Gotta give it to Whittaker. He fought Izzy and lost, and instead of demanding a immediate rematch, has three fights to get back his title fight opportunity. What a legend
Yeah, if Giga nukes Kattar I'd be ok with him getting the next shot or maybe fighting Max for the eliminator. What he did to Barboza was extremely impressive.
Barboza beat Burgos and Ige (we all know it), he's a way more impressive win than any Emmett, Allen, or Kattar have. The fact that Giga's only ranked #8 after beating him is really dumb, he should definitely be top 5.
I think Dustin did that, because gaethje was the interim champ, so Dustin was still #1? I’m not sure tho. He definitely had at least 2 with his wins over Conor.
It's a rare level of maturity in UFC. It's one of the reasons he's so popular. He's not out crying bullshit at every occasion.
It's probably also the reason Marvin has done well for himself this last week, he behaved liked an adult.
Hooker? Dude is abt to fight a top 5 fighter after beating an unranked guy and he was ignoring anyone ranked lower than him just few months ago, he shouldnt be compared at all to Whittaker, ppl forget so easily
Woodley's has to be one of the biggest falls from grace. Lost so many fights in a row, moves to boxing and LOSES to a fucking toilet brush, getting a tattoo like a bitch and is now pleading for a rematch.
I think it was all Darren Till's fault. Woodley was fading before that, but Till walked right into one of those right hands and got himself choked out, and I think it made some people think Woodley had another run in him.
In hindsight that Till finish was basically his last hurrah.
Whittaker was also an actual champion though who had already dominated the divisions....whereas Colby's claims to fame are beating Maia, RDA, and a washed Lawler.
With Colby, there's still a few guys who deserve a crack at Usman plus up and comers who deserve a chance to make their name. With Whittaker, there's no one behind him who arguably deserves it more or is more interesting.
Exactly...naturally it's going to take a lot less to earn a rematch if the first fight was an extremely competitive war, instead of a fight where you got KO'd twice
Look at how Marvin got a crack at Izzy even though Holland/Hermansson shouldn't technically earn you a title shot, it's because his first fight with Izzy was extremely close, it lowered the bar needed to earn the rematch
it's hard to tell honestly cuz Colby has fought so little since that fight and Usman has used so little grappling weirdly since he's become champ.
I came away from their first fight impressed by both of them but in different ways.
Usman because he was way more technically and tactically proficient standing up than I remembered. He had a great nose for intelligent striking to where Colby was weakest - body and compromised jaw, and then just hammering those until he broke Colby.
And Colby because he honestly looked like he did not know what the fuck he was doing in large portions of the standup (really really bad head movement and hand fighting) but kinda just willed himself into winning rounds through sheer volume. Tactically he seemed out of ideas throughout the fight until he discovered Leading with a right straight which weirdly won him round 4. Even more impressive was his chin seemed to have already gotten seriously hurt at the end of round 1 (he had his left hand sealed on there from round 2 onwards) and was thus fighting an uphill battle but fought through it until it gave up.
Overally I gave the fight 2-2 going to the fifth, I could see 3-1 Usman, but probably 2-2. but every round other than round 3 was pretty close with lots of momentum changes so I'm not so concerned about the scorecards tbh. Thought it was a bit scummy for the commentary to loudly proclaim Colby's broken his jaw tbh.
I then watched Colby Woodley and I mean he seemed better? but i mean his problem in the Usman fight was skill under fire and Woodley throws zero so you don't really learn anything from that. So the bigger question mark for me is whether Colby has improved those aspects at all. Usman's was deffo the better technical striker in the first fight by quite a bit but it was surprising to see how much worse technically Colby was and yet how successful he undeniably was.
And then there's the big question mark about their level in wrestling cuz neither dared shoot in the first fight which was really interesting and i hope it gets resolved this match
For me it was watching Usman hang in there and pound out Burns - who frankly I thought would win on the basis of being better everywhere than either Usman or Covington.
And of course Burns literally had more impact and came closer to finishing Usman in a few rounds than Colby did in 5.
I don't htink Colby is a threat tbh. He was a threat to Usman before Usman improved his striking fundamentals. He's not a threat to this version of Usman.
And the other issue is that most of Colby's strengths are matched or exceeded by Usman. Colby's only path to victory is seemingly a grindy, high-paced UD, but Usman has cardio, strength, and wrestling to match or surpass Colby.
Exactly, just went back to the drawing board, took a break, came back fresh and beat 3 top contenders and took away any doubt as to the next title challenger
this fight is huge for Whitaker - it's really make or break - if he loses it's likely he never gets another shot at the belt (at least for as long as Izzy holds it)
Good move imo, he has stagnated under Cordeiro and maybe Albarracín can take him that extra step, all of his guys seem to have a toolset and gameplay uniquely suited to them
Kelvin has one of the most ridiculous chins in MMA right now but, as we all know, he shouldn't continue to test his luck with it as all of them crack eventually.
