As his time on Team Koscheck during Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter progressed, the MMA world saw Nam Phan evolve as a fighter and further hone the skill that many fans had seen in him before the show ever began taping.
Over time, fans of the UFC brand of MMA quickly caught on and have not been anything less than impressed with what they’ve seen so far, despite Phan only going 1-2 so far in the UFC.
If it makes you feel comfortable, then you may feel free to call him 2-1 in the UFC, considering that fans have yet to find much logic in why the decision at the TUF 12 Finale went to Leonard Garcia when it seemed clear that Phan was the better fighter all throughout.
Nonetheless, Phan draws newcomer Jimy Hettes in a battle of two rising UFC featherweights at UFC 141, live from Las Vegas on pay-per-view at 10 PM ET Friday night.
With how Hettes handled Alex Caceres, who was supposed to easily decimate Hettes similarly to how Phan is supposed to handle Hettes, Phan could be just as much tested by the newcomer as he is a test for the newcomer.
So, how will Phan take Hettes out, if he takes him out?
If Phan takes Hettes out, there’s a good chance that it happens on the feet more than the ground.
Actually, this fight should stay on the feet if Phan wants that win, because Hettes wants the takedown.
Phan will look to establish himself as the aggressor early and will try to put enough pressure on Hettes to throw him off mentally while gradually making Hettes a bit apprehensive to try anything remotely helpful on Phan.
Once Phan establishes the pace of the fight and breaks Hettes mentally, he should have very little problem cementing Hettes’ demise from that point forward.
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