Back in the day when I started this series, I never expected one fighter to make three consecutive appearances on The Watch List, but as the focal point of this entry into the series, Dong Hyun Kim changes all that.
By the way, never before has “back in the day” been used to mark a 13-month period in time. There should be a “back in the day” baseline, and it should be at least two years, but I digress.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Shields Wednesday on Sportsnet 360 with preliminary action starting at 5:00 p.m. ET and the main card at 7:00 p.m. ET
Kim is criminally underrated — has been for a few years now, and probably will be even if he wins this week against budding Brazilian star Erick Silva. Because of his grappling-heavy, maul-out-victories approach and the fact that he’s South Korean, the talented “Stun Gun” finds himself left out of the “future contenders” conversation at welterweight more often than not.
But he shouldn’t be. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at what he’s done over the last four years:
Kim is 6-2 dating back to his UFC 100 win over T.J. Grant. His losses in that period came against former interim champion Carlos Condit and the man that headlines this event, Demian Maia, and that came on a freak injury at that.
While there are ways to pick apart his pre-Maia wins — Grant and Nate Diaz are lightweights, Amir Sadollah and Sean Pierson are lower tier competitors — the real takeaway from his last four years is the development he’s shown through his last two victories.
In those efforts, Kim rag-dolled Paulo Thiago and Siyar Bahadurzada, getting in close, getting the fights to the ground and dominating the action on the canvas against both men. Where he had previously tired in the final frame (see UFC 125 vs. Diaz), the judo black belt and Busan Team M.A.D. representative has turned up the intensity and effort down the stretch in his most recent efforts.
And if he gets through Silva on Wednesday — which isn’t even too hard to see — you’re looking at a fighter with a three-fight winning streak, a 9-2 record inside the Octagon, and his only losses are to a pair of top-5 talents. If Maia goes out and defeats Jake Shields in the final bout of the night in Barueri, Kim’s stock improves even more.
Here’s the thing: the welterweight division is kind of up in the air right now, and depending on what happens when Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks clash next month at UFC 167, we could be looking at a division in desperate need of fresh challengers to pair off with the elite challengers, and a victorious Kim would fit that bill.
While we can’t say for sure what’s going to happen in the cage later this week, I can say for certain that this will be the last time Kim lands on The Watch List.
I think.
Here’s three other under-the-radar talents to keep an eye on Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Shields.
Mike Pierce
Record: 17-5
Opponent: Rousimar Palhares
If Kim is the president of the “Under the Radar Society,” Pierce is the vice-president, and one of those VPs that you can see moving into the big boy seat when the current president’s time in office is up.
Pierce has earned four straight victories and sports a 9-3 record in the UFC to date. Those three losses — Jon Fitch, Johny Hendricks and Josh Koscheck, with the final two of those being razor-thin split decisions. He’s earned finishes in two of his last three wins, has started speaking up more and voicing his opinion on his current station in the welterweight division, and still remains a frequent attendee at the “No One is Talking About Me” support group meetings held the night everyone gets into town for fight week.
No, those don’t really happen. If they did, Pierce could chair the meetings. Dude deserves a lot more respect and recognition. Should he win his fifth straight here, hopefully he gets a more high profile opportunity next time out.
TJ Dillashaw
Record: 8-1
Opponent: Raphael Assuncao
The Team Alpha Male representative lands on this list simply because not enough attention gets paid to the bantamweight division as a whole.
I mean seriously — here’s a pairing of two fighters currently ranked inside the top 10 in their weight class, both riding four-fight winning streaks that include a number of impressive finishes, and yet they’re further down the fight card than two fights featuring four light heavyweights that are nowhere near contention.
Save for the main event, this is the most compelling and important fight on this card and not enough people are talking about it. Dillashaw has legitimate championship potential, too.
He’s made great strides since his loss to John Dodson in the finals of the bantamweight competition on Season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter, and is surrounded by elite talent and coaches at Team Alpha Male. He’s fiercely competitive and driven to be the best, and could certainly announce his presence as a contender with a dominant performance here.
Yan Cabral
Record: 10-0
Opponent: David Mitchell
While the other three athletes mentioned here are recognizable to UFC fans, Cabral is an organizational newcomer, and one with an impressive resume at that.
An early favourite on Season 2 of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, Cabral was forced to the sidelines following his elimination round win. Now healthy, the Nova Uniao product is poised to make his UFC debut against Mitchell in this one.
The 30-year-old Brazilian is the epitome of what it means to be a specialist in this sport, with all 10 of his career victories coming by way of submission, including five by arm triangle choke. Naturally, making the move to the UFC is always a challenge, and Mitchell represents a step up in competition for Cabral, and I say that with all due reverence to the great Kazushi Sakuraba. (True story: I typed that sentence wearing a Sakuraba shirt.)
Despite this being his debut on the big stage, you don’t accumulate 10 consecutive stoppage wins by being just okay at submissions. We’ve seen plenty of fighters with sparkling records from regional promotions come into the UFC and have early success, and Cabral could be the next to join that group.
Given his proficiency on the canvas, I wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC neophyte ends up taking home Submission of the Night honours when all is said and done.