Sherdog on Egan's chances

Pride Fighter

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/2/UFC-93-Breakdown-The-Undercard-15775

rovert

A lot of Americans are questioning Egan's grappling as he is only a blue belt in Jujitsu.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Any chance of 'cut & pasting' some of the articule, I can't access Sherdog from work :mad:

uberpixie

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/2/UFC-93-Breakdown-The-Undercard-15775

Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway

Tom “The Tank” Egan Scouting Report
Ht/Wt: 5’11/170 lbs.
Age: 20
Hometown: Dublin, Ireland
Fighting out of: Dublin, Ireland
Record: 3-0

The stakes: Normally, this would be the part where I blather on about Egan being a UFC rookie who needs to prove his worth. Let’s be real here: Egan is from Ireland and his opponent, John Hathaway, is from England. If I need to explain why that matters, you should have paid attention in high school world history instead of sitting at home trying to impress your friends by making a bong out of an apple.

Extracurricular activities and nationalistic rivalries aside, we’ve seen the UFC bring in plenty of local talent for European shows before, and those that fail to impress don’t get to make the trip back across the pond.

The breakdown: Egan is getting his big break early in the game with only three professional fights under his belt, but he does have a strong boxing base and the power to back it up. What remains open to debate is how UFC-ready Egan’s grappling is, especially when you consider the ham-and-eggers he’s feasted on thus far.

Testing out your grappling against Hathaway’s swarming ground-and-pound would be worthy of a Darwin award nomination. For that reason, Egan needs to establish his boxing from the opening bell and show Hathaway that stepping forward will carry a heavy toll.

John “The Hitman” Hathaway Scouting Report
Ht/Wt: 5’10/170 lbs.
Age: 21
Hometown: Brighton, Sussex, England
Fighting out of: Brighton, Sussex, England
Record: 9-0

The stakes: Besides being the latest avatar for England in its ongoing rivalry with the Irish, Hathaway enters this bout with some hype attached to his name as one of England’s premier welterweight prospects. Whether or not that is a product of Hathaway’s skill or the middling competition that makes up his resume is the question he must answer in his UFC debut.

Given the mutant shark tank that is the UFC welterweight division, Hathaway, and Egan for that matter, had better hope that they can get more than just the locals singing their praises.

The breakdown: This one is simple for Hathaway: Don’t go mucking it all up by trading with Egan. From what I’ve seen of Hathaway’s striking, it’s mostly telegraphed punches that have all the force of a pillow-fight behind them. Keeping the boxing to a minimum would be in the best interests of his baby-face mug.

If Hathaway is serious about keeping his teeth securely in his mouth, he needs to get after Egan early with takedowns and swarm his inexperienced quarry with strikes and submission attempts. From there, Hathaway’s strong positioning and accurate striking should be all he needs to tip the balance in favor of the Britons.


* * *

The bottom line: I’ve never been too keen on doubling down with unproven boxers in MMA, and this bout is no exception. Egan may have the edge on the feet, but he’s not Ireland’s answer to Floyd Mayweather, and Hathaway’s tremendous pace on the mat is something Egan is unprepared for.

Irish Mayweather goes down in the first round thanks to British ground-and-pound. Damn, I shouldn’t have read that Ali biography.

Roper

Hmmm.

Me thinky rely on youtube make bad journalist. Research who coaches are, make good journalist.

Drunkmonkey79

Seems to me that Rios is more interested in politics then the fighters actual chances. He seems to put both men down equally and does nothing more than try to evoke some stupid 'Irish Vs English ' simplistic view of there fight.

Pride Fighter

Drunkmonkey79 wrote: »

Seems to me that Rios is more interested in politics then the fighters actual chances. He seems to put both men down equally and does nothing more than try to evoke some stupid 'Irish Vs English ' simplistic view of there fight.

I agree, they put down both fighters IMO. They said Egan has no wrestling and will get bloodied basically, that is what I got from the article.

rovert

A far more respected writer Dave Meltzer wrote this about Tom in the latest Wrestling Observer newsletter:

UFC officials are high on Tom Egan, that is, if he can fight. Egan, 20, apparently has Bisping-level charisma and they feel he can be a superstar in Ireland. If he beats John Hathaway in what would be a prelim fight on 1/17, the plan would be for him to fight a couple of times this year, and if he wins, become a featured local star when they return to Dublin tentatively in early 2010.

No pressure Tom

Sm0ke

Egan is a good skin, i wish he cud have some more fights before a debut at UFC because the kid looks good and with some more focus on grappling we may (i said MAY) have our first irish MMA Champion in a few years!

For this, I'm sorry to say Egan should lose. As this is the best sport in the world tho (imho) egan cud beat him at any time or vice versa with a single punch

I LOVE IT!!!

ginoginelli

Sherdogs really gone downhill since their editor Josh Gross left..I wouldnt pay too much attention to that article..

Cmon the Tank!

Jason Mc

Will Tom's fight be shown on the PPV?

Dragan

Yeah, the kind of missed out on the whole JK element there all right. Tom also strikes me as a very clever individual so you know they will not be walking in blind and will have developed a series of ways to act depending on how the fight is going.

