ufc/pride

I still think Benson's the best current fighter at LW, and Pettis beating him was a combination of him partially having his number and Benson getting caught. Pettis doesn't have spectacular TDD, has a style that leaves him especially vulnerable to getting taken down, isn't amazing at scrambling back up to his feet, and while good off of his back is by no means a Rousimar Palhares or Frank Mir type who will just submit whoever takes him down with ease. For every truly legit guy on the ground he's submitted, he's also been LnP'd by Clay Guida.

I personally think someone like Khabib Nurmagomedov would destroy him if they every fought, and the likes of Benson, Gil and Josh Thomson, provided they pressure him and are relentless with takedowns, will also defeat him more often than not.

The trick to dealing with Pettis is pressuring him, mixing things up a little bit but mostly being relentless with takedowns, and holding him down on the ground, and having good enough cardio to do so adequately for 5 rounds. Every time he throws a kick, shoot for a takedown. Then defend the submissions, and not get hurt for the brief amount of time you're standing with him. I truly feel there's a very simple gameplan to defeat Pettis that a lot of guys at LW could follow.

That's not to say that there's nobody that can stand with him. Jeremy Stephens was arguably beating him in the standup in their fight. I think Jose Aldo gives him a good fight standing as well, and has the extra threat of the takedown and an elite ground game. Only worry would be his cardio.

Originally posted by Insomniatric
Pettis is a killer off of his back and has shown improved wrestling defense, imo he's the most talented fighter at LW, and possibly the best in the world overall.

The problem with that kind of style though, is that at the elite levels when dealing with people that have a legit ground game, submissions usually only occur after damaging the person first, or otherwise are a super low success rate move that won't happen to often, unless you're the absolute best of the best and even then it's by no means a guarantee.

And you can say Pettis's TDD is improved, but it's still by no means great, and more to the point, his primary attack leaves him very vulnerable to getting taken down, and when he's down he hasn't shown that killer ability to spring back up to his feet, which is even more important than TDD imo.

He's a similar kind of fighter to Anderson Silva, but Anderson has better TDD, is a more balanced striker, has more elusive movement and has (or at least had) insane durability, and has a very good defensive guard; Pettis is a little smoother off of his back with submissions, and his attacks are more unorthodox (though leave him extremely vulnerable to getting taken down). Anderson Silva's less predictable with his striking in the sense that he mixes up punches, kicks, knees and elbows, and the clinch in a very balanced way whereas Pettis relies more on his kicks.

Either way I think Anderson Silva's style wasn't tailor made to being a long time champion, and a mixture of having the x-factor and a little bit of luck is what made the difference; Pettis's style is even less tailor made to being a long time champion, and he's going to be fighting guys even more well rounded, skilled and athletic than Anderson did. I don't think he'll be champ for too long to be honest.

I do think we'll see some belts change hands soon as well. Weidman and Pettis being on that list.

Of course, people said the exact same about Silva way back when.

Don't see Feet Whore beating Weedman.

Yeah, I don't see Vitor winning, although I'll be rooting for him. Not out of spite for Weidman, but I'm somewhat inspired by the older fighters out there. Pretty crazy he's still getting title fights at age 36, and is one of the biggest threats in his division.

I think Weidman's wrestling, strong submission game, and ever improving striking defense will be too much. Of course, Vitor might just pull off another spinning heel kick KO. 131

Josh Thomson looked spectacular. Best LW on the planet right there.

Originally posted by Astor Ebligis
The problem with that kind of style though, is that at the elite levels when dealing with people that have a legit ground game, submissions usually only occur after damaging the person first, or otherwise are a super low success rate move that won't happen to often, unless you're the absolute best of the best and even then it's by no means a guarantee.

And you can say Pettis's TDD is improved, but it's still by no means great, and more to the point, his primary attack leaves him very vulnerable to getting taken down, and when he's down he hasn't shown that killer ability to spring back up to his feet, which is even more important than TDD imo.

He's a similar kind of fighter to Anderson Silva, but Anderson has better TDD, is a more balanced striker, has more elusive movement and has (or at least had) insane durability, and has a very good defensive guard; Pettis is a little smoother off of his back with submissions, and his attacks are more unorthodox (though leave him extremely vulnerable to getting taken down). Anderson Silva's less predictable with his striking in the sense that he mixes up punches, kicks, knees and elbows, and the clinch in a very balanced way whereas Pettis relies more on his kicks.

Either way I think Anderson Silva's style wasn't tailor made to being a long time champion, and a mixture of having the x-factor and a little bit of luck is what made the difference; Pettis's style is even less tailor made to being a long time champion, and he's going to be fighting guys even more well rounded, skilled and athletic than Anderson did. I don't think he'll be champ for too long to be honest.

I really don't see anyone LnPing Pettis. Guida had a hell of a time holding top position and got off absolutely no offense while he was on top, and even got reversed a few times, mounted, and was trapped in a submission at the end of the second round, iirc. This was in a 3 round fight, in a 5 round fight, his opponent's chances of just holding position get even lower.

I'm fully confident that Pettis would beat Guida in a rematch, be it by submission, (t)ko, or decision.

Pettis hasn't shown a great ability to get back up once he is down, but he has shown a very active bottom game and very slick submission attempts.

