This is definitely one of the matches fans have wanted to see. I posted about it some pages ago. Justin has the low kicks, the punches, power and forward movement to pressure Khabib. He was wild in his earlier days, but has finally become more calculated in recent fights. Trevor Whittman has done wonders to refine Justin's ferocity into a honed weapon. Justin is also a D1 All-American wrestler, and he made his wrestling career specifically by being difficult to score on. His defensive wrestling is exactly the type of foil for Khabib we've wanted to see. Gleison Tibau stopped all of Khabib's takedowns and it changed the fight, with many thinking Tibau won. Combined with Justin's striking, this a very interesting fight.
As usual, it's all on paper though. While both are insane wrestlers, Khabib's submission grappling is far more expansive than Justin's, so this fight will be telling. And Khabib understands spacing in striking better than folks give him credit for. I don't know who to pick anymore, but don't be surprised if Justin knocks Khabib out.
Last edited by StyleTime on Oct 24th, 2020 at 08:29 PM
It went about as I expected it would(had Khabib winning by sub in round 3 personally). I was a little hesitant when I saw Khabib on the scales, and Gaethje is tough and could have landed a knockout punch, but Khabib is just flat out superior.
Hell of a career for Khabib. He's been through a lot the past year or so, he deserves to do whatever he wants with his life from here on out. He is one of the top pound for pound fighters in the history of MMA(Think people are overreacting when calling him the P4P GOAT. Feels like they are just giving him a respectable sendoff since he is retiring).
Either way, I wish him the best.
Was kind of disappointed to see Cannonier lose, was hoping he would turn into a fresh new challenge for Izzy, but Whittaker is a good guy and it's nice to see him still doing well.
Speaking of, is that the next fight for Izzy? I forgot Whittaker also beat Till since losing the belt, and the rest of the guys near the top of middleweight Izzy has already beaten or they don't have the resume or ranking of Whittaker.
Personally just want Izzy and Jones to fight and settle their shit but I know that's probably a ways off.
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Last edited by Trocity on Oct 25th, 2020 at 07:58 PM
Well, yeah, this part rang true even more emphatically than I thought. During the hand fighting, clinch, and attempted takedowns, Justin fared totally fine. Once the mat grappling actually began though, it was clear Khabib is just a more complete grappler. There's breakdowns of what was going on youtube, and it was way more than just slapping on a triangle.
There is a really good breakdown of the grappling portion here.
Striking wise, Khabib impressed me. His jab was sharp. His flying knees were accurate and his defense and spacing was way more intelligent than one would assume. The striking was way more even than most of us assumed it'd be.
As for Whittaker/Cannonier, ROBERT MUTHA****IN WHITTAKER SON! Ol' Bobby Knuckles takes out Darren Till and now Jared. Stylebender won their first fight, but Robert is beating all the contenders still. It looks like Whittaker/Stylebender II will happen at some point. I'm happy. As I've said before, I love both fighters, and I'm happy to see Whittaker is still as good as we all know he is. His movement and that jab-cross-right high kick combo were too much. Plus, we got to see Whittaker's grappling. Everyone forgets his wrestling was competitive even against the Australian national team, and his submission grappling is also high level.
It's a beautiful thing that the two best middleweights on the planet are video game/anime nerds.
Last edited by StyleTime on Oct 25th, 2020 at 08:20 PM
I was surprised to see Glover win that fight. I thought going in he was too old, too many miles on his body, thought he was gonna get knocked out. The guy is durable as hell, I dunno how many fights he's been in now where it seems like he gets rocked and hurt and then comes back to win. I thought Santos was going to smash him.
Arlovski still hanging around too which is crazy. I thought that dude was done like 10 years ago, he got knocked out like 3 fights in a row brutally but he stuck with it and is still a competitive heavyweight against a lot of mid tier guys. Crazy.
Definitely. Glover's top control looked phenomenal, especially considering Santos practically knocked his head into space multiple times. Arlovski wins too. The 41 year olds still holding it down.
They're saying Glover is back to number 1 contender status, and Stylebender has already been scheduled to Blachowicz in a superfight. We might see Stylebender vs Glover at some point.
Not that I'm writing Jan off obviously. He is skilled and Stylebender has never fought at LHW in MMA.
