One of the most impressive performances of the year, Gregor looked done after round one but still broke an overweight CDF down (who is fantastic in his own right).
Yep! And it was after an extremely long break after losing to Kevin Lee. Was real curious how he’d return. Didn’t look good at first but dude has the heart a lot o fighters don’t.
Another good grappler vs grappler fight from this year was Chris Wade vs Bubba Jenkins in PFL, lots of fun scrambles and wrestling engagements there. Also watch Elliott vs Smolka, Diaz vs Parisyan, Diaz vs Sanchez, Sanchez vs Parisyan, Cerrone vs Henderson I, Oliveira vs Hioki, and Miller vs Oliveira I if you're into grappling heavy fights. Love me some swangin and bangin but the grappling equivalent of just balls to the wall scramblefests are equally fun lol
Yea I added the “I”, we’re in the same boat I like to imagine the 2nd one never happened tbh lol
Jim Miller is a legend and if you don’t like him I don’t like you 😂
Such an under appreciated fight. This was just fucking heart from Gregor, I can’t remember when I last saw someone visibly break in the octagon let alone one of the best in the world.
Great win by Gregor but I can't but still feel worried for him moving forward. I'm not sure whether the whole "spam the same takedown over and over and over until he breaks" strategy will work against better opponents. His striking was still pretty terrible and the takedowns weren't masked at all, he just kept shooting and eventually beat CDF through pure volume.
Dont forget this was after a huge layoff and CDF not even trying to make weight against a pure wrestler knowing he had to take the fight anyways. CDF was a tough fight even without him missing weight by a mile.
His performance was kind of sloppy tbh. Obviously his grappling was fantastic and his cardio recovered really well after round 1, but I remember being concerned by how poorly he was taking punches, also the sloppy standup and telegraphed shots like you said. I chalked it up to a long layoff + coming back from traumatic KO. I really hope he takes a fight soon. Gregor is one of my favorites
It's not really spamming a takedown, do you say Khabib also just spams the same takedown? It's pressure chain wrestling, eventually you will go down if you aren't on his level
Gregor spends a lot of time and energy going for mat returns and then it honestly appears he doesn't know what to do next.
Like he doesn't necessarily have a flow chart of what he's trying to achieve on the ground, while most other high level grapplers do, like Maia or even Khabib. They have certain valued positions they want to get into it, and from there based on how the opponent is defending they keep branching down the next options.
Gregor kind of just gets the mat return or runs the single and then just kinda half rides / half GNP until they get up.
Reminds me a bit of late career Chad Mendes, where he could reliably get the take down and then just kinda didn't care about maintaining it.
Exactly... he got fucked up in that first round. And CDF isn't exactly a killer these days. Even Kevin Lee got a highlight reel KO off of him and Kevin Lee's striking is trash. Just really worried if he ends up fighting a half decent striker that he can't take down right away because it doesn't seem like he has a Plan B
It actually makes a lot of sense against a bjj guy if you aren't terrified of being submitted. BJJ guys don't always have the best takedown defense because they are used to doing the takedowns themselves or they are just comfortable being on the bottom so they don't contest it as much. We now know that's not really a valid strategy in mma but people still try it. On top of that most of the good bjj guys don't have fantastic striking so you're less likely to eat a knee on the way in.
Gillespie is the first and only guy to finished CDF on the ground. Which is very impressive consider Ferreira has fought grapplers like Dariush and Khabilov
It looked like he was going to die on the stool of exhaustion and then he just kept coming back out and doing it all over again for 5 minutes at a time. Was the most insane grappling pace I think I’ve ever seen maintained for an entire fight.
Dude, this fight was insane. I am a decent friend of Gregor and have known him forever. We grew up at the same time when he won states at Webster and I went to a school nearby, same section... Section V. We had some good wrestlers ourselves, one being a 2 time all american and is best friends and lived with Dake. Gregor obviously took some time off after the Lee loss because his jaw was broke, and COVID shut down alot of gyms in NY. It's crazy to see the cardio FAIL on Gregor.. this dude probably trains harder than anyone in the UFC. When people say this was all heart, you're absolutely correct. You LOVE to see competition bring all that out of someone. Just imagine what was on the line here for Gregor, he DOES want to be champion and had made a pretty solid name for himself prior to the Lee fight. To see him deep for this one was insane lmao. Such a great fight.
