Author:Gage Holder      Editor: Harrison Holder

What if I were to tell you that a fighter went 5-2 in his first 7 UFC bouts, including wins in three different weight classes, and ended his contract on a two-fight winning streak? You would assume he was going to be a top target for being signed back and pushed towards the title picture. Well, you would be assuming wrong. For those of you who don’t know, Nate Maness is a pro-MMA fighter with a pro record of 16-3(5-2 UFC) and got his last win over Jimny Flick at UFC Vegas 93 back in June of this year. His contract expired and his team, as well as many others around the sport, expected it to be a no-brainer that he would be signed back. Over two months since his last UFC bout, Nate has not been signed back to the UFC, and he hasn’t even been offered a contract. He is even having trouble getting a response back from the UFC.

An odd story developing for the biggest MMA organization in the sport, but we can only hope it’s some kind of mix-up with the people who control contracts. It wouldn’t make sense at all to let someone like Nate walk away after the run he’s been on. At 125 the door is wide open and Nate has the style and skills to beat anyone in the top 15.  He’s 5-2 in the UFC after a successful debut win over Johnny Munez in 2020 at 145, he won his second bout at catchweight vs Luke Sanders. He picked up another win against Tony Gravely back at 135, then Nate suffered back-to-back losses after he was given the undefeated Umar Nurmagodmov and Tagir Ulanbekov who only has two losses on his record. He bounced back from those setbacks with two very impressive wins. The first was a devastating ground-and-pound KO over contender series alum Mateus Mendonça and a hard-fought decision over fan favorite Jimmy Flick in his last bout. CLEARY it should be a no-brainer to sign Nate back, but if the UFC doesn’t then it is their loss. We are going to review the top three options for Nate in free agency if Dana and the UFC don’t bring him back, check that out below!

1.One Championship

If Nate is looking to fight in the best MMA organization possible against the best competition outside the UFC then the number one choice for him is a no-brainer. One Championship is by the numbers the biggest MMA promotion in the world! It’s based out of Singapore with a huge pool of world-class fighters across several weight classes from 115 up to Heavyweight, also not just MMA they also allow their athletes to compete in BJJ, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai fights sometimes on the same cards! A few things would be different for Nate to adjust to as One uses a different type of weight-cutting system and weigh-in procedure and most of their fights take place over in Asia, if those aren’t things that would bother him then One is the place for him I think Nate could go in right away and make some real noise at 125 or 135. In my personal opinion, I think Nate would be a bad matchup for current ONE Flyweight champion Joshua Pacio. Or who knows maybe a win streak up at 135 would get Nate the biggest fight possible a dream matchup vs a top 5 fighter all time in Demetrious”Mighty Mouse” Johnson!

2.BKFC

If making the most money isn’t the most important thing for Nate and he wants to join the fastest-growing combat sports company in the world with a lot of eyes on it right now then look no further than BKFC!  A fairly new company having major success as of late in the Bare-knuckle boxing space that has seen countless former UFC fighters successfully transition over! This isn’t an MMA organization so it would take away part of Nate’s game that makes him so dangerous and that’s his BJJ/Grappling, he would have to adjust to just boxing and with no gloves all for typical less pay than the top MMA organizations! Something not everyone can transition to successfully but if I had to guess I think Nate would transition perfectly, he has great hand speed and doesn’t overlay commit to his punches in MMA so I think style wise he would fit right in with the BKFC 125ers, could you imagine a BKFC title fight between former UFC vets Nate Maness and Current 125 champion John Dodson? Can you say fireworks!!!

3.PFL-Bellator

For anyone who doesn’t know last year PFL purchased the exclusive rights for Bellator MMA and has been running both organizations separately since the purchase! This idea for Nate is more geared toward the Bellator side of the promotions as they have a 135-pound weight class filled with some very talented fighters such as Sergio Pettis, Raufon Stotts, Ciaran Clarke, and plenty more. Ask yourself who would say no to Nate Maness Vs Patchy Mix for the Bantamweight title? Two fighters who know each other fairly well from their unsuccessful tryout on The Ultimate Fighter. PFL on the other hand is set up completely differently with a regular season and playoff bracket that crowns an in-season Champion in each weight class at the end of the year. I’d say Nate would be wise to go after that million-dollar prize but the smallest weight class they have for PFL is 145 and even tho Nate has competed and won at Featherweight before it’s not his ideal weight class for his skill set in my opinion!

So where do you want to see Nate Maness go next if the UFC doesn’t come around? And what is your thoughts on how the UFC has handled this whole situation? Be sure to comment your opinions below as well as Share,like and Subscribe for ALL your Combat Sports news from around the globe!