Well, you were half right. Jones beat Gustafson, although I guess there's still an asterisk on the fight because the drug testing fiasco.
Nunes vs Cyborg. I know, I can't prove it, but I totally called Amanda winning. I'm not taking anything from Cyborg, but I've always felt her legacy was mostly beating up smaller women with terrible style matchups against her. Amanda was really the first chick she faced that was extremely technical, not terribly smaller, and had consistent one shot knock out power. Cyborg doesn't actually move her head much and her distance control, while solid, is elite like Amanda's is. Additionally, Amanda is a capable brawler if the fight calls for it, as we saw. I figured Amanda would land and Cyborg would be in for trouble. Kudos to her. She is truly a phenomenonal fighter.
It sucked watching Chad lose like that, especially since he was so close to finish earlier in the match.
Forgot to mention Uriah's fight. Holy hell. The comeback counter from hell. He was getting outstruck by a large margin, then just nails the perfect counter in rd 3 and floors Lewis.
Uriah is always dangerous due to his power, but I really thought he was done in that fight.
So, Cejudo is definitely a Hall of Famer at the very least. He just beat 2 of the greatet p4p champs back to back. Never imagined we'd see him accomplish all this. He was always good, but Mighty Mouse just seemed to have his number.
Paige VanZant had a pretty impressive win against Ostovich. Crazy to think Paige is still 24. For all the criticism, she still has toooons of time to improve. And she looks healthier at flyweight.
Yeah, really seems to understand how to shut down movement. Once TJ was panic wrestling, I kinda figured it was the end. Cejudo is an Olympic gold medalist, and he's able to actually bridge the gap between his striking and wrestling. Despite being so specialized for so long, he is able to hit that MMA ideal where there is no separation between his grappling and striking. Things like using that wrestling tight waste position to set up the uppercut, and his mastery of that karate front stance are something else.
Some are claiming TJ was compromised due to the weight cut. They are possibly going to have a rematch at 135 next. I'd be interested in it.
I'd honestly like Lethwei rules for MMA stand up. I know Leducs MMA record was mixed as a younger fighter, but I would fancy him in standup under lethwei rules against anyone.
I would definitely like to revert back to the older ruleset for MMA in general. No gloves, kicks, stomps, and knees to the head of grounded opponents, headbutts and such.
I can understand the no eye gouging and maybe no small digit manipulation. It just seems like injuries would be so easy that fighters would suddenly be out of commission for too long.
As far as standup only, I wouldn't mind shootboxing getting bigger. It's basically the standup portion of MMA, including standing submisions.
Last edited by StyleTime on Feb 4th, 2019 at 08:04 PM
I have watched some shoot boxing, I competed in some small promotion shoot fighting in London between 92 and 94, take downs and ground fighting was allowed. Given my mainly stand up background I'll always avoid going to ground, however the difference between a rugby tackle and a double/single let take down is zero and having played to a high standard my shooting was very good.
Oh, nice man. Didn't know you competed. And yeah, everyone underestimates how helpful an athletic background is in martial arts. Especially if there are some crossover skills, like in rugby or soccer or such.
Aldo had a background in soccer and his low kicks are amazing.
Last edited by StyleTime on Feb 6th, 2019 at 06:39 PM
I lived in Thailand for almost a year in my 20s and fought very regularly, I've had amateur boxing fights since 11 in the UK and fought amateur and pro in Muay Thai for 15 years mate. I had only stopped for 2 years when we used to post in the infamous Ali/Lee thread all those years ago. I was still playing occasional Rugby then, although in need of a second knee OP.
So yeah, I paid my dues lol. Given my gypsy heritage in the UK, I've even had a few bare knuckle fights. Aldo really should have used the long guard on McGregor. I genuinely think striker against striker in MMA, it and the plum are so underused. True MMA came too late for me to be honest, I was to busy working and already getting to old to learn a true ground game. I have some of it, but not enough. Obviously my stand up grappling isn't bad, Muay thai has great sweeps etc.
__________________
Last edited by Putinbot1 on Feb 7th, 2019 at 09:06 AM
Yeah, the only striker that consistently used the plum was Silva, and occasionally Overeem. Mighty Mouse used it once to great effect. In OneFC there are guys like Dedjdamrong though. I think the Asian location of OneFC will see far more "pure" Muay Thai stylists in MMA. In the west, our brand of Muay Thai is really more of a modified kickboxing style, which is why I think we see less plum technique. We may get to see some clinchwork with Silva vs Stylebender.
In striker vs striker matchups, I wonder if fighters get discouraged from playing the clinch game because many western strikers are competent in wrestling too. Stephen Thompson is mostly known for his karate, but he has very strong defensive wrestling. He reversed Tyron Woodley which is insane. Bisping, Chuck, Aldo, Barboza, Holly, Joanna, Valentina, Amanda, Stipe, etc. Some had judo backgrounds, but a lot of strikers have fairly strong standing grappling. I just wonder if the risk of a throw and such is more than most opposing strikers are willing to deal with.