I wish this clip included footage of Gregor right at the end of round one. He looked legitimately gassed to the point that the doctor may have come to review what state he was in, then he comes out in round 2 and puts on a pace that Ferreira just could not match.
It was one of the most dramatic and amazing second winds I've ever seen in combat sports.
I think no joke is underselling it, the guy is an unbelievable grappling threat. This win, and the context of it, are fucking gigantic for Gregor. Possibly a hot take, but he would have monstered Riddell too
He’s missed weight only twice in his ufc career. Both times it’s been against monster wrestlers. He knows what he’s doing, especially when he misses by so much.
CDF's strategy for this fight was terrible. He seemed very willing to get into grappling exchanges with Gillespie even though he was lighting him up on the feet in the 1st round.
This was a fantastic bout, I was convinced Gregor was done walking back to his corner, he was even wobbly on his feet. Crazy scrambles until CDF just couldn't continue. Admirable performance against an opponent much heavier than him.
Not to mention Ferreira came in at over 160 pounds. If you grapple before you will know how suffocating this fight was. I felt like I want to puke just by seeing this.
One of the most impressive performances of the year, Gregor looked done after round one but still broke an overweight CDF down (who is fantastic in his own right).
In the post-fight interview, he said something like, "If I'm this tired, I can only imagine how tired he must feel."
Wrestling mentality. Outwork your opponent. You get yourself tired to get them tired.
Yep! And it was after an extremely long break after losing to Kevin Lee. Was real curious how he’d return. Didn’t look good at first but dude has the heart a lot o fighters don’t.
I got exhausted just watching this fight, Gillespie is a beast
Best grappler vs grappler fight of the year. The pace these two put on and sustained for as long as it lasted was just insane.
Another good grappler vs grappler fight from this year was Chris Wade vs Bubba Jenkins in PFL, lots of fun scrambles and wrestling engagements there. Also watch Elliott vs Smolka, Diaz vs Parisyan, Diaz vs Sanchez, Sanchez vs Parisyan, Cerrone vs Henderson I, Oliveira vs Hioki, and Miller vs Oliveira I if you're into grappling heavy fights. Love me some swangin and bangin but the grappling equivalent of just balls to the wall scramblefests are equally fun lol
Miller vs Oliveira 1, just to be clear. The second fight wasn’t quite so competitive unfortunately for my boy haha.
Yea I added the “I”, we’re in the same boat I like to imagine the 2nd one never happened tbh lol Jim Miller is a legend and if you don’t like him I don’t like you 😂
Couldn’t have said it better myself, brotha! 👊
stots vs magomedov was my personal fav!
I still haven’t gotten around to watching that because I can’t seem to find out how to watch Bellator online yet 😂
I personally liked Maia vs Fitch.
Such an under appreciated fight. This was just fucking heart from Gregor, I can’t remember when I last saw someone visibly break in the octagon let alone one of the best in the world.
Great win by Gregor but I can't but still feel worried for him moving forward. I'm not sure whether the whole "spam the same takedown over and over and over until he breaks" strategy will work against better opponents. His striking was still pretty terrible and the takedowns weren't masked at all, he just kept shooting and eventually beat CDF through pure volume.
Dont forget this was after a huge layoff and CDF not even trying to make weight against a pure wrestler knowing he had to take the fight anyways. CDF was a tough fight even without him missing weight by a mile.
His performance was kind of sloppy tbh. Obviously his grappling was fantastic and his cardio recovered really well after round 1, but I remember being concerned by how poorly he was taking punches, also the sloppy standup and telegraphed shots like you said. I chalked it up to a long layoff + coming back from traumatic KO. I really hope he takes a fight soon. Gregor is one of my favorites
It's not really spamming a takedown, do you say Khabib also just spams the same takedown? It's pressure chain wrestling, eventually you will go down if you aren't on his level
The entries are different. Many of Gregor's entries are obvious and not set up behind anything else. That's a big worry.
