Introduction
Tuesday, August 11th, American middleweight prospect Dustin Stoltzfus will be in action on Dana White’s Contender Series, where he will be looking to continue his winning streak against Joseph Pyfer. He will be looking for another win, as Stoltzfus looks to impress the UFC brass in an attempt to earn a contract. He represents Frankers Fight Team, a little-known camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Submissions: A look at Stoltzfus’ resume shows that he owns five wins by way of submission. That’s a good measure of what he’s able to do on the mat. He’s comfortable on top or on the bottom, though, obviously, he’d prefer to be on top. He’s also diverse in the submissions he’s been able to secure. In addition to a rarely seen twister in his most recent outing, Stoltzfus has scored wins via guillotine, rear-naked and arm-triangle chokes, as well as a kneebar. He’s very aggressive on the mat. While he’s positionally sound, he’s always looking to finish the fight.
Power: While he may not look like Todd Duffee in terms of his body, Stoltzfus is a pretty powerful guy. On the feet, he has shown knockout power, as seen in his blasting of Jonas Billstein. That knockout was nasty, as he hit him from short distance and bounced his head off the canvas. He’s also deceptively strong, especially in the clinch/in his wrestling. He gets good leverage because of his length and is able to dictate his opponent. Finally, on the mat, he has great grip strength. Once he gets a hold of your neck, he squeezes like he’s trying to take your head with him.
Needs Improvement
On-the-Feet Mechanics: Stoltzfus, as mentioned, can strike. He’s not bad. That said, there are some touch ups he can make when it comes to his mechanics. His footwork needs some work. He’s too heavy and prodding, and he’s not light enough on his feet. Also, his kicks are not especially pretty. They look very slow and deliberate. The couple times I have seen him throw spinning kicks, they look very amateur. As mentioned, he has power and can knock dudes out, but those are a few things that could help him on the feet.
Outlook
UFC Midcarder: Stoltzfus is a solid fighter that would be entering the shark tank that is the middleweight division. He’s a good wrestler, but not great. He’s a good striker, but not great. He’s a very good submission fighter, but will be matched up with world class grapplers. I think there are definitely winnable matchups for him on the UFC roster. But there looks to be a ceiling as to how far up he will be able to go given what he offers. And that’s okay. He will snag some necks, cash some checks and have a respectable UFC run.
MMA Intel 