5 Mixed Martial Arts Fighters to watch in late 2011 and 2012

Who is going to be the next golden child or face of mixed martial arts?  Who is the next Jon Jones?  With the evolution and the amazing popularity of mixed martial arts, the new breed of fighter is upon us.  Could it be a fighter nicknamed the Phenomenon?  Could it be a fighter that went to college at Hofstra University and took his first UFC fight on 2 weeks notice to dominate a fighter that had a pro mma record of 15-8?  Could it be a new face for women's MMA that worked her way up thru regional shows to get her big break?  How bout the diamond that fell out of the sky to beat another can't miss prospect?  Or could it be the new breed that makes it.  For the answers to these questions and a look at can't miss prospects of late 2011 and 2012 read below.  (photos courtsey of UFC.com) Edson Barboza Edson Barboza (aka Phenomenon)hailing from Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro Brazil, is a UFC lightweight fighter (155lbs) that is 5'11 and 25 years old.  He has a pro mma record of 9-0.  Of those 9 wins he has 6 ko/tko, 1 submission and 2 decision wins. Barboza is a practioner of muay thai, and brazilian jiu jitsu.  With sharp shooter like muay thai skills, a majority of his wins have come from that skill set. He has devasted his opponents with devastating leg kicks and punches.  Before Barboza entered into MMA he was a professional muay thai fighter.  In professional muay thai Barboza went 25-3 with 22 coming from ko/tko and 17 of them ending before the first round was over. In 2009 Barboza moved to Florida and joined the MMA fight team the armory in Tampa, Florida.  With this move his journey into the MMA cage began.  In the begining of his MMA career Barboza fought on the regional circuit compiling a 6-0 record and finishing all his opponents (5 ko/tko and 1 submission). Barboza then got the call to the UFC.  He was set face Darren Elkins at UFC 123, however an injury forced Elkins from the card and Mike Lullo took the bout on short notice.  Barboza's very crisp muay thai striking proved to much for Lullo and Barboza won the fight by tko in the third round due to leg kicks....Barboza's next bout in the UFC came against another sharp shooter striker Anthony Njokuani at UFC 128.  We here at MMA OCTAGON TAKES predicted two things for 128.  One being that Jon Jones would be the new UFC LHW champion and Barboza vs Njokuani would be fight of the night.  Sure enough, Barboza and Njokuani both delivered a great stand up war featuring a array of not often seen striking techniques.   The bout ended with Barboza winning via unanimous decision and both warriors walking away with the UFC fight of the night bonus.  Barboza first such award in the UFC.  Barboza's next bout was against the always game and Ultimate Fighter Season 9 winner Ross Pearson, in Barboza's home country of Brazil at UFC 134.  A back and fourth, edge of your seat performance for both men, eventually saw Barboza the winner via split decision by using great takedown defense, and his precise muay thai attacks.  The efforts of both men in the bout rewarded them with getting the UFC fight of the night award on a heavily stacked UFC 134 card.  This would be Barboza second consecutive fight of the night award in the UFC. Although Barboza has received his next fight assignment, against the ultra talented Terry Etim January 14th, 2012 at UFC 142, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  WIth a win over Etim intriguing matchups for the fast rising lightweight contender are season 13 Ultimate Fighter winner Tony Ferguson, Jim Miller, and Sam Stout. Chris Weidman Chris "The All American" Weidman from Baldwin, NY and fighting out of Mineola, NY is a UFC middleweight fighter(185lbs), 6'2 inches tall and 27 years old.  He has a pro mma record of 6-0.  Of his 6 wins 2 each have come from ko/tko, submission and decision respectively. Training with the Serra-Longo Fight team, Weidman brings in an impressive All American NCAA division one wrestling background that he achieved at Hofstra University.  With former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra as his brazilian jiu jitsu(BJJ) and Ray Longo as his striking coach Weidman has the coaches to make him a force in the UFC's middleweight division. **An interesting off note about Weidman, is that with only 1 year of formal BJJ training, he qualified for the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Submission Wrestling World Championship where he lost to high ranked BJJ practioner Andre Galvao in a very close match** Weidman started his pro mma career on the regional New Jersey circuit with the Ring of Combat(ROC) organiztion.  Three of four bouts he had with ROC were all finishes(2 by tko and 1 one by submission).  Over this period he also won the ROC middleweight title. On March 3, 2011, Weidman took on battle tested and veteran UFC fighter Alessio Sakara at UFC Live: Sanchez vs Kampmann.  Weidman replaced an injured Rafael Natal and took this fight on two weeks notice.  Weidman a underdog in this fight, pulled off a huge upset by scoring a unanimous decision victory over the battle tested Sakara.  Weidman then had his next bout at UFC 131 stepping up again to replace injured Ultimate Fighter season 11 winner Court Mcgee against Jesse Bongfeldt.  Weidman looked unbelievable in this fight and locked in a standing guilloting choke at the very end of round 1 to not only win but also win the submission of the night bonus. Weidman has the coaching, the wrestling base(which with every passing event is more and more a requirement), size, skill and strength to be the future of the UFC's 185 lb division.  In almost every MMA publication including this one here at MMA OCTAGON TAKES Weidman is ranked #1 or close to #1 as the cant miss and #1 rated prospect in all of mixed martial arts. With a successful win against  "Filthy" Tom Lawlor at UFC 139 the win sets up potential PPV main card bouts against the after mentioned McGee, Tim Boetsch, and Alan Belcher. Alexis Davis Alexis Davis from and fighting out of Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada is a freestyle women's mixed martial artist fighting in Strikeforce's Bantamweight(135lbs) womens division.  Davis has a pro record of 11-4.  Of the 11 wins 2 have come in the form of ko/tko, 5 via submission and 4 via decision.