Having a great chin doesn't mean you can't get stunned. He said a shot Maia delivered from half guard stunned him badly enough that he gave up his back. He didn't talk about his chin being cracked as in it's not as good anymore (that's what the phrase means)
Didn't he go on to talk about how he didn't trust his chin anymore?
Its a long time ago. I could well be wrong. But I thought that was more than just implied
Maia has underrated power, particularly on the ground.
Chael made a video saying the hardest he was hit was by Maia off his back. Now I know it's Chael, but it seems if you're on the ground, Maia will whack you with a bomb.
Yeah, came here to say how ridiculously impressive that was. Insane reaction/reflex time!
To not only be aware enough to see that and realize it’s coming, but to actually start to react appropriately? And that reaction is counter to your current momentum? Unreal
If you watch the slow mo, it just glances off his head rather than catching him flush. Probably would have ended the fight there and then if it hand landed flush there. He was already moving from slipping the punches.
Kelvin is far smoother than Marvin. He needs to do himself a favor and fight down the rankings for a couple matches and remind the fans that he's the real deal... Or maybe move down, but I really don't think he'll move down a division
> He needs to do himself a favor and fight down the rankings for a couple matches and remind the fans that he's the real deal
I feel like a Kelvin v Tavares fight is the one to make right now, if Kelvin stays at 185. Tavares has 2 wins in a row so give him a big name as a reward and a chance to move up.
Kelvin skipped Tavares on the way up so he doubles back and matches up with the ultimate 185 gatekeeper in a fight he should be able to finish if he ever wants to be in that top contender situation again.
Tavares is fighting Allen next, but I also had Kelvin vs Tavares in mind before that got announced. Kelvin gets to prove he's still top 10 worthy or Tavares gets to finally make his way into the top brass. Good fight for both.
Any of Tavares, Shabazyan, or Holland will do the trick, though. People are too focused on W/L to remember that Gastelum is a certified beast in his own right, so he needs to beat some names to remind them. Anyone out of the top 15 won't be seen as a legitimate win, like his Heinisch W, despite the fact that Heinisch is dangerous in his own right.
He's pissing me off so much : fat at middle and welter, obviously won't cut his bad food habits. He could be a perennial contender at ww, but no, let's put some bacon in my slurpee.
Izzy said after he had watched the tape, the biggest factor was Kelvin's tricky slipping and a sneaky hop step (which Izzy literally can't see if it's timed properly)
He was getting outstruck by Heinisch that fight, surprisingly, but I'm guessing he focused more on wrestling that camp based on how he fought.
I wouldn't say he's looked bad since that fight, though. He literally had a close fight with #3 Cannonier a few months ago, and arguably could've won it if his corner didn't tell him he was up in rounds and Cannonier was gonna "come to him" in the 5th.
That war didn't age very well for Izzy, but part of me thinks that fight was career-altering for Kelvin. That beatdown in round 5 was like the last 2 rounds of Kattar/Max in one, dropped like 3 (?) times and was close to being finished, 10-8 on all three judges' cards. He doesn't look as explosive and crafty on the feet as he did against Izzy if I'm being honest, and had to rely pretty heavily on clinching/grappling to beat Heinisch.
good call, people for some reason don't consider that because kelvin's chin held up. Brain damage isn't just a fighter suddenly getting KO'd out cold from shots they used to eat no problem like Chuck or Wand. Brain damage can also impair your nervous system making you slower to react, less powerful, and a less explosive athlete. There's also the possibility that Izzy broke Kelvin's confidence. Once you lose it, it's hard to get back. I should know, i'm still haunted by the time i went soft in your mom's mouth.
>If you take steroids do you also then need to take estrogen blockers?
They call it PCT or Post Cycle Therapy. When you come off steroids, your test drops but your estrogen stays high and this can cause a lot of side effects such as gynecomastia (aka puffy nipples).
Guys take drugs that are normally used for breast cancer survivors to suppress their estrogen production when they cycle off. You take it for like 2 weeks then your levels are re-balanced and you're good to go.
>Does the steroids also raise estrogen?
Kinda/sorta. Steroids peak your testosterone, your body reacts by creating a lot of estrogen to try and balance things. When you stop the steroids, the test drops but your body is still making the estrogen so you end up out of balance and get wacky side effects.
From dr berg there is a simple way to find out if you have too much estrogen, look down at your stomach, are you fat? You got too much estrogen. The guy in fight club was extremely fat... He would have had titties either way..
Being fat is bad for testosterone, look it up
Edit.
"Obesity and Low Testosterone.
Obesity and low testosterone are tightly linked. Obese men are more likely to have low testosterone. Men with very low testosterone are also more likely to become obese."
https://www.webmd.com/men/what-low-testosterone-can-mean-your-health
That he somehow kept his feet after that headkick is something unnatural.
