Enjoy the fights, my fellow lover of flying fists!
Compare notes after chap
You have a good one
Prime Izzy - this is no contest but I think this is more up to which Izzy we get than what Imavov can bring, if I am being honest.
I was shocked at the loss to Strickland - Izzy is susceptible to power, recently lacks in-close defensive awareness and with seeming unfocussed concentration he is sadly there to be hit late in the fight - but will he be that worn down here… maybe from grappling since he hasn’t fought a pure wrestler for awhile and Imavov probably thas the upper hand in that skillset. However, Imavov isn’t a specialist, he betrays his Dagestani heritage with his more classical ground and pound or rather basic bjj game. You don’t see as much sambo or Dagestani style chain wrestling - particularly his lack of leg reaping means he is not as pressure dominant. Izzy has decent take down defense and if he slows the fight down and uses his large reach advantage to make it a technical kick boxing fight at distance - he then makes Imavovs sharp body kicking and knees easy to read. Plus there is real potential for Imavov to gas given his performance against Allen and inexperience in 5 round fights which is where I think Adesanya will be prepared to go to test him in deep waters if an early confidence boosting striking advantage isn’t established.
To be fair - Imavov hasn’t really had many big fights let alone wins - this is more of a test to see if Izzy
a) still is the same fighter - as he has not looked good since the Perreira fight - his movement, footwork & reflexes don’t look the same and that is cryptonite for a counterpunching outfighter always looking to slip. Father time… Perhaps… but feels early
B) still wants to be there and has a willingness to pull the trigger.
Either way, it’s currently hard to see him beat what I conceive as a messy wild DDP (shocks me to say with conviction) or even worse Chimaev after the devastation of the Whittaker fight - something that I incorrectly thought would be a close and ultimately telling matchup (so what the fuck do I know )
Yet again, you impress me with your way of words, brother. I agree with you on a ton of points.
I think Izzy performs his best when he has something to prove. His performance with Strickland was a clear indication that he took the night off, he totally under estimated Stricklands defense heavy style of fighting. At the end of the day, the way I see Izzy’s style in the UFC at least is he is a point fighter, waiting for counters, waiting for openings, but Strickland didn’t give him that at all. That’s why Strickland got starched against Poatan. Alex definitely waits for openings after he measures his opponents, but he’s more on the attack and he’s less concerned about getting hit. Alex does have a hell of a chin on him and so does Izzy, but maybe not to the same extent.
Either way, I think it’s going to either be an interesting test for Izzy, or a completely snooze fest like his fight against Yoel. It could go either way. But I do have a feeling that Izzy is going to be a little more aggressive in this fight. He’s on the wrong side of the age of decline for MMA fighters now that he’s 35, so this will be his last run at the belt more than likely.
I like Izzy as a fighter, best of luck to him for sure.
Chap your too kind
Agree with what you said above.
I think Adesanya had a tough time dealing with the shoulder roll offense and Philly shell defense that Strickland uniquely employs in MMA. One of the only ways to combat that is a slow square march forward of power and aggressive finishing - setup by outside foot position to ensure you are always centered, not allowing the shoulder to gain the angles needed to protect the head or allow lean backs, so your straight jabbing just below the line of sight to the chest essentially and following multiple feints & throwaways with overhand rights due to the poor lateral possibilities of using that defense (pretty much feeds right into Pereira’s game and he is such an instinctive finisher).
Hoping your right about Izzy being more aggressive here - Middleweight is a weird division stuck between real power and actual mma skill - the dad fighting division of the UFC.
Any thoughts on Paddy V’s Chandler?..thinking either a full on stand up war were Chandler thrives or Paddy gets the fight to the ground and a happy tappy …but Chandlers an absolute beast so who knows…who you got?
This is a wild fight that you don’t even want to think about. On paper, Chandler has the edge in almost every category - power, explosive power, wrestling, experience fighting under fire. And I’ll even probably bet on him winning. If the fight turns into a brawl, I don’t see Paddy surviving these exchanges. Chandler’s pressure and speed early in the fight could overwhelm him, especially considering how hard Paddy has been hitting in his last few fights. But if Paddy can weather the storm and drag the fight into the later rounds, or better yet, find a way to take the fight to the mat and use tricky submissions, he has a chance.
I take it Chandler doesn’t use many IEMs … might be a tough fit.
My youngest son (he´s 26) went out for a friday beer recently with his friends from training, they were about 10 of them, both girls and guys. Down at the underground/tube (whatever its called where you live) station on their way into town they met two guys that wanted a fight as friday entertainment. They did everything to pick a fight, offend, push and scream but all kept their cool.
Clearly these two guys judgement were a bit clouded by beer as training friends were all Muay Thai fighters and at least the girls had multiple championships titles. Oops!
Know your enemy.
Mann i cant imagine how many fighters will never be able to enjoy IEMs xD
Yea man, what ive learnt all this time is dont engage if possible but when shit hits the fan whip out the shins and elbows…these are the least expected weapons on the street IMO
Mainly MMA fighters.
Most boxers don’t have this problem since the cauliflower ears of many MMA fighters come from their previous history as wrestlers or participating in other martial arts that include grappling.
I think the smaller gloves of MMA lead to more ear damage, too. They definitely cut faces more easily. But the bigger gloves of boxing lead to more long-term brain damage due to their size. Force = mass x accleration. Eight or 10 ounces is a hell of a lot more mass than 4.
Yea its more prominent in mma, wrestling and Jiu Jitsu… or any sport where you have alot of takedowns mainly…thats why you see alot more new practitioners especially in wrestling wear head gear to protect, until they learn how to break a fall, but even then the chances are quite high.
Yea boxing is actually alot more brutal to the head because with those gloves you get lesser feedback so you can punch even harder and its all mostly aimed at the head. and then you have the standing count everytime you get brutally knocked down you get up and experience more brain mashing.