A New "Top Team" Standout To Impact The UFC's Middleweight Division

As the title indicates, a new member of a "Top Team" in MMA has signed on with the UFC.

The man is an undefeated 27-year-old middleweight who has submitted only his first opponent, but he has finished the other eight opponents in a nine-fight professional career.

He is the South Korean "Hammer", Dong Yi Yang.

Training out of Korean Top Team with the likes of The Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Jung, little is on the surface about Yang.

How'd he get into the sport? How did he adopt the famous "Hammer" moniker?

What is his style?

Will he take a win any way he can get it, or would he be dissatisfied with a fight going to the judges?

Most of all, what impact could Yang make in the UFC?

I'd say "tough question to answer" for all of the above.

Well, except for that one about the impact.

Besides Silva — Anderson and Wanderlei, Sonnen, Belcher, Belfort, Marquardt and Maia, there happen to be other names that could give Yang some good experience and a chance to make an immediate impact.

As quickly as you think that the middleweight division isn't stacked, someone proves themselves to be as lethal if not more than the champ at 185.

Given a credible string of opponents and a consistent training program, Yang could fall into that category.

All he needs is a time, a place, and an opponent.

If Yang can rise to the occasion in his debut, we could be looking at a future UFC champion.

Whether he will or not can't be set in stone just yet.

As stated before, his professional career only spans nine fights in about three years, and his last fight professionally — a first round TKO win in May at Trench Warz 12 — was his first fight since December of 2008.

Still, that means little considering that it'll soon be only two months since his last fight, so it won't be like he's coming off from a year-long layoff from active competition.

What means the most for Yang is taking a good hard look at the tapes of his opponents, whoever they wind up being — studying the strong points and the weak points of their game, understanding the shape they were in for those fights, and preparing for another fight to go to that "all-or-nothing" third round.

Why prepare to go three rounds?

Because some guys are tough to put away in the first two rounds.

It doesn't hurt to prepare for it, just in case.

Besides, to be the best, Yang needs to prepare to face the best of the best.

That means the best Alessio Sakara, the best Rousimar Palhares, the best Aaron Simpson, the best Chris Leben, Tom Lawlor, Yoshihiro Akyama and so forth.

The best of some of the threats below the upper echelon, plus Leben, until he proves himself worthy of a fight with the cream of the crop at 185.

After that, he could be in line for a title shot.

He could, but will he?

We'll know when Joe Silva hooks up this sensation with his first fight in the Octagon.