A professional fighter since the age of 18, Dustin Hazelett had his first MMA bout just months after graduating from high school. Five years later the Team Gurgel product and UFC veteran has continued to make steady progress while progressively taking on a higher level of competition, and must be considered one of the top young talents in all of mixed martial arts.

A BJJ black belt, the most impressive part of Hazellet's game is the diversity and incredible fluidity that he possesses in his grappling abilities. Unbelievably smooth and quick on the ground, Hazelett has a brilliant, high level submission game that seems to constantly keep him one step ahead of his opponent. He transitions from one submission to the next effortlessly and in the blink of an eye (a perfect example of this was the beautiful ground sequence that led to Hazelett's armbar submission of Josh Burkman) and when his submissions are locked in there's usually no escape. What truly separates Hazelett's ground abilities from most others is the effectiveness he's displayed fighting off his back. Remarkably flexible, Hazelett often prefers to operate from the rubber guard, which Eddie Bravo (who's widely recognized as the creator of the rubber guard) himself has stated in the past is more effectively used by Hazelett then anyone else currently in the UFC. In his bouts with Tamdan McCrory, Jonathan Goulet, Josh Burkman and Josh Koscheck, Hazelett had his opponents in deep trouble literally seconds after being taken down, eventually submitting Burkman, McCrory, and Goulet with armbars and at the same time also had Koscheck in a deep triangle choke before time expired in the round. For the most part, Hazelett's potency on the ground has been an excellent takedown defense because it discourages opponents from even trying to attempt a takedown. However, in MMA it is usually only a matter of time before someone comes along that can exploit the holes (however big or small) in a fighter's game, and to that end Hazelett will need to continue working on all parts of his grappling repertoire.

When the fight is kept standing, Hazelett has continued to show steady progression as his career's moved forward. Light and quick on his feet, he makes effective use of his long legs with good push kicks, leg kicks and head kicks. Hazelett also has a good right cross, and does possess knockout power - displayed in his brutal seven second KO of Chad Reiner (see below). Maybe the most interesting part of Hazelett's striking is his willingness to stand and trade. Even though his ground game is extremely lethal, Hazelett is an aggressive striker who looks for the kill and doesn't shy away from the striking component of MMA at all. Hazelett will need to continue working on his head movement and defense on his feet, as well as continuing to polish off his overall striking skills in order to fully round out his game.