A Pair Of Prospects Struggle In Russia
A Pair Of Prospects Struggle In Russia
FloCombat prospect watch takes a look at the most recent performance of Aleksander Doskalchuk.
By Nolan King
There is something different to be found when watching touted prospects compete inside the chaos of a mixed martial arts cage.
There are some who are simply meant for larger achievements, and their performances reflect that motivation. Meanwhile, others who possess developed traits struggle against more experienced competition. The ones who pass the test move on to face tougher obstacles, and those who struggle discover there is much more work to be done.
Let's take a look at some top-ranked prospects who stepped into the cage last weekend.
When looking over a stacked card for a top tier promotion such as ACB, Ibragim Chuzhigaev’s record wouldn’t necessarily jump out at you.
The 26-year-old Russian started off his career going 4-4 in his first eight professional fights. Following his eighth pro bout however, Chuzhigaev seemingly turned a corner, winning four out of five bouts entering his fight this past Saturday at ACB 70. While finishing all four opponents that he defeated in that period, his only loss came to the highly experienced Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, who would be a tough outing for any fighter. Even in that bout, Chuzhigaev showed that he could compete with the highest-level fighters that Russia had to offer.
This past Saturday, Chuzhigaev returned to the cage to take on Washington’s Will Noland, a veteran of 24 professional bouts. The 36-year-old Noland was looking to make it four wins in five bouts with a victory over Chuzhigaev.
The bout began with both men coming out a bit wild. Noland was the aggressor, charging at Chuzhigaev, who has displayed in his last handful of fights that he much rather would counterpunch anyways. It became apparent pretty quickly that Chuzhigaev was the much faster combatant, throwing his patented looping hooks and even mixing in a spinning back elbow.
The bout was briefly stopped when Chuzhigaev’s bizarre “in and out” style resulted in a wicked head butt on Noland. Noland took some time to recover and when he was ready to go, the two squared off once again. From there, it didn’t take long for Chuzhigaev to end the fight. A few sloppy exchanges from both men lead to a Chuzhigaev capitalizing on Noland leaving himself wide open. A four-punch combo followed by a front kick and three more strikes put the lights out. It only took Ibragim Chuzhigaev 92 seconds to end Will Noland’s night.
BREAKDOWN: Chuzhigaev’s win was destructive and fairly dominant—don’t get it twisted. However, when breaking down a fight (or fights) there are a number of things that must be taken into account. Having an impressive win doesn’t necessarily mean that a fighter is UFC or Bellator caliber (yet). Chuzhigaev was fighting an opponent, who on paper, was vastly inferior to him and still was quite sloppy during the duration of this fight, even for how short it was.
When going to the tape on his past fights, Chuzhigaev seemed to be a bit more in control. The part that becomes tricky when trying to analyze him, is the fact that he does have such an odd style. His leaping style makes it appear as if he is begging to get tagged, but for whatever reason it never happens. Now this could be due to the fact that he’s been lucky, or that his odd footwork and “stop and go” head movement throws his opponents off that much.
When it comes to his ground game, Chuzhigaev has shown great submission skills and wrestling from top control, but has struggled a bit off of his back. It isn’t his “go-to” but Chuzhigaev should sharpen up his ground game going forward.
Chuzhigaev is still young, and with a few more ACB fights under his belt he could morph into quite a nice UFC prospect, but he’s just not there yet. For now, his style is exciting and just odd enough that his next fight should be on the radar of fight fans, no matter who he faces off against!
On Saturday night, top Ukranian prospect Aleksander Doskalchuk entered the cage looking to make it four straight victories, but standing across the cage from him was Vadim Malygin, an opponent who was equally as highly thought of. The two prospects met at M-1 Challenge 83 in Kazan, Russia, in a five-round bout for the inaugural M-1 Flyweight Championship.
At 27 years of age, Doskalchuk has only been competing professionally for three and a half years. Going into Friday night, Doskalchuk had compiled a 7-2 professional record with a handful of finishes—six to be exact. Most of his bouts took place for the Ukranian promotion “MMA Pro Ukraine”, with only one bout taking place under the banner of M-1.
Conversely, Malygin has been a staple of M-1 global events as of late, competing five times for the promotion in 14 months. Malygin had earned himself a shot at the vacant title by defeating two talented Brazilian foes in Fabricio Sarraff and Denes Carvalho.
