Over the course of 2021, we saw a number of great talents break through at a high level – Ciryl Gane, Giga Chikadze, Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Brady to name a few. To me, seeing that progression is one of the most fun parts of MMA. And as we look towards 2022, we should always be on the alert for the next stars coming down the pipe. So with that said, here’s a few fighters to be on the look-out for in 2022:
Mateusz Gamrot already did the hard part at the very end of 2021: breaking into the notoriously tough-to-crack UFC lightweight rankings. (He now ranks No. 12 after beating Diego Ferreira on the final UFC show of the year.) But Gamrot – who’s finally building some mainstream recognition as a rising star – could be poised for a whole lot more in 2022.
Gamrot came in with notoriety – he was a star in the talent-rich Polish promotion KSW, and had already been tested at a very high level. But after a close split decision loss in his UFC debut, Gamrot rebounded with a banner 2021: three fights, three finishes, and rising star status.
Gamrot is one of the most unique and effective grapplers the lightweight division has to offer, and he brought his full talent to bear last year. Against Ferreira, Gamrot wore down one of lightweight’s most skilled mat stylists across two rounds, and made him quit with a knee to the body.
Gamrot is right on the cusp of some very big fights in the UFC’s premier division, and his unique style – which chains some sharp boxing, aggressive pressure and an opportunistic and tough-to-defend grappling game based around the low single-leg takedown – is a treat to watch. Don’t be surprised to find him in title contention at the end of this year.
The UFC women’s flyweight division has been barren of contenders for quite a while, but there are a couple very interesting young prospects coming down the pipe. Chief among them is “King” Casey O’Neill, who debuted in the UFC at the beginning o f last year and reeled off three straight finishes.
O’Neill is just 24 years old, fights at a breakneck pace, and wears down her opponents. She isn’t yet the most skilled fighter in any particular area, but she has no glaring weaknesses yet – and her impressive physical traits and nonstop cardio have been enough to overwhelm her previous opponents in the UFC.
Still in her early 20s and just eight fights into her pro career, O’Neill has already edged her way into the top 15 despite her relative lack of experience. This girl’s future is extremely bright, and I’m very excited to see where she ends up in the future – I could easily see her hitting a stumbling block or two as she faces higher-level competition, but she’s already reached an impressive point in her career with a ton of room to improve.
Or, she could end up continuing to smash her way through the opposition at 125 and end up in the title conversation by the end of 2022. We haven’t seen her hit her level yet. And the woman she’s beating up in that last clip? Just the champ’s sister, Antonina Shevchenko. Might be we see that on a promo package coming up.
If I could have gone back and changed a few things about the year that was in MMA, one of them would have been more chances to see my favorite prospect at 170, 27-year-old Kazakh Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Rakhmonov debuted in 2020 but has fought just twice in that span – once in Oct. 2020, once last June. Both times he fought opponents with vastly more experience and impressive UFC resumes. Both results were the same: Rakhmonov by submission.
Rakhmonov finished former main-eventer Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira by first round guillotine in his debut, then returned in June to finish Michel Prazeres, who was just one fight removed from an eight-fight Octagon win streak that included a W over top welterweight Gilbert Burns. Rakhmonov was the significantly younger fighter in both cases, and brought his impressive physical traits to bear: he’s very big for the division at 6-foot-1 and a 77-inch reach, has a lot of strength in his wiry frame, and uses it very effectively in the grappling game.
I think it’s clear that the UFC knows it has a special talent in Rakhmonov: that’s why he got tossed in there with two acclaimed veterans at the very beginning of his Octagon career. He rose to the test, both times, in an impressive way. He’ll have some much bigger tests in 2022, and he’s earned them.
At women’s flyweight, the aforementioned O’Neill will be fighting for her shot at gold in the relatively near future. But a little further down the pipeline is a prospect I like just as much, if not more: the smothering 22-year-old Erin Blanchfield, who while still in college has emerged as a very interesting young talent at 125.
Blanchfield has been training for her MMA future since she was a child, as part of the first generation of young girls who could have actually watched women’s MMA on TV growing up. She’s been grappling since she was in grade school, and she fights like it. She knows how to get her opponents down and keep them there.
The stats have borne that out: three takedowns and 9:43 of control time in her UFC debut against Sarah Alpar in September, and seven takedowns and an even 12 minutes of control against Miranda Maverick last month. The latter performance was a serious eye-opener: Maverick is a tremendous young talent and one of my favorite female MMA prospects currently on the radar. Blanchfield never let her in the fight for a moment.
Her game may appear one-dimensional so far, but she hasn’t been pushed to show any other dimensions. Keep an eye on Blanchfield in 2022 – we’re going to learn a lot about her, one way or another.
I’ve filled out this list with young fighters who I think very conceivably have paths to real title contention in 2022. I don’t know if I can say the same for Bruno “Blindado” Silva, a 32-year-old veteran in a middleweight division that has some great established stars. But I do know this: Blindado has monstrous hands, and he’ll be worth tuning in for every time he steps into the Octagon.
After starting his pro career at 5-5, Blindado has won 17 of his last 18, with 15 of those wins coming by KO. He won the middleweight championship in Russia’s respected M-1 promotion at the end of 2018, signed with the UFC soon after, then had to sit for two years for a USADA suspension. He made up for lost time in 2021, nailing down three KOs in three UFC appearances.
Blindado loves a firefight and carries exceptional danger with him in striking exchanges. It’s those qualities that have earned him quite an interesting fight in March: a matchup with former kickboxing champion Alex Pereira, who’s receiving a big spotlight after a flying knee KO in his UFC debut.
The focus in that fight will be on Pereira, who has a famous kickboxing KO of UFC champion Israel Adesanya. Blindado is in there because he’ll likely be willing to trade hands and let Pereira show his stuff. But don’t be surprised if Blindado catches him – I can easily conceive of Blindado stealing the thunder. If so, he could be set up for a massive 2022.
The Big Fight 