World MMA Bantamweight Scouting Report: #10 – Denis Puric

Denis “The Bosnian Menace” Puric. A nickname that might garner a few laughs from the peanut gallery. Unfortunately, four professional fighters and a bevy of amateurs found out quickly that the “Menace” is the perfect adjective to describe Puric’s offensive talents. With an extensive background in Muay Thai, Puric is one of the most exciting bantamweight prospects in the world. Four fights against sub-par competition won’t convince anyone that he’s on the doorstep of the UFC, but it’s difficult to look past the brutality he’s displayed inside the cage.

Offensive Skills: Puric’s striking is hands down some of the best on our countdown. It’s explosive, quick, and unpredictable. The perfect example of the unpredictability in his arsenal is his uncanny ability to mix superman punches into his attack. While most fans scoff at the notion that the punch can be landed consistently, Puric is the exception to the statistics. Just ask Mark Fraser, who had a superman punch stun him in the opening moments of their bout in June followed by a left, right combination that left him stiff on the canvas.

Defensive Skills: The “best defense is a good offense” is an old adage that applies to military tactics, football, and “The Bosnian Menace”. Who needs a great defense when you can bomb opponents with wicked fast punching combinations and brutal power?

To be fair, there isn’t enough footage out there to understand where Puric stands defensively. The small pieces of footage I’ve seen of Puric have shown a very intelligent striker who picks and chooses his path to attack. He isn’t too greedy in his approach. He never leaves himself wide open for counters, and he’d rather back out and reset his stance over getting countered.

Progression: Some readers might watch Puric’s highlight reel and ask us why Puric isn’t higher on the countdown, and I’d probably point to how Puric has progressed. How has he progressed? We have no idea. We haven’t seen him against better competition, nor has he been tested by able ground fighters. It might be awhile before we see that happen due to his propensity to crush a striker’s dreams and light a crowd on fire. Promoters may use him as a local draw and pit him against lesser strikers for that “Wow!” factor. All Puric can do is keep winning spectacularly until he’s given the opportunity to prove he’s better than crushing cans.

Environment: Puric trains out of Iron Tiger Muay Thai in the small town of Ohsweken, Ontario. The camp isn’t surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city, but it’s close enough to major cities like Kitchener, London, and Toronto to attract some well-known names. Former Canadian national team wrestler Adrian Wooley, Bellator’s William Romero, and UFC veteran Claude Patrick make their way to the gym on a regular basis.

Potential: It’s difficult to watch the footage below without being excited at the prospect of watching Puric obliterate opponents with his punching prowess. In fact, I think we may have got a bit carried away with our giddiness, snubbing some solid fighters for the ten spot that may or may not have deserved the ranking. Some didn’t have any footage out there for us to scrutinize while others failed miserably when tested,. Puric is untested, but we decided to give his potential the chance to shine with the readers.

Puric must prove he can defeat the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu aces and the relentless wrestlers that await him as he ascends up the ranks. He has a training partner in Adrian Wooley who can provide that adversity in the gym, but the question is whether he can turn that knowledge into success inside the cage.

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