British Beast Dog, John Hathaway

By Jason Kelly

“Diego Sanchez is a major step up in competition for John Hathaway” Mike Goldberg preached as John Hathaway was courted to the octagon by his coaches, trainers, and security “Diego is a handful for anyone” Joe Rogan added to the conversation, advising the world that John Hathaway was in no way, shape, or form believed to succeed Sanchez.

Coming into that fight Hathaway possessed an unbeaten, 13-0 record along with, 4 previous UFC appearances which were decisive wins, so experience shouldn’t have been a question in anyone’s mind. The skills Hathaway demonstrated in his fights prior to that bout should’ve made everyone aware Diego wasn’t going to outdo him in any area, not even the relentless tempo of Sanchez was going to impede Hathaway. His first UFC fight was over quickly and violently when he dismantled Tom Egan with elbows in the first round, not giving Hathaway an opportunity to boast his skill set but, by the time he was through fighting Diego, Hathaway had revealed the embodiment of a complete mixed martial artist.

Hathaway shouldn’t take as much doubt from fans after his dominant performance over Diego, the criticism he has heard for his first 4 UFC fights ended after that performance and made people take notice. People recognized his wrestling ability when he greeted Rick Story, a proficient collegiate wrestler, with a takedown in Story’s fist UFC round, and then Hathaway continued the onslaught for 15 minutes. Paul Taylor did not have much for Hathaway either, Taylor, a countryman of Hathaway’s, has the concerns with grappling similar to most British fighters, apart from Hathaway.

John Hathaway is effective in all areas of MMA, he is also exciting, explosive, and even though he has 3 decision wins in a row, he is always looking to cease his challenger. The largely surprising aspect Hathaway has exhibited is his capability to wrestle, whether that’s a god given talent he has, or if it’s his extensive preparation at London Shootfighters Academy, he is out grappling, grapplers. London Shootfighters focuses on MMA wrestling, and when one learns wrestling with kicks and punches from the beginning, they should adapt to wrestling in an MMA bout more smoothly than a straight American collegiate wrestler. And Hathaway is proving that right now.

After having his first 3 fights across the pond, then coming over here to Las Vegas to light up Diego, Hathaway will return to Europe in his forthcoming fight opposite to Mike Pyle. Pyle is a submission specialist who has an immense amount of experience training with Randy Couture and Gray Maynard, giving Pyle ample opportunities to enhance his grappling skills, and sporting a .500 record in his current UFC stint, Pyle has to sense some urgency to obtain this victory. Now that Hathaway is becoming the step up for other fighters, Pyle will have a deep assignment ahead of him when he tries to humble Hathaway, Hathaway must know this win will position him in the title contenders jumble, and with the minuscule to no struggles opponents have given Hathaway thus far, I don’t anticipate him encountering any difficulties until he arrives at the pinnacle of the welterweight division.



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I was super impressed by Hathaway vs Diego. Great size and used it well, especially in the standup. diego survived due to his unreal chin, but Hathaway put a good wuppin on em. And that went down despite Hathaway not relying on his wrestling.

That fight is prob my most anticipated for this weekend.

Hathaway has been decent, but I see problems for him in a fitch or kos fight bc that story guy can wrestle but kos and fitch have mma wrestling like hathaway is learning to do, fitch, or kos would ride him for 15 mins. Like Kos said about gsp "motor boat his ass" ....I dont even wanna know what that means lol

icebergsnoopy wrote:

Hathaway has been decent, but I see problems for him in a fitch or kos fight bc that story guy can wrestle but kos and fitch have mma wrestling like hathaway is learning to do, fitch, or kos would ride him for 15 mins. Like Kos said about gsp "motor boat his ass" ....I dont even wanna know what that means lol

Dude is only like 23 years old. Kos and Fitch are both 30+, I think they are like 32-33. Give him time, by the time he is at the top those guys won't even be around.

OU wrote:

icebergsnoopy wrote:

Hathaway has been decent, but I see problems for him in a fitch or kos fight bc that story guy can wrestle but kos and fitch have mma wrestling like hathaway is learning to do, fitch, or kos would ride him for 15 mins. Like Kos said about gsp "motor boat his ass" ....I dont even wanna know what that means lol

Dude is only like 23 years old. Kos and Fitch are both 30+, I think they are like 32-33. Give him time, by the time he is at the top those guys won't even be around.

I agree with u there, Hathaway has a long career still but, I wont be surprised if he fights one of them next year if he keeps winning.
After he wins saturday, he'll more than likely be fighting someone in the top 6-10 WW div, If he wins 2 more fights after sat he'll be in the mix, and kos and fitch will always be in the mix, just never gonna be champion as long as St. Pierre is there.

icebergsnoopy wrote:

OU wrote:

icebergsnoopy wrote:

Hathaway has been decent, but I see problems for him in a fitch or kos fight bc that story guy can wrestle but kos and fitch have mma wrestling like hathaway is learning to do, fitch, or kos would ride him for 15 mins. Like Kos said about gsp "motor boat his ass" ....I dont even wanna know what that means lol

Dude is only like 23 years old. Kos and Fitch are both 30+, I think they are like 32-33. Give him time, by the time he is at the top those guys won't even be around.

I agree with u there, Hathaway has a long career still but, I wont be surprised if he fights one of them next year if he keeps winning.
After he wins saturday, he'll more than likely be fighting someone in the top 6-10 WW div, If he wins 2 more fights after sat he'll be in the mix, and kos and fitch will always be in the mix, just never gonna be champion as long as St. Pierre is there.

Well IMO that is just better for him in the long run. Keeps him improving and gives him something to work for. By the time he hits his prime he could be a very scary opponent for anyone.

OU wrote:

icebergsnoopy wrote:

OU wrote:

icebergsnoopy wrote:

Hathaway has been decent, but I see problems for him in a fitch or kos fight bc that story guy can wrestle but kos and fitch have mma wrestling like hathaway is learning to do, fitch, or kos would ride him for 15 mins. Like Kos said about gsp "motor boat his ass" ....I dont even wanna know what that means lol

Dude is only like 23 years old. Kos and Fitch are both 30+, I think they are like 32-33. Give him time, by the time he is at the top those guys won't even be around.

I agree with u there, Hathaway has a long career still but, I wont be surprised if he fights one of them next year if he keeps winning.
After he wins saturday, he'll more than likely be fighting someone in the top 6-10 WW div, If he wins 2 more fights after sat he'll be in the mix, and kos and fitch will always be in the mix, just never gonna be champion as long as St. Pierre is there.

Well IMO that is just better for him in the long run. Keeps him improving and gives him something to work for. By the time he hits his prime he could be a very scary opponent for anyone.

Shit Yeah!