UFC London headliner Darren Till’s campaign worked, as training partner Mike Grundy will be making his promotional debut on the same night that Till faces Jorge Masvidal.
The UFC is coming to England for UFC London on March 16. The card is headlined by Jorge Masvidal and Darren Till along with many rising up-and-comers. The UFC made a big move in signing top prospect Mike Grundy, who will fight former Cage Warriors champion Nad Narimani (12-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC).
Mike Grundy
5’8″
Featherweight
31-years-old
Manchester, England
Team Kaobon Liverpool
11-1
8 Submissions (3 D’Arce Chokes, 3 Arm-Triangles, Guillotine, Kimura)
Get to Know Mike Grundy:
Born on March 1, 1987, Mike Grundy has been wrestling since he was a kid. His parents started him in wrestling because he was a shy kid and took that route to gain confidence, soon becoming a natural. He started wrestling at 6-years-old at Roy Woods Club, Woods being a well-known catch wrestler. British Wrestling brought over a coach from the US (Khris Whelan) to try to build up wrestling in the UK and Grundy was fortunate enough to have him as a coach. Whelan was a well-respected wrestler in the US and coached Grundy from a young age.
As a kid, he rarely lost and started representing Great Britain internationally at 17-years-old, medaling in many tournaments all over the world. Grundy took fifth in his first Commonwealth Games in India back in 2010 but stopped wrestling to learn MMA. He went to Team Kaobon in Liverpool with Shane Rigby, who was the wrestling coach there, and wrestled alongside former UFC fighter Terry Etim. Grundy would put up a short amateur career at 6-0, but felt there was unfinished business in wrestling. So he went back and won all the trials for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and got a bronze for England.
Grundy has a long list of wins in MMA and only one loss, which is to UFC fighter Damian Stasiak, but a key win against former UFC fighter Fernando Bruno. Grundy has won the Aspera FC Brazil featherweight and a purple belt in BJJ and Luta Livre.
How Will Mike Grundy Fare in the UFC:
Grundy’s wrestling background has transferred over into his MMA career very well as his wrestling is some of the best among other UK-based prospects. His wrestling is fantastic. He shoots very low and is so quick in his entrances he’s just about unstoppable. The work on the mat is so good as well, with his near-perfect ground-and-pound and positional grappling. Grundy is an expert in side-control as most of his finishes have come from that position. He hasn’t shown too much on the feet, but with his wrestling, it hasn’t been necessary so it will be interesting to see how he does if someone can defend the shots. I think Grundy does very good in the UFC and could very well crack the top-15.
How He Matches Up with Nad Narimani:
Narimani does well on the feet but he’s much better when he’s utilizing takedowns in with his striking though. Nad will have to stay off his back, but in the past, he’s been taken down by lesser wrestlers. Overall, this is a good fight for Grundy but a solid test as Nad is a tough fighter to beat.
