Weight Class: Welterweight
Record: 12-2
Age: 26
Height: 6’2”
Born In: England
Training Out Of: Aspire Combat Sports Academy
Combined Opponent Records (at the time they fought): 96-66-1
Key Wins: Nathan Jones
Already 3-0 this year, Tom Mullen will look to defend his welterweight belt for the first time when he meets Janderson Conceição in the co-main event of FightStar Championship 38 on Saturday.
Following a strong amateur run where he picked up all but one of his wins via submission, Mullen turned pro in late 2019 and got his hand raised via 24-second finish. It was more than two years before he returned to action and was stopped by Mark Ewan, and Mullen ultimately ended up starting his pro career at 4-2 after he submitted three-straight opponents and dropped a decision to the still-undefeated Harel Cohen in 2023.
That meeting with Cohen was the last time that Mullen has tasted defeat, as the 26-year-old stopped seven-straight opponents and claimed the interim FSC welterweight belt last February before he defeated Nathan Jones via unanimous decision to unify the FSC welterweight titles in August.
Boasting a good frame for the welterweight division, Mullen relies heavily on feints to draw out reactions from his opponents before committing to any major strikes. Outside of working combinations of straight punches, the 26-year-old will also bite down and throw his right hand as a powerful overhand shot and mix in a variety of kicks that target the legs, midsection, and head.
Mullen hasn’t displayed a whole lot of fight-ending power in his hands outside of his 19-second finish of Tony Silva in 2024, but his stand up game is really built around setting up opportunities to bring things to the mat. He’ll time good shots from space after distracting his opponents with striking, and he can also take his opposition down from the clinch if they get too close or if Mullen wants to keep them from establishing any sort of rhythm on the feet.
The Aspire CSA product won’t rush things on the ground but is very opportunistic, taking advantage of any opening to pass guard and move into a more dominant position. He’ll sit up or fully posture when an opponent has full guard in order to land some ground and pound, but the moment Mullen sees the chance to pass he’ll move over into half guard or side control and establish heavy chest pressure.
Mullen does a very good job of keeping active with his ground strikes from top position, which helps force opponents into making mistakes that he can turn into submission attempts. The 26-year-old ideally loves to take the back so he can land punches while hunting for a rear naked choke, but he’s just as much of a threat to quickly lock something up during scrambles and has an impressive variety of submissions on his record.
The biggest concern for Mullen at this stage is his striking defense, as he can be backed up to the cage fairly easily and doesn’t offer much in the way of head movement during exchanges or when he’s backing up in a straight line. Those defensive issues have largely been mitigated by his ability to bring fights to the ground, and so far it seems like Mullen is well-aware that he only needs to spend enough time on the feet to set up opportunities for his takedowns.
The 26-year-old hasn’t been facing especially dangerous competition but has been putting in very good performances against experienced guys, particularly over his last few fights (minus the 3-4 Wellton Vieira). Given his current win streak and finishing ability, he should be due for a call from a major organization after FSC 38, where he may have the opportunity to add a third knockout to his record given that Conceição was stopped with strikes in less than a minute on two occasions last year.