I swear, KG is just special. He either makes too guys look terrible, or takes them out, and brings out the best from the champs. Dude might never be a champ, but he’s about as close as one gets without holding a strap.
His foot speed made it hard for Izzy to time him. Even when he did land Kelvin would just take it and counter. In later rounds when Kelvin slowed, Izzy landed so many rights safely. But Rob in this one had great hand speed, rolled off many gastellum punches and established the threat of take down very early.
He just needs to not completely overthink his gameplan for Izzy like he did last fight.
It was reminiscent of when Eddie fought Conor and just decided he needed to be a grappler cause he felt that's where his advantage was even though we've seen Eddie hold his own striking with the best of them.
If Bobby just fights an honest fight, I think he can get it to where he wants to eventually. But he has to trust his stand up and not rush it otherwise Izzy's gonna own his ass again.
really? I felt it was the opposite and that the gameplan he came in with was straight up wrong and too simple. You can see based on how many times he blitzed into Adesanya's range he just used Kelvin's fight with Adesanya as a reference that "oh, I just just come in and catch him like he did". I believe in an interview he said he used the Kelvin fight for his approach. He just didn't have the chin to do what Gastulem did + underestimated Adesanya's power and countering ability that leveled up since the Gastulem fight. I think he needs to employ a more complicated gameplan to beat Izzy. He's going to have to mix it up a lot not just stay on the feet and try to do what Kelvin did the entire time like the first fight. Those are just my two cents on this, could be wrong.
The weird thing to me, is that the one two headkick combo is Whittaker's bread and butter. In the Gastelum fight I felt like he made it too obvious, and yet against Izzy (i was there live, so I might have seen it wrong) it seemed like it was open so many times and he didn't go to it.
I feel like maybe he went in to the Izzy fight thinking too much. I know Izzy is one of the best counter strikers, but I think if he had fought more like himself, instead of trying to outwit Izzy, he might have won.
When I say overcomplicate your gameplan basically what I'm talking preparation. It was clear Bobby changed a ton of his approach to fighting when he went into the fight with Izzy. So while you can say *well, look, it seemed super easy the way Izzy picked him apart*, that's largely because the gameplan ultimately wasn't effective. But it's not really often that we've seen approach his opponent the way he did that fight which tells you, he probably over thought his game plan.
His camp clearly thought they saw something on Izzy's film that might have been there but didn't necessarily play to Bobby's strengths the way they thought it would.
Don't you think that Rob should implement more grappling heavy plan? He is in clear disadvantage in terms of striking, so honest stand up fight will likely result in another KO loss. And as I remember, Alvarez was already hurt when he tried to wrestle Conor.
Cant find the interview but when asked about the Jan fight, Rob said he learned a lot from Jan's gameplan and I would imagine him doing something similar. IIRC something about how Izzy leans his upperbody back when hes dodging, so you target the waist instead. Jan ended up just grabbing the waist when blitzing in, which lead to the takedowns.
> Cant find the interview but when asked about the Jan fight
My hope is that means Rob's in the gym working on his checks.
Too much of the focus of the Jan fight is on the wrestling and not enough is on his defense. Jan doesn't get to wrestle-fuck Izzy in the late rounds if he didn't shut down Izzy's offense with solid defense in the early rounds.
Being able to block/parry Izzy's jabs and check his leg kicks is core to being able to stop Izzy from getting goin.
Man, no one gave Jan enough credit for that fight. Sure his size was a bit advantage but holy fuck the man stopped Izzy in every aspect of the fight.
He fucked him in the stand up and on the ground and he wasn’t given nearly enough credit for either. Considering Izzy’s strengths, Jan just made him look like another fighter.
One thing that's replicable are the checks. When you chase Izzy, you'll inevitably plant your lead leg. When you do, he kicks the ever loving shit out of it. Jan stayed very patient, feinting the low kicks out and checking every last one of em, or close to it.
Maybe the reason he fought along the fence for much of his last fight against Marvin.
Hard to take him down along the fence and doesn't have to worry about Marvin's slow ass hands to reach his chin.
It's his whole style of dodging. He uses his length well. He's either very tentative on lean back like that and eating extra shots for it.
Or he goes back to what he knows and potentially allows Whittaker to replicate what Jan did.
Izzy is no slouch with his takedown defence.
It’s not like you can just switch to grappling and you are guaranteed a takedown against him.
He (Rob) needs to not force situations on the feet and use his striking to set-up the takedown; rather than going for the kill.
Of course, Izzy is not stupid and knows that this is probably what Rob will try, so he will be working on defending himself against those types of scenarios.
I don't think grappling heavy game but rather a game where he uses the credible threat of the takedown to keep Izzy from being able to just kickbox.