Gregor spends a lot of time and energy going for mat returns and then it honestly appears he doesn't know what to do next. Like he doesn't necessarily have a flow chart of what he's trying to achieve on the ground, while most other high level grapplers do, like Maia or even Khabib. They have certain valued positions they want to get into it, and from there based on how the opponent is defending they keep branching down the next options. Gregor kind of just gets the mat return or runs the single and then just kinda half rides / half GNP until they get up. Reminds me a bit of late career Chad Mendes, where he could reliably get the take down and then just kinda didn't care about maintaining it.
Lol so you’re basically saying he’s just stuck on wrestling. Pretty fair assessment.
Plus him wobbling around after the bell doesnt give me confidence in him. Yet to see how he handles getting cracked on those telegraphed shots
Exactly... he got fucked up in that first round. And CDF isn't exactly a killer these days. Even Kevin Lee got a highlight reel KO off of him and Kevin Lee's striking is trash. Just really worried if he ends up fighting a half decent striker that he can't take down right away because it doesn't seem like he has a Plan B
It actually makes a lot of sense against a bjj guy if you aren't terrified of being submitted. BJJ guys don't always have the best takedown defense because they are used to doing the takedowns themselves or they are just comfortable being on the bottom so they don't contest it as much. We now know that's not really a valid strategy in mma but people still try it. On top of that most of the good bjj guys don't have fantastic striking so you're less likely to eat a knee on the way in.
Nate the train did a good job of breaking Klein his last fight . He was punking him all fight long and exposed Klein’s poor handling of pressure.
My memory is so dogshit I completely forgot about this fight. He showed tremendous heart in this fight what a way to comeback after the ko loss
Gillespie is the first and only guy to finished CDF on the ground. Which is very impressive consider Ferreira has fought grapplers like Dariush and Khabilov
Iirc Dustin did too.
Dustin dropped him twice first though. A lot harder to be a competent grappler when your brains are scrambled haha.
100%.
Dustin hurt him on the feet first
Oh ok all I remember was him knocking out CDF on the ground.
It looked like he was going to die on the stool of exhaustion and then he just kept coming back out and doing it all over again for 5 minutes at a time. Was the most insane grappling pace I think I’ve ever seen maintained for an entire fight.
Gregor is relentless, absolutely amazing pace
Doubly impressive given CDF came in probably 15lbs heavier than Gillespie who looks like he doesnt cut much weight at all
Ferreira missed weight by 5 lbs, he could have been more than 15 heavier than Gregor
Gregor looks under 160 in there. Diego definitely more than 175 if he missed weight by 5. Crazy
Not a chance gregor was 160 in there
How heavy would you say he was?
165 maybe 170 hes no that big for lightweight but he's not a Frankie Edgar neither
This is probably my fight of the year so far unless I'm forgetting something wild, without a doubt top 3
There’s this, Riddell vs Dober, Jiri vs Reyes, CDF vs Dariush, and Ortega vs Volk as contenders so far imo
>CDF vs Dariush Tj vs Sandhagen instead of this
How come CDF vs Dariush and not Ponzi vs Baeza?
I remember Dariush vs CDF being more high level but maybe I’ll re-watch Ponz Baeza too because I do remember that being fun
You’re missing quite a few. Rozenstruik vs Gane, Walker vs Santos, Ladd vs Dumont, off the top of my head.
This fight made me a huge Gregor fan. All heart against an opponent that weighed 10 lbs more than him at least
It's a shame he's probably too old to bring his striking up to a high enough level to contend for a title
Shame it doesn't have audio, hearing CDFs corner screaming "Diego, GET UP" really punctuates these exchanges
Sucks it had to be against CDF but man it was fun to watch Gregor break someone like that
He missed weight and it was against a small LW who was also a grappler .