I'm also nervous about Jones's probable move to HW. Not worried for Jones at all, but worried it might prevent a fight with Stylebender. Especially if Jones goes up and gets laid out by Ngannou. Or Stipe. Or Overeem. Or Rozenstruik. It's all totally possible. People forget how big HW's really are.
Then again, Stylebender is the type of fighter that just wants to leave no questions unanswered. I could see him fighting Jones regardless. The fact that he hand picked Romero when he didnt have to says a lot. I think he really just wants to be the best.
Last edited by StyleTime on Nov 9th, 2020 at 09:05 AM
I think we’ll see Jones use his wrestling ALOT more when he goes up to heavyweight. He simply doesn’t hit hard enough to gain respect from the heavyweights. Stipe and Francis both beat jones. Blydes, overeem are dangerous fights as well. Izzy vs Jan is interesting. Jan looked like a killer in his last fight. Thinking it about now, I think we’ll see santos vs Reyes next.
Definitely. Jones hasn't ever been a power striker. People cite the DC fight, but it was the perfect scenario and DC wasn't just flatlined. And of course, Jones's tested positive for PED's.
Another interesting note, is Jones's hardest fights were against fighters with decently long reaches, who couldn't be kept at bay with his ranged striking style as easily. Once at Heavyweight, that will be much more common, as the average reach goes up. All the HW guys we've mentioned so far have longer reaches than Gustafsson, Reyes, or Santos.
Jones has an insane chin, but Ngannou can make anyone's chin look weak lol. Ngannou's striking isn't "clean", but he's nailed two high level kickboxers now, so he knows how to land. Would definitely be interesting to see how his wrestling has improved.
Last edited by StyleTime on Nov 13th, 2020 at 05:17 AM
Agreed. Jones is a great fighter but he has sometimes struggled with guys who can at least rival his size. I actually do think Stipe and Ngannou can beat him also. He might be able to avoid the KO until Ngannou tires but Jones oftentimes doesn't move laterally out of strikes, he just backs up with his long arm outstretched and his head back because he can get away with it. Look at what Ngannou did to Rozenstruik; Jones could not get away with doing that with him.
Stipe is just a fantastic, well rounded fighter who can deal with Jones' size. I think he's gonna have some trouble at heavyweight tbh, but it is Jon Jones, so we will see.
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Last edited by Trocity on Nov 13th, 2020 at 06:24 AM
Stipe is great, that long arm thing jones does is a kind of long guard, not effective in offense like the Thai Long Guard, but it is something I have seen Dutch kickboxers use, in combination with knees and oblique kicks. Jones uses the oblique kicks with it sometimes. But yeah, his lateral movement is shit, thing is he can distance trap with the hand out like Fedor used to and he does that too occasionally.
Max Holloway/CalvinKattar--- Max is just too good. Featherweight is probably the division with the best strikers on average, and Kattar is no exception. Despite even Kattar's phenomenal boxing, Max nearly finished him multiple times, and dominated most moments in the fight. The Volkanovski fight, which many think Max won, has really brought out Max's true form. He really has a complete striking game: kicks, knees, feints, punches, movement, timing, and a hell of a chin to fall back on if need be. Kattar was forced to work for takedowns from the over/under position, but Max stuffed them. Calvin is tough to hang in there though. We will almost certainly see a Max/Volkanovski trilogy.
Especially since I think Volkanovski is going to beat Ortega. As good a striker as Ortega has become, Volkanvski is in a class with Max--which is an entirely different level.
Also, Carlos Condit's break paid off. He looked really good against Matt Brown. Carlos is actually stopping takedowns now, and getting takedowns of his own. Really impressive showing. Not sure I agree with the unanimous decision, but I'd have to rewatch.
I'm not sure who to take on the Hooker/Chandler fight.
I feel like Conor will beat Dustin again though. Dustin is a lot better now, and he definitely presents a threat, but I think his style allows Conor to fight exactly how Conor likes to fight. Dustin is not exactly a takedown artist, and I predict this will basically be a ranged kickboxing match. Love him or hate him, Conor is extremely dangerous in this kind of fight.
