There are always young, up-and-coming fighters to watch around the world. Unfortunately, most mixed martial arts fans don’t get to know these diamonds in the rough unless they are in the UFC.
That is where MMASucka.com decided to get involved to bring you this “Five fighters to watch from…” feature.
In this edition, we bring you the top five prospects from Coconut Creek, Florida’s American Top Team. The gym known as ATT is home to talent such as UFC Welterweight number one contender Robbie Lawler, Heavyweight Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, Hector Lombard, Dustin Poirier and more.
Along with the above talent, they gym has a crop of upcoming talent and ATT head coach Ricardo Liborio personally gave me the following names. Check them out below in no particular order:
Colby Covington (6-0)/@ColbyCovMMA
This guy is undefeated at 6-0 and has four submission victories. He made his UFC debut in August, where he forced Anying Wang to tap out due to strikes in the very first round. He is set to make his sophomore appearance in the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 56 against Wagner Silva Gomes in Brazil. The 26-year-old welterweight will look to keep his winning streak alive.
Mirsad Bektic (8-0)/@MirsadBekticMMA
Another UFC prospect is Bektic, who made his debut at UFC on FOX 11 in April, where he won a majority decision against Chas Skelly. At 8-0, the 23-year-old has fought for some major promotions including Titan FC and Resurrection Fighting Alliance. ATT head coach Ricardo Liborio loves the heart that Bektic has — with that, he has a lot of promise in his future.
Sirwan Kakai(11-2)/@Sirwan_Kakai
Sweden’s Sirwan Kakai lost in his first outing of his professional career and then went on to win nine-in-a-row. In 2013, Kakai lost his second pro fight against Taichi Nakajima at a Pancrase event. Following that loss, the 25-year-old nicknamed “Zohan” went on to win his next two, including his most recent outing against Joe Barajas at Titan FC 31 in October.
Charles Rosa (9-1)/@CharlesRosaMMA
“The Boston Strangler” had his first taste of defeat at last months UFC Fight Night event in Sweden. He took the bout on just a few days notice and he gave a valiant effort against veteran of the sport Dennis Siver. While he didn’t pick up the victory, he did take home $50,000 for ‘Fight of the Night.’ Rosa proved that he deserves to be in the big show and has fans excited to see him back inside the Octagon.
Steve Mocco (4-1)/@SteveMocco
The ATT heavyweight had a great start to his pro career, going 4-0 against some top talent. He fell short to current WSOF Heavyweight Champion Smealinho Rama most recently at WSOF Canada in February. No word as to who the 32-year-old will take on next or when, but the submission ace will likely put on a show for the fans whenever that time comes.
