Author – FdrNphw
Weightclass: Lightweight
Record: 7-0
Age: 26
Height: 5’11”
Born in: Russia
Training out of: Alexander Nevsky (Omsk)
Combined opponents’ record (at the time they fought): 62-36-1
Key wins: N/A
Dmitriy Kireev has done a great job drawing attention to himself this month by finishing his opponent in thirty seconds on the RCC 23 card. Even before that, he’s been someone to look out for, especially if you were looking for a prospect from the shallower talent pool of Russian prospects, the Slavic Russian pool. Someone who’s gonna replace Petr Yan in our hearts in a few years when he retires.
Similarities between the two are: striking background prior to switch to MMA, being part of the same team in Russia (Archangel Mikhail) . That’s pretty much it. At Dmitriy’s age, Petr was already ACB champ and had three UFC fights under his belt. But Petr Yan’s comparisons are unflattering and unfair for almost any worldwide prospect.
Kireev is originally a kickboxer who has bounced back and forth between the two sports for five years now. He even fought a Muay Thai match in ONE Championship. His last four fights have been under the MMA ruleset, so I’ll take that as a sign of where his focus is now.
Let’s get one thing clear, right at the start: Kireev’s striking is good enough for him to compete in UFC right now. His kickboxing style involves a lot of feints, movement, long-range attacks, and no covering up behind gloves. All of that helps versus people who are trying to take you down and are wearing small gloves.
He’s a southpaw who uses classic southpaw weapons greatly. Trying to get the dominant angle to his right and shoot a rear straight from a position where his opponent can’t hurt him. And when his opponents start to get used to that straight left and start slipping to their right, Dmitriy starts throwing his rear (left) leg high kicks. Outside angle to high kick is exactly how he got his thirty-second TKO two weekends ago. He gets to that angle by hooking, jabbing or just slapping opponents’ lead hand out of the way, thus making it safer for him to throw that rear straight. Defensively he’ll also angle off to his lead (right) side.
One of the more unconventional things Kireev does as a southpaw is attack from the inside. Instead of always chasing the outside angle, his punches often come straight down the middle, slipping inside his opponent’s lead hand. He’ll usually open with the jab—no easy task for a southpaw—but he makes it work by keeping his lead hand active. Feints, hand-fighting, and circling touches help disguise the jab, which is crucial since southpaws naturally put themselves in the line of an orthodox fighter’s rear straight—a much heavier threat than a jab.
Kireev also mixes in the 1–2 from that inside lane, which not only prevents him from being predictable but also takes the shortest route to his opponent’s chin. To close the distance, whether from outside or inside, he tends to lunge into his attacks. But those forward bursts are softened and disguised with fakes, making his entries harder to time.
Now, the not-so-great part: His wrestling. He’s a bit lackadaisical when it comes to defending takedown attempts. He doesn’t show enough urgency to fight for grips and create opportunities to free himself. Also, another thing that speaks to his lackadaisicalness is his upright posture when defending takedowns. If opponents grab a single, he’ll try and frame with his hand and slip his leg out of opponents’ grip, but often he’ll spend more time in that position more time than he needs to.
Another thing I don’t like is his rabbit punches when he’s being held against the fence or even on bottom. Looking for ways to stand up and separate should be the primary focus in those positions. He was held in those positions for decent periods of time by not-so-good fighters. He’s yet to fight the best opposition RCC has to offer.
Striking is great and ready for any level of MMA, but takedown defense is a concern. Both scenarios can be true: 1) he slowly fights better opposition in RCC, improves & proves his takedown defense over time vs better opposition, moves to US fights on some regional show, and gets DWCS opportunity. 2) signs with ACA, gets wrestle fucked by Caucasians, and loses five of his next seven fights. I don’t think it’ll go by the second scenario, but that just goes to show how important career management/matchmaking is in MMA & how styles make fights.
PS: there’s also a chance his takedown defense never gets good enough and he spends his career on the Russian regional scene jumping from kickboxing to MMA fights based on promised purse.