UFC Fight Island 4 – New Blood! International Quartet

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

This weekend’s “Holm vs. Aldana”-led card on “Fight Island” ain’t much to look at, but it does feature some interesting new talent. On this edition of “New Blood,” the series where taking notes is mandatory, we look at a quartet of finishers from all around the globe. As always, all “Contender Series” bouts are on ESPN+ and/or Fight Pass.

Cameron “Camchida” Else

Weight Class: Bantamweight
Age: 29
Record: 10-4 (5 KO, 5 SUB)
Notable Victories: Paddy Pimblett

England’s Else hasn’t had a fight go past six minutes since 2014, scoring all of his professional wins by first-round stoppage. He last fought in February, choking out Brad Evans with a guillotine choke 90 seconds into their fight.

He replaces Danaa Batgerel on “Fight Island,” which is located in Abu Dhabu, United Arab Emirates.

Despite the nickname, Else is more of a plodding, upright, one-at-a-time striker than any sort of fancy karate ace. He eschews the jab in favor of lead rights and lead kicks, the former of which pack considerable power. Unfortunately, he’s also vulnerable to getting sucked into brawls and isn’t durable enough to compensate for his overall lack of defense, an issue worsened by his instinct to slug instead of tie up when hurt.

Of greater note is his ground game. In particular, his ability to instantly latch onto front chokes has been apparent since his early days, allowing him to finish Paddy Pimblett with an anaconda just 35 seconds into their 2013 match. He also boasts solid ground-and-pound, though he’s yet to demonstrate much of his offensive wrestling prowess. If there’s one place he could conceivably keep up with UFC-caliber competition, it’s from the top.

Unless he’s been hiding a top-notch takedown game, Else doesn’t strike me as long for the Octagon. He’s just too limited on the feet to make a real impact. Indeed, he may snag a sneaky guillotine or two, but above-average strikers are going to tear him up.

Opponent: Kyler Phillips is at least an above-average striker. “Matrix” has the speed and power to demolish Else on the feet, and having held his own against wrestlers like Victor Henry and Gabriel Silva, he should have little trouble keeping it there.

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Dusko Todorovic

Weight Class: Middleweight
Age: 26
Record: 9-0 (5 KO, 3 SUB)
Notable Victories: Teddy Ash, Michel Pereira, Alexander Poppeck

A first-round knockout of Michel Pereira sent Todorovic to “Contender Series,” where he grinded his way to a decision win over Canada’s Teddy Ash. He’s since seen two planned UFC debuts against John Phillips collapse, one because of COVID-19 and one due to the Serbian’s withdrawal.

Todorovic is an odd mix of rangy, switch-hitting kickboxer and grinding clinch specialist. At range, he constantly switches from orthodox to southpaw as he bounces around the cage firing jabs and heavy right hands. His efforts are aided by a solid kicking arsenal that features heavy leg kicks and dexterous lead-leg kicks, which he’s willing to double up in on quick succession.

On the inside, he primarily loves punishing the body with point-blank punches. His stout dirty boxing game includes nice knees as well, and while he’s not much of a wrestler, he showed some solid dynamic ground-and-pound in his win over fellow future “Contender Series” competitor Alexander Poppeck.

His stopping power and aggression are sadly hamstrung by some massive defensive flaws. Most notably, he keeps his hands low even as he’s getting it and tends to back straight up, which leaves him wide open to aggressive strikers. He tried to address this against Ash, but he did so by attempting to shoulder roll, which is not a valid strategy when opponents are allowed to do more than punch. He also tends to throw naked kicks in punching range and wing his punches, making him equally vulnerable to counters.

Honestly, Todorovic’s flaws stand out more than his strengths. He’s still just 26, but I don’t see him staying afloat against even mid-tier UFC Middleweights.

Opponent: Dequan Townsend is not a mid-tier UFC Middleweight. Persistent clinch work has proven consistently effective against him in the Octagon, giving Todorovic a clear avenue of victory. While Townsend does hit hard enough to make the upset possible, Todorovic should just beat him up against the fence for 15 minutes.