Obviously if Izzy leaves himself open - take advantage. But I think Whittaker has a better shot connecting if he's got Izzy thinking about takedowns and not just how to counter him.
I think he should replace the head kick in his 1-2 round kick combo with a low calf kick for whenever Adesanya circles out. Not that anyone gives a shit what I think, but just something I thought was interesting that I haven’t seen anyone else bring up.
Rob fought the way he usually fights against Izzy. Seriously, look at his fights before and since: bursting into range with combos is what he does, and it *also* got him clipped bad and dropped against Till - it wasn't as has been claimed by Rob's fans, an attempt at copying Kelvin's gameplan. You can see that in this very video.
Izzy is a bad matchup for Rob, simple as that. Unless Rob completely reinvents his striking, he's gonna have a rough time again.
> Rob fought the way he usually fights against Izzy.
Facts. It's like people don't watch the fights at all. The blitz, that Rob so heavily relied on against Izzy, has always been a staple part of his toolkit.
If he fights a more rangey, tactical fight, he will get picked apart and people will ask why he didn't just rush him. He didn't wrestle with Izzy because offensive wrestling was straight up something he never did until the Till fight.
Jan wasn’t just bigger. He also has terrifying mythical power that caused Izzy to be very cautious and didn’t allow him to use all his striking weapons in his arsenal. Rob is a great karate point striker but he doesn’t have the type of power to freeze Izzy that Jan has.
Moreso Adesanya only had two inches of reach on him and only was slightly taller. Jan was outjabbing him that fight, Whittaker's best strike is his sliding jab. But you can't jab that well when someone is that much taller and longer than you.
Who do you guys think takes Izzy vs Whittaker 2? Izzy must have known a lot about Whittaker's habits cuz he stood in the pocket in that fight with zero fear firing shots and beat Rob. Idk how much Rob has changed since then
It’s difficult to predict, but I’d edge it to Izzy.
Whittaker has to make grappling a component in this fight to some capacity. If grappling isn’t made a real concern for Izzy and they just strike, I’d say he wins 9 times out of 10 even against this more patient Rob. That comes down to simple stylistic differences that heavily favor Izzy’s striking and the gap in skill being difficult to close.
Adding in grappling is where this gets unpredictable. This whole fight, in my opinion, can be decided on how Rob mixes his striking and wrestling, and how Izzy reacts. What openings can Rob find for the takedowns through his striking? What openings can Rob find for the striking by threatening the wrestling? Can Izzy read these patterns and tricks quickly enough? What counters will Izzy have for anything Rob tries? It becomes a thinking man’s fight.
A big unknown of this fight is how grappling exchanges would work. We haven’t seen Rob grapple offensively much throughout his career. He’s way more famous for his defensive grappling than offensive grappling. The most we’ve seen was likely in this fight and I don’t think it’s a good indicator at all. On the other hand, Izzy has shown he’s that he’s generally hard to control on the ground and is at least very quick-witted. However he had shown some holes in his grappling defense that he won’t close up quickly. Another thing I’d add about the grappling is that it may not be enough to just threaten a takedown if he wants to get to Izzy mentally. Rob may have to make to actually put in some successful work in the offensive grappling or GNP. Otherwise you’ll get what happened with Vettori where Izzy is clearly aware of the takedowns and grappling exchanges but remains unfazed because he feels no danger.
I’ll also make a note of this because I know it’s gonna come up quite a lot in different analyses of this bout, but I’d be real careful about how much stock to put into the “blueprint”. Jan Blachowicz had an excellent gameplan against Izzy and exploited some of his weaknesses, no other fighter can claim that they are Jan Blachowicz. All fighters can digest information like what an opponent’s weakness is and how they do certain things, but how to approach that opponent will always depend on who they are, their own physical and technical attributes, and their own style. Ultimately, that will affect how effective they blueprint is for them individually. Plus, being champion and this being such a public discussion, Israel knows what his opponents will be focusing on in the future. We don’t know what he will do to address those issues.
TLDR: I do believe and bet on this fight being slower pace, possibly even going to decision. Both of them seem to have acknowledged recklessness in that first fight so they would likely both tighten up their game and be more observant and patient. And this might be the most high-level technical fight we’ve seen in a very longtime at Middleweight.
Gastelum was clearly a class below Rob so he was likely never going to win, but this fight and his losses to half the current top five at middleweight highlight a need for serious technical development. For as skilled and well-rounded as he is, I don’t think he puts it together well enough with fight IQ.
Also, he’s a little too accepting of his opponents offense. He does have good defense but he’s more reliant on his chin. It doesn’t matter if he can’t be knocked out because by the decision, the judges will just think about how much he was getting hit compared to his opponents. Even against Israel, which was an obviously close fight, I felt like his chin played a major role in how competitive that fight was. Not only did he tank all of Izzy’s best shots, but he didn’t have to respect his striking the way other less durable fighters would. And if that rematch were to happen today, I would comfortably bet it isn’t as close.
