UFC 120: What Mike Pyle Must Do To Beat John Hathaway

John "The Hitman" Hathaway is the big rising star everyone builds him up to be.

Whether you're impressed with what he's done in the UFC so far or not, he's beaten a few tough fighters in the short time he's had in the UFC, so I think it'd be safe to put it in print: John Hathaway is pretty damn impressive.

His fight with Mike "Quicksand" Pyle this Saturday may seem like it could be a "throwaway fight" that Hathaway should win easily, but some previously overlooked fighters have made careers for themselves by beating the tough young prospect who few could ever rock, submit, or outpoint.

Mike Pyle could become one of those guys at UFC 120, but it's not going to come easy.

Hathaway isn't a fast-paced fighter, so Pyle won't have to worry about being in a striking war on Saturday.

What "The Hitman" does on striking is pick his spots, and if he lands a shot, he'll rock Pyle at least.

If Pyle doesn't get finished with strikes, he'll have Hathaway on top of him trying to use his wrestling to control the fight on the ground, and if Pyle doesn't eat a shot—if it's a takedown that sends him to the ground—Hathaway will implement his own Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game.

I say that since 17 of his 20 wins ended in submission, including his Technical Submission win over Jesse Lennox at UFC 115, there's only one reasonable way to snap The Hitman's streak:

Fight fire with fire in the BJJ area.

If he gets taken down, he has to work from the bottom and work his way to top position, and if he's on top of Hathaway, he has to work his way towards a submission on Hathaway.

I do believe Hathaway will be the better striker, so it'd be a wise move to not stand and trade with the homefield boy unless Pyle likes getting rocked.

He can strike from the mount, but I don't see anything rocking Hathaway if that happens, so he has to use the ground-n-pound to open up a submission attempt—whatever Pyle can lock on will work.

If he's on the bottom, he has to keep Hathaway in his guard and work towards a choke from there, but he can't just hold him down in his guard.

He has to stay active and at least attempt to finish Hathaway with either a Triangle Choke from the bottom, a Kimura, or an Americana—although him getting a armbar, a knee bar, a heel hook, or even a guillotine works too.

If he does that, Hathaway could finally have a scratch on his record's surface.

It won't be easy, but it can be done.