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Jordan Williams

Weight Class: Middleweight
Age: 29
Record: 9-3 (7 KO, 1 SUB)
Notable Victories: Tim Caron (overturned), Gregory Rodrigues

Williams struggled to find “Contender Series” success in his first two appearances on the show, as a failed drug test for marijuana nullified his technical knockout finish of Tim Caron and he dropped a narrow decision to Ramazan Kuramagomedov in his second attempt. Undaunted, he finally secured a contract just last month with a vicious knockout of Brazilian finisher Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues.

The Williams gameplan is simple: march forward without moving his head and fire left hands until someone falls over. Solid power, a cast-iron chin and excellent cardio make this a remarkably effective strategy; he’s happy to tank incoming fire while launching constant 1-2s and 3-2s. Despite his lack of head movement, he’s also an adept counter-puncher, able to punish both naked kicks and overextended punches.

Backing up or trying to meet him head-on are both incredibly dangerous, but he can be kited behind good movement and straight punches. Kuramagomedov constantly caught him with jabs, while the much larger Rodrigues landed practically every straight right he threw before Williams got him near the fence and turned the tide with one clean left hand. As he’s going to be the smaller man in most of his fights due to his inability to cut weight, I can see him really struggling against opponents who know how to use reach advantages.

His penchant for slugging is aided by an impressively stout wrestling game. Though he largely uses it defensively, he showed some offensive grappling chops against Caron and some steady, powerful ground-and-pound. His lack of size hasn’t seemed to hinder him in that department so far, either, which speaks to his capabilities.

Overall, he’s super fun to watch and has a solid skillset despite his nonexistent defense. I’m not sure how he’ll hold up against the sort of hulks that populate UFC’s Middleweight division, but I can see him scoring a few post-fight bonuses.

Opponent: He meets Nassourdine Imavov, who was supposed to fight Rodrigues on “Contender Series.” Imavov’s got faster hands and sharper technical striking, but has some bad habits that Williams can take violent advantage of, namely a tendency to leave his chin within striking range while throwing. In the end, I favor Williams by a hair.

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Nassourdine “Russian Sniper” Imavov

Weight Class: Middleweight
Age: 24
Record: 8-2 (3 KO, 4 SUB)
Notable Victories: Jonathan Meunier

Imavov enters the Octagon unbeaten since a 2017 loss to KSW standout Michael Michalski. His current five-fight win streak includes four finishes, among them a knockout of UFC veteran Jonathan Meunier in Dec, 2019.

His withdrawal from “Contender Series” last month led to the aforementioned Williams’ return.

A long-time Welterweight standing 6’3,” Imavov is largely what you’d expect from someone with that build and nickname: a lengthy, light-footed striker with sharp boxing and some dangerous knees. His hand speed is particularly remarkable, as is the damage he can do to the body with punches, kicks, and knees. He’s also patient and destructive when he’s got his man hurt, landing well without exposing himself to danger.

There really isn’t much to complain about as far as his offense goes. That said, he does have some defensive liabilities, most notably a tendency to leave his head within countering range after throwing power punches. This compromises his length and allows shorter, less adept strikers like Meunier to find the mark with solid punches. Plus, and everyone say it with me, he doesn’t check leg kicks.

Unfortunately, I can’t say much about the ground game that’s accounted for four of his seven finishes, as the available footage took place almost entirely on the feet. I will say that he got up quickly when taken down by Meunier and landed some solid elbows and punches from the top after hurting him with strikes, though, so I’d recommend not getting stuck underneath him. Also, he trains with Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, so you can bet he’s drilling plenty of takedown defense.

Imavov definitely has the tools to be a threat and plenty of time to smooth out the rough edges in his stand up. I can definitely see him having a reasonably successful Octagon tenure.

Opponent: See above.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Island 4 fight card this weekend right here, starting with the ESPN+/ESPN “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN+/ESPN at 10:30 p.m. ET.

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