John "The Hitman" Hathaway arrived on the UFC scene back in January of 2009, just another unheralded young fighter with big dreams.

Hathaway made good in his debut with a first-round TKO of Thomas Egan on the preliminary card at UFC 93 in Ireland, a fight that garnered little attention at the time.

Hathaway, who is a tall, slim welterweight at 6'2", brought a 10-0 undefeated record with him when he came to the UFC; but although it was an impressive number, it was built with fights over men who were hardly household names in the MMA world. As "The Hitman" ground on through the UFC's tough welterweight division, that would soon change.

Following up on his victory over Egan, Hathaway continued to perform well in the Octagon, notching wins over Rick Story and countryman Paul Taylor and improving his record to 13-0 and 3-0 in the UFC. All of Hathaway's UFC fights had been efforts on the preliminary card up to this time, but with UFC 114, he would finally get his chance to shine in the bright lights of the main card.

It was an opportunity Hathaway made the most of.

For UFC 114, Hathaway would find himself matched against Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez, one of the winners of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter and perennial favorite of both the fans and the UFC management. For many observers, it seemed like Hathaway was merely being offered up as a credible opponent to ease Sanchez back into the welterweight division after an unsuccessful bid at the lightweight title six months earlier. 

Sanchez, who entered the fight an impressive 21-3, had only lost in the past against the very best in the UFC, BJ Penn, Jon Fitch, and Josh Koscheck, and had beaten men like Kenny Florian, Karo Parisyan, and Joe Stevenson along the way. It seemed like Sanchez would have been a safe bet against the much younger and relatively inexperienced Hathaway, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

Hathaway dominated the fight against Sanchez almost from the start, staggering the "Nightmare" with an early knee before controlling the Octagon and easily outstriking him for the rest of the match. Although Hathaway failed to finish Sanchez, it was a performance that made a lot of people take notice of the young Brit's potential.

Now an impressive 14-0 in his career, Hathaway is looking forward to a fight against the dangerous Mike Pyle (20-7 1 NC) at UFC 120 on October 16. Pyle has the distinction of being the only man to ever submit top welterweight contender Jon Fitch, and although not as well known a fighter as Sanchez, Hathaway is taking Pyle very seriously.

"He's definitely not a step down (compared to Sanchez)," Hathaway told MMAFighting.com. "I think they're probably about equal, I think Mike is incredibly dangerous, very experienced and he's finished a lot of fights. He's an incredibly tough opponent and I'm looking forward to facing him."

As far as his strategy for the fight is concerned, Hathaway is confident he can handle the action wherever it goes.

"We start standing, but I've got a lot of confidence in my takedowns, my ground and pound and my ability on the ground," Hathaway said. "I think either way I'll be able to get some good shots off."

For his part, Pyle has made clear his warm regard for both Hathaway and the British fans.

"I will beat the shit out of John Hathaway," Pyle told