FloCombat Prospect Rankings - April 2018

FloCombat Prospect Rankings | Bantamweight | April 2018

FloCombat ranks the top 20 North American bantamweight MMA prospects for April 2018.

Rankings based off the following...

  • North American fighters only. For example, Thiago Moises wouldn't qualify for these rankings despite training in the U.S.
  • No fighters that have fought for or who are set to fight for the UFC.
  • Fighters competing on Dana White's Contender Series included.
  • No long-term Bellator fighters or champions. Exceptions for some preliminary fighters.
  • All fighters aged 30 and under.
  • Rankings based off age, record, and level of competition.

April notes:

  • Ricky Simon has been removed from the rankings after signing with the UFC.


RANK
NAME
AGE
RECORD
COUNTRY
NEXT FIGHT
PREVIOUS RANKING
1
Raufeon Stots
29
9-1
USA
 
2
2
John Castañeda
26
16-3
USA
 
3
3
Ryan MacDonald
24
8-0
USA
 
4
4
Manny Vazquez
24
12-3
USA
 
4
5
Joseph Maness
26
9-0
USA
 
13
6
Maurice Mitchell
30
11-1
USA
 
5
7
Jordan Howard
27
10-4
USA
April 13 vs. Eric Ellington
6
8
Josh Rettinghouse
27
16-4
USA
 
7
9
Kyler Phillips
22
5-0
USA
 
8
10
Ricky Bandejas
26
10-1
USA
 
9
11
Brad Katona
25
6-0
CANADA
 
10
12
Ray Rodriguez
30
13-4
USA
 
11
13
Tony Gravely
26
12-4
USA
 
12
14
Miles Johns
23
6-0
USA
 
14
15
Dylan Cala
24
6-1
USA
 
15
16
Xavier Alaoui
26
8-3
Canada
 
16
17
Adrian Yanez
24
7-2
USA
 
17
18
Cole Smith
28
5-0
CANADA
 
18
19
Cheyden Leialoha
23
6-1
USA
 
19
20
John Sweeney
22
5-1
USA
 
NR



#1 – Raufeon Stots (9-1)

Stots is the current Victory FC bantamweight champion and boasts wins over UFC veterans Jeff Curran and Rob Emerson. The 29-year-old is coming off a first-round submission victory over Arnold Berdon at Victory FC 59 on Dec. 16. 

#2 – John Castaneda (16-3) 

Castaneda nearly won the Copa Combate tournament for Combate Americas back in December before losing in the tournament finals to Levy Saúl Marroquín Salazar. The 26-year-old has a win over UFC veteran Chris Beal and also turned heads when he won a unanimous decision against Cheyden Leialoha at Dana White’s Contender Series 4 last year. He faces Marc Gomez Sariol in a rematch at Combate Estrellas 1 on April 13. 

#3 – Ryan MacDonald (8-0) 

MacDonald is the current MCF featherweight champion. The 24-year-old fighter is coming off a second-round stoppage victory over Chad Obermiller at MFC 14 back in October. 

#4 – Manny Vazquez (12-3)  

The former Legacy FC bantamweight champion is coming off a first-round submission victory over  Shawn West at Caged Aggression 21: Night 2 on March 10. The 24-year-old has won three of his last four fights with two of those victories coming by submission. 

#5 – Nathan Maness (9-0)

Maness enters the top five after coming off a unanimous decision win over Caio Machado at TKO 42. The 26-year-old will face TKO bantamweight champion Jessie Arnett in May.