Last edited by StyleTime on Feb 9th, 2019 at 07:58 PM
Dude. Going into that fight, I legitmately thought Tyron was going to KO Usman in the first. Tyron's ower, speed, and Usman's lack of striking displays convinced me Tyron would stuff the takedowns and knock Usman's head off. Even wrestling wise, Woodley was D1 compared to Usman's D2, so it seemed like Woodley had the advantage there too.
Then Usman just ****ing dismantles him the entire fight. Like Nurmagomedov, Usman's striking isn't pretty, but it flows seamlessly into his wrestling so he overwhelms people. Woodley, historically, has been pretty defensive and doesn't handle safe offensive pressure all that well. He doesn't combine his wrestling with his strikes either. He was strictly wrestling at times, while Usman was doing MMA.
People are sad Woodley doesn't get a rematch, but in this case, I have to wonder why should he? This wasn't a flash KO, freak injury, or razor close decision....There wasn't a moment in that fight where Tyron even looked like he could win. Usman truly outclassed him.
Woodley called Conor recently, but there's just no chance man. Dana , and many fans, already wasn't super fond of Woodley from what I understand, but Woodley was still champ. Now that he lost, I feel like it's probably just a downward spiral for him. At the very least, he will have a hell of a path back to the title.
And I'm not sure what he could do differently. That "defensive shell until a KO opportunity arises" style doesn't work on Usman's pressure. I feel like you have to somehow put Usman on the defensive with amazing counters or your own offensive pressure. Woodley doesn't counter strike like a Wonderboy/Anderson Silva and he doesn't use feints for his offense like a Stylebender or Amanda Nunes.
I just don't see how he gets his done, but maybe he will surprise me.
Last edited by StyleTime on Mar 30th, 2019 at 12:52 AM
I don't see how he can beat Kamuru, his work rate is shocking. I agree on the striking it isn't pretty, but it's effective, for me the best example of what you are saying is the body shots on the cage. I challenge most fighters to take that. Fair play to Woodley, he did. In fact he took 5 rounds of relentless punishment. Tyron is one tough guy. Kamaru might be the most dominant weight for weight fighter around. He seems to have total control.
Justin Gaethje knocked Barboza out. I definitely did not see that coming. I figured Edson's superior kicking game would win out, but he's historically not the best when you crowd him. His punches are good, but not quite as elite as his kicks. Gaethje had a good game plan in making this a brawling punchfest. Caught Edson circling off the cage with his hands down. Good stuff.
Michele Waterson gets a dominant decision over Karolina. I love both of them, so I didn't root one way or the other. Additionally, it was just hard to tell how the fight would play out. Waterson moved really well, and stifled Karolina's aggression as Karolina wound up chasing more than stalking. I'm not sure what's in store for Karolina now. I like her a lot, but her style is just a bit of a liability now. Her lack of defensive movement got her KO'd against Jessica Adrade. Michelle out finessed her standing up and on the ground. Claudia submits her and Joanna out techniqued her from the outside. Tatiana Suarez will probably ragdoll her, as she is female Usman. She is solidly top 10, but she only has advantage in a few of the matchups. I feel like, oddly enough, she has a good matchup against the current champ Rose, who Karolina has beat before, but how will she ever actually get there for the rematch?
Yeah, in an interview with Rogan, Kamaru actually admitted to getting nervous late in the fight. He attempted to finish Tyron and noticed that Tyron was just eating the damage while Usman blew a bunch of energy.
Crazy thing is, Usman had a fractured foot in that fight. And, apparently, his knees are so bad he has to walk backwards down stairs and sometimes has to walk on grass because the concrete makes his legs hurt too much.
Last edited by StyleTime on Apr 2nd, 2019 at 05:24 AM
Yeah, he has had a knee op since but, I'll say this now they are never the same afterwards. I've had pin hole twice and the medial reattached. I feel for him.
Stylebender vs Gastelum might be the best title fight ever. One of the best fights ever tbh. This will be one of the fights to show newcomers to the sport. We knew Kelvin had fast hands and could cover distance, but the fact that he was right there with Stylebender for so much of the match is insane. He even rocked Stylebender with a high kick, which was unexpected. Stylebender is a genius though, and was usually slightly ahead in the exchanges. He demonstrated superb defensive wrestling the few times they went to the ground, and he was even throwing up triangles and guillotines to discourage the takedowns. His striking defense is ultimately better though, and he has a more varied offence too. That spinning elbow was perfect.
Holloway vs Poirier was amazing as well. Max may be, unfortunately, just a bit undersized for the division. You could see the difference in power during their exchanges.
Now, could Dustin be the guy to do the impossible vs Khabib? Come to think of it, as good as Khabib is, the LW division is always so stacked. Gaethje knocked Barboza out cold and has the wrestling credentials to go there with Khabib too. Lee, Poirier, Ferguson, Iaquinta(rematch), etc. I feel like anything could happen with these crazy matchups.
KMC Community Forums
Dec 30th, 2018 02:22 AM
Awesome. 