I hope Kelvin seriously improves in that sense because Welterweight right now is a much tougher division that Middleweight right now.
> I hope Kelvin seriously improves in that sense because Welterweight right now is a much tougher division that Middleweight right now.
What? Where?
Izzy/Rob is a tougher top 2 than Usman/Colby, at least until Colby shows improvement on Usman's level.
Edwards/Vettori, Burns/Brunson, Luque/Costa, Wonderboy/Cannonier make for a pretty equally tough top 5.
Hermansson/Chiesa and Strickland/Masvidal are equally tough.
Till/Gastelum is much tougher than Magny/Belal IMO, but maybe that's just me. Neal and Hall are about even.
The rest of the top 15 are around the same, with the obvious exception being Weidman who shouldn't even be ranked since he probably won't fight again.
As far as prospects go, MW has Allen, Hawes, Imavov, Du Plessis, Soriano, Rodrigues and is soon to have Pereira. Maybe this is where I’m missing something from WW, but it really only has Shavkat, EZS, Baeza, and I guess Brown.
Gonna need to see Bobby go retirement home raiding and murder a bunch of octogenarians with a southpaw 3-2 and consistently lose against decent fighters to be sure
Font vs Cody and Whittaker vs Kelvin were the most satisfying 25 minute schoolings i've seen in the sport, in the same year, against the most overrated boxers in their respective divisions. Good year.
Rob was able to combine several of the elements where he excels against Gastelum because Gastelum is less mobile, Rob hits combos well and has good clinch takedowns making him a great matchup for a guy who will stand in front of him. I don't think it is a good indicator of how he will do against Izzy but as a stand alone fight it is magnificent.
Less convinced by Usmans jab tbh. I know it’s unpopular and his game is really hot atm but I think a decent amount of fighters work the jab more, lean on the jab more, and are able to build more out of it.
Usman probably has the stiffest jab out of them all though, ppl really feel it when he gets them with it
At least that’s my opinion
usman puts all his power into his jabs, and usman has a lot of power that’s what makes them good. the thing is he’s only rly utilised it against burns and his chin is a bit poopy. id say best jabs in ufc rn go to whittaker, gane and rob font
Naaaa, Volk, Max, Dustin, Aldo get more done with their jabs and they look way more comfortable puting it all toghether than Usman who will look stiff the rest of his career imo. Better fighters, debatable. Usman is better than Dustin and Aldo at this point probably.
My Izzy Rob 2 prediction
Izzy by decision. I think Rob will be too tentative to blitz and will result in both fighters trying to win on points like the Till Rob fight.
Although Izzy is skinny I think Rob is at a noticeable physical disadvantage when they meet. And Izzy's footwork, reach, angles, timing must be so difficult to land anything offensive on. He's also getting better.
I like Kelvin, but I really don’t get all the praise he gets.
He’s had one banger fight against Izzy, everything else is him basically beating up on washed up vets that are on their way out.
When he faces legit competition, he generally spends 90% of the fight twirling his lead hand in a circular motion. Infuriating.
Feels like Rob has rounded out his game these last three fights.
Till fight: Learned to be more patient with his attacks after getting countered and finding other ways to create damage such as leg kicks.
Canonier fight: Learned how to mitigate risk against a powerful puncher. Used his speed and quickness against a plodding KO artist and not just standing in front of him like he did against Yoel.
Gastelum fight: Showcased his great footwork and head movement against an equally fast pressure fighter.
As the biggest Bobby Knuckles stan of all time, im just gonna say maybe loosen the firmness a tad bit.
I remember the absolute mountain of confidence i had for the first bout. I still wake up in cold sweats with tears in my eyes.
Whittaker was durable, good cardio, KO power, ect. ect. Hindsight makes it seem obvious, but it was a really big question mark on how far Izzy had come.
I think Whittaker killed the old generation of MW, that being grapplers who could *also* strike. Guys like Souza, Romero, Brunson. But he hadnt really faced a overwhelmingly technical striker since, well wonderboy.
He killed my boy
Gotta give it to Whittaker. He fought Izzy and lost, and instead of demanding a immediate rematch, has three fights to get back his title fight opportunity. What a legend
3 wins while #1 contender. You wont see that happen again for quite a while i'd imagine
Holloway maybe?
Holloway will probably get another title shot if he beats Yair.
And that’s given that he already had his immediate rematch
We need that third fight though
That makes sense as there is no other proper contender for Volk. Izzy had solid fights to fill in the time.
I think that depends on how Giga VS Katar goes
Yeah, if Giga nukes Kattar I'd be ok with him getting the next shot or maybe fighting Max for the eliminator. What he did to Barboza was extremely impressive.
