This is a fight of two real promising young fighters. I think this fight is going to end up being won on the feet.
Kim is a very talented boxer with a solid background in judo. He uses his judo very well, in reverse almost, a lot like Chuck Liddell has done throughout his career with his wrestling base. For the most part Kim seems very at home and relaxed on the feet, but can get frustrated by fighters he can't finish. The fight with Matt Brown, which I saw live at Philips Arena, was one where Brown was supposed to be a stepping stone for the UFC's first Korean poster boy. He came in constantly pushed the pace against Kim and frustrated him. It was back and forth on the feet, a real aggressive battle, where we saw Kim gas late in the second round, but hold on to win a close decision, which the crowd was very up in arms over. He actually got Brown's back a few times in the fight, as well as the fight with Karo Parisyan, but was unable to finish it.
There's no beating around the bush with TJ. He's going to want to take this fight to the ground immediately and work his slick submisison game, which has most recently claimed UFC veteran Forrest Petz as its latest victim, with one of my favorite submissions, the arm triangle. In his only UFC fight, Grant fought who, at the time, was maybe the UFC's toughest gatekeeper at 170 pounds in Ryo Chonan.(I still don't necessarily see Chris Lytle as a gatekeeper yet.) He won a split decision with the Japanese fighter, in a fight that many fans disagree with, much like Kim vs. Brown.
What it boils down to is that Kim is going to be able to use his judo to keep the fight on the feet and this time frustrate his opponent. If Grant gets the fight to the ground, look out for a submission. As of right now I see this as an extemely entertaining slugfest, where we see one fighter(Kim) turn in his prospect card for a contender card and the other gain respect for slugging it out for three rounds.
Result: Kim by Unanimous Decision.
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