Is Cameron Saaiman a future champion?

[HuskySamoan]

I can't quite put my finger on it, if I think Saaiman will fall short or become something inevitable at the top of the division in time. What I can say is, at 22 he is fighting at an unprecedented level of competition compared to almost all of his peers. He's definitely got some improving to do, gives up takedowns a little too easily, is a bit wreckless standing but...wow does he move well, kick well, scramble well, he's a fast and sharp striker who has a real hustle when it comes to putting on pressure and a clear killer instinct.

I have doubts though, even ones that are stupid like "he doesn't look very tough" if he was Cameron Saaimanov with a beard I'd be a little more sure. I also wonder who he trains with in South Africa at CIT, a gym where he and Dricus are the two best fighers by far. Once he starts fighting the bigger, stronger, more dominant grapplers like Merab, Umar, Aljo, Rinya type fellas will he be able to stop them? Will he be able to get back up? Who's his wrestling coach? Who's he getting time in on the mats with when he knows what awaits him at the top of the division are Sambo and Wrestling champions?

I do also wonder of course when he faces guys who can really crack too of course, the division is such a shark tank. Still at 22 years old Saaiman is pretty amazing, I think he's going to finish Christian Rodriguez at UFC 290 and start getting more attention from the media, hopefully no fouls this time.

Seriously though, Cameron Saaiman at just 22 has beaten.

27yo Mana Martinez 10-3 (2-1 UFC), 5-1 amateur

29yo Josh Wang Kim 5-1 pro (only loss by DQ) and 15-1 amateur

25yo Steven Koslow 6-0 pro, 10-1 amateur

And now Saaiman will face

25yo Christian Rodriguez 9-1 (2-1UFC) pro, 5-2 amateur.

Fouls aside, because I know that's what everyone loves to discuss, Saaiman seems very special, he even has 2 amateur wins over Gift Walker who's a 4-0 pro and 8-4 amateur on the South African scene. There is a very short list of fighters this skilled and this proven vs a steady stream of solid opposition at only 22 years old, a very short list out of the entire sport. What do you think of Saaiman and how do you think they should move him up in the division if he gets past Rodriguez? Also do you think Rodriguez will derail yet another undefeated prospect in Saaiman?

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

He does seem promising and looks like he has potential, but I still think its too early to tell if he can be champion in the UFC

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I think he can be a contender for sure, although I do think he got into the UFC a bit early, but to be fair he's done fine so far.

I think what stands out is the work rate and self-belief. He's not a kid that seems like he's going to cave in when things get difficult and in fights where he's had difficult moment against older and more experienced dudes he's come through and ridden it out to get the win. Excellent desire and cardio to really push through late in fights too.

I actually think the Manengela title fight in EFC showed it the most. He had some difficult moments in the fight and as someone who'd been hyping him I was thinking "fuck, he's gonna lose here", but he dug deep and got it done.

 

[aogiri]

I think he can be a contender for sure, although I do think he got into the UFC a bit early, but to be fair he's done fine so far.

I think what stands out is the work rate and self-belief. He's not a kid that seems like he's going to cave in when things get difficult and in fights where he's had difficult moment against older and more experienced dudes he's come through and ridden it out to get the win. Excellent desire and cardio to really push through late in fights too.

I actually think the Manengela title fight in EFC showed it the most. He had some difficult moments in the fight and as someone who'd been hyping him I was thinking "fuck, he's gonna lose here", but he dug deep and got it done.

Yeah, I like his willingness to win while the odds are stacked against them. Points deducted in both his UFC fights and he knew he had to push the pace and make a statement to get the finish or end dominantly and did just that. Good to see that fight iq at his age when there are 30 years old in the UFC going for pointless takedowns to secure the final round in a fight they're losing.

 

[xhaydenx]

He hasn't really impressed me a ton in the UFC.

Mana and Wang Kim are pretty crap.

Koslow has only beaten one guy with a winning record. And in that fight he came in on short notice, had never been beyond r1 as a pro, and was gassed from the get go, and it still took Saimaan until late in the 3rd to finish him.

We just haven't seen him fight anyone good enough that might give a good indicator of how far he can go.

He's super young though, so expecting big improvements.

 

[loisestrad]

Doubtful, but I hear what you Saaiman.

 

[HuskySamoan]

I think he can be a contender for sure, although I do think he got into the UFC a bit early, but to be fair he's done fine so far.

I think what stands out is the work rate and self-belief. He's not a kid that seems like he's going to cave in when things get difficult and in fights where he's had difficult moment against older and more experienced dudes he's come through and ridden it out to get the win. Excellent desire and cardio to really push through late in fights too.