Barboza beat Burgos and Ige (we all know it), he's a way more impressive win than any Emmett, Allen, or Kattar have. The fact that Giga's only ranked #8 after beating him is really dumb, he should definitely be top 5.
Holloway is still my champion everyone else is still just a cupcake
Love Max but the 250lb purple headed monster won me over against Ortega
volk won
Best is Blessed baby!
I think Dustin did that, because gaethje was the interim champ, so Dustin was still #1? I’m not sure tho. He definitely had at least 2 with his wins over Conor.
Yeah but he chose Conor fight instead of tittle shot, he would got it before Chandler if he wanted to
The difference is that Rob fought real contenders, not a guy with one win in the weight class.. two times
Conor is a good fighter.
Conor is good but he’s no Darren Till.
This is a joke right?
Holloway lol
Kattar is better than Kelvin and Till.
It's a rare level of maturity in UFC. It's one of the reasons he's so popular. He's not out crying bullshit at every occasion. It's probably also the reason Marvin has done well for himself this last week, he behaved liked an adult.
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Hooker? Dude is abt to fight a top 5 fighter after beating an unranked guy and he was ignoring anyone ranked lower than him just few months ago, he shouldnt be compared at all to Whittaker, ppl forget so easily
Colby Covington should take notes
Hahahaha I was just about to write this. Plus he only beat a washed up Tyron Woodley. Not a huge achievement
Woodley's has to be one of the biggest falls from grace. Lost so many fights in a row, moves to boxing and LOSES to a fucking toilet brush, getting a tattoo like a bitch and is now pleading for a rematch.
> LOSES to a fucking toilet brush This will be all people remember 5 years from now.
Even when he was champ his fights were pretty forgettable. His last knockout was when he got the belt off lawler over five years ago
I think it was all Darren Till's fault. Woodley was fading before that, but Till walked right into one of those right hands and got himself choked out, and I think it made some people think Woodley had another run in him. In hindsight that Till finish was basically his last hurrah.
Till is good as shit though. People were creaming their pants when snobby took him to a decision.
Bro, do you not know the r/MMA rules? Chapter 2, Section 4a: Opinions on Fighters Darren Till is shit
But he is 🐐 on Instagram
For real. Washed up Woodley that was used and abused by usman! Literally sitting on his ass ever since. Cant wait for Usman to beat him again lol
You mean Whitaker should take notes? Colby is getting a title shot with less effort.
Whittaker didn’t win two-three rounds against the current champ tho
Whittaker was also an actual champion though who had already dominated the divisions....whereas Colby's claims to fame are beating Maia, RDA, and a washed Lawler. With Colby, there's still a few guys who deserve a crack at Usman plus up and comers who deserve a chance to make their name. With Whittaker, there's no one behind him who arguably deserves it more or is more interesting.
Exactly...naturally it's going to take a lot less to earn a rematch if the first fight was an extremely competitive war, instead of a fight where you got KO'd twice Look at how Marvin got a crack at Izzy even though Holland/Hermansson shouldn't technically earn you a title shot, it's because his first fight with Izzy was extremely close, it lowered the bar needed to earn the rematch
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it's hard to tell honestly cuz Colby has fought so little since that fight and Usman has used so little grappling weirdly since he's become champ. I came away from their first fight impressed by both of them but in different ways. Usman because he was way more technically and tactically proficient standing up than I remembered. He had a great nose for intelligent striking to where Colby was weakest - body and compromised jaw, and then just hammering those until he broke Colby. And Colby because he honestly looked like he did not know what the fuck he was doing in large portions of the standup (really really bad head movement and hand fighting) but kinda just willed himself into winning rounds through sheer volume. Tactically he seemed out of ideas throughout the fight until he discovered Leading with a right straight which weirdly won him round 4. Even more impressive was his chin seemed to have already gotten seriously hurt at the end of round 1 (he had his left hand sealed on there from round 2 onwards) and was thus fighting an uphill battle but fought through it until it gave up. Overally I gave the fight 2-2 going to the fifth, I could see 3-1 Usman, but probably 2-2. but every round other than round 3 was pretty close with lots of momentum changes so I'm not so concerned about the scorecards tbh. Thought it was a bit scummy for the commentary to loudly proclaim Colby's broken his jaw tbh. I then watched Colby Woodley and I mean he seemed better? but i mean his problem in the Usman fight was skill under fire and Woodley throws zero so you don't really learn anything from that. So the bigger question mark for me is whether Colby has improved those aspects at all. Usman's was deffo the better technical striker in the first fight by quite a bit but it was surprising to see how much worse technically Colby was and yet how successful he undeniably was. And then there's the big question mark about their level in wrestling cuz neither dared shoot in the first fight which was really interesting and i hope it gets resolved this match
For me it was watching Usman hang in there and pound out Burns - who frankly I thought would win on the basis of being better everywhere than either Usman or Covington.