Davis is a black belt in Japanese Jiujitsu and a two stripe brown belt under Gracie family member Royler and David Adiv.

With womens MMA not in the forefront of the sport unless the fighters names are Gina Carano or Cris "Cyborg" Santos, Davis has had to scratch and claw to get where she is today.  Fighting in many regional events all over the USA and Canada, Davis has established herself as a top 10 135 lb female fighter.  Of her 4 losses they came to the whose who of womens mma(Kaufman, Larosa, Baszler, and Maxwell).

Davis who is a Canadian womens grappling champion, has used these skills to win most of her mma bouts.  These skills were clearly on display at a bout which MMA OCTAGON TAKES was in attendance when Davis defended her women's regional flyweight Raging Wolf championship against Tonya Evinger.  With a slick takedown, to a effortless transition to Evinger's back she locked in a fight ending rear naked choke only one minute and twenty five seconds into the first round of her title defense.  Also this was the second submission rear naked choke Davis put on Evinger in less than 12 months.  After this successful title defense the talented Canadian grappler got the call to join the ranks of Strikeforce's 135lb womens division.

In Strikeforce, Davis got the call to compete on the undercard of the highly anticipated Fedor vs Henderson card, where she fought Julie Kedzie.  Davis won her debut fight via unanimous decision.  Davis had a quick turnaround for her next bout inside the cage for Strikeforce.  Less than 6 weeks after her Strikeforce debut, Davis got her next bout against fast rising 135lb Brazilian womens prospect Amanda Nunes on the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Barnett vs Kharitonov.card.  Davis proved that the quick turn around would be no problem for her, as she stopped Nunes via TKO near the end of round two.   This was Davis's first tko win since 05.06.07.

After consecutive bouts less than six weeks apart some much deserved rest is probably in store for this rising prospect.  A rematch against Shayna Baszler would be interesting as this bout was scheduled before Davis signed with Strikeforce.  Rematch bouts against Sarah Kaufman and former #1 P4P female fighter Tara LaRosa are also ones we are sure Davis would sign on for.  

 Dustin Poirier

Dustin (The Diamond) Poirier fighting out of Lafayette, Louisiana is a UFC featherweight (145lbs) fighter.  Poirier trains with Ultimate Fighter season 7 contestant Tim Credeur at Team Gladiator LA.  Poirier has a pro mma record of 10-1.  Of his 10 wins, 5 have come from ko/tko, 3 from submission and 2 by decision. 

Poirier started his career like most mixed martial artists on the regional circuit.  Fighting primarily on the Louisiana fight circuit (Poirier fought once in Quebec and Mississippi as well) he quickly established himself as a finishing fighter.  Amassing a 7-0 record, 4 ko/tko's and 3 submissions, this got Poirier noticed by the WEC.

