CWMMA Warrior Facts: Sam "The Salt" Salter

Fighter profile of Sam Salter by

                                                            Caged Warriors MMA – Warrior Facts

Sam “The Salt” Salter

*The show opens and we see a zoomed-out room of the studio. Kale “The Legend” Suanders, looking burly and serious as ever is reviewing his index cards. His announce partner Jenkins Jennson looks distracted. Jenkins has a bunch of forms laid out on the small round table between them and on his lap. A few forms are on the ground in front of him. He is frantically trying to fill them out. As the camera zoom into to the CWMMA announce team, The Legend is ready.*

“The Legend” Kale Suanders: Hey! I’m “The Legend” Kale Suanders and this Warrior Facts!! *Kale looks over at Jenkins whose still trying to fill out forms* Hey HEY! We’re live, you nimrod!

Jenkins Jennson: *Starts hurriedly trying to put the papers together..drops them…looks up at the camera* What?! Oh Yes. My apologies, I’m just trying to…We’re live you say?! Oh Ok. I’m Jenkins Jennson and we have a well-seasoned show for you today as we profile Sam “The Salt” Salter. Did you hear that, Kale? I said well-seasoned. *Jenkins, self-satisfied, giggles at his own joke*

KS: *Annoyed* I like it when you don’t talk, Jenkins. Our featured warrior, Sam “The Salt” Salter, boasts a glossy 8-2 record making him a possible top contender in the CWMMA. Possibly. We’ll get the facts tonight!

JJ: Why possibly? This man is ghastly, he’s dastardly! 5 wins in UNDER a minute. He’s unstoppable, right Kale?

KS: Maybe so, Jenkins. But let’s look a bit deeper.

*Screen appears with Salter’s record*

W

Trey Diesel

Submission (Triangle)

Quick Fight Championship

W

Trey Diesel

Submission (Guillotine)

Quick Fight Championship

W

Scotty Jameson

Submission (Kimura)

Ash Pres: The 3rd Aftermath

W

Nick Mullen

Submission (Kimura)

Quick Fight Championship

W

Trey Diesel

Submission (Guillotine)

Quick Fight Championship

W

Trey Diesel

Submission (Kneebar)

Quick Fight Championship

W

Trey Diesel

Submission (Triangle Choke)

Quick Fight Championship

W

Trey Diesel

Submission (Triangle Choke)

Quick Fight Championship

L

Koos Van Asch

Decision (Unanimous)

Quick Fight Championship

L

Trey Diesel

Submission (Arm Triangle)

Quick Fight Championship

KS: Precisely, Jenkins. Looks at Salter’s record minus Diesel: 2-1. Not bad, but not 8-2. So is he worth the hype? Let’s find out.

JJ: This Trey Diesel must be a serious glutton for punishment, I mean he just kept coming back again and again. I mean after the third time in a row?! Whose sanctioning these bouts? Mickey Mouse??

KS: It’s the QFC. My grandma can build a competitive record in the QFC.

JJ: Well, Grandma Suanders IS pretty tough.

KS: Heck yes she is. Grandma was a bareknuckle boxing champion in the welterweight division in her time.

JJ: Oh wow really? I didn’t know there was a women’s division back then.

KS: *Looks at Jenkins* There wasn’t. She won the men’s division! Grandma could whup you AND this Diesel kid with one arm tied behind her back.

JJ: *Eyes widen* But..but Grandma Suanders only has one arm!

KS: Exactly! …But back to your original point. It’s unclear how these bouts were sanctioned and how they actually reflect on Salter’s skill level. Trey Diesel’s just a kid. He’s only 18 years old, Jenkins. And if he keeps on like this he’s not going to live until his 19th birthday.

JJ: On that point, I had the opportunity to speak with The Salt, what a friendly little guy. Here’s what he had to say about Diesel..

*Camera pans to screen and Sam “The Salt” Salter’s face appears*  

*Camera goes back to Jenkins and The Legend*

KS: Fair enough, if I had to count all the chumps I fought and beat many times over..

JJ: *interrupts* That’s why they call you The Legend!

KS: Let’s look at a few of Salter’s fights and see what we discover.

*Camera pans to screen*

CLIP ROLLS:

Diesel has control of Salter's left arm, preventing Salter from doing any damage.
Diesel is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
SUB ATTEMPT
Salter drops back looking for a submission - "I'm sorry sir, but I'm gunna break your leg" says Salter as he cranks on the unfortunate limb! Diesel screams and taps out before any major damage is done!

*Back to Jenkins and Kale. Jenkins is cringing*

JJ: *Grimaces* URGH…that looks painful! I’m surprised Diesel walked away after that one.

KS: I love to see that look on your face. But that’s not why I showed that clip. I wanted to demonstrate the versatility of Salter’s BJJ. What we just saw there was a kneebar. Extremely painful. Extremely well-executed by The Salt. Look at his 8 wins, Jenk, there are 5 different submissions there. He put on a damn clinic in every one of those wins!

JJ: I bet he would be a great BJJ instructor!

KS: You’re right about that, Jenkins, but I’m pretty sure he’d rather stick around and administer some ass-kickings first. Look, while Salter is obviously extremely versatile on the ground, he may still want to consider altering his strategy slightly.

