Damien Anderson always wanted to a be a fighter, but he wanted to do so in the safest way possible.

So rather than strap on the gloves on Day 1, he decided to take a more calculated path toward MMA, even if it meant waiting years to throw a punch in competition. After he met Garry Tonon at a college jiu-jitsu club when studying at Rutgers University, Anderson began training under John Danaher.

"I've always been interested in fighting, and I didn't really know what route or what was the safest route to fight because I didn't understand fighting as like — to some people it just looks like guys are stepping in the ring and just kind of throwing punches," Anderson recently told MMA Junkie. "So, I didn't want to do that. If I wanted to fight, I wanted to make sure that I did it intelligently.

"I thought that the guys that fought the best in my opinion were the guys that had a massive grappling advantage or could at least use the threat of grappling to then allow them to start striking. So I didn't really know what to do, but I was like, 'Alright, first step is I have to try to get world-class grappling.' Then once I kind of secured that, I could start looking into my striking. So the whole plan was really just to try to get my grappling as good as possible as quickly as possible."

Not only did Anderson make his grappling good – he made it great. He competed for WNO, Polaris, and Fight2Win. He also competed in several combat jiu-jitsu tournaments, including the Worlds in 2022.

"I didn't even want to play around with fighting MMA until I felt I had world-class jiu-jitsu," Anderson said. "I'm a very methodical personality type, so I just kind of reverse-engineered it. It was like, if I want to try to become a UFC bantamweight world champion, how do I go about doing that? I looked at the skills that I thought I needed, and the first step, to me, was increasing my grappling skill set. So I didn't really care about fighting until I felt that I had world-class grappling."

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In January 2023, Anderson made his MMA debut at the amateur level and won by 69-second knockout, immediately showing that this grappler had hands. It was already time to turn professional. Anderson began training with muay Thai coach Elton Wells, who he said will one day be known as an all-time striking teacher.

"In my opinion, he's going to be known as MMA's best striking coach on the planet," Anderson said. "That's just my opinion. People are going to think I'm crazy until it actually happens, but I found a phenomenal coach and was working with him for a bit, and I still work with him to this day. I was training striking while doing my grappling, but the focus was really just on grappling. I had to close that gap, and once I closed that gap, then it was like, 'OK, now I can start my MMA career.'"

Anderson, 29, has five finishes in five pro bouts, including four submissions and one TKO. He's competed for Fury FC and CFFC and has never seen a third round. Though he feels ready for a UFC call, he must remain patient. But should the promotion need his services, Anderson is confident he can compete with the best as is.

"My immediate plan is that my weight is down," Anderson said. "If someone pulls out at 135, I'm hopping right in there. I fully expect to be in the UFC in the near future. The long-term goal is just to become number one in the bantamweight division. If nothing happens by late summer, I'm not opposed to Contender Series. But in my humble opinion, I'm ready for anyone in the UFC. That was another plan for me; I didn't want to enter the UFC until I could look at the top 10 guys and hang with them. I don't have to necessarily beat them yet, but I can hang with them. By the time I get to top 10, my progression will surpass them. I'm ready to enter the UFC and continue to fight my way to the top."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Standout grappling prospect eager for UFC call