In his debut fight in the WEC, Poirier lost a unanimous decision to Danny Castillo.  However Poirier quickly bounced back and earned a tko stoppage over Zack Micklewright at WEC 52, 53 seconds into Round 1 of the bout.

Poirier's next assignment was then with the UFC because of the recent merger between the UFC and WEC had happened.  At UFC 125, Poirier took a big step up in competition against then ranked #1 contender featherweight fighter Josh Grispi.  Grispi who was set to face #5 P4P Jose Aldo for his featherweight title at UFC 125 was given Poirier as an opponent after Aldo withdrew from the event because of a back injury.  Grispi took a big risk taking this fight against Poirier because if he lost, he would lose his shot at Aldo when he recovered from his injury.  Poirier did prove to be a spoiler in his bout against Grispi.  Poirier showed he had superior striking, and good take down defense during the bout and because of that was able to be the spoiler and win a unanimous decision over the highly ranked Grispi.  After the bout it was learned that Grispi sustained a jaw injury during the fight.

At UFC 131 Poirier was scheduled to face Rani Yahya.  Unfortunately Yahya had to withdraw from the bout due to injury.  Poirier was then scheduled to face UFC promotional newcomer Jason Young.  Poirier was able to keep his hot streak going by winning a unanimous decision over Young.

For his next bout, Poirier was matched up with rising featherweight and ultra tough Pablo Garza on November 12, 2011 at the groundbreaking, network debut of UFC on Fox 1.  From the opening bell Poirier was firmly in control.  In the early stages of the second round, Poirier was able to get the finish over Garza with a D'arce choke.


Looking ahead for Poirier, his next opponent will be Eric "The New Breed" Koch at UFC 143, Feburary 4th, 2012.  With a win over the very tough Koch, possible future opponents could be Chad Mendes, Mark Hominick or even the Korean Zombie Chan Sung Jung.  These four warriors are definately a major step up that should only solidfy Poirier's status if he is successful in each bout.

Erik Koch

Erik "The New Breed" Koch from Cedar Rapids, Iowa and fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a UFC featherweight (145lbs) fighter.  Training out of the mighty Roufusport in Wisconsin, Koch has set himself up to be very successful.  With the highly respected Duke Roufus as his head coach and training partners such as Bellator welterweight champion and USA Olympic wrestling participant Ben Askren, former WEC lightweight champion Anthony "Showtime" Pettis, Alan Belcher, Ben Rothwell and rising UFC heavyweight prospect Matt "Meathead" Mitrione the sky is the limit for the "New Breed"

Koch who has a pro mma record of 13-1 (3 by ko/tko, 7 by submission and 3 by decision) started his pro career on the Iowa regional circuit.  Quickly amassing a perfect 8-0 record with 7 finishes on the regional scene Koch was quickly signed to the WEC.  He debuted at WEC 45 against Jameel Massouh and won via unanimous decision.  Then in his next bout he fought the ultra tough and top contender Chad "Money" Mendes at WEC 47 to a unanimous decision loss.

After his first career pro loss Koch got back on the winning track with a first round submission (triangle choke) win over Bendy Casimir at WEC 49.  He then followed that up with a first round tko win over Francisco Rivera at WEC 52.  His efforts led to him winning the ko of the night bonus award, given to the best knockout of the night,  With the merger of the WEC and the UFC Koch made his UFC debut at UFC 128.  MMA OCTAGON TAKES was in attendance at this fight and Koch delivered a thunderous ko in the very first round over the very tough and never been stopped via ko/tko Raphael Assuncao.  Koch won his second consecutive ko of the night bonus award.  Following up his back to back ko of the night performances Koch fought season 12 Ultimate Fighter winner Jonathan Brookins at UFC Fight Night: Shields vs Ellenberger.  The fight between Koch and Brookins was a grinding, back and forth war.  Koch's much improved striking and takedown defense was the difference in this fight which ultimately led Koch to win the bout via unanimous decision over the Ultimate Fighter winner Brookins.


Next up for Koch will be a bout against the ultra tough Dustin Poirier, February 4th, 2012 at UFC 143.


These five warriors are only a few of the can't miss prospects of Mixed Martial Arts.  If more come up as good or even better than these five, the future is very bright for MMA.