I actually think the Manengela title fight in EFC showed it the most. He had some difficult moments in the fight and as someone who'd been hyping him I was thinking "fuck, he's gonna lose here", but he dug deep and got it done.

Looking at Cameron Saaimans instagram, the kids been quoting guys like Faber and GSP since he was 14 and claiming he wants to be a world champ in MMA. He has grit and strong resolve, doesn't seem bothered when he gets cracked, cut or bleeds and knows the mission....I've noticed this too. That said, his gym doesn't have all the looks to offer him, I think he might have gotten wrestled badly by Ronnie Lawrence if he didn't pull out, Koslow on short notice was getting takedowns. Also, there's a trend of him and Dricus trying to compensate with a lack of defense with just...more offense, very bad.

You can train 50 years in South Africa, it probably won't prepare you for Russian and US high caliber grappling when you make it to the top. I don't agree that he got to the UFC too soon, I think if you begin training and gathering experience early enough, you want to be on a trajectory to fight for a title in your mid 20s Ala Jones, GSP, Cruz, Aldo, Mighty Mouse, Usman Nurmagomedov. Your athletic prime is like 22-28, making it to contention at 29+ doesn't give you a lot of time to make it back if you lose, to adjust and improve to issues you encounter or to have much longevity as a champ. I think championship level talent should gun to reach the title by 25-27 if they began training and competing early enough.

I also have this belief that if you aren't met with adversity in competition, if you aren't presented with a constant presence of increasingly more difficult challenges...then you won't grow as much as if you were. You are less likely to correct and improve things about your game if there isn't a need to. It's why when some people are skeptical of Shavkat because he had a competitive fight with Geoff Neal, I'm the opposite...fatiguing, having your tall man defense exposed, having your uchi Mata and outside trips from the body lock all countered by an opponent who did his homework...Shavkat never had a need to improve or add to these things until that Geoff fight, it's better this happened at 28 while he still has time and knows exact things to work on about his game now. I'd like to think Saaiman is doing similar, I just have serious doubts about South African MMA resources and Dricus and He see oddly prideful about going elsewhere.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Looking at Cameron Saaimans instagram, the kids been quoting guys like Faber and GSP since he was 14 and claiming he wants to be a world champ in MMA. He has grit and strong resolve, doesn't seem bothered when he gets cracked, cut or bleeds and knows the mission....I've noticed this too. That said, his gym doesn't have all the looks to offer him, I think he might have gotten wrestled badly by Ronnie Lawrence if he didn't pull out, Koslow on short notice was getting takedowns. Also, there's a trend of him and Dricus trying to compensate with a lack of defense with just...more offense, very bad.

You can train 50 years in South Africa, it probably won't prepare you for Russian and US high caliber grappling when you make it to the top. I don't agree that he got to the UFC too soon, I think if you begin training and gathering experience early enough, you want to be on a trajectory to fight for a title in your mid 20s Ala Jones, GSP, Cruz, Aldo, Mighty Mouse, Usman Nurmagomedov. Your athletic prime is like 22-28, making it to contention at 29+ doesn't give you a lot of time to make it back if you lose, to adjust and improve to issues you encounter or to have much longevity as a champ. I think championship level talent should gun to reach the title by 25-27 if they began training and competing early enough.

I also have this belief that if you aren't met with adversity in competition, if you aren't presented with a constant presence of increasingly more difficult challenges...then you won't grow as much as if you were. You are less likely to correct and improve things about your game if there isn't a need to. It's why when some people are skeptical of Shavkat because he had a competitive fight with Geoff Neal, I'm the opposite...fatiguing, having your tall man defense exposed, having your uchi Mata and outside trips from the body lock all countered by an opponent who did his homework...Shavkat never had a need to improve or add to these things until that Geoff fight, it's better this happened at 28 while he still has time and knows exact things to work on about his game now. I'd like to think Saaiman is doing similar, I just have serious doubts about South African MMA resources and Dricus and He see oddly prideful about going elsewhere.

This is all true, but people used to say the same about Leon leaving the UK.

 

[DOMMA]

Doubtful, but I hear what you Saaiman.

 

[HuskySamoan]

He hasn't really impressed me a ton in the UFC.

Mana and Wang Kim are pretty crap.

Koslow has only beaten one guy with a winning record. And in that fight he came in on short notice, had never been beyond r1 as a pro, and was gassed from the get go, and it still took Saimaan until late in the 3rd to finish him.

We just haven't seen him fight anyone good enough that might give a good indicator of how far he can go.

He's super young though, so expecting big improvements.

