Damian Pinas is who the UFC thought Ateba Gautier was

UFC 332 was Damian Pinas' coming out party as a star among high-profile prospects. He was always regarded as a fighter with tremendous potential, but this past weekend, he stole the thunder of another fearsome prospect, Ateba Gautier, and it all comes down to his win over Andrey Pulyaev.

Damian Pinas is a rising star

There's a clear difference between Damian Pinas and Ateba Gautier. Both men are powerful, but one is significantly more technical and relaxed inside the octagon. Furthermore, they had wildly different performances against Andrey Pulyaev. One got a quick finish over him, while the other had a surprisingly difficult unanimous decision win after three rounds. Gautier took on Pulyaev at UFC 324, and managed to score a few knockdowns before ultimately losing control of the fight and allowing Pulyaev to make a near-comeback by peppering him for the rest of the fight. Pinas, by contrast, walked him down and knocked him out stiff with an uppercut in round one. It was a flawless performance, and one that shed light on how good Pinas is.

First, as far as the comparisons to Gautier are concerned, Pinas has consistently shown better shot selection, tighter defensive striking, and the kind of precision that magnifies his natural power. It's why he looks like he's barely trying whenever he knocks his opponents out. His composure and presence in the cage can't be taught, and it's allowed him to demolish genuinely respectable competition, which is more than can be said about Gautier, whose first time fighting someone proven ended in complete disaster, as he was TKO'd in round one by Roman Kopylov at UFC 332. It was his sixth fight in the UFC and a true step-up in competition, yet he was still 'fraud checked' as is often said.

Pinas, however, has shown that he's ready for a jump up in competition and actually looks promising. Like Gautier, he's young, at just 24 years old, and has plenty of room for improvement. Furthermore, he's practically undefeated, as his only loss was a disqualification in a regional fight at Shooto Brasil 121, where he landed an illegal head kick against Italo Gomes in round one. Beyond that, he has finished every single fighter he has ever faced, racking up 10 knockouts/TKOs and one submission. The sky is the limit for Pinas, and he needs a ranked opponent next. A quick turnaround would work wonders in furthering his hype. He took no real damage from Pulyaev, and he should strike while the iron is hot.