JJ: But why?! He’s on an 8-fight win streak, Kale. That’s a lot of wins in a short time period. I had the chance to check in with The Salt about his experience, here’s what he had to say…

*Camera pans to screen with Sam “The Salt” Salter’s face and the face starts talking*

*Camera goes back to Jenkins and The Legend*

JJ: Clearly, he knows what he’s doing. Why should he change anything?!

KS: Because his submission success rate is a measly 14%, he only improves position 38% percent of the time and that’s based on 1.3 attempts. He’s landed… *Jenkins looks concerned* exactly, double J, a whopping ONE takedown in 10 fights. As for his striking production. Well, there is literally none to speak of. You would think he was competing in a BJJ tournament.

JJ: Doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous, Kale. Who cares about advancing position, he’s gotten submissions from nearly every position. Nobody puts Salty in a corner!

KS: No doubt, Jenkins. But while his body of work is deep, it’s extremely narrow. Here’s another thing, this may be insensitive to some of the snowflakes out there buuut, THIS GUY IS A GODDAMN MIDGET! He’s 150 cm…that’s under 5 ft for you imperial system fans. He’s even small for his wee man division. I broke 150 cm at 1.5 years old, Jenkins.

JJ: Yeah well Kale, you were one strange-looking toddler.

KS: You little punk! What I’m saying is that while his baby T-rex body type is terrific for not getting caught in a submission, but it leaves him with some obvious weaknesses.

JJ: He can never reach the top cabinet in the kitchen?

KS: He can barely reach the counter! Also, he is at an extreme disadvantage on his feet. Let’s take a look at his decision loss to Koos Van Asch early on in his still-young career.

CLIPS ROLLS:

Seven struggles to land a body shot inside as Salter controls his hands.
Seven gets through Salter's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
A short right from Seven on the inside.
Seven misses with a hook to the ribs.
Salter tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

KS: This is at the very end of the first round, as you can see, they are clinching, which they have essentially been the whole round. At this point, Salter has had at least 3 takedowns attempts stuffed. Look at Van Asch just go to town on Salter there. Head, body, body..nice work for Van Asch. He actually retired after this one fight, Jenkins. One and done, I guess. The fight game is crazy. Let’s check out another highlight from this fight.

CLIPS ROLLS:

Seven lands a nice uppercut.
Seven tries to throw a body punch but Salter avoids it by throwing Seven back against the cage.
Seven lands a shoulder strike.
Seven misses with a hook to the ribs.
A right hand to the body from Seven.
Salter jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Seven walks away with a smile on his face. Salter gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sam Salter. That's going to take a lot out of him.
CLINCH
Seven clinches up against the cage.
Seven tries to throw a body punch but Salter avoids it by throwing Seven back against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

KS: Look at Van Asch raining blows onto Salter. All we see from Salter in response is a series of failed takedown attempts. And this repeated itself for all three rounds, went to a unanimous decision, and earned Salter 30-24s from every judge. Absolutely embarrassing.

JJ: He took this to heart, Kale, he told me so himself..

*Zoom to screen with The Salt*

JJ: …and he had a message for Mr. Fernandez, too.

*Camera goes back to Jenkins and The Legend*

KS: What a humble guy. You know, Jenkins, I am genuinely looking forward to seeing Sam compete. He’s going to be a helluva warrior! Speaking of…we’ve reached that time. Here is your Warrior Facts Breakdown:

Sam “The Salt” Salter

Bantamweight Division

Record: 8-2-0 (W-L-D)

Total Opponent Record: 8-10-0

Dominant Fighting Style: BJJ (Brown Belt)

           Overall Fight Stats:

Standup

Head punch: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Body punch: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Punch combo: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Head kick: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Leg kick: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Body kick: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Takedown: 0.4 (0.2) 50%

Clinchwork

Head punch: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Body punch: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Elbow: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Knee head: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Knee body: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Takedowns: 1.6 (0.0) 0%

Groundwork

Improve pos: 1.3 (0.5) 38%

Strikes: 0.0 (0.0) 0%

Sub attempts: 5.7 (0.8) 14

Strengths

It doesn’t matter if Salter is on the bottom, side, or top, he’s got the proven ability to find a submission and quick. Conversely, his body type is optimal for defending submissions. He has the ability to analyze and innovate his game as proven by the 8-fight win streak following his initial two pro losses. We can reasonably expect that as his career in CWMMA progresses, the holes in his game will disappear.    

Weaknesses

He only has BJJ and his BJJ is greedy. He tires himself out with multiple takedown attempts and then floors the pedal on submissions. This has worked great against the tomato cans he’s been fighting. Against an equally skilled BJJ player, he may find himself in hot water. Then there’s the obvious, The Salt is a dwarf with stubby arms and legs, and no visible striking ability.

Outlook

Anyone who follows a strategy similar to the Koos (Salter’s 2nd loss) can pick up a W. That means you act like the earth’s gravitational pull doesn’t apply to you. Don’t.Go.To.The.Ground. Follow that strategy, you’ve got at least a puncher’s chance. Don’t count out Salter though. He knows what he needs to do to be successful and he’s making strides to get there. All things aside, he is a BJJ powerhouse and on his way to earning his Black Belt. Give him a few fights to find his stride at this level and he may just be championship material.  

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