Che Mills (14-5 and 1 no contest) may have bled and lost via TKO to hot welterweight prospect Rory MacDonald (13-1), but he is definitely not on a losing skid.
That fifth career loss was only the first after an impressive streak of five consecutive wins. And the last win recorded just a few months ago was an impressive devastation of Chris Cope, winning him the Knockout of the Night award.
Mills, it should be noted, is a former Cage Rage British welterweight champ and has finished twice, via strikes, DREAM Welterweight Champion and Strikeforce veteran Marius Zaromskis. Not many fighters can boast of having the same finishing rate, with 11 (7 by KO, 4 by submission) of his 14 victories via the short route.
It should also be noted that Mills has only been in his second UFC fight, and now sports a still respectable 1-1 record fighting inside The Octagon. Win some, lose some; win one, lose one.
As far as winning percentage is concerned, he is 50-50 in the UFC and around 73-27 in total MMA career record. Not bad, really.
He is still better off than some other active fighters in the UFC stable.
The Muay Thai specialist and former British MMA titlist is in a far better position than his compatriot Dan Hardy. The Outlaw seems to be overstaying with a glaring losing slide, with four straight defeats running. (Well, personality goes a long way in ensuring staying power…)
Likewise, Mills is also in a much safer position than Japanese superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama. Sexyama’s sex appeal has eroded a “bit” with his own string of four consecutive losses.
Mills can learn from his other countryman, Michael Bisping, and improve his wrestling. Bisping gave a very commendable performance, albeit resulting to a decision loss, against Chael Sonnen.
Those who thought that The Count would be tossed around like a ragdoll by The Mouth were gravely mistaken. Sure, he got taken down by the elite wrestler, but he gave his opponent a much harder time than was generally expected.
In fact, the Brit even took down Sonnen in the remaining seconds of the third and final round!
The question is, just when will Mills show a significant improvement in the wrestling department?
How close will he ever get to the Chuck Liddell mode of fighting: Keeping oneself standing with great wrestling defense in order to inflict more lethal strikes on the feet?
At only 29 years of age and still relatively a newbie in the UFC, Mills undoubtedly has more time than other fighters in improving any area of his game.
MacDonald could win the welterweight title some day? Who says that Mills can’t do the same?
Now going back to our original question: Is the fighter, who shares the same first name with the iconic Argentinian revolutionary and martyr, a can?
The answer is a resounding “No!”
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