Opinion: Tommy McMillen is legit; the UFC’s hype machine is the bigger concern

Tommy McMillen isn't the first UFC prospect to receive an early push. | 📷: Jeff Bottari/Getty/UFC Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.* * * Aside from the main event of UFC Oklahoma City, no one generated more conversation from the event than Tommy McMillen. In his sophomore Ultimate Fighting Championship appearance, McMillen set a new record for significant strikes landed in a three-round contest, his 252 topping the 238 landed by Nate Diaz at UFC 141. There’s no doubt that’s an impressive number and feat, enough that Brendan Fitzgerald declared him the “next fighting superstar.” That’s a hell of a declaration for someone coming off their second Octagon contest. Why Tommy McMillen's UFC record deserves a closer look Unfortunately, I’m here to be the big, fat, party pooper. Not because I have anything against McMillen. Not because I think he’s without talent. It’s because I’ve seen this happen several times over. Despite that, the UFC never seems to learn its lesson... and it is often to the detriment of the those they’re pushing into the spotlight. First, I should address the times I’ve seen this. The UFC brings in a young talent that has something about them that could make them special if they’re able to climb the ranks. Sage Northcutt was incredibly young and athletic. Paige VanZant was -- and still is -- quite the looker. Those are the two most obvious examples, but there’s several others over the years that have received a push from the UFC almost instantaneously, only for them to fade into obscurity just as fast, if not faster, than they rose. Names like Niklas Backstrom. Benito Lopez. Te Edwards. In some cases, the UFC had the promotional machine behind them even before winning a fight inside the Octagon. The routes of Northcutt and VanZant are well known. One would be forgiven for not knowing Backstrom, Lopez and Edwards, but those names prove my point. I vividly remember the UFC acting like they were going to be the future of their respective divisions. They all had either an impressive UFC debut or performance on Dana White’s Contender Series before the wheels came off. One thing that has served as a warning -- and it applies to Northcutt and VanZant as well -- is the level of competition they beat. That isn’t me ripping on the UFC giving them lesser known and proven talents. The smart thing to do with young talent is to bring it along slowly. The problem is declaring them special when they beat someone whom they are not only supposed to beat, but hasn’t accomplished anything noteworthy themselves. Of all those names, Northcutt found the most UFC success. His best win? I’d say Zak Ottow, a win that was impressive enough to the UFC that they declined to re-sign him after that victory. Which comes back around to McMillen. His 252 significant strikes are impressive; I don’t want to take away from that. But his doing so against Alberto Montes isn’t the same as Diaz managing to land 238 against Donald Cerrone. Cerrone had established himself as a fan favorite and borderline contender at that point. Montes hasn’t proved he’s deserving of his roster spot yet. McMillen’s UFC debut? That came against Manolo Zecchini, someone in the running as the worst fighter currently on the UFC roster. McMillen’s performance against those fighters offers just as much reason to be concerned the UFC is putting the cart before the horse as it does that McMillen is a future star, much less the “next fighting superstar.” Zecchini managed to find some success with counters, more than I would have expected for someone as hyped as McMillen before finding the finish. While McMillen’s stamina and determination was impressive, his inability to finish someone as stanky legged as Montes was by the first round is concerning. Montes, known more for his prowess with the anaconda choke than his ability to slug it out, managed to stumble McMillen on several occasions. If McMillen is as good as the hype suggests, he should have been able to plow through Montes without the adversity he faced.The warning signs behind Tommy McMillen's breakout performance I get there’s times where fighters have risen above their abilities to give problems to the more hyped fighter. Kris Moutinho winning over the crowd with a spirited performance against Sean O'Malley comes to mind. But in that example, Moutinho never threatened O’Malley. He hung around, but he never threatened him. O’Malley was crisp in that performance; McMillen was sloppy against Zecchini and Montes. He did overwhelm them with volume, but a casual observer should be able to see McMillen’s holes. Unless his team is working rigorously to address these issues, he’s going to be exposed sooner rather than later. There’s another problem that tends to rear its head in these circumstances. When prospects like McMillen get pumped up by the likes of the UFC, they tend to start getting a big head. Hell, it would be hard not to. The problem is, getting a big head makes the fall that much more difficult to recover from when the drop that befalls everyone inevitably comes. Bakstrom is a fantastic example of that. He made a huge splash in beating Tom Niinimaki in 2014. He was hyped to heaven for his next contest in his home country of Sweden -- he was around -900 -- and got smashed under two minutes in the main card opener. He never recovered. It isn’t too hard to figure out. It’s one thing to lose to an established veteran who has been on the scene and is expected to give the hyped prospect a stern test. It’s another when that hyped prospect loses to someone who is supposed to be a steppingstone. Finding out you aren’t what the UFC and the rest of the world have been telling you can be extremely jarring. That’s when prospects end up falling apart. Unless the UFC is going to slow walk McMillen, he’s highly unlikely to reach the levels of hype the UFC is surrounding him with. Given McMillen is already 28, he’s not likely to get the benefit of a slow walk. Especially when he’s pushing the UFC to throw him in there with frequency, asking to be on the Noche UFC 4 card in September. As there’s more film of him, there’s going to be more chances of him being exposed. I’m not saying McMillen is a bum. I saw some improvements from McMillen between the Zecchini and Montes fights. McMillen also has a lot going for him, including charisma. However, having the UFC hype him up isn’t one of those things. He’s likely going to have to find out the hard way.