No matter how immersed you are in the world of MMA, it is often hard to discern between up-and-coming stars and fighters with a few knockouts and a deal with a clothing line who may retire before their career truly begins. That, however, has not stopped us from trying. Our two latest Prospect Watch recipients are Wisconsin’s Andrew Trace and Canadian fighter Sarah Moras. We’ll end with a recap of where our very first Prospect Watch recipients are now.
New Prospects
Andrew Trace
Andrew Trace turned heads by defeating Torres MMA’s Aoutneil Magny at Combat USA – Wisconsin vs. Illinois Championship on July 21st. Trace won the fight by guillotine choke just over 3 minutes into the first round. Holding a professional record of 4-0, the Wisconsin fighter has finished all four of his pro fights via 1st round submission. His amateur record is extensive, boasting many submission wins–including a July 2009 victory over Lenny “Smash” Nelson via 2nd round armbar. (Nelson is the top-ranked Wisconsin fighter at 170 lbs. according to the WI Combat Sports rankings; the site does not take amateur bouts into account.)
Trace not only finishes fights with high-level opponents, he also does so with alarming speed and efficiency. In addition to his amateur defeat of Nelson, he’s also defeated Justin Jaynes by 2nd round TKO, finished fights with Jamie Evans, Andre Jones and Aaron Geiger in the 1st round, beat the previously undefeated Tyler Hellebrand, and come out victorious in a bout against the previously undefeated Richard Ryan, who he disposed of in just 20 seconds. (Those are just some of his 11 amateur wins.) In his professional debut, Trace defeated Jamie Bower in just 27 seconds. He then defeated Tre Mittnacht and Travis Peak, both by 1st round armbar, before his latest bout against Magny.
Trace has wrestled since 1st grade, and went 33-3 his senior year of high school. A broken ankle forced him out of wrestling shortly after he transferred to UW-Whitewater, a school he picked because of its strong wrestling program. Instead he found himself at Ruff Dawg, where he started training MMA. “I got burned out on wrestling, anyway,” Trace revealed.
The 23-year old fighter works as an EMT in Madison, Wisconsin, which is a 70-minute commute from his gym, DeLeon Martial Arts Academy. He listens to EMS tapes during his commute, with plans to attend paramedic school. Working, driving, running, training and sleeping leave Trace with very little spare time, but he is determined and focused. ”My goal is to go as far as I can go, wherever that may be. I want to be the highest I can make it; I want to see how far I can go,” he says.
Quiet and soft-spoken, Trace comes across as both humble and determined and looks up to fighters who have a similar temperament. “I look up to GSP, and I look up to Fedor; the guys who are quiet, who just win,” Trace said. (I should point out that this interview was conducted last week, before Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson took place–not that it should detract from Fedor’s legacy.)
Trace’s next fight is on August 27th. He will defend his Kick Down title vs. Bryant Craven in Casper, Wyoming. Watch his fight against Travis Peak on May 6th, which is how he won the title.
Sarah “Cheesecake” Moras
Sarah Moras and Rosi SextonIn the interest of full disclosure, I have to let you know that Sarah is a friend of mine. Although we’ve never met in person, we have spent an inordinate amount of time on facebook chat, deconstructing our training for the day. I’ll complain to Sarah about how I almost got a sweep but didn’t set it up right, and she’ll give me some pointers. Then she’ll tell me about the guy who gives her a black eye or bloody nose every time they spar, and then tells her SHE’S the most aggressive person he knows. Sarah and I also send each other pictures of some of our training injuries. Hers are far more brutal than mine.
Moras has been training for almost five years, getting her start in the grappling circuits. She got started competing in the Tigerbalm grappling tournament in Vancouver in 2007, where she won her first match by points and second by triangle choke, thus winning the all ranks division with less than 6 months of training under her belt.
Moras kicked off her amateur career with a bang, defeating Theresa Doerkson by decision and Amber Grant by 1st round armbar. She then spent close to a year in Manchester, training with UK fighter Rosi Sexton. She was successful in two bouts in England, beating Clarissa Thomson by 2nd round armbar before making her professional debut. In her pro debut, she fought Helena Martin at CWFC 37: Right to Fight. Moras won the fight by 2nd round TKO. “Sarah’s a great prospect,” said Sexton. “She’s got a well rounded game, she works hard, takes risks and she’ll do what it takes to get to where she wants to be. She’s also crazy. I think she might actually be a psychopath.”
I don’t know if Moras is a psychopath, but she’s definitely the wrong person to talk to when you need coddling. If I’m having one of those whiny “Grappling is hard!” moments, Sarah is far less likely to lend a sympathetic ear than she is to tell me to shut up and train harder. She also has no sympathy for n00bs who squeal in class.
Moras returned from the UK to train with David Lea at Toshido, a gym that she describes as “a bullshit and drama-free environment, which is extremely hard to find in this sport.” Moras trains three hours a day for six or seven days a week at her gym, alongside fighters Tim Jenson, Mike Adams, Gary Wright and Jake Macdonald. Moras is hoping to find a fight in September. “I can’t wait to compete again because my game just keeps improving and I’m confident I’m going to smash a lot of females in this sport,” she said.
Previous Prospects: Where Are They Now?
Our very first Prospect Watch, published in October 2010, featured three promising fighters. Team Alpha Male bantamweight T.J. Dillashaw made it on the cast of the Ultimate Fighter, so we’re watching closely to see how the 3X NCAA D1 National Qualifier stacks up. Dillashaw was listed as 2-0 at the time, and now holds a professional record of 4-0, with 2 1st round submission victories, 1 decision and 1 TKO.
Bantamweight wrestler Sara McMann, an Olympic silver medalist, was 2-0 as an amateur when we featured her as a prospect. Since then, she’s had three professional fights, all wins. McMann defeated Christina Marks by 1st round RNC, scored a 32-second TKO victory vs. Julie Malenfant and most recently defeated veteran fighter Tonya Evinger by unanimous decision. She will be fighting Raquel Pa’aluhi on August 27th for Pro Elite 1.
Submission whiz Gunnar Nelson has not been active in MMA since featured as a prospect, but was invited to compete at ADCC 2011, which will be held in Nottingham, England this September. Nelson will compete in the -77kg weight class. He has competed in ADCC 2009 in Barcelona in the -88kg weight class, although he weighed around 80kg at the time, because his division was full. He lost a close decision to James Brasco after double overtime, but defeated Jeff Monson and David Avellan, finishing in 4th in the absolute division.
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