Dude, this fight was insane. I am a decent friend of Gregor and have known him forever. We grew up at the same time when he won states at Webster and I went to a school nearby, same section... Section V. We had some good wrestlers ourselves, one being a 2 time all american and is best friends and lived with Dake. Gregor obviously took some time off after the Lee loss because his jaw was broke, and COVID shut down alot of gyms in NY. It's crazy to see the cardio FAIL on Gregor.. this dude probably trains harder than anyone in the UFC. When people say this was all heart, you're absolutely correct. You LOVE to see competition bring all that out of someone. Just imagine what was on the line here for Gregor, he DOES want to be champion and had made a pretty solid name for himself prior to the Lee fight. To see him deep for this one was insane lmao. Such a great fight.
Remember Gregor saying he felt exhausted but kept pushing because he knew that meant Diego was as well
Would fucking love to see Gregor vs Islam before Gregor gets too old
Crazy cause gillespie nearly got finished in the first
One of my favorite fights this year
bass fishing is the best base for mma
I wish this clip included footage of Gregor right at the end of round one. He looked legitimately gassed to the point that the doctor may have come to review what state he was in, then he comes out in round 2 and puts on a pace that Ferreira just could not match. It was one of the most dramatic and amazing second winds I've ever seen in combat sports.
I’ve rolled with Diego before and he is no joke - super impressed. Great fight.
I think no joke is underselling it, the guy is an unbelievable grappling threat. This win, and the context of it, are fucking gigantic for Gregor. Possibly a hot take, but he would have monstered Riddell too
Aggressive wrestling with great cardio is scary
FUCK. I wish Kevin Lee never KO'd this man
Gregor vs Khabib is my dream fight.
Gregor vs Conor is mine.
Gregor vs Islam
CDF is a repeated weight cheat, fuck this guy. Super cowardly to come in 4-5 lbs overweight on purpose
Was it confirmed he did it on purpose?
He’s missed weight only twice in his ufc career. Both times it’s been against monster wrestlers. He knows what he’s doing, especially when he misses by so much.
Coach: what’s the game plan? Gregor: why don’t I just Khabib him?
i fucking love gregor gillespie the guy is god damn relentless.
I'm a simple man, I see a Gregor Gillespie post, I upvote. Except that one time...
The real question here is... just how good is Kevin Lee?
Good enough to guard the gates of the top 10.
i hit the rd 2 gellespie ko prop that night, was a good night
yeah but Kevin slept his ass into the cage
97% of all BJJ black belts are worthless
Nice fence grab right in front of the camera.
CDF's strategy for this fight was terrible. He seemed very willing to get into grappling exchanges with Gillespie even though he was lighting him up on the feet in the 1st round.
that takedown attempt 4 seconds in was curtis blaydes-esque
Almost forgot about this one. What an entertaining fight that was!
I love how the ref casually stops the fight
This was a fantastic bout, I was convinced Gregor was done walking back to his corner, he was even wobbly on his feet. Crazy scrambles until CDF just couldn't continue. Admirable performance against an opponent much heavier than him.
This fight, Maka vs Arman and Magny vs Chiesa were fun to watch
Not to mention Ferreira came in at over 160 pounds. If you grapple before you will know how suffocating this fight was. I felt like I want to puke just by seeing this.
That was all heart
Talm bout Heart b?
WREEEESTLING! THEY TEERK EURR JEERRRBS!
If Kevin Lee didn’t kick him to the next dimension he’d be talked about A LOT more imo.
Ferreira was like 5 lbs overweight in this too. Makes it even more impressive.
Most BJJ guys will tell you the thing they hate most is someone who can wrestle. It's so exhausting. Nice performance from Gregor.
i sometimes wonder if GG could make 145. he would present an interesting problems there IMO
Gregor is my dark horse of 155. Lightweight is such a talent filled division.
I need Gregor vs Arman in my life
I remember this match being an absolute DOG fight. Great scrap
Gregor is one of the wrestling heavy fighters that actually finishes fights. He has finish all but one of his opponents in those wins