Mike Richman is a rising lightweight prospect currently training with the Minnesota Fight Factory. Joining the US Marines straight out of high school, Richman would serve in the military for four years and was deployed to Iraq three times before returning to the United States and embarking on his mixed martial arts career. Although Richman might not enter the sport with strong credentials in any single base, he's a tough, tenacious and mentally strong fighter with an excellent work ethic.

A southpaw striker, Richman possesses good hand speed, works his jab and straight left, and makes effective use of his left kicks. A confident, aggressive striker, Richman is constantly pushing the pace and moving forward, and he doesn't hesitate in going in for the kill and trading in the pocket if he feels he has his opponent in danger. Richman likes getting in close where he's not afraid of letting his strikes go, and he does make a very conscious effort to work the body with his punches and knees (he can deliver powerful body shots). At times Richman does load up on power punches (which is understandable given his experience) and from a technique standpoint is still rough around the edges. Going forward he will need to continue working on his footwork, defensive abilities and overall technical proficiency.

Although Richman doesn't come from a strong wrestling background, he will try and take his opponent down and work from top position. Composed from the top, Richman works at improving his position and has shown an improving submission game offensively in his early career (he secured a nice anaconda choke to defeat Derrik Getzel and a nice armbar of Mel Ott). Although his ground game has shown improvement early on, Richman remains very green on the mat and will need to continue working on his technical proficiency. Richman's defensive guard game and positioning will need to be improved, as he'll need to learn to hold his position, defend from strikes and being passed, and work on controlling his opponent better from the bottom. Richman will also need to continue focusing on his wrestling and takedown defense if he wishes to be able to compete with the power grapplers in the lightweight division. Tough, tenacious and never giving in, Richman does possess solid intangibles but will need to work on complimenting those with the appropriate level of technical ability.