The article is authored by MixedMartialArts.com founder Kirik Jenness
In MMA, as is true in professional sports generally, the key to popularity is finding the next superstar. When Michael Jordan retired, NBA viewership dropped precipitously. So sports industries are always looking for the “Next Big Thing.” Always.
The endless pursuit for the next big thing in MMA
When UFC 1 was held in 1993, Teila Tuli was my favorite. We all know what happened, and without Royce Gracie, the sport might never have begun. I was at Jon Jones’ fifth fight when he had been fighting for barely two months. Not too long after, I blogged that, “I have seen the future of mixed martial arts, and his name is Jon Jones.” For better or worse, Jones is probably the best fighter in MMA history.
More recently, I called Khamzat Chimaev’s four fights for Brave CF. Watching from cageside in Bahrain, India, Jordan, and Abu Dhabi. “Borz” debuted in the promotion when he’d been fighting for less than six months. Seconds after his fifth fight, I said it again. “I have seen the future of mixed martial arts, and his name is Khamzat Chimaev.”
Chimaev’s next three fights, all in the UFC, have given credence to that 2019 prophecy.
Is Ryan Loder the next Jon Jones of Khamzat Chimaev?
There have now been loud whispers about middleweight Ryan Loder. A former NCAA D-I All American wrestler, who trains at Team Alpha Male in California. Loder had his lone amateur fight at Mountain Force MMA in May. Loder won quickly against unheralded prospect Shane O’Rourke.
This past Saturday, less than six months after his amateur bout, Loder turned pro versus James Porter at Tom Anderson’s FirePower MMA: No Shelter event in Sacramento, Calif.
I asked around, and Porter is considered to be good. He turned pro in a Combate Americas event late in 2018, following a three-fight win streak in the amateurs. Porter won his pro debut via decision. However, on Saturday, Porter was defeated in just twelve seconds by Loder. The blue-chip prospect got into a grappling exchange with his opponent, nearly knocked him out with a nasty slam, and then put him to sleep with vicious ground-and-pound elbows.
You can watch the full fight in the embedded video above.
What do you see? And while we are at it, is there anyone on your radar that you think has what it takes to take over the fight world?
Video courtesy of FirePower MMA.
