Introduction
Friday, July 26th, American middleweight prospect Eric McConico will be in action for Tuff-n-Uff, where he will be looking continue his winning ways against Dylan Potter. He will be looking for another win, as McConico looks to inch closer to a contract with the UFC. He represents the MMA Lab, a respected camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Top Game Grappling: McConico is really good at mixing up his attacks, but his clinch and submission wrestling from top are strong parts of his skillset. He has some professional grappling experience at a decent level. In watching him in MMA, he likes to close the distance with his striking and tie up his opponents against the cage. There, he makes his opponent carry his weight and tire them out. He lands strikes from that distance. On the mat, he’s heavy on top and can land ground-and-pound well. He only has two wins by submission, but he is a skilled submission fighter as well, especially being from a wrestling-heavy gym like the MMA Lab.
Power Striking: McConico is a big, powerful guy that has knockout ability on the feet. Four of his wins come by way of knockout, between ground-and-pound and on-the-feet striking. His most recent knockout was the fight that put McConico on many scout’s radars, which was when he finished ultra-durable Maki Pitolo, a UFC veteran. In that bout, he got in a major firefight and ended up downing him with brutal shots to the body.
Needs Improvement
Matchups vs. Strikers with Takedown Defense: In McConico’s two losses as a pro, it has come as a result of not being able to get down his opponents and then getting overwhelmed on the feet. Both Dejan Kajic, a knockout artist, and Andre Walker, a Glory Kickboxing veteran, were able to stave off the takedown attempts and clinch of McConico and keep a good striking distance. Kajic put McConico away in round 1, while Walker ended the fight in the third. McConico’s striking has gotten better and is solid, but his mixture of striking, clinching and grappling is better than just a straight kickboxing match.
Outlook
UFC Prelim Fighter: With the lack of top middleweight prospects from America we currently have right now, McConico is likely a short lister when it comes to his spot in line to get into the UFC. His style and finishing prowess is something I am sure the UFC talent evaluators have noticed and they would likely give him a shot in the UFC. There are a lot of tough matchups for McConico there, so the ceiling may not be high. That said, he could bring some fun fights that gather him a cult following.
MMA Intel 