Niko Price made his UFC debut at UFC 207, where he defeated multi-fight UFC veteran Brandon Thatch via first round submission. Price, who is still undefeated as a professional MMA fighter, credits film study for defeating that and says all MMA fighters should follow that lead.
“My goal is to find their flaws before they find mine (by studying film)– every time,” Price said to MMA Junkie. “In and out. You don’t get paid by the minute in this job. I get in, try to find their flaws, take them out as fast as I can, and try to keep my face looking as pretty as it did when I went in, even though I’m ugly.”
Price, who studied opponent Brandon Thatch, does think that the fighter needs a good ground game to go with his powerful striking game.
“He needs a ground game,” Price said. “He’s a great fighter – I can’t take anything from him. He hit me hard. But I can take a punch. I played middle linebacker, and I wasn’t a big guy – I can take a lot of hits. You have to find your flaws and fix them before someone like me and my coaching staff sees it.”
The loss for Thatch was his fourth in a row under the UFC banner, it was also his second straight submission loss, the first came to Ben Henderson.