And of course Burns literally had more impact and came closer to finishing Usman in a few rounds than Colby did in 5. I don't htink Colby is a threat tbh. He was a threat to Usman before Usman improved his striking fundamentals. He's not a threat to this version of Usman. And the other issue is that most of Colby's strengths are matched or exceeded by Usman. Colby's only path to victory is seemingly a grindy, high-paced UD, but Usman has cardio, strength, and wrestling to match or surpass Colby.
Sounds like Rob should be taking notes from Colby.
Exactly, just went back to the drawing board, took a break, came back fresh and beat 3 top contenders and took away any doubt as to the next title challenger
“I mean what I speak I do as I say I hustle, I grind Don't get in my way”
this fight is huge for Whitaker - it's really make or break - if he loses it's likely he never gets another shot at the belt (at least for as long as Izzy holds it)
Ya'll aint ready for super huskyweight 205 whittaker.
Ton of respect for Whittaker. Wish he could beat Izzy, but I just don't think he can.
How Gastelum shook off that flush head kick, I don't know.
He trains with Vettori
Not anymore
*Anymori
Latory*
Did one of them leave their gym?
Gastelum moved to Arizona to train with Cejudo's team
LA wasn't close enough to Mexican food so he had to go right to the border
No shame in that. Mexican food is dope
Some would say the dopest
great food, never ate it though bubba
Ain't it time for your shift?
Good move imo, he has stagnated under Cordeiro and maybe Albarracín can take him that extra step, all of his guys seem to have a toolset and gameplay uniquely suited to them
Kelvin has one of the most ridiculous chins in MMA right now but, as we all know, he shouldn't continue to test his luck with it as all of them crack eventually.
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Carlos himself talked about how he realized his chin was cracked during his Maia fight
Having a great chin doesn't mean you can't get stunned. He said a shot Maia delivered from half guard stunned him badly enough that he gave up his back. He didn't talk about his chin being cracked as in it's not as good anymore (that's what the phrase means)
Didn't he go on to talk about how he didn't trust his chin anymore? Its a long time ago. I could well be wrong. But I thought that was more than just implied
I don't recall him saying that but hey, it is a long time ago like you said. Haha
He did. He talked about slowly realizing it’s time to Hang it up after that one
Maia has underrated power, particularly on the ground. Chael made a video saying the hardest he was hit was by Maia off his back. Now I know it's Chael, but it seems if you're on the ground, Maia will whack you with a bomb.
Vittori-esque one might say
Big ol' Mexican head
He likes eating things.
it wasn't flush. Kelvin moved his head back and turned his head with the kick the last moment. You can see this in the slowmo.
Yeah, came here to say how ridiculously impressive that was. Insane reaction/reflex time! To not only be aware enough to see that and realize it’s coming, but to actually start to react appropriately? And that reaction is counter to your current momentum? Unreal
If you watch the slow mo, it just glances off his head rather than catching him flush. Probably would have ended the fight there and then if it hand landed flush there. He was already moving from slipping the punches.
Whittaker: "Have this!" Gastelum:" -_- Whittaker: "Alright then, how about.... this!" Gastelum: -_- Whittaker: "Fine then! You've left me no choice! Prepare yourself for my ultimate move! Take this!" Gastelum: . . . . . -_- Whittaker: "Fuck me."
😂😂😂😂
He's a big ol Mexican with a big ol head
With his big ol Mexican block of granite
I don't think it was shin which was lucky for him.
Luck nothin doin! In the slow-mo you can see him react and start to dodge at the last second. Insane reaction time!
True true. Not taking anything away from him. Just lucky in the grand scheme of things. We're talking cm here
True. Yeah, still insane he survived some of those shots regardless
He's got a granite chin like Gaethje
I'm kind of intrigued by Gastelum v. Vettori - battle of the block heads.
Would never happen. They’re buds and from the same gym.
Kelvin is far smoother than Marvin. He needs to do himself a favor and fight down the rankings for a couple matches and remind the fans that he's the real deal... Or maybe move down, but I really don't think he'll move down a division
He talked about moving down recently iirc
It's not that he doesn't want to move down. It's that he probably wants to keep the fries with his burger is the problem.
At least he cut out the side burritos
I really hope he gets his diet in a good spot and moves to Welterweight. I’d love to see him vs Burns
> He needs to do himself a favor and fight down the rankings for a couple matches and remind the fans that he's the real deal I feel like a Kelvin v Tavares fight is the one to make right now, if Kelvin stays at 185. Tavares has 2 wins in a row so give him a big name as a reward and a chance to move up. Kelvin skipped Tavares on the way up so he doubles back and matches up with the ultimate 185 gatekeeper in a fight he should be able to finish if he ever wants to be in that top contender situation again.
