He wrestled at the Purdue University (home of PFC veteran Tom Erikson (Pictures)) for two years. Jake trains out of the Integrated Fighting Academy with UFC veteran Jason Godsey (Pictures) under the direction of Keith Palmer and Pat McPherson.
He is 4-0 as a pro in MMA and 5-0 as an amateur. Jake currently holds the Legends of Fighting heavyweight belt and the United Fight League heavyweight championship.
MMA CAREER: O’Brien fought in local Indiana shows in ’04 and ’05 before turning pro to start 2006. He beat IFC veteran Jonathan Ivey in January and went on to take victories in the WEC, the LFC and the UFL. Jake won his Legends of Fighting belt by stopping Antoine Hayes with strikes in April and won the UFL strap by submitting Pat Harmon in June.
UFC EXPERIENCE: Debut.
WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE BOUT: Jake has good wrestling skills and will work for the takedown to employ his ground and pound game.
MIDOUX: 6’ 1”, 238 pounds, 32, Montreal, Canada, known as "The French Hurricane" (or "The Phoenix")
BACKGROUND: Midoux is a fourth-degree black belt in Kyokushin Karate, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist and fights out of the Elite Training Center and with K-1 veteran Jerome LeBanner (Pictures), Cage Rage veteran Anthony Rea and Aristides Britto.
Midoux has also fought for LeBanner's Xtreme Team and has trained at the Versace Gym with Fofo as well as Christian Bruzat in Russian Sambo.
He had a serious car accident in 2000 after the BJJ P (Pictures)an-Am championship. A truck hit him from behind, breaking two bones in his neck and nearly ending his career. Midoux made a miraculous recovery and continues to practice BJJ and Kyokushin Karate. He competed in Abu Dhabi against UFC veteran Sean Alvarez (Pictures), losing in the overtime period.
MMA CAREER: The Frenchman debuted with a knockout win in ’99 and scored another later that year. However he suffered four consecutive losses from 2000-2003, falling to the best competition he faced as a pro. He was knocked out by Travis Fulton, triangle choked by Jeremy Horn (Pictures) in the UCC, choked out again Fabricio Werdum (Pictures) and then was stopped in a war with Marco Ruas (Pictures) fighter Antoine Jaoude (Pictures).
He would get back on track against former Tom Howard (Pictures) at the 2003 K-1 Dynamite show on New Year's Eve. A bout at ROTR 6 produced a KO victory over Mike Malone (Pictures), but a return to the K-1 NYE show registered in a submission loss to Sylvester Terkay (Pictures).
In his most recent bout he stopped Korean fighter Jun Soo Lim in less than a minute at the K-1 Seoul HERO’s show last November.
UFC EXPERIENCE: Debut.
WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE BOUT: Midoux appears to have better stand-up skills than ground even though he claims BJJ as his main discipline.
MY PICK: Midoux. Like the Wallace-Kampmann bout you have two fighters at different stages of their careers, but my gut registers a different outcome.
O’Brien is just 21 and has only been fighting for a year. Kristof has been around a while and though he’s had limited success at this level, his experience may serve him well in his UFC debut.
All of O’Brien’s fights have ended in the first round so it is difficult to know how he’ll respond in the later stages of a fight with a far more experienced opponent. I look for Midoux to work hard to stay away from O’Brien’s takedowns early so he can tire the kid out and finish him with strikes later in the fight.