There are plenty of solid prospects floating around in the MMA world, and any one of them could be your next Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, or Demetrious Johnson. We cover a slew of them each and every week in our Weekly MMA Prospect Report. Beyond that, here are five more prospects to consider — prospects we’ve never seen, nor covered, before.
Light heavyweight, Damian Piwowarczyk (4-0)
Pros
- Sneaky head kick
- Dangerous flying knee
- Closes distance quickly
- Submission threat/Neck hunter
- Uses length well
- Good off his back
- Solid jiu-jitsu
Cons
- Hands drop low
- Easily pressed back
- Questionable gas tank
Piwowarczyk is an interesting young man, standing tall at six-foot-six. Obviously, his size is the first thing that stood out.
Most of my concerns about him came from his first pro fight and his amateur career. Piwowarczyk had a bad problem fighting with his hands low but recently does fight with a higher stance. His endurance is still questionable as in his only third-round fight he slowed significantly.
With the length that he has, it would be more ideal for Piwowarczyk to strike better at range. However over time Piwowarczyk has developed a better jab. Even though on paper he’s a distance striker, he likes to explode forward with short punches and likes to throw the flying knee. He’s perfectly fine closing the distance because in the clinch he’s very comfortable.
Using front chokes to get out of a bad position is something he does well. Sometimes being so comfortable Piwowarczyk will pull guard to attack the guillotine or a triangle. Some questions do need to be answered though. It’s unknown how his wrestling is and how he responds after facing some real adversity. Talent-wise he’s still young, has a good frame, and has shown vast improvements with each fight. The potential is there for Piwowarczyk.
