Prospect in the Spotlight (June 27-28): Ieuan Davies

Introduction

Saturday, June 28th, Welsh lightweight prospect Ieuan Davies will be in action for Cage Warriors, where he will be looking continue his winning ways against James Power. He will be looking for another win, as Davies looks to inch closer to a UFC contract. He represents Blackledge MMA, a solid camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”

Strengths

Jiu Jitsu: Davies is a very talented Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist, which is obvious if you have watched any of his fights. Not only that, he’s an aggressive submission hunter with five first-round finishes (four by tapout). His only other pro win went to the second round, where he still got it done in the first half of the round. He’s comfortable on top or on the bottom, as showcased with his triangle armbar win over Leon Hill. He has solid ground-and-pound as well, though that’s generally overshadowed by his ability to score submissions quickly.

Needs Improvement

Striking Question Marks/Matching Up with Wrestlers: Because Davies’ fights have not lasted very long so far, we have many question marks that would give us a better indication of his ceiling. While all fights start on the feet, his striking sample size has been somewhat limited. He looks good fundamentally, but we’d definitely like to see more. In terms of his track record thus far, he’s been the dominant grappler, but he’s yet to face an American or Russian wrestler, both of whom heavily populate the major leagues of MMA.

Outlook

Regional Champion/Major League Prelim Fighter: Davies is clearly a talented grappler, and that will take him pretty far in MMA. He definitely has the skillset on the ground to advance to a UFC or PFL. That question is how high (or low) is that ceiling? On the regional scene, especially in Europe, he matches up well with a ton of fighters, but as you move up the ladder of the sport, the more top-level amateur wrestlers and jiu-jitsu guys there are to take away his advantages. Davies would look attractive on this season of the Contender Series as a late addition in the last couple of episodes. We will see if this finisher can make it there this year.