5 Prospects in Relation to UFC Shanghai

For back-to-back weeks, I will be breaking down some prospects related to fighters on the UFC Shanghai card. This week there are more big gyms in action, and it is always great to see who is next in these gyms. This week is rather global, with gyms from Brazil, Peru, Italy, New Zealand, America, Canada, and Russia. There are no gyms from China highlighted here, but two of the gyms highlighted have heavy Chinese influence.

Luiz Paes 5-0 Bantamweight- Hector Santiago, Andre Lima – Team Lucas Mineiro

Luiz “Buakaw” Paes is an extremely talented 20-year-old from Brazil. I have a lot of hope for his future, as he holds a 100% finish rate in his five fights and trains at such a killer gym as Team Lucas Mineiro. He is definitely getting great looks with guys around his weight, like Andre Lima, Hector Santiago, even Kevin Vallejos.

Buakaw has only been fighting pro since May of 2025, meaning he has had five fights in just 13 months, with his fifth fight coming at Bison Kombat 8 in June. He went 6-1 in the amateur ranks and only had one decision win and only lost by a majority decision. He is extremely well-rounded, with three of his pro wins by submission and the other two by KO/TKO. He currently does not have a fight scheduled.

When I said well-rounded, I meant it. Like his name states, his Mauy Thai is great, as he does great work inside and has killer knees, with one of his wins being a 12-second KO from a nasty knee. His striking is extremely twitchy and unpredictable. He uses a ton of faints and rushes in a lot. He is a great wrestler, especially off of his explosive striking. It can look like he is about to rush you to engage in a striking exchanging, but instead he is in on a leg or your hips. He is great at controlling his opponents on the ground, threatening ground and pound that is very good due to his power. He isn’t the biggest guy at 5’7″, but is extremely powerful and he uses his power in the striking and the wrestling.

Three of his wins have come by Rear Naked Choke, and when he gets your back it’s probably game over. His first win came via RNC and was a much more conventional choke on the ground, However, he is currently on two-fight standing RNC streak in his two fights in 2026. These two fights were at Jungle Fight and Bison Kombat versus two good opponents, proving he is ready for next step.

Whether it’s a back take or his fast, twitchy striking, he is surely going to a problem. I could see him getting less decisions versus higher competition possibly, but his ground control has proven to be dominant and will likely help him win decisions in the future. I would like to see him on an LFA Brazil card or another Jungle Fight card. At 20, he should keep testing himself, and one loss is not the end of the world. Training at a gym like Team Lucas Mineiro that has now multiple UFC fighters, he is hopefully set up for success. Like I mentioned, he has great bodies to work with in the gym, and connections to the UFC as well.

Jonathan Rivera 3-0 Bantamweight – Francesco Nuzzi – Aurora Fight Team

One of the better gyms in Italy, Aurora Fight Team has some good young up and comers that have been helping Francesco Nuzzi prepare for his and the gym’s first UFC fight. One of those guys is the 23-year-old Italian Jonathan David Rivera.

Jonathan started fighting MMA in 2020 in the Italian amateur ranks, where in the beginning he was not so lucky. While he would win his amateur debut he would then lose five fights in a row, with two losses by rear naked choke. He would then go 4-1 in his next five and finish his career going 3-2 and having a three-fight win streak in the Cage Warriors Academy in Italy. Despite his Amateur record being 8-8, he has made 2026 his year by going 3-0 in just 6 months, with two wins via first round TKO and the most recent via a close split decision versus another young prospect.

Despite being a bit small in stature, this Bantamweight is a fierce competitor. In his first pro fight, he fought a much taller opponent up a weight class at 145, where he would show off his good clinch work and wrestling. He would use loopy shots to get into the space of the taller opponent and try to land elbows and knees. He would land a nasty elbow late in the round that dropped the giant. In his second fight, he finally fought down at 135, where he would take out his cocky opponent in just 44 seconds. Rivera partially landed a head kick and his opponent tapped his chin and shrugged it off, however, Rivera would throw the head kick again, this time landing it flush. Rivera would follow up with a barrage with punches and knees that would finish his opponent.

At 2-0, Rivera seemed to be looking for a challange, as he would be faced off with the fellow 2-0 Dmytro Makarov from Ukraine. Jonathan Rivera would pull of a split decision victory in the Main Event of Shock FC 3 earlier this June. While this fight is close, I do think the right guy won. Makarov seemed to be a pure wrestler, which did give Rivera some problems, as Makarov would get at least five takedowns in the fight. However, Rivera did a great job working his game using his clinch, where he lands nasty knees and elbows. He does a great job emphasizing the body both in and out of the clinch with knees and kicks. To me, the third was clear for Rivera, and the first was also very much a Rivera round, however the second is very very close. Makarov didn’t do much of anything, and its a classic takedowns and control versus effective striking and not taking any damage on the ground.

