Phillipe Nover was heavily hyped coming off his impressive stint on "The Ultimate Fighter 8" where his skillset was favourably compared to both Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. Although he has seen his stock take a hit after suffering two straight losses since "officially" entering the UFC, Nover remains a very talented lightweight who's displayed the natural tools necessary to succeed in the sport. On his feet, Nover has shown the ability to be downright explosive at times with his striking, and is equipped with very fast and very heavy hands, especially for a lightweight (see McQuade below). Nover also possesses good kicks along with solid muay thai skills and a dangerous clinch game, and is definitely a fighter whose standup skills need to be respected. Going forward, Nover will need to continue to working on refining his overall technique on his feet, but e is blessed with the natural abilities necessary to develop into an exceptional MMA striker.

Nover transitions from the standup to the ground (and vice versa) well, and is extremely fluid on the ground. A legitimate BJJ black belt under Alexandre Freitas, Nover show good ground awareness as he is constantly searching for submissions, shows good submission defense, has a good flexible guard game and also displays solid ground and pound skills. As good as his jiu jitsu and striking abilities are, Nover's wrestling skills, takedowns and takedown defense have proven to be a large weakness is his overall repertoire. Nover will need to make considerable improvements in that area of his game if he has any hope of matching up strongly against the better fighters in the division. Nover's subpar wrestling abilities were easily exploited in his bout with Efrain Escudero, as he was taken down repeatedly and basically at will resulting in a decision loss. Nover will need to work hard on his wrestling and takedown defense in order to round out his game, and given the potential he displays with his BJJ on the ground (once the fight gets there) and his striking on his feet, it is the only area of his game that could prevent him from developing into a complete mixed martial artist.