After earning his stripes on the European MMA scene, Brit Jason Young signed on with the UFC in 2011. The former Cage Rage Lightweight Champion holds notable wins over Jorge Britto, Sergej Grecicho, and Abdul Mohamed, and has shown promising speed-strength potential over his career.

Young presents a strong standup attack. His quickness and speed are quickly evident when watching him fight, as Young utilizes smooth footwork and good movement standing. He presents a powerful kicking attack, working the legs, body, and head of opponents effectively. His arsenal consists of powerful low kicks, high kicks, and very quick double roundhouse kicks. Young will incorporate many spinning techniques into his arsenal, and does do a good job of varying his kicking attack. He possesses good speed and power in his hands, swings hard and definitely looks for the finish. Young throws a nice jab and lead left hook, a powerful right cross and goes heavy to the body with his punches. Additionally, he counters nicely with his right hand, and is a tough, granite chinned Brit who’s willing to stand in the pocket and go toe to toe with his opponent. Young is a talented striker who puts together crisp combinations (especially with his jab-cross), and he’s demonstrated the aggressiveness and conditioning to push a high tempo affair. At times Young will leave himself open to counters, and does not always check his low kicks as effectively as he could.

The area of Young’s game that will require work is his grappling. Though he’s very quick in the scramble and capable of working his ground and pound well from the top, Young will need to continue working on his defensive and positional grappling abilities. If Young can be taken to the mat he does give up opportunities, as he’ll often rush to get back to his feet, in the process sacrificing position and leaving himself susceptible. Young’s submission defense has cost him matches early in his career and strong wrestlers are equipped to continue exploiting the holes in his grappling arsenal. To take the next step in his development, it’s essential that Young makes strides in his wrestling and BJJ.