Personally i would love to see Tom win, but honestly will be happy for him once he represents himself well in the cage.

Name Changed

Where in Dublin is Egan from?

rovert

Jason Mc wrote: »

Will Tom's fight be shown on the PPV?

Looking the bill no but if the show runs short then they may play the full fight or if they are they are completely pushed for time they could show short highlights of the fight during the PPV unless it is a total snoozer of fight. If that atmosphere for the fight and/or the fight itself is awesome UFC's hand would fairly forced to show it.

Worst case scenario if it isn’t shown then it will be available on UFC's website after the event.

Dragan wrote: »

Personally i would love to see Tom win, but honestly will be happy for him once he represents himself well in the cage.

Totally agree success for someone so young and in the UFC in general should not be based soley on winning

siochain

he's from Kildare

rovert

siochain wrote: »

he's from Kildare

Newbridge

But Im fairly sure he was born in Dublin.

arybvtcw0eolkf

rovert wrote: »

Newbridge

But Im fairly sure he was born in Dublin.

Culchies from Kildare refer to it as 'South Tallagh' when they want to be posh

cowzerp

Thomas has a slick ground game and will certainly not look like an inexperienced mug on the ground, also the Blue belt thing is not that important, i've seen plenty of american brown belts that would not hang with a lot of the irish blue belts, they seem to give out the belts much easier over there..he'll be ready and put on a good performance at least, i think he'll win though, probably drop hathaway with strikes then finish him with GnP.

siochain

rovert wrote: »

Newbridge

But Im fairly sure he was born in Dublin.

Leixlip then Newbridge

O'Leprosy

rovert wrote: »

Newbridge

But Im fairly sure he was born in Dublin.

So he's a Dulchie

cowzerp wrote: »

Thomas has a slick ground game and will certainly not look like an inexperienced mug on the ground, also the Blue belt thing is not that important, i've seen plenty of american brown belts that would not hang with a lot of the irish blue belts, they seem to give out the belts much easier over there..he'll be ready and put on a good performance at least, i think he'll win though, probably drop hathaway with strikes then finish him with GnP.

Would Tom not be better keeping it standup ?? They say Hathaway has strong GnP, risky following him to the ground ?? Hopefully JK will have been working Tom hard on his takedown defence and we'll see a KO or stoppage from Tom's right cross.

Goose81

Im a boxing fan but I like UFC aswell :eek:

How good is Tom?

Does anyone honestly think he will win?

I am probably confusing MMA with Boxing in this aspect that a defeat causes alot of damage in a boxing career and maybe not so much in an mma one.

Sm0ke

cowzerp wrote: »

Thomas has a slick ground game and will certainly not look like an inexperienced mug on the ground, also the Blue belt thing is not that important, i've seen plenty of american brown belts that would not hang with a lot of the irish blue belts, they seem to give out the belts much easier over there..he'll be ready and put on a good performance at least, i think he'll win though, probably drop hathaway with strikes then finish him with GnP.

i hadnt realised his ground game was that good. i had kind of just given hathaway a much bigger edge cause i know his ground game is solid. Cant wait to Cheer Tom on at ufc 93 especially cause i dislike mark davis XD

Clive

Goose81 wrote: »

Does anyone honestly think he will win?

Yes.

slicus ricus

Clive wrote: »

Yes.

I also believe he will win. From what i've heard, he is a quality fighter and i know for a fact that he has a top class coach in John Kavanagh. There is no way his ground game could be weak like that dude in Sherdog claims given that JK is his coach.

siochain

Clive wrote: »

Yes.

+1

David Jones

i've seen plenty of american brown belts that would not hang with a lot of the irish blue belts, they seem to give out the belts much easier over there

Dont want to drag this off topic but are you serious paul?? The beauty of bjj is that anyone can make a mistake and get caught but also that the belt system reflects performance on the mat. Unless they are from a "mcdojo" I would have my money on any legit brown belt from the states. I have spent 5 summers there training and if anything the level is higher and they dont give out belts as easy.


Good luck Tom by the way.

mark.leonard

siochain wrote: »

+1

I too think the Tank Egan could win,
he is the most naturally talented and confident fighter I have seen in some time and he could easily surprise Hathaway and anyone else counting him out.

mark.leonard

David Jones wrote: »

Dont want to drag this off topic but are you serious paul?? The beauty of bjj is that anyone can make a mistake and get caught but also that the belt system reflects performance on the mat. Unless they are from a "mcdojo" I would have my money on any legit brown belt from the states. I have spent 5 summers there training and if anything the level is higher and they dont give out belts as easy.


Good luck Tom by the way.

Damnit - you beat me to it Dave, most likely cos your a higher belt in BJJ

cagefan

I've seen Tom's opponent on cagerage there the other night..he looks good, great ground game....Tom may not be at that level but he is training in a submissions gym and may have enough skill to stuff the takedown or neutralise him on the ground to get it restarted...probably wishful thinking...as long as he holds his own( which Im sure he will) I'll be happy