As for the stand-up, the guy who is arguably the best in the world at mixing in TDs with his striking (Ben Henderson) could do absolutely nothing with him there and only got a takedown on him because he capitalized on Pettis's failed cartwheel kick.

Anthony is very good at maneuvering his opponents to the cage, and that's where he normally throws the flashy stuff.

Example:

He's a difficult fight for any wrestler, because he knows how to make his opponents move backwards. This was even working on Bendo, but Bendo wisely circled away from the cage when Anthony got him there:

This style makes it very difficult for his opponent to attempt a takedown on him, he just needs to do away with that cartwheel kick.

Anderson's style was definitely made for being a long term champion. In his prime, his striking defense was so far ahead of everyone that it was ridiculous, he made everyone look slow. On top of that, his overall striking game has always been brilliant, not to mention the fact that he's a legitimately dangerous BJJ black belt and has shown an ability to finish his opponent at any time during the fight. Similar to Pettis, he was also masterful at using the cage as a weapon. What isn't talked about enough though, is the fact that he had a seemingly limitless gas tank. I've never seen him gas during a fight or even look all that winded.

That reminds me, Pettis has scary cardio as well. Dude threw an off the cage flying head kick at Ben Henderson in the 5 round of a grueling fight.

Originally posted by StyleTime

And with one hand no less.

Originally posted by Insomniatric
As for the stand-up, the guy who is arguably the best in the world at mixing in TDs with his striking (Ben Henderson)

Strongly disagree with this. Demetrious Johnson, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar and Daniel Cormier put him to shame as far as that goes imo. He's good at it, but not the best. Prime GSP would also be another great example, as would Dominick Cruz when we last saw him.

In my opinion, he has the smoothest transitions from striking to takedown attempts.

Come on, have you seen any of Demetrious Johnson's recent fights?

Yes, and I didn't say Ben was the undisputed best at this, just that you can make the argument for him being the best. The fact that he could get nothing going against Pettis really shows you how good Anthony is.

Anyone got any picks for tonight?

I'm hoping Alistair can pick up a win over Mir. Not even a huge Overeem fan, but I feel like his disappointing entrance into the UFC isn't indicative of the threat he could be. And we all know HW needs some excitement these days.

That and I don't see Mir having much of any chance against Cain or JDS. Would be nice if Overeem(or hell, anybody really) could shake things up for those two. HW is just so boring right now, I'm almost ready to root for anyone if it'll bring some excitement.

Indeed, people can bring up his losses but the fact remains that he was completely dominating those fights, it's just that at HW fights can end very easily at a moment's notice, and Bigfoot and Browne are both great competition.

He clearly has had issues relating to his cardio, chin, recovery, reacting to getting hit, heart and mental toughness, but it's clear that he's got the skills and physical abilities to threaten Cain and JDS.

Cormier would have also been a threat if he stayed at HW imo. I had him behind Cain but ahead of JDS in my personal rankings, but of course he was clearly never going to fight Cain so it's probably for the best that he's at LHW.

Anyone think Miocic could be a contender? Or Browne if he keeps on improving, he looked great against Barnett?

Well, definitely glad to see Overeem pick up that win. Hopefully, he can continue to fight smart and be the threat he was projected to be.

Not much to say about Jose/Ricardo. It was a typical Jose fight.

Barao/Faber....yeah. What do you all think about the stoppage? Faber was definitely getting rocked, but the dude was legitimately still in the fight.

Originally posted by Astor Ebligis
Indeed, people can bring up his losses but the fact remains that he was completely dominating those fights, it's just that at HW fights can end very easily at a moment's notice, and Bigfoot and Browne are both great competition.

He clearly has had issues relating to his cardio, chin, recovery, reacting to getting hit, heart and mental toughness, but it's clear that he's got the skills and physical abilities to threaten Cain and JDS.

Cormier would have also been a threat if he stayed at HW imo. I had him behind Cain but ahead of JDS in my personal rankings, but of course he was clearly never going to fight Cain so it's probably for the best that he's at LHW.

Anyone think Miocic could be a contender? Or Browne if he keeps on improving, he looked great against Barnett?

Miocic, I don't know.

I can see why Herb Dean stopped the fight with Faber and Barao. Faber wasn't out, but he had been rocked several times, faceplanted, and was doing nothing but covering up. He wasn't trying to advance position or escape, he was just turtling.

I wouldn't have been disappointed if the fight continued, but I understand why Herb Dean stopped it.

Aldo has really let me down in his run in the UFC. He was a stone cold killer in the WEC, and is much less of a risk taker now. I realize he's fighting a higher level of competition, but it's still disappointing. He's still one of my favorites though.

Who is going to fight Barao now? Cruz is probably going to get attacked by aliens or something, and he's the only one who could do it. I really hate thinking that Cruz/Barao may never happen, at least with a prime Cruz. Cruz is the most injury prone martial artist ever. lol

Yeah, there is growing criticism of Aldo. Many people think he is suffering the "GSP effect." He likes being champion, so he's more cautious. He has the benefit of being a striker though, which the average fan finds more exciting than grappling.

Who do people have winning the Machida/Mousasi fight?

I have Machida winning by decision.

And damn, Overeem seems pretty determined to not fight JDS.