John Phillips is a Welsh middleweight prospect who’s competed in the Cage Rage and BAMMA promotions. Entering the sport with a boxing background, Phillips is known for finishing with his fists and does hold an impressive TKO win over former UFC veteran James Zikic.

Phillips is a striker with a strong amateur boxing background. At one point Phillips was a member of the Welsh Commonwealth Boxing Team and still occasionally trains alongside professionals the likes of Joe Calzaghe and Enzo Maccarinell. Stylistically, he’s a very offensive striker who looks to finish his opponent as quickly as possible. Standing southpaw, Phillips is a heavy hitting power puncher who has bad intentions behind all his strikes. Ultra aggressive, Phillips shows no hesitation in going after any openings that present themselves. His striking arsenal consists of a big left hand, a nice straight left and a quick lead right hook. Although he does tend to “head hunt” on occasion, Phillips has also proven he can go hard to the body with heavy punches from in close. He strings together strong combinations and overall presents an impressive blend of technique, hand speed and knockout punching power.

Phillips’ first preference is to keep the bout standing, but if the fight hits the floor he definitely looks to fight from top position. There he looks to posture up and work an extremely quick, aggressive ground and pound attack featuring fast punches and heavy strikes to the head and body. By his own admission, Phillips isn’t the kind of fighter who comes out with well defined game plans. His goal is simply to finish (quickly and decisively) but there are holes in his game. Although Phillips’ raw power is evident in his takedown attempts, he will need to continue shoring up his wrestling game – especially his takedown defense. Phillips has made strides in his guard– exploding through with quick sweeps at times, but his ground game is still a work in progress. Phillips will need to continue focusing on his positioning and BJJ, as well as working to better control his opponent when they are fighting from top position.