GLENDALE, Ariz. – Not too long ago, it seemed The MMA Lab in Arizona was generally known only as the home base of Benson Henderson.

Now head coach John Crouch, a Royce Gracie black belt, is assembling a team of both proven veterans and hopeful prospects looking to reach the next level, and the Glendale gym could very well be MMA’s next super camp.

Recently, MMAjunkie visited The MMA Lab and talked to some of the camp’s top up-and-coming talent about their experiences in the gym, while also asking Crouch for an honest evaluation of the prospects.

In the first in a series of videos, hear from a name you may be seeing in the big show very soon.

Lightweight Scott “Hot Sauce” Holtzman

Had things gone just a little bit different, Scott Holtzman (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) could have been something entirely different than “Hot Sauce.”

His friends decided it was time for the undefeated lightweight to pick a fighting nickname, and the options included “The Hazardous Hillbilly” and “Pillowhands.”

Holtzman went with “Hot Sauce.”

“I don’t know who voted for it,” Crouch said. “Probably Scott did because he took the less damaging one.”

UFC middleweight Trevor Smith already beat Holtzman to the octagon with the “Hot Sauce” nickname, but The MMA Lab fighter will follow him soon. A former XFC champion, when that organization seized operations in the U.S., he started looking around for another promotion, and the UFC came calling.

Holtzman considers himself a new breed of athlete, one that doesn’t come from a traditional martial arts background. Instead, a former semipro hockey player and college baseball veteran, when Holtzman’s playing days were over, he turned quickly to MMA.

“My style is I’m pretty good everywhere,” Holtzman said. “I’m not a world champion grappler. I’m not a Division I wrestler or anything. I’m pretty good everywhere. I think that’s what makes me dangerous.

“Since the beginning, I’ve been doing MMA. I think the grey areas, the transitions between wrestling and striking and things like that – the whole game is where I excel, not really in one thing.”

After an invitation from Jamie Varner led him to Arizona, Holtzman has called The MMA Lab home for the past few years, serving as a primary training partner for former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson along the way. But soon, it will be time for Holtzman to blaze his own trail, and he insists his team has him well prepared.

“The first day, it was like I had been here for years already, so it’s been great,” Holtzman said. “Everybody has been so welcoming, and John Crouch is the man.”

Scott Holtzman vs. John Mahlow – June 14, 2013

Scott Holtzman vs. Matt Metts – June 22, 2012