Author – Drew Beaupre
Weight class: Bantamweight
Age: 22
Height: 5’8”
Born in: England
Training out of: MMA Fight Academy/
Combined opponents’ record (at the time they fought): 14-9
Key wins: N/A
For those who don’t know, Shawn runs a yearly “Prospect Grand Prix” competition where the participants draft fighter prospects and accumulate points throughout the year. During the final round, we have to pick a fighter with three pro fights or fewer. After I selected Jack Humphries (2-0 at the time), the 22-year-old has picked up a pair of submission wins and established himself as a serious bantamweight prospect in Cage Warriors.
Humphries made his amateur debut as a featherweight in 2022 and began his career by going 4-3, which included his first four appearances with the IMMAF. He went on a six-fight winning streak to close out his time as an amateur fighter, but unfortunately, he missed out on the 2023 IMMAF featherweight tournament finals due to injury.
Dropping down to the bantamweight division for his pro debut at Cage Warriors 172 in May of last year, Humphries wasted little time before he brought João Dos Santos to the mat and softened him up with ground and pound to set up an RNC. “The Ripper” returned four months later and got things done even quicker against Fabian Ufs, finishing the Norwegian with ground strikes in just over two minutes.
Humphries got to spend a bit more time in the cage against Nick Beukema (3-0 at the time) in March before he dropped Beukema in the second round and eventually secured another rear-naked choke. In his most recent outing at Cage Warriors 192, the 22-year-old displayed some strong developments in his striking before he submitted 14-fight veteran Rory Evans with an anaconda choke just over halfway through the first round.
While he’s started to showcase his striking a bit more in his last two fights, Humphries shines when things hit the mat. Opponents that find themselves on their backs will struggle to create space thanks to Humphries’ stifling top pressure and elbows, although he also does like to posture up to rain down ground and pound, and will occasionally choose that route at the risk of potentially losing top position.
Even when his opposition does find an opening to try and stand back up, Humphries is incredibly dangerous during scrambles. He’s quick to jump around to the back and will keep landing ground strikes while looking to get his hooks in for the RNC. If an opponent ends up prone after a failed standup or takedown attempt, they’ll immediately find themselves in danger of being caught in a front choke.
On the feet, “The Ripper” puts a lot of power behind his shots and relies heavily on his right straight and lead left hook. Humphries is happy to lead with these strikes in space, but also has excellent timing using them as counters. The 22-year-old has started to switch stances more often and also work his jab more in his last couple of fights, as well as show off an increasingly diverse kicking game. If he doesn’t look for a takedown during clinch exchanges, Humphries also loves looking for chances to hurt his opponents with knees.
Given how young he is, there’s certainly no need for Cage Warriors to rush Humphries along at this stage. That being said, his amateur experience has clearly paid off with how he’s managed to handle fighters with more pro bouts than him, and I’ll be interested to see how his striking continues to develop alongside his already-potent ground game.