A former Cornell graduate and stockbroker on wall street, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that John Cholish is an intelligent fighter who takes a cerebral, technical approach to his MMA training. Early in his fighting career Cholish has earned notable wins over Jameel Massouh and Marc Stevens, in addition to capturing the Ring of Combat Lightweight Championship.

Cholish began wrestling at the age of four and continued all the way through his senior year at NCAA Division I school Cornell University. After graduating he turned his attention to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and quickly took a liking to the sport, eventually earning his blue belt from John Danaher less than three months into his formal training. Given his dual wrestling and BJJ backgrounds, Cholish holds intriguing upside as an MMA grappler. Despite the appearance of a lean lightweight, Cholish has proven to be a strong, physical fighter who is difficult to bully or overpower. He’s demonstrated a good sprawl, an effective double leg, and impressive takedowns from in close. Cholosh’s bread and butter is his top game presence. He secures very smooth transitions, and is capable of landing accurate punches, and good knees from top and side positions. Cholish is an intelligent grappler who’s demonstrated excellent submissions awareness early in his career (see his beautiful kneebar of Marc Stevens). He’s not a specialist in any one attack, proving talented enough to proficiently attack the neck, legs, and arms of opposing fighters.

Cholish is an intelligent striker who uses his length well. He keeps a very low base, his hand up and out, and uses his lead left hand smoothly in measuring his opponent and gauging distance. Armed with his unorthodox (yet effective) footwork style and reach, Cholish leaps in and out of striking range very well. He throws a quick superman jab-low kick combination and delivers powerful low kicks, and quick high kicks from the outside. From in close, he latches on to the thai plum and works his knees intelligently. Although his grappling abilities are the most impressive aspect of his arsenal, Cholish has shown he’s equipped with the intelligence and talent level to succeed as an MMA striker.