Rising Star Thread

[JWGunslinger]

So I've been thinking about this for awhile and after this past weekend's fight card I have decided to do a monthly review of a fighter and determine whether he is a future contender, gatekeeper, journeyman or doomed to be cut. This month's fighter evaluation will focus on rising star from the UK, Paul Sass.

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To be honest when I read the list of bouts set for UFC Live:Cruz vs Johnson there were a few fights that I expected to be blowouts, one of them was Michael Johnson vs Paul Sass. Johnson being TUF 12's runner up losing to a tough Jonathan Brookins most recently coming off a quick TKO finish in his last fight, seemed like an easy pick to win for me. However when I saw Johnson get wrecked by Sass with a Heel Hook in the first round I realized that I had overlooked a very tough young brit in Paul Sass.

This man is 12-0 in his professional career, he finished his first 7 fights by Triangle(the Cody McKenzie of triangles?). In his entire professional career only one of his fights went the distance, the other 11 wins have been by submission, eight of which were triangles and the remaining 3 by heel hook.

Though he hasn't faced elite competition he has been very impressive against UFC fighters Jason Young, Mark Holst(won Submission of the Night) and the recent win over Michael Johnson. He reminds me alot of TJ Waldburger, both young fighters in the UFC with excellent ground skills and average standup. But the guy is only 23 and he can improve a ton in the coming years, plus he's got a good team in Team Kaobon with guys like Terry Etim, Paul Taylor and Paul Kelly.

I think with some major work on his standup, in a few years this guy could scrape the edge of contendership, but he'll probably be the next Mike Pyle and end up having impressive streaks and wins but will always get set back right before his big shot. I really enjoy watching him fight and I love his ground game but I think we're going to see Paul Sass become a very talented gatekeeper in the Welterweight division.

So what are your thoughts on Paul Sass and where do you see him going in his MMA career? Discuss my brothers

 

[Fizzy]

You're doing one every month? I'd say open the thread for everybody to post somebody they've had their eye on and have people give their opinion.

As for Sass, he's alright. He has skill on the ground which most British fighters lack but is lacking in the striking department. Problem I see arising with him is that, while he has very good BJJ, he isn't on the level to sub the Edgar's and Melendez's of the world. He'd get eaten alive on the feet and even if he got taken down, I doubt he could sub the top 5-8 guys. If he keeps working on his TDD and his striking, he may be on the lower top 10, but I don't see him getting higher than that.