Introduction
Saturday, November 27th, Polish lightweight prospect Mateusz Rebecki will be in action for FEN, where he will be looking to defend his FEN Championship against Arkadiy Osipyan. He will be looking for another win, as Rebecki looks to score a contract with the UFC. He represents Berserker’s Team, an underrated camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Wrestling: Offensively and defensively, Rebecki is a very good wrestler with good physical strength, above average athleticism, a good explosive approach and excellent determination to finish his shots. He usually is able to finish takedowns once he gets his hands on his opponent, whether he sets up those shots or not. He has solid traditional takedowns, but has also shown signs of good trips and throws as well. Once on top, he’s a difficult to get out from under. From top position, he advances position well through strength and technique. He has brutal ground-and-pound, which have been the cause of many of his stoppages. In wins over Magomed Magomedov and Kaik Brito, he got to the mounted crucifix position, where he was able to drop heavy elbows en route to a stoppage. This is not a guy you want ground striking you.
Submissions: In addition to his strong wrestling ability, Rebecki also has a credentialed Brazilian jiu-jitsu game with a wide array of submission technique. As stated, he has some technical grappling which he combines with brute strength well. While most of his wins come by knockout, he does have five wins by way of submission. In fact, the first three pro wins he owns all came by way of heel hook, which is impressive to say the least. He also has two armbar victories to his name. Though he don’t see his submission game as much as we used to, since he’s such a hellion with his ground-and-pound, it’s still in his back pocket and can be used at any time.
Needs Improvement
Wild Striking: Rebecki has excellent power in his hands and can knock anybody out with one strike, but sometimes, his striking can get a bit wild and a bit sloppy. A lot of times, especially later on, Rebecki will just wing huge hooks and punches while indiscriminately entering within arms reach of his opponent. While doing so, he can get into some wild exchanges that will end up being dice rolls. When he’s winging those punches, his head is on a straight line and his hands are not on guard. A precise counter striker with good movement and accuracy could expose him here and put his lights out if he’s not more careful in those dog fight exchanges.
Outlook
UFC Midcarder: I have been really impressed with Rebecki this far and regard him as one of the top lightweight prospects outside the UFC/Bellator in the world. I think he has a big upside, is tough as nails and has the well-rounded skill set to set him up for success in the UFC. As of right now, there are plenty of winnable fights if he were to sign with the UFC right now. As he continues to get better, who could continue to take on increasingly tough challenges. The combined record of his last eight opponents is 113-29-3. That’s a hell-of-a-lot of a cage time that Rebecki’s opponents have had, and is a testament to how good Rebecki is that he finished all of them. A win over Osipyan should have the UFC falling over themselves to get him signed to the promotion.
MMA Intel 