Top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight prospect Erick Silva (15-3) is going to co-headline the upcoming UFC Fight Night 29 event at the Jose Correa Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Oct. 9, 2013, when he takes on surging 170-pound contender Dong Hyun Kim (17-2-1).
And this one could be a squash.
That's assuming Kim's scouting report is accurate. "Stun Gun" (via CorMMA) insists he's the division's best grappler and has wrestling good enough to "shock" reigning champion Georges St. Pierre, widely-considered to be the promotion's top mat technician at 170 pounds.
His words.
"I think I am number one. I'm the best wrestler and grappler in my division. If I ever fight GSP, I can guarantee he would be shocked by my wrestling. When I trained in America, a lot of the staff knew I was a good wrestler so they brought in NCAA Division 1 wrestlers. Even the heavyweights could never take me down. I also mix in my Judo background with my wrestling. Even if they were stronger, I knew how to use that against them because of my Judo. I am going to bother you for 15 minutes. You won’t be able to just waltz in there and walk around. Let us fight so we are forced to spend our last bit of cardio and will. In the end, your lungs will burst from grappling with me."
That's a bold claim.
He has the chance to back it up in less than a week in hostile territory (full fight card here). If what he says is true, then you can expect him to try to replicate the performance of Jon Fitch, who stymied the Brazilian phenom at UFC 153 nearly a year ago through dominant position and smothering top control.
Something Kim -- who hasn't finished a fight in over five years -- knows how to do all too well.
Unless this happens.
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