Author: Around the Felt Sports
The time has come for my first solo mock draft of the 2026 draft season. The past two seasons I have released my mock the week of the draft, but this year, I couldn’t help myself and wanted to get one out earlier. If you are an NFL draft nerd like myself, make sure you are subscribed to our YouTube channel as we have already released eight other iterations of a mock draft. Without further ado, let’s get into this. Mark this one down with sharpie. Mendoza is the pick for a Raiders team that desperately needs a franchise quarterback…
A fighter’s nickname does not always convey their fighting style or personality. Oftentimes, it just sounds cool but doesn’t really suit them. For rising prospect Phumi Nkuta, “Turbo” entirely fits the bill. I am thrilled to finally be covering a flyweight in this week’s article. While the lightest men’s professional MMA weight class can often be overlooked, I find it to be one of the most entertaining and talented divisions. The fists fly faster, the movements look sharper, and the fast-forward button appears to be perpetually held down. While heavyweights are prone to swinging for the bleachers, flyweights rely more…
Watching young athletes in any sport is like leveling up in a video game. Even when they are winning, they do not start overpowered. It is a treat to watch the maturity and technical refinement unfold. The sport of mixed martial arts is not boxing. A perfect record is not required. If anything, it is sometimes more impressive to see a newer fighter rebound from setbacks and become better as a result. Atlanta’s Christian Turner certainly fits the criteria for what I am talking about. Making his professional debut in 2022, “The Titan” has amassed a resume of ten wins…
Like any other profession, not all fighters are created equal. There are many athletes who will be delegated to the B leagues for their entire careers. Then there are others who hit the ground running right out of the gate. All it takes is a credentialed background and a couple of impressive fights to catapult someone into the spotlight. Boasting a perfect 5-0 professional record, Austin Clayton is one such individual. With the right ingredients, a prospect does not require twenty-something amateur fights; they just have to check the right boxes. “The Ace” possesses a solid foundation in freestyle wrestling,…
When considering the candidates for this week’s article, I was reminded of some of the criteria I personally like to use. An ideal candidate is young, with plenty of upside and innate talent. Unfortunately, not every fighter can make it to the UFC, and we have seen many promising fighters delegated to the feeder organizations for much of their career. In terms of this week’s prospect, I do not anticipate that being the case. Adam “Primetime” Posener is an unstoppable force thus far in his career, racking up a 6-0 professional record at only 21 years of age. Posener is…
Fans focus on the best in the world, the top of the pyramid. Rightfully so, we want to see the best. What we don’t focus on nearly as much are the next generation of athletes who will eventually take their place. Every UFC champion was once a newcomer in another organization. That doesn’t mean we cannot recognize lightning in a bottle when it presents itself. Let me introduce you to Jeremiah Delgado, possibly the highest-touted prospect fighting out of Philadelphia. The 21-year-old featherweight has just two professional MMA bouts, and is already one of the hottest prospects in the sport.…
Where entertainment meets ability, a perfect storm emerges. Enter rising MMA prospect Tedrick Macklin. Boasting a 7-2 professional record, primarily in the Fury FC promotion, “T-Money” possesses all the tools and charisma to make real waves in the lightweight division of any organization. A versatile martial artist, he has attained six of his seven victories by way of finish. While he did endure a rough stretch in which he suffered back-to-back losses, he has never been finished. His last fight is a microcosm of what to expect with him: a violent finish. I say it all the time. It is…
Given the state of the UFC roster, there are increasingly fewer active legends left to cheer for. In a perpetually evolving MMA landscape, to be a long-standing constant is a rare achievement in and of itself. One fighter who can claim this honor better than nearly anybody is Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje. Gaethje has been fighting the who’s who in the division for his entire UFC career, with a resume so prestigious that he easily ranks among the best athletes to never win an undisputed title. Gaethje was not spoon-fed opponents or allowed to gain his footing like many others.…
The UFC has had its share of pros and cons, particularly during this calendar year. However, fans’ proclivity to favor recency bias would tend to indicate that the final fight card of the year has the potential to make the most impact. Unpredictability is perhaps the only constant in MMA. Cards that look like an Avengers-level threat can often be underwhelming, while tepid-looking Apex cards can look like something out of an anime. Based on what we know, though, there is every reason to be excited about the main card of UFC 323. The old guard versus the new, for…
Heavyweight contests in Mixed Martial Arts are a lot like fights in the stands at an NFL game. They don’t look like the sharpest tools in the shed, but they are certainly entertaining. It is well known that this largest division is also the least technical. Whoever lands first wins, and you won’t see too much of the laser-focused fight IQ or crispness that are observed in the lighter weight classes. Basically just two grizzlies going at it. For this reason, the Heavyweight division is rather top-heavy, comprising essentially preliminary fighters with a few truly elite gentlemen making up the…