3 fights. In spite of this I definitely think he’s on the rise and a fighter worth watching. Hopefully if he puts together some great performances he can make that jump to the UFC.
Marsel Sychev, 26, 6’3, 250lbs, 2-1-0
ACA MMA - Marsel Sychev vs Shadid Rashidov
When I first saw Sychev fight in ARES FC in 2021 I was all in. Here was another guy out of the MMA Factory in Paris who could line up alongside Francis Ngannou and Cyril Gane in a pose off. On top of that Sychev looked great, displaying an all round game with technical grappling and striking.
Unfortunately Sychev subsequently failed his drug test and was given a lengthy ban from the promotion. He then dissapeared for 2 years before re-appearing in ACA MMA this year. I hate to say it but Sychev was looking more roided-up than ever. Just ridiculously well muscled. Dude could have entered a bodybuilding competition that day and walked away with the gold. Steroid use is essentially an open secret in Russian promotions so Sychev wouldn’t be doing anything anyone else isn’t but all the same he’ll need to be clean to get into the big leagues.
Hopefully Sychev can get some wins and get off the juice (allegedly) as he’s a great young talent with a lot of potential.
Afterword
And there we are good readers. Hopefully you found out about some interesting fighters you hadn’t heard of before. Fingers crossed the UFC will open that wallet and sign some of these guys directly instead of chucking them on the Contender series. The main thing is there are a bunch of valid options right now for the UFC that could add to and improve the division and I’m optimistic about the talent we may see come in this year.
Looking forward to an interesting 2024.
Burley H out.