Patrick introduced me to a fighter named Edson Mendes Barboza Jr. from Brazil.
He currently fights MMA with a record of 7 wins and 0 losses: 6 KO's and 1 submission.
Alone, that record would seem impressive. However, he also has a 28 fight Muay Thai career at 25 wins, with 22 by KO.
What's really nice to see is that his standup game is clearly Muay Thai. Not K-1, not kickboxing, not karate, not Sanshou and NOT "MMA muay thai" (whatever that is).... it's Muay Thai.
He also isn't a fighter who simply trained Muay Thai. He has been training BJJ extensively. He has shown up to the MMA party with a lot of MT experience, but a well rounded game over all. I think it's for these reasons you're going to really see him rise up.
This is a point I've been arguing for a while: the future of MMA is going to see a move back to the traditional. The best fighters are the ones who study each discipline they are involved in specifically and intensively.
GSP and Anderson are examples of this. They are both well versed in different disciplines by training in them separately...not simply getting an MMA striking coach or grappling coach. YES, they do have teams that bring it all together, but they still get their skills by training with the best of each world. A non Muay Thai example would be GSP wrestling with the Olympic wrestling team.
These guys go to specialists of their craft to train...then they bring it all together by smartly choosing how and when to use their techniques. It's by having the most complete skill set possible that fighters like Edson are able to succeed in my opinion.
I'm definitely going to be watching him now.
Anyways...here is Edson in action: http://www.mmalinker.com/external/frames/36508/Edson_Barboza_vs_Mike_Lullo_FIGHT_VIDEO_UFC_123_PRELIM_HQ
You can read more about Barboza Jr here: http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/Sherdog-Prospect-Watch-Edson-Mendes-Barboza-Jr-28249
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