Josiah “Muscle Hamster” Harrell
Fighting at 170 (welterweight)
Standing at five-foot-seven
Born in Grove City, Ohio, US
27-years-old
11-0 (6 KO/TKOs, 4 Submissions)
Josiah Harrell is finally getting his opportunity after a stretch where it felt like that moment might never come.
In 2023, Harrell was signed to the UFC on short notice to face Jack Della Maddalena. Pre-fight medical testing revealed he had Moyamoya disease. That led to a frightening brain surgery that put his career — and health — in serious question. Since returning to competition last year, Harrell has fought four times in under a calendar year and won them all. During that run, he defeated UFC veteran Melvin Guillard, former LFA champ Kegan Gennrich, and snapped the eight-fight win streak of Bekmyrza Dosmatov.
The way he’s responded to adversity outside the cage mirrors his style inside it: resilience. Harrell often has to fight through difficult moments before finding his way to a win. He wasn’t fully on my radar until his most recent performance — which, considering he now has eleven pro fights, does raise some concern. While it’s impressive that he consistently battles back, it’s also notable that he’s forced to do so regularly at the regional level. If you remove his last outing, I find myself fairly underwhelmed with the overall body of work.
Technically, Harrell’s best attribute is his top game. Once he secures a dominant position, he’s heavy, methodical, and capable of finishing with ground-and-pound. The issue is getting the fight there. His wrestling entries aren’t as clean as they need to be. He’ll try to time shots behind punches, but he often struggles to close the distance effectively. On the feet, he tends to find himself at a disadvantage — both in striking exchanges and when trying to enter takedown range.
At welterweight, standing 5’7” with a 67-inch reach, he is undersized for the division. He does have a sneaky rear kick to the body and head, along with a solid one-two, but establishing rhythm has been inconsistent. Past tape shows defensive lapses in striking, and even some physicality concerns — he’s been taken down and controlled for extended stretches.
His cardio looked improved in his most recent fight, though there were visible gas tank concerns in the bout prior. Still, Harrell is the kind of fighter you instinctively want to back. He’s durable, doesn’t quit, and remains dangerous even when fatigued.
Among the 73 welterweights currently on the UFC roster, I’d rank Harrell slightly below the top 30.
In this fight with Jacobe Smith, it’s better than the original bout. I have no doubt Smith will be able to have his way in the early wrestling exchanges of the fight. The question is, will Smith have the same success in round three as he did in round one? If Smith slows as he did in his last fight against a guy like Niko Price than Harrell is gonna put the pressure on him. Smith is the better athlete, striker, grappler, and wrestler. Picking Harrell, I’d have to assume he wins a battle of gas tanks. Until Smith loses that type of fight I’ll have faith in him.