By Bryan Levick 
No one gave Paulo Thiago a shot going into his bout with Josh Koshcheck last February at UFC 95.
After all it was his UFC debut, and he was facing one of the divisions best fighters.
Even after knocking the Blond Bomber out, Thiago was still given no respect. Too many fans claimed Koscheck was dominating the fight and got careless.
Be that as it may, when the fight was over, it was Thiago’s hand that got raised.
Fast forward thirteen months, and three fights later, and no one can deny that this man is a legitimate welterweight contender, especially after his second round submission of Mike Swick last night at UFC 109.
With his not so stunning victory over Koshcheck teammate Swick, Thiago ran his UFC record to 3-1, and he is now 13-1 overall.
He also collected his second bonus as he added a Submission of the Night to the Knockout of the Night he received after defeating Koscheck.
All we knew about Thiago was that he was a brilliant grappler who also had some dynamite in his hands, but his striking was very robotic.
He showed last night what a year of hard work will do as his striking was a lot crisper and much more fluid.
Thiago landed two very nice leg kicks last night, both of which almost sent Swick to the canvas.
During the UFC 109 Countdown previewing the welterweight showdown, fans were given a glimpse into Thiago’s “Day Job”, and it’s not a cliche when you say, there is nothing he won’t see inside the octagon, that he hasn’t seen patrolling the streets of Brazil.
In his lone loss, Thiago was smothered for 15 minutes by the third member of the American Kickboxing Academy’s welterweights, Jon Fitch.
The bout between the two took place at UFC 100 and was pushed back to the last bout of the evening. Thiago still performed admirably and had Fitch in trouble on a few occasions while working off his back.
Thiago will always have a solid submission base, but it seems each and every time he goes out there, his striking gets better and better.
So what’s next for the Brazilian Elite Special Force officer? A rematch with Koscheck in inevitable, but that will have to wait as Koscheck has a date with Paul Daley in May.
The balance of the top ten welterweights in the UFC are already scheduled to fight in the upcoming months.
One name that comes to mind is Carlos Condit, who should be returning anytime from a hand injury he suffered in December.
In Condit, Thiago would face a fighter who is very well rounded, and who is very hungry to show that his reign as the WEC welterweight champion was due to his talents as a fighter, and not because of the lack of talent in the organization.
Condit can knock his opponents out just as likely as he is to submit them, as evidenced by his 10 knockout victories, and 13 submission wins.
Other than Condit, there is the winner of the Anthony Johnson-John Howard bout that is scheduled for March 21.
Thiago could certainly use the rest as last night’s bout was his fourth in the past year.
If a rest is what he is looking for, then how about the winner of the Martin Kampmann-Ben Saunders matchup that will take place at UFC 111 on March 27?
Whomever he is matched up with, Thiago has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is one of the top welterweights in the UFC, and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.
