“Keep an Eye Out For…” UPDATE: Daniel Pineda

On 9/19/11, I wrote this “Keep an Eye Out For…” article:

“[#35FW] Daniel Pineda (14 – 7 – 0) has rattled off 4 stoppage wins, after losing via kneebar to [*] Chas Skelly (7 – 0 – 0) at Bellator 19 in May 2010.  These wins include

• 1st round rear naked choke on lightweight [*] Reynaldo Trujillo (8 – 7 – 0) in July 2010
• 1st round heel hook on lightweight prospect [#332LW] Levi Forrest (6 – 1 – 0) in January 2011
• KO in under 1:00 of the 1st round over lightweight [*] Ray Blodgett (5 – 1 – 0) in April 2011
• 3rd round rear naked choke on WEC veteran [#141FW] Frank Gomez (10 – 4 – 0) in July 2011.

Pineda has won every one of his victories via stoppage, and he has only gone to a decision once in his career.  These aren’t 0-1 fighters he is beating, they are legit prospects and tough veterans.  At 26 years old, the Houston, Texas native has a lot of time to hone his skills and make it to the big show.”

Pineda is now ranked [#40FW] and sports a (15 – 7 – 0) record with a 5th stoppage win in a row in December 2011 over featherweight [*] Gilbert Jiminez (5 – 4 – 1).  He will be making his UFC debut this friday at UFC on FX 1 against undefeated St. Paul, Minnesota fighter [#227FW] Pat Schilling (5 – 0 – 0).  Pineda has the edge in experience, but Schilling is a finisher.  In fact, 4 of Schilling’s 5 wins come by way of submission, while Pineda has lost 6 times by submission.  With both of these guys being relatively unknown to the general UFC audience at this point, this could be either fighter’s coming out party.

Twitter – @Jonathan_Grand