Rivera showed his stamina and pressure, he is a decent striker with power in his elbows, knees and kicks especially. Rivera is finally moving away from Shock FC as he takes on 1-1 Amer Salaamed at Cage Warriors 211 in Rome. This isn’t necessarily the step up in competition I would want to come with a Cage Warriors fight, but it will definitely show us more to decide whether or not Rivera is a swing in the dark or not.

Tama Hiquily 3-0 Bantamweight – Lawrence Lui – City Kickboxing

While French Polynesia is nowhere near an MMA powerhouse, they do have some things in the works, and this 25-year-old is definitely one of those things. Tama Hiquilly trains out of the historic City Kickboxing gym and has an 8-0 combined record including his five amateur fights. Seven of the eight wins come by KO/TKO, and only the first amateur fight went the distance.

While he hasn’t fought the best competition in Shuriken Fight Series, I feel he is still worthy of mentioning, especially when he is training closely with some of the best fighters in the world. He is most likely a close training partner with fellow bantamweight Lawrence Lui, and I bet he always gets rounds in with former UFC title challanger Kai-Kara France.

Tama’s first win was easy; he came out showing off his great foot work and conventional striking, and he also had to show his phenomenal takedown defense and ground game. He beat his opponent in the first round after landing nasty combos on the feet, which dropped the guy and lead to Tama landing ground and pound. In his second fight, he would have to show off more of his ground game, as his opponent would take his back for most of the round. However, it ended with Tama on top landing shots. This speaks to two good things about Tama’s game; one being his resilience, which he showed in the second and third fights where he won in the second round, battling through blood and cuts, and also his ability to find positions to land ground and pound.

Other than being extremely good on the feet, as he has shown in three fights, he has also shown his elite ground control and position that has helped him finish all the fights in some way. I would like to see him fight in Eternal or abroad pretty soon, as I don’t feel there is much competition for him at Shuriken.

Caden Cox 2-0 Featherweight- Aoriqileng – Fight Ready MMA

There is no footage of this kid, but he does more than pass the eye test. Despite being from a decent gym in Fight Ready MMA out of Arizona, I was unable to find his age either. Caden started fighting in 2023, where he won his amateur debut via unanimous decision. He would then fight again that year and would lose a decision as well. At 1-1 as an amateur, he would fight again in March of 2024, where he would earn his first finish win with a second-round TKO. After only three amateur fights, Caden would take 10 months off and make his pro debut.

Caden’s pro debut and his second fight have both been in China for WLF MMA, a decent organization out east. I’m not exactly sure why this was the move, but I can only guess it has something to do with Fight Ready’s clear connection to China with both Alatengheili and Aoriqileng training at the gym. Caden’s pro debut was won in the first round by TKO, however, he would be far more tested his second fight. At just 1-0, he fought and beat Degaxue, a then-8-2-1 fighter, by third round submission. This is a great win, as Degaxue had 11 times more fight exprience then Caden.

It seems Caden is scheduled to make his first pro fight in America as the Co-Main event for Bar Fights Fighting Championship 21 on October 19th this year. He will face the 2-1, two-fight win streak Campbell Dunn, who at 26 would be a prospect himself if he could get the win; however, I think Cox is truly very talented. I would love to see him on an LFA card or a CFFC card if he gets a win next time out.

Kevin Acosta 1-0 Bantamweight – Nilson Rojas, Kevin Borjas – Pitbull Martial Arts Center

This 22-year-old Peruvian is one of the brighter prospects from the country. Having only one pro fight and it being a KO/TKO win is enough to get him looked at, and training at Pitbull Martial Arts Center, it is fair to say his future is in good hands.

Acosta went 10-2 in the amateur ranks and is quite the fighter to watch. Kevin’s hands are extremely fast, and he likes to throw them. A lot of wins on the amateur scene were by decision, but his only finishes are KO/TKOs. One of the losses that is listed on Tapology is false, and he actually TKO’d extremely bright prospect Zeus Papadopulos in the first round with a body shot. Tapology has this bout listed as a decision loss for Acosta, but the video on YouTube shows Acosta landing big swinging shots and eventually catching the body of the now-3-0 pro Zeus.

While Kevin’s grappling has not been tested yet, he trains with good fighters and at a good gym, so I am not too concerned on his development. Kevin is scheduled for his send pro fight at INKA 61 versus a 3-3 fighter.

Honorable Mentions:

Kelton Sneve 6-1 Lightweight – Song Yadong, Yan Xiaonan, Sumuadaerji – Team Alpha Male