Zach Scroggin took the call on short notice to compete at UFC Vegas 100 on Saturday. The card has taken a number of hits leading up to the event, losing Cody Garbrandt (who was to face Miles Johns) then Ricky Turcios (paired with Benardo Sopaj) – both of which were co-main event fights. Scroggin, who missed weight on Friday, meets Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos.
Zach Scroggin
Standing at six-foot-three
Fighting at 170 lbs (welterweight)
28-years-old
Fighting out of Edgerton, Kansas, US
Training out of Marathon MMA
A pro record of 7-0
3 KO/TKOs, 2 Submission
Pro comp; Zachary Reese
How Zach Scroggin will fare in the UFC
Scroggin on paper has a good resume. Undefeated as a pro at 7-0, unbeaten as an amateur at 8-0, and the FAC welterweight champion. When you look into his fights you would easily see it’s a padded record. Zac Bucia was his best win but is 40. Josh Weston was 9-17. Jeremiah Curtright and Josh Tully are basically terrible. Keyth Dawson quit 30 seconds in. And I thought Scroggin clearly lost his pro debut to Skyler Hicks.
On the feet Scroggin throws a long jab and does well in the clinch. He does his best work with the leg kicks as he can generate damage quickly. That’s about all though as his flaws outweigh his strengths. Scroggin will just throw without any feints or setups. He’ll just go shot-for-shot with whoever he’s fighting. When he does throw he leaves his chin exposed badly. He’s absolutely going to get chinned sooner rather than later.
With the wrestling he struggles more than anything. He’s a big dude but lacks physicality. His takedown defense is awful and does about nothing off his back. His wrestling isn’t good either because there is no substance to his entries or setups. I also noticed that he puts himself in a lot of bad positions. He hasn’t been submitted yet but I see it happening soon. Scroggin is good at using his length to tie up an arm with his knee and land punches.
Scroggin is being brought into the UFC far too early. It’s an injustice to bring him into the UFC this soon, especially on short notice. There isn’t much he does well and what he does do well is negated by his flaws. It’s going to be hard to get wins at the highest level when you aren’t strong in a specific area and you don’t have any other strength like good footwork or cardio- because he doesn’t.
How he matches up with Zaleski
With Scorggin coming in to the UFC far from ready, fighting a guy like Zaleski is a nightmare. Without going to in-depth in this fight, because it’s not needed, Zaleski is winning this. I see zero path for Scroggin to win this. I’d be surprised if Scroggin won minutes let alone the fight. I have Zaleski by TKO
