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Contender Profiles | Thomas Paull
Name: Thomas “Juggernaut” Paull
Age: 27
Weight: Lightweight
Nationality: English
Record: 11-3-0
The Story so far
Fighting on the global stage is one thing, but doing it while deaf is something not many can attest to. GTFP Lightweight champion, Thomas Paull hopes to become the second deaf fighter on the UFC’s current roster, alongside top 5 flyweight contender Askar Askerov. His opportunity has come sooner rather than later, as the “Juggernaut” prepares for a matchup against undefeated Argentinian finisher, Esteban Ribovics in week 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Paull was deaf from birth and used martial arts as an outlet after experiencing bullying from a young age. As the man says himself, he can break people in the cage but he wants to be able to break down barriers outside the cage in regards to the deaf community. Paull has expressed his desire to be the person to merge mainstream sports and the deaf community, believing they have so much potential and that they just need to be given the opportunities.
The 27 year old trains out of Team Underground MMA in London, England, alongside ONE flyweight Muay Thai standout Jonathan Haggerty. With a record of 11 wins and 3 losses, every one of Paull’s victories has come by way of KO/TKO, while his 3 losses have also come by way of finish, an all action fighter sure to garner a wealth of excitement should he make it to the big leagues.
After slowly working his way through the regional competition, through a pro career that only began in 2015, Paull most recently ran through what on paper should have been his toughest tests yet, in the form of Cage Warriors veteran Perry Goodwin and regional UK mainstay, Mario Saeed. After a gruelling contest with Saeed, Paull clutched victory from the Jaws of defeat, a couple of knees forcing two knockdowns early in the third with the vicious ground and pound forcing the stoppage. The Goodwin fight was his most recent outing and arguably his most impressive, with Paull putting “The Predator” to sleep with a crushing left hook early in the first.
The Style
Paull’s style is certainly very fan friendly, it’s almost like a more reckless adaptation of the dutch kickboxing approach. He marches forward, applying pressure, inhibiting his opponents lateral movement with heavy low kicks before meeting them in the pocket with his heavy hands. He favours the striking, backs his chin and loves to tear it up on the inside with hooks. Paull is a guy who is always working for a better position or trying to output some form of aggression. He rarely accepts bottom position and when he does find himself there, will try to deal as much damage as he can with elbows and punches, all while trying constantly trying to get to his feet. The grappling side of the game tends to be where he finds the most resistance, but its making the most of the time he gets back to his feet that counts, something he does very well, often with a reassuring urgency. He’s big, strong and explosive and there are definitely some exciting matchups to be made for him in the UFC.
The Matchup
Paull draws Argentinian finisher, Esteban Ribovics in the Contender Series. This is a man who seems to firmly fight by the MMA saying that you don’t get paid for overtime. Although he hasn’t faced excellent competition, he has multiple sub 30 second finishes which are a product of his ultra aggressive style. Ribovics is 10-0-0, and like Paull every one of his victories have been via finish. Often, Ribovics flies out of the gate with pace, a very fast starter, he has fast hands, a range of dynamic strikes in his arsenal and a solid workrate with big explosive striking combos and movements. Although like Paull he favours the striking, he has a range of submissions on his resume, seemingly favouring the Kimura, not just as a submission but as a takedown deterrent and vehicle for a sweep.
Ribovics has a style that pairs with Paull’s brilliantly, he’s primarily a defensive grappler, sets a pace on his opponents, comes out with pace and aggression with his limbs to put his opponents away. Paull is hard nosed, won’t back down from a scrap on the inside, favours an opportunity to settle things on the feet and can take a shot, either this is going to end early or it will be a crazy stand up war.
A tough test for sure and a contest that promises to be fireworks, but secure the UFC contract or not, there’s no question that Thomas Paull earning an opportunity like this will instil a great deal of hope within the deaf community in sports no matter what they may compete In.
Be sure to tune in for week 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series on August 16th to catch Thomas Paull in action.
Despite being just two weeks removed from his defeat to Alex Pereira in the main event at UFC 300, Jamahal Hill is climbing straight back on the horse and already has his next fight lined up. ‘Sweet Dreams’ is scheduled to face Khalil Roundtree Jr at UFC 303 on June 29th.
The card will be headlined by the long-awaited return of ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor, and Hill has elected to step straight back into fight camp rather than sit on the sidelines and recover from the devastating first round knockout he suffered at the hands of Pereira.
Rountree will be coming into this bout on a five-fight winning streak and has finished seven of his 9 UFC victories by knockout. Sitting at #8 in the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings, Rountree will surely see a victory over a former champion like Hill as a short cut to a title shot.
