Tommy “Rambo” Morrisson competed at Samourai MMA Chapter 14 this past Friday in Montréal, Québec. He initially won the Samourai flyweight title via fourth round TKO in June of 2024, but his bout against Max Quinones at the Montréal Casino last fall was a catchweight bout at 128 pounds. This meant that the promotion’s flyweight champion was set to make the first official defence of his title on Friday against Christopher Daniel. You can read the round-by-round recap of Morrisson’s fight, as well as the entire card, in our recap.
After his win, Morrisson thought that there was a lot to like from his performance. For one, though this may have been his second fight scheduled for five rounds, this was the first time in his young career that he fought for a full 25 minutes. This should do wonders for his confidence moving forward as he now has confirmation that, even at high intensity, his cardio can hold up deep into the championship rounds. He also acknowledged the danger that his opponent presented. Daniel is a jiu-jitsu black belt with 8 of his 9 wins being finishes, 6 of which coming by way of submission. But despite being a finishing threat for every second of the fight, not only was Morrisson never really in danger, he was the one controlling Daniel in the grappling, attacking submissions, and inflicting damage for the majority of the bout.
Watching the fight in real time, it appeared as though Daniel landed a flurry of upkicks in round 3. When asked about that sequence, “Rambo” admitted to being caught off guard as he was under the impression that those strikes were illegal but added that none of them connected cleanly.
It’s hard not to see this as perhaps Morrisson’s best outing yet, as the improvements in his game were tangible. He took Daniel down in every round and did it on a near 100% success rate. He used front kicks to keep the American at his desired range and set up his entries with crisp boxing combinations, mixing his targets well between the body and the head. This allowed him to consistently push Daniel back, and once along the fence, his takedowns were lights out. Nearly every takedown attempt resulted in the fight going to the ground.
In the past Tommy Morrisson would sometime use the same entries consistently, which would result in his opponents getting used to his rhythm. Add to that a striking game that used to be very rudimentary, and his fights looked a lot closer than they had any business being. These were tendencies that could be observed in his bouts against Binaebi Otoru, Diego Silva and Edwin Martinez, which you can watch for free on Samourai MMA’s official website and YouTube channel. However, it’s important to mention that those were his first three professional bouts, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to give him a pass. A better use of rhythm and more refined striking game has allowed Morrisson to progress to a point where we now wonder what the future holds for him.
Part of the credit for the evolution to his game should without a doubt go to Firas Zahabi, the head coach at Tristar Gym. This was a successful weekend for Tristar who had three victorious fighters at Samourai on Friday, as well as Firas’ brother Aiemann defeating Jose Aldo at UFC 315 on Saturday. The Montreal-based gym has helped produce a ton of known names like current top10 UFC featherweight Arnold Allen, two-time PFL champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier, and of course, Georges St-Pierre. And now, they look to have another special talent on their hands with the undefeated 26-year-old Morrisson. When asked about his plans for the future, the Tristar fighter said he’s now looking forward to completing his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. With summer courses and a fall semester on the way, he plans on fighting one more time before the year’s end. After making the walk three times in 2023 and 2024, he’s looking to reduce the workload a bit and focus on school as he plans ahead to 2026. He sees himself entering 2026 with the wind in his sails and get into the UFC directly, without having to go through Dana White’s Contender Series or The Ultimate Fighter.
With the plan in place for Tommy Morrisson, now is the time to execute on it. And with performances like the one we saw last Friday, there are good reasons for optimism about what he can accomplish.