It's relative bud, Wang isn't crap for a 21 year olds opponent nor was Wang crap for a contender series spot. Koslow and Mana aren't crap for a 21-22 year old prospect either, I'd say they're huge challenges if anything. Gutsy type matchmaking, they gotta be super confident in Saaiman having him in the UFC fighting these types of guys when he's only 22..

It's not time for Saaiman to fight Cody Stamann and Adrian Yanez type guys yet. I think if he beats Rodriguez you give him a Daniel Marcos, Ronnie Lawrence or Aiemann Zahabi type opponent next.

 

[Willek]

Sounds like Husky Samoan wants to marry the guy or something.

 

[GOATmaev]

He's going to be the second real African champ after dricus

 

[HuskySamoan]

This is all true, but people used to say the same about Leon leaving the UK.

Wish I knew more about Leon's training situation and history. His wrestling developed beautifully for a brit.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Wish I knew more about Leon's training situation and history. His wrestling developed beautifully for a brit.

He did do a bit of training at AKA a long time ago, but it actually seems to have come on better since he got back.

Diakiese is another one who went to the US to train (ATT in his case) and his results dropped off while he was there and then improved again once he came back.

I would say if I was generalising that most Brits have been better at offensive wrestling than defensive wrestling recently (I'd put Hadley in this category) but that there are some dudes with insane TDD coming through now. Obviously you've got Leon, but Caolan Loughran looks to have insane TDD to me too.

 

[HuskySamoan]

He did do a bit of training at AKA a long time ago, but it actually seems to have come on better since he got back.

Diakiese is another one who went to the US to train (ATT in his case) and his results dropped off while he was there and then improved again once he came back.

I would say if I was generalising that most Brits have been better at offensive wrestling than defensive wrestling recently (I'd put Hadley in this category) but that there are some dudes with insane TDD coming through now. Obviously you've got Leon, but Caolan Loughran looks to have insane TDD to me too.

Loughran is training under Grundy I believe, so that's going to help his development a lot. Loughran is also just built for it but....Hes only fought in the UK, let's see how it holds up vs real wrestlers when he gets to them.

I just wonder who Leon brings in, there's no way he isn't hitting the mats with wrestlers and hasn't had that be a focus point preparing for guys like Kamaru and Gunnar and now Colby.

 

[fortheo]

I worry about his toughness too. Not because of how he looks, but because he loves to trade and push a pace. His style is one that demands toughness. One day he'll meet an an opponent who has a chin and can co pete with him in the pocket, someone like yan for example, and on that day his chin is going to get checked hard. How will he react to it? I don't really know yet, but with his style it's just a matter of time really.

I do think he has contender potential, though.

 

[xhaydenx]

It's relative bud, Wang isn't crap for a 21 year olds opponent nor was Wang crap for a contender series spot. Koslow and Mana aren't crap for a 21-22 year old prospect either, I'd say they're huge challenges if anything. Gutsy type matchmaking, they gotta be super confident in Saaiman having him in the UFC fighting these types of guys when he's only 22..

It's not time for Saaiman to fight Cody Stamann and Adrian Yanez type guys yet. I think if he beats Rodriguez you give him a Daniel Marcos, Ronnie Lawrence or Aiemann Zahabi type opponent next.

Yeh, I mean he's doing well against what he's faced.

My point is it's way too early to really predict if he's gonna be some elite level fighter down the line.

I don't know. His fights against Mana and Koslow especially didn't impress me. When I think of someone who looks like they might be a future champ, I think of someone who would have been running right through both of those guys.

Again, though, we'll see with him.

 

[Young Calf Kick]

Saaiman means Boringman in Dutch.

needless to say I have my doubts

 

[Busgosu]

 

[HuskySamoan]

Yeh, I mean he's doing well against what he's faced.

My point is it's way too early to really predict if he's gonna be some elite level fighter down the line.

I don't know. His fights against Mana and Koslow especially didn't impress me. When I think of someone who looks like they might be a future champ, I think of someone who would have been running right through both of those guys.

Again, though, we'll see with him.

I'm not exactly disagreeing with your overall point. I'm kinda waiting to see if he starts tightening things up and improving in the next year or two. His fights with Mana, Wang and Koslow were all kinda competitive I've just been very impressed he's buzzed through such solid prospects as a 22 year old. Usually at his age coaches are doing all they can to make sure they don't face opponents like that. I think Saaiman needs to develop a stronger grappling base, heavier hips and wrestling and also just become more calculated and defensive striker. But I've been impressed.

Who is the kinda guy you feel would sell you on him if he beat them? Just curious. Keep in mind, he's 22.