“The Jackhammer” Jared Papazian walks into Friday night’s encounter with Mike Easton knowing that his future in UFC is on the line. His statements about Dominick Cruz being overrated caught the attention of the MMA media, even to the point that we had to have him on our “MMA 24/7” program back in November of last year. The 24-year-old Papazian is 8-2 over his last 10 encounters and before his UFC on FX debut, the biggest facts about the guy are:
1) he’s the King of the Cage bantamweight champion.
2) he’s the cousin of “War Machine.”
3) he hates Dominick Cruz (which I just mentioned a minute ago).
Papazian wants to stand in the pocket when striking is required. He wants to finish fights like Mike Tyson – no jumping in and out and striking for points – he wants to collect knockouts. While there’s much more to his game, staying on his feet against Easton might be best, as “The Hulk” owns a BJJ black belt and is on a 6-fight winning streak of his own. Eaton won’t be making his debut in the organization, as he was involved in a catchweight encounter with Byron Bloodworth at UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson that he won via TKO. If there was a contender for fight of the night, this might sit high on the pedestal, as both men are coming into the encounter hoping to make a name with a big win over the other.
Another of Easton’s advantages might be his striking prowess (he’s a black belt in Tae Kwon Do) and, get this, he also owns a sweet split decision win over The Ultimate Fighter season 14 bantamweight champion so you know he can deal with blistering speed and quality strikers.
Mike Easton is the test that Papazian might need to prove whether he’s ready for UFC. Papazian has had 20 fights outside the Octagon and thinks he’s ready for the big time. After talking with him last year, we knows he’s determined enough to pull it off. It’s a matter of whether he’s capable of getting clean punches off, doing damage inside the range of a cagey fighter and evading the slick BJJ that Easton offers.
The Pick – Papazian by TKO Round 1