Given that Hill will likely have received a 60-day medical suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and there are only 77 days separating UFCs 300 and 303, there are certainly questions to be raised about the decision of Hill and his team to take this fight.
Hill explained in an interview with The Schmo that he sees the proximity of the two fights being a positive for his physical preparations, and that he is focused on avenging the loss to Pereira:
“I’m already in good shape” he explained. “I’m feeling good, heading into another camp just makes sense, I get to go into a camp in shape instead of going into camp off a layoff so I think that’ll be a huge plus and will help me go out and put on the performance I need to against Khalil Rountree to put myself back in position to get that Alex Pereira fight back.
“It’s about getting back to that fight, I want to fight Alex again just because of the narrative surrounding it ”
Hill originally won the 205lb title after defeating Pereira’s coach Glover Teixeira over five rounds at UFC 283 in January of 2023. He then ruptured his Achilles tendon last July and vacated the belt which Pereira won by beating Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 in November.
After much deliberation, striking veterans Liam Harrison and Seksan Or Kwanmuang have finally found a date for their highly anticipated clash.
The pair will meet in a 140-pound catchweight Muay Thai contest when ONE Championship returns to the U.S. for ONE 168: Denver on Saturday, 7th September.
The event inside Denver, Colorado’s Ball Arena is already stacking up to be one of the biggest cards of the year for the world’s largest martial arts organization, and the addition of this matchup will only increase the hype among martial arts fans.
Harrison has been on the sidelines for some time now. He suffered a worrying knee injury when he challenged former ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama for the gold at ONE on Prime Video 1 in August 2022, and he had to overcome further complications before thinking about a return to action.
The British striking legend will have a chance to shake off the cobwebs before colliding with Seksan, however, as he is scheduled to make his way back to ONE for a battle with Katsuki Kitano at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga on 8th June.
“Hitman” will need all the preparation he can get for his match with Seksan. The former Rajadamnern Stadium and WBC Muay Thai World Champion has built a fearsome reputation in ONE Championship over the last 15 months, given that he amassed eight consecutive wins after his debut last January.
Seksan appeared unstoppable in the promotion until he met Japanese star Yutaro Asashi at ONE Friday Fights 58 earlier this month.
After three thrilling rounds of Muay Thai, the Thai veteran fell to a unanimous decision loss, which means he’ll be charged up for a triumphant return to form against Harrison.
And with “Hitman” keen to find his way back to the top in ONE, their clash in Denver on 7th September is all but guaranteed to be a barnburner.
The whirlwind surrounding Ryan Garcia’s victory over Devin Haney last weekend is just beginning to settle down but it seems the controversial boxer is intent on staying in the headlines as he eyes UFC champion, Sean O’Malley.
The bizarre lead up to the fight with Haney was plagued with erratic behaviour on Garcia’s part, rumours of a mental breakdown, signs of alcohol and drug issues, and generally controversial behaviour. Garcia missed weight by 3.2lbs, and appeared to chug a beer on the scales during the weigh ins.
Entering the fight as an underdog, Garcia surprised everybody by dropping Haney three times and emerging victorious by majority decision. After the fight, Garcia insisted he drank and smoked every day in the build up to the fight and still picked up the win. This shocking turn of events has now opened up a variety of possible lucrative match ups for Garcia going forward, and it seems one MMA superstar wants a piece of that action.
The UFC hasn’t sanctioned a boxing crossover bout since Conor McGregor faced Floyd Mayweather back in 2017. ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley has long campaigned for the opportunity to test his striking skills against Garcia, and this week on his podcast The Timbo Sugar Show, he insisted that the UFC have already given him the green light to seek out some opportunities in the boxing ring:
“A boxing fight’s possible for sure. I’m not there yet. I’ve still got to become bigger. Two more f*cking sick performances, then we’re talking about being able to do it.
O’Malley continued: “They told me ‘You can do a boxing fight, 100 percent, if it makes us enough money’. The option is there, it just has to be able to make enough money. But Ryan being a f*cking freak like that, you need two A-sides to make a f*cking Floyd v Conor fight”.
Ryan Garcia tweeted an image of himself and O’Malley this week with the caption: “RAINBOW CACA BRAIN. WANTS TO BOX. BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW”
RAINBOW CACA BRAIN
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 22, 2024
WANTS TO BOX
BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW pic.twitter.com/GGrvV7ZSCH
Sean O’Malley became the UFC’s bantamweight champion when he knocked out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last August. He then defended the belt and avenged the only loss on his record when he dominated Marlon Vera over five rounds at UFC 299 in March.
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