Enjoy the fights, my fellow lover of flying fists! 
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Compare notes after chap 
You have a good one
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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 
)
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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.
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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.
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Devon’s on 
…
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