That said, Dustin can win, and it would be a huge blow to Conor's career if he loses. Especially if he's planning on bringing Khabib out of retirement for a rematch. We saw what happened after Tony after Gaethje beat him--the Khabib fight, and a title shot in general, basically disappeared forever.
Granted, Conor's ability to build hype is unparalled, so he'd probably get another chance or two.
Last edited by StyleTime on Jan 23rd, 2021 at 01:26 AM
I think hooker causes the upset. He’s been looking too sharp, even in his loss to Dustin. It’s gonna be a bloody war.
I agree 100%. Dustin got tagged by hooker throughout their fight. As a matter of fact, he got tee'd off on two separate times in that fight. Dustin is tough as hell tho, if he can survive past the second round then things get interesting.
Well, Dustin surprised everyone by winning, and winning spectacularly. Just as I said he wasn't one for takedowns, he actually uses his grappling to burn Conor's stamina early. Not just on the ground, but in the clinch too. Dustin also use low kicks very well and did a fantastic job of not overcommitting to extended boxing exchanges with Conor. While Dustin did get tagged a few times, he fought exactly the right way to fight Conor, draining him and interrupting his offense. Dustin earned it, and it's great seeing a good guy win big.
Michael Chandler/Dan Hooker- Incredible KO from Chandler. Not much else to say.
Amanda Ribas/ Mariana Rodriguez- Incredible KO from Mariana. A title shot will be coming her way shortly. They might do a fight with Xiaonan or something though first. Ribas is still fairly young, so she can bounce back.
Joanne Calderwood/Jessica Eye- This was the kind of action packed fight that fans love to see. It was just a constant, beautiful wave of brutality. Joanna was just that much more varied in her offense though. Jessica was very effective, but relied perhaps too much on her boxing. Joanne had a more complete looking striking game: punches, kicks, elbows, knees, spinning attacks, etc. She always threw a combo on clinch breaks too, never missing an opportunity to score. Jessica did have more control time in the clinch. I'd have to rewatch for the ground grappling. I can't remember who had who had more positional dominance.
I am not mad at the decision though. Surprised no one won fight of the night. Joanne and Jessica really went at it.
Last edited by StyleTime on Jan 25th, 2021 at 03:10 AM
And as I said before, this basically kills many of Conor's plans. The Pacquiao thing is likely off the table, and I seriously don't see Khabib ever returning after this. Him beating Dustin was basically our last hope at really convincing Khabib to take one more fight.
Conor said he wants to be more active this year, as the guys he's fighting are too good for him to just take massive breaks like he had. Will be interesting to see what comes of that.
He's made more money than most could ever dream of, so folks half expected a retirement announcement.
I've always wondered why no one went percussive on mcgregor. To be honest, I wonder why when people with leg kicks have take down defence percussive leg kicks aren't used on wrestlers. Try shooting after the nerves in your leg are scrambled.
Yeah, the leg kicks were a good move from Poirier. Firas Zahabi thought Conor has become too reliant on fighting like a more tradtional boxer, which hurt him here. He suggested Conor may have had more success with his old Karate-esque style.
We may get a rematch regardless though. They are 1-1 now.
That Karate stance doesn't really check leg kicks well. I've rarely see people use them against him. They simply don't get used in MMA enough well. Look at how well Israel uses them. They are always the greatest leveller if you have a decent take down defence, can smother or are good at getting back up. Try shooting when the nerves in your legs are scrambled.
True. Once in close, the typical karate stance, is as vulnerable to low kicks as the boxing stance is. I think Firas meant that Conor was quick enough to pull his leg back to make the kick miss. He actually used that strategy early, but stopped once he committed to close range boxing with Dustin.
If he was in his karate blitzing mode, he might have been able to capitalize on leaping out of range of the kicks and flying in with blitz style counters.
Not 100% guaranteed obviously, but I think that is what Firas meant. Based on the rest of his analysis.
And true on the takedowns. GSP was on Bisping's podcast recently, and explained pretty well why the low calf kick was probably more effective in MMA than pure Muay Thai. It's way harder to catch or block due to the stances in MMA, so it's perfect for chipping away at your opponents mobility and ability to shoot.
In Muay Thai, it's way easier to check the kick so people don't fall prey to it as often.
Last edited by StyleTime on Jan 30th, 2021 at 03:23 AM
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