Introduction
Friday, January 13th, Brazilian bantamweight prospect Ary Farias will be in action for LFA, where he will be looking continue his winning ways against John Sweeney. He will be looking for another win, as Farias looks to inch closer to a contract with the UFC. He represents Top Brother MMA, a lesser-known camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Jiu-Jitsu: Farias is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which is evident when watching him compete in the cage. Not only does he have a number of notable grappling matches against the likes of world-class grapplers such as Mikey Musumeci, AJ Agazarm and Ricardo Evangelista, but he has dominated on the mat in his professional MMA career. Seven of his 12 wins come by way of tapout, with the rear-naked choke being the most prevalent of those submission wins. He also has a guillotine and kneebar win. He’s an ace at cutting through his opponent’s guard and getting to that back mount, which is why he has so many RNC wins.
Experience: Farias is 15 pro fights into his career and he’s already fought on some pretty big stages. He fought early on in his career for Absolute Championship Berkut, which is now known as Absolute Championship Akhmat, which is the top Russian regional promotion. He’s also fought three times under the LFA banner thus far, going on his fourth in his upcoming fight with Sweeney. It’s the second main event for LFA for Farias. He’s been a pro for nearly a decade, so Farias is obviously a seasoned pro.
Needs Improvement
Striking Defense: Farias has decent striking and has a lot of power for a guy his size, but sometimes his defense on the feet can be exploited. If Farias gets wild or careless in his defenses, he can get hit with some shots. His most recent loss to Marcos Breno came in under a minute and came via vicious knockout. Farias got caught because his defenses were down, opening up an opportunity for Breno to blast him up top.
Outlook
UFC Midcarder: Farias is a very strong, experienced fighter that has the ability to win fights in the major leagues. He’s coming off his biggest win to date over UFC veteran Michinori Tanaka, so he’s proven he can hang with UFC-level talent. His top-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu would be among the best in the UFC bantamweight division if he were brought to the roster.
MMA Intel 