After about a minute or so of feeling one another out, the two speedy 125 pounders began to exchange. In one of the first exchanges of the fight, Doskalchuk tagged Malygin with a beautiful one-two combo that sent Malygin backpedaling. Knowing he had his opponent concerned with his striking, Doskalchuk shot for a double leg, which he got with relative ease. The Ukranian was able to control the Russian for a little while, but the much stronger Malygin eventually reversed him to finish out the round.
The action in round 2 commenced with Doskalchuk scoring another nice double leg before being reversed by Malygin once again. The two fighters rose to their feet, and after a period of inactivity against the ropes were separated by the referee. Malygin was the aggressor, swinging at Doskalchuk before shooting for a takedown of his own. Malygin appeared to have the takedown, but Doskalchuk snuck in a guillotine choke when Malygin tried too aggressively to shift to side control. Adjusting his guard as well as the grip on the choke, Doskalchuk locked it in, choking Malygin out cold.
BREAKDOWN: The potential is definitely there for Doskalchuk who showed a lot of upside in the bout against Malygin. For a fighter who has had limited competition outside of regional promotions in a country that isn’t necessarily known for its MMA scene, Doskalchuk showed excellent poise and composure, despite fighting an opponent with more high-level experience than him. Doskalchuk’s speed and boxing is pretty crisp and he has good power for the flyweight division. His takedowns a quick and powerful as well, especially his double-leg.
As far as areas that he needs to work on, there are still quite a few obvious ones. Head movement is a big problem for Doskalchuk, whose head stays on a straight line despite using a lot of feints and fakes. In addition, it became abundantly clear against Malygin that he needs to get stronger as well. He was outmuscled multiple times on the ground in the wrestling department, which is another area in which he needs vast improvement too.
It will be interesting to see who M-1 gives their inaugural flyweight champion, but matchups will be important going forward. Doskalchuk isn’t ready for top-tier talent yet, but with a few more challenging matchups, he’ll hopefully be able to improve and display those adjustments.
There is something different to be found when watching touted prospects compete inside the chaos of a mixed martial arts cage.
There are some who are simply meant for larger achievements, and their performances reflect that motivation. Meanwhile, others who possess developed traits struggle against more experienced competition. The ones who pass the test move on to face tougher obstacles, and those who struggle discover there is much more work to be done.
Let's take a look at some top-ranked prospects who stepped into the cage last weekend.
Ibragim Chuzhigaev
Bantamweight / 10-5 Professional / 26 years old/ Grozny, Russia
When looking over a stacked card for a top tier promotion such as ACB, Ibragim Chuzhigaev’s record wouldn’t necessarily jump out at you.
The 26-year-old Russian started off his career going 4-4 in his first eight professional fights. Following his eighth pro bout however, Chuzhigaev seemingly turned a corner, winning four out of five bouts entering his fight this past Saturday at ACB 70. While finishing all four opponents that he defeated in that period, his only loss came to the highly experienced Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, who would be a tough outing for any fighter. Even in that bout, Chuzhigaev showed that he could compete with the highest-level fighters that Russia had to offer.
This past Saturday, Chuzhigaev returned to the cage to take on Washington’s Will Noland, a veteran of 24 professional bouts. The 36-year-old Noland was looking to make it four wins in five bouts with a victory over Chuzhigaev.
The bout began with both men coming out a bit wild. Noland was the aggressor, charging at Chuzhigaev, who has displayed in his last handful of fights that he much rather would counterpunch anyways. It became apparent pretty quickly that Chuzhigaev was the much faster combatant, throwing his patented looping hooks and even mixing in a spinning back elbow.
The bout was briefly stopped when Chuzhigaev’s bizarre “in and out” style resulted in a wicked head butt on Noland. Noland took some time to recover and when he was ready to go, the two squared off once again. From there, it didn’t take long for Chuzhigaev to end the fight. A few sloppy exchanges from both men lead to a Chuzhigaev capitalizing on Noland leaving himself wide open. A four-punch combo followed by a front kick and three more strikes put the lights out. It only took Ibragim Chuzhigaev 92 seconds to end Will Noland’s night.
