Just looking at the past 12 months of Jimmy Flick’s career, it’s hard to imagine that he was headed anywhere else than the UFC.
The 30-year-old submission specialist went 4-0 in 2020, winning everywhere he went. He began the year winning the Freestyle Cage Fighting flyweight title in February, then scored a 38-second submission win over Greg Fischer at LFA 86. He followed that up with a dazzling third-round submission win over the previously unbeaten Nate Smith on the Contender Series in September to earn a UFC contract.
When Flick stepped into the cage against Cody Durden at UFC Vegas 17 (their bout was actually pushed back two weeks due to Durden withdrawing from UFC Vegas 16 with a case of pink eye), he didn’t disappoint, overcoming a slow start and winning via flying triangle choke, just the third time that submission had been successfully executed in UFC history.