Artem Belakh, Kazakhstan, 11-2
Pros:
-Educated ground and pound/Goes body-head
-Submission threat
-Scrambles well
-Dangerous knees
-Good wrestling
-Underrated grappling
-Brutal use of elbows
-Explosive
-Extended jab
Cons:
-Loose position control
-TDD needs work
-Takes a lot of damage
Sometimes I don’t realize how good a fighter is until I really dig into the tape. That was the case with Belakh, as I came away extremely impressed after watching more of him.
Shame on ONE Championship for having him under contract for four years and only giving him three fights. To make it worse, all three were absolute bangers. Belakh moved to the United States last year to train in Las Vegas at the UFC Performance Institute and Syndicate MMA. He took full advantage of the move, signing with LFA and capturing the bantamweight title from the streaking Vinicius Pires.
Belakh has some defensive flaws, but you’re going to have to practically kill him to make him go away. He has multiple ways of getting the job done. On the feet, he does a good job working behind his jab at range and gradually putting his combinations together as the fight progresses. At any moment, he can explode forward with a flurry of punches, and his switch knee is a legitimate fight-ending weapon.
You can try to pressure him into the clinch or take him down, but he’s dangerous there as well. Belakh is effective with elbows and knees in close quarters. While he can be taken down, he’s difficult to keep there. He can wrestle offensively, too, and is a serious threat from top position. He’s capable of finding submissions, although he can occasionally lose positions while chasing offense.
What really stands out is his ground-and-pound. Belakh is vicious with his elbows and does an excellent job mixing attacks to the body and head. He creates damage from the top position as well as almost anyone in the tournament.
The biggest concern is his defense. He’s so willing to absorb damage in order to give it back that it’s hard to feel completely confident picking him to win the whole thing. With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he ends up making a deep run and proving me wrong.
