The last reigning WEC Light Heavyweight Champion before the divisions merger with the UFC's, Steve Cantwell has shown steady progress throughout his young career and is currently one of the top young talents in the UFC's 205 pound division. Featuring a technical kickboxing game, Cantwell displays great rhythm with a wide arsenal of striking abilities on his feet, mixing up his punches and kicks well making for an extremely varied and fluid striking game. Light on his feet, Cantwell has solid footwork and is great at creating angles, which when combined with his fast hands and excellent kicks (quick head kicks, solid leg kicks) make for a dangerous standup fighter. Cantwell is also a very good defensive striker, as he keeps his hands up and chin tucked, shows good head movement and is great at slipping punches. While Cantwell hasn't displayed one punch knockout power, he has an intelligent, versatile approach to his striking and is extremely good at working all areas of his opponent - body, legs and head. Cantwell effectively puts together sound combinations and shows good maturity in his striking skills with considerable time left for improvement. Although he's a strong counter puncher, one of the most impressive representations of the versatility in Cantwell's striking game has been in his ability to be the aggressor and come right at his opponent, and to be effective if (and when) he chooses to stand and trade in the pocket (see second fight with Stann). Already with an excellent repertoire of skills on his feet, Cantwell shows a natural striking ability and at only twenty three years of age leaves substantial time for even further improvement.

While Cantwell does not have the wrestling pedigree of some, he has made considerable strides in the ground game and currently holds a BJJ brown belt under Sergio Penha. On the ground, Cantwell displays good ground control and solid transitions while also possessing a slick submission game - as he showed in his submission win over Razak Al-Hassan. Under the scoring system outlined in the Unified Rules of MMA that the UFC adopts, wrestling is arguably the most important base for a fighter to have and to that end Cantwell will need to continue working diligently on his wrestling skills and overall ground game. Recognizing that there are not many elite ground fighters in the upper echelon of light heavyweights in the world, Cantwell has stated in the past that he strives to be as proficient as possible when it comes to his grappling, an attitude which could only bode well for his future.