Jose Maria Tome: MMA Prospects Report 2013

Flyweight Division

#10 Prospect: Jose Maria Tome

j-tome

*Jose Maria has been signed by the UFC

Profile:

Jose Maria Tome made his MMA debut in his native Brazil back in 2004. Tome amassed a 13-0 record to kick off his career, not losing a fight until 2008 against much bigger bantamweight prospect Leandro Higo. Of those 13 wins though, only one of his opponents had a winning record, and more often than not, his opponent was making his debut. After the loss to Higo, Tome briefly started to step up his level of competition, but following a loss to Brazil’s top flyweight and current UFC fighter Jussier Formiga, and another loss suffered against a much larger opponent, Tome began fighting less than stellar competition once again.

His record is extremely padded, even when considering that many of Brazil’s fights go unrecorded on Sherdog, the stunning amount of fighters that Tome has fought whom had virtually no experience would not be permitted under commission watch in the USA.

On the other hand, Tome’s 32-3 record is an eye-catcher, and only 1 of those 3 losses was to a fighter in his own weight class, and that mentioned fighter was the best around. Tome’s record may resemble Renan Barao’s, but only by looks alone. Barao faced much tougher competition throughout his career in Brazil. That could be due to Tome having a tough time finding fights. Remember, the UFC only introduced the Flyweight division 2 years ago, so many flyweight fighters were forced to fight at Bantamweight a few years back if they had any hopes of reaching the WEC.

Camp/ Country:

Tome fights out of one of the top camps in Brazil, Renovacao Fight Team. RFT is home to Bellator veterans Maiquel Falcao, Luis Nogueira, and TUF Brazil 2’s Luiz Dutra. Renovacao has solid contacts with Bellator and the UFC, but Bellator does not have a flyweight division. Thus, Tome’s big opportunity will have to come from the UFC.

Career Forecast

Tome is already 31 years old and he is likely in the prime of his career from a physical standpoint. There is a bundle of Brazilian flyweight talent forming and though Tome is still at the top of the pack, they could surpass him as far as being more desirable signees for the UFC.

If Tome were to sign this year with the UFC, I am not sure he has the raw athleticism to compete with the elite of the division. I think he could hold his own with Phil Harris, but the prospects just don’t look great for him coming into the UFC and making a mark. If the UFC creates some depth in their Flyweight Division, Tome would be a welcome addition, just on his record alone.

Statistics

j-tomestats tome-graph

Videos

Video 1: Tome Highlights

Video 2: vs. Leo Jacare (2012)

Other Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoseMariaRFT
Sherdog Profile: http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Jose-Maria-Tome-37681

The 2013 MMA Prospects Report

My 2013 Prospects Report started on June 1, 2013. All statistics, news, and info are reflected up to that date.
*Introduction/FAQ
Fighters marked with a "+" after their name have since signed with a major promotion.
FlyweightBantamweightFeatherweightLightweight
1. Darrell Montague +
2. Sergio Pettis +
3. Josh Sampo +
4. Sean Santella
5. Danny Martinez +
6. Mamoru Yamaguchi
7. Dileno Lopes
8. Ali Bagautinov +
9. Rafael de Freitas +
10. Jose Maria +


* Honorable Mentions
1. Henry Cejudo
2. Bibiano Fernandes +
3. Aljamain Sterling +
4. Marlon Moraes +
5. Sheymon Moraes
6. Josh Hill +
7. Chris Holdsworth +
8. Brandon Bender +
9. Kyoji Horiguchi +
10. Sirwan Kakai +


* Honorable Mentions
1. Lance Palmer +
2. Doo Ho Choi +
3. Chas Skelly+
4. Rick Glenn +
5. Jim Alers+
6. Ande Fili +
7. Gleristone Santos
8. Tom Niinimaki +
9. Goiti Yamauchi +
10.Chris Gruetzemacher +


* Honorable Mentions
1. Bubba Jenkins +
2. Justin Gaethje +
3. Gilbert Burns
4. Tony Martin +
5. Katsunori Kikuno +
6. Joe Ellenberger +
7. Carlos Ferreira+
8. Ivan Jorge +
9. Yui Chul Nam +
10. Nick Newell +


* Honorable Mentions
WelterweightMiddleweightLight HeavyweightHeavyweight
1. Alex Garcia +
2. Dhiego Lima +
3. Yan Cabral +
4. Cathal Pendred +
5. Rashid Magomedov +
6. Assan Njie
7. Myung Ho Bae
8. Mike Rhodes +
9. Hernani Perpetuo +
10. Chidi Njokuani


* Honorable Mentions
1. Mamed Khalidov
2. Elvis Mutapcic +
3. Michal Materla
4. Ramazan Emeev
5. Joseph Henle
6. Ricardo Abreu+
7. Bubba Bush
8. Jeremy Kimball +
9. Tim Williams +
10. Sean Strickland+


* Honorable Mentions
1. Robert Drysdale +
2. Tyrone Spong +
3. Patrick Cummins+
4. Jan Blachowicz+
5. Steve Bosse+
6. Kyle Cerminara
7. Viktor Nemkov
8. Max Nunes
9. Francimar Barroso +
10. Jake Butler


* Honorable Mentions
1. Steve Mocco +
2. Jared Rosholt +
3. Tony Johnson +
4. Guram Gugenishvili
5. Magomed Malikov
6. Satoshi Ishii
7. Derrick Lewis +
8. Chris Birchler
9. Walt Harris +
10. Ante Delija


* Honorable Mentions
Categories
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