Dylan Salvador jumps off the page as a name to watch when the Eagle Fighting Championship organization touches down in Miami with EFC 44 on Friday at the FLX Arena, where the Frenchman will meet Arman Ospanov in a featured featherweight prelim. After spending years in the muay Thai and kickboxing world, the onetime Glory Kickboxing Lightweight Contender Tournament winner transitioned to mixed martial arts and seems eager to prove himself inside the cage.

The 28-year-old Salvador has little MMA seasoning upon which to draw, as evidenced by his 3-1 record. Still, he accumulated countless rounds of experience in muay Thai all over the world. Salvador’s MMA opponents sport a combined record of 20-17, though it improves dramatically to 18-6 without the presence of journeyman John Morehouse on his resume.

A Lyon, France, native, Salvador started his combat sports journey, like many of his countrymen, in the striking disciplines. After watching the movie “Kickboxer,” he fell in love with muay Thai and started training under Nasser Kacem. He eventually locked horns with some of the best 145- and 155-pound fighters on the planet, including Anulak “Sitthichai” Jansuk, current Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight contender Giga Chikadze and Sombat “Buakaw” Banchamek. Salvador fights southpaw and adopts an unorthodox style that features a variety of elbows and flying knees. The result? He emerged as an undeniably entertaining competitor.

In his MMA debut at Titan Fighting Championship 54 in April 2019, Salvador drew a tough challenge in Kenny Porter—a Sanford MMA wrestler who owned a 3-0 record at the time. There was a great deal of curiosity surrounding Salvador’s decision to leave the ring to focus solely on MMA after he moved to Florida to train at American Top Team. To everyone’s surprise, he showed he was comfortable in the grappling exchanges on the mat, attacking Porter with a kimura early in their bout. Still, it was on the feet where Salvador showed his quality. Porter struggled to keep pace with his counterpart’s versatility and creativity. Elbows proved to be Salvador’s most lethal weapon, as he hacked open a gash on the Floridian’s forehead midway through the middle stanza. Shortly after the one-minute mark in Round 3, he dropped Porter and submitted him with an anaconda choke.

Salvador showcased a more measured approach in his second assignment, as he stung Morehouse from affair with strikes before closing with a rear-naked choke 1:10 into the second round of their encounter under the National Fighting Championship banner. His third outing unfolded at Xtreme Fight Night 373 on Aug. 14, when Salvador locked horns with Joshua Anderson. While he conceded some easy takedowns, the Frenchman bounced back on the feet and never looked uncomfortable on the canvas. He also showed some marked improvements in the clinch along the fence. Midway through the first round, Salvador landed a flying knee and hunted down Anderson across the cage. Once it hit the mat, he poured on the punishment before he transitioned to a fight-ending rear-naked choke.


Salvador’s most recent appearance came in a one-night, eight-man tournament for the vacant Premier Fighting Championship lightweight title on Sept. 18. He secured a spot in the final after he outpointed Estevan Payan and Anthony Pike in one-round exhibitions. Ali Zebian awaited him in the final. Zebian imposed his wrestling on Salvador in the first round, only to have the Frenchman return fire in the second. There, he retaliated with some damaging knee strikes that took a noticeable toll on Zebian’s cardio. The last men standing went toe-to-toe in Round 3, and when the dust settled, two of the three cageside judges sided with Zebian. The contentious split decision brought with it the PFC lightweight crown and sent Salvador back to the drawing board.