FloCombat Grade: C+
BREAKDOWN: Chuzhigaev’s win was destructive and fairly dominant—don’t get it twisted. However, when breaking down a fight (or fights) there are a number of things that must be taken into account. Having an impressive win doesn’t necessarily mean that a fighter is UFC or Bellator caliber (yet). Chuzhigaev was fighting an opponent, who on paper, was vastly inferior to him and still was quite sloppy during the duration of this fight, even for how short it was.
When going to the tape on his past fights, Chuzhigaev seemed to be a bit more in control. The part that becomes tricky when trying to analyze him, is the fact that he does have such an odd style. His leaping style makes it appear as if he is begging to get tagged, but for whatever reason it never happens. Now this could be due to the fact that he’s been lucky, or that his odd footwork and “stop and go” head movement throws his opponents off that much.
When it comes to his ground game, Chuzhigaev has shown great submission skills and wrestling from top control, but has struggled a bit off of his back. It isn’t his “go-to” but Chuzhigaev should sharpen up his ground game going forward.
Chuzhigaev is still young, and with a few more ACB fights under his belt he could morph into quite a nice UFC prospect, but he’s just not there yet. For now, his style is exciting and just odd enough that his next fight should be on the radar of fight fans, no matter who he faces off against!
Aleksander Doskalchuk
Flyweight/ 8-2 Professional/ 27 Years Old/ Chernivtsi, Ukraine
On Saturday night, top Ukranian prospect Aleksander Doskalchuk entered the cage looking to make it four straight victories, but standing across the cage from him was Vadim Malygin, an opponent who was equally as highly thought of. The two prospects met at M-1 Challenge 83 in Kazan, Russia, in a five-round bout for the inaugural M-1 Flyweight Championship.
At 27 years of age, Doskalchuk has only been competing professionally for three and a half years. Going into Friday night, Doskalchuk had compiled a 7-2 professional record with a handful of finishes—six to be exact. Most of his bouts took place for the Ukranian promotion “MMA Pro Ukraine”, with only one bout taking place under the banner of M-1.
Conversely, Malygin has been a staple of M-1 global events as of late, competing five times for the promotion in 14 months. Malygin had earned himself a shot at the vacant title by defeating two talented Brazilian foes in Fabricio Sarraff and Denes Carvalho.
After about a minute or so of feeling one another out, the two speedy 125 pounders began to exchange. In one of the first exchanges of the fight, Doskalchuk tagged Malygin with a beautiful one-two combo that sent Malygin backpedaling. Knowing he had his opponent concerned with his striking, Doskalchuk shot for a double leg, which he got with relative ease. The Ukranian was able to control the Russian for a little while, but the much stronger Malygin eventually reversed him to finish out the round.
The action in round 2 commenced with Doskalchuk scoring another nice double leg before being reversed by Malygin once again. The two fighters rose to their feet, and after a period of inactivity against the ropes were separated by the referee. Malygin was the aggressor, swinging at Doskalchuk before shooting for a takedown of his own. Malygin appeared to have the takedown, but Doskalchuk snuck in a guillotine choke when Malygin tried too aggressively to shift to side control. Adjusting his guard as well as the grip on the choke, Doskalchuk locked it in, choking Malygin out cold.
FloCombat Grade: B-
BREAKDOWN: The potential is definitely there for Doskalchuk who showed a lot of upside in the bout against Malygin. For a fighter who has had limited competition outside of regional promotions in a country that isn’t necessarily known for its MMA scene, Doskalchuk showed excellent poise and composure, despite fighting an opponent with more high-level experience than him. Doskalchuk’s speed and boxing is pretty crisp and he has good power for the flyweight division. His takedowns a quick and powerful as well, especially his double-leg.
As far as areas that he needs to work on, there are still quite a few obvious ones. Head movement is a big problem for Doskalchuk, whose head stays on a straight line despite using a lot of feints and fakes. In addition, it became abundantly clear against Malygin that he needs to get stronger as well. He was outmuscled multiple times on the ground in the wrestling department, which is another area in which he needs vast improvement too.
It will be interesting to see who M-1 gives their inaugural flyweight champion, but matchups will be important going forward. Doskalchuk isn’t ready for top-tier talent yet, but with a few more challenging matchups, he’ll hopefully be able to improve and display those adjustments.