Rashid Magomedov
As the Russian explosion inf the UFC continues the next potential contender is Rashid Magomedov. With both coming down from a career at welterweight Elias Silverio was a visibly bigger lightweight. It was obvious from the start that Elias had a power advantage, but Rashid was by far the faster fighter. Both fighter mixed it up well with kicks and punches but neither had a significant display of a ground game. In the second, Elias was doing well when he put the pressure on Magomedov, but when Silverio let off the gas and let Rashid get some offense going he started to get tagged up from keeping his hands low. Already being the slower fighter that is habit he should break, and break quickly. When both fighters started to tire, the naturally faster fighter countered a weak slow attempt of a leg kick with a crisp left hook. About 45 seconds seconds later the ref had seen enough and Rashid continued his 10 fight winning streak. From the look of this fight, it seems like his cardio is not quite at the level it needs to be. Every fighter should have a five round minimum in case you get called for a late replacement chance of a life time. He is worth keeping an eye on though. The other Russian fighters of Ali Bugautinov, Rustam Khabilov and, Khabib Nurmagomedov have all proven exciting. I’m not saying Rashid is a true contender yet, just someone to keep a lookout for in 2015. One more fight will tell us if he is ready for the top 15. He needs a match up against a fighter that is going to try to grapple with him. Someone like Gleiison Tibau is a great option. A veteran that will test his ground skills and heart. Depending on that performance the UFC can decide whether or not to throw him to the wolves in the most competitive division they have. He probably needs two more solid wins before he can get even a low level top 10 opponent.