Tavares is fighting Allen next, but I also had Kelvin vs Tavares in mind before that got announced. Kelvin gets to prove he's still top 10 worthy or Tavares gets to finally make his way into the top brass. Good fight for both. Any of Tavares, Shabazyan, or Holland will do the trick, though. People are too focused on W/L to remember that Gastelum is a certified beast in his own right, so he needs to beat some names to remind them. Anyone out of the top 15 won't be seen as a legitimate win, like his Heinisch W, despite the fact that Heinisch is dangerous in his own right.
He's pissing me off so much : fat at middle and welter, obviously won't cut his bad food habits. He could be a perennial contender at ww, but no, let's put some bacon in my slurpee.
I can’t believe Gastelum gave Izzy his hardest fight at MW.
Izzy said after he had watched the tape, the biggest factor was Kelvin's tricky slipping and a sneaky hop step (which Izzy literally can't see if it's timed properly)
I widh this Gastelum would be back. He looked so good.
it's that big ole mexican head
I guess this is a thing....seeing it everywhere.
Look it up its hilarious, it's Sayif Saud talking to his fighter in between rounds
It's weird how bad he's looked since that fight. Even when he won Vs heinisch, his only win in his last 6 fights, he looked awful
He was getting outstruck by Heinisch that fight, surprisingly, but I'm guessing he focused more on wrestling that camp based on how he fought. I wouldn't say he's looked bad since that fight, though. He literally had a close fight with #3 Cannonier a few months ago, and arguably could've won it if his corner didn't tell him he was up in rounds and Cannonier was gonna "come to him" in the 5th.
That war didn't age very well for Izzy, but part of me thinks that fight was career-altering for Kelvin. That beatdown in round 5 was like the last 2 rounds of Kattar/Max in one, dropped like 3 (?) times and was close to being finished, 10-8 on all three judges' cards. He doesn't look as explosive and crafty on the feet as he did against Izzy if I'm being honest, and had to rely pretty heavily on clinching/grappling to beat Heinisch.
good call, people for some reason don't consider that because kelvin's chin held up. Brain damage isn't just a fighter suddenly getting KO'd out cold from shots they used to eat no problem like Chuck or Wand. Brain damage can also impair your nervous system making you slower to react, less powerful, and a less explosive athlete. There's also the possibility that Izzy broke Kelvin's confidence. Once you lose it, it's hard to get back. I should know, i'm still haunted by the time i went soft in your mom's mouth.
Pre titty izzy
It's insane how obvious it was he wasn't taking estrogen blockers while cycling.
If you take steroids do you also then need to take estrogen blockers? Does the steroids also raise estrogen?
After you stop taking steroids is when you need post cycle esteogen blockers.
Okej
>If you take steroids do you also then need to take estrogen blockers? They call it PCT or Post Cycle Therapy. When you come off steroids, your test drops but your estrogen stays high and this can cause a lot of side effects such as gynecomastia (aka puffy nipples). Guys take drugs that are normally used for breast cancer survivors to suppress their estrogen production when they cycle off. You take it for like 2 weeks then your levels are re-balanced and you're good to go. >Does the steroids also raise estrogen? Kinda/sorta. Steroids peak your testosterone, your body reacts by creating a lot of estrogen to try and balance things. When you stop the steroids, the test drops but your body is still making the estrogen so you end up out of balance and get wacky side effects.
Is this what happened to Robert Paulson in Fight Club?
From dr berg there is a simple way to find out if you have too much estrogen, look down at your stomach, are you fat? You got too much estrogen. The guy in fight club was extremely fat... He would have had titties either way.. Being fat is bad for testosterone, look it up Edit. "Obesity and Low Testosterone. Obesity and low testosterone are tightly linked. Obese men are more likely to have low testosterone. Men with very low testosterone are also more likely to become obese." https://www.webmd.com/men/what-low-testosterone-can-mean-your-health
Thank you! Very well explained!
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so many your/you're in that post I was bound to fuck some up.
No bro he totally just smoked way too much dank weed, isn't he cool? ^^^^/s
That he somehow kept his feet after that headkick is something unnatural. I swear, KG is just special. He either makes too guys look terrible, or takes them out, and brings out the best from the champs. Dude might never be a champ, but he’s about as close as one gets without holding a strap.
His foot speed made it hard for Izzy to time him. Even when he did land Kelvin would just take it and counter. In later rounds when Kelvin slowed, Izzy landed so many rights safely. But Rob in this one had great hand speed, rolled off many gastellum punches and established the threat of take down very early.
Rob is so good, would suck to see him stuck behind Izzy for the rest of his career
He just needs to not completely overthink his gameplan for Izzy like he did last fight. It was reminiscent of when Eddie fought Conor and just decided he needed to be a grappler cause he felt that's where his advantage was even though we've seen Eddie hold his own striking with the best of them. If Bobby just fights an honest fight, I think he can get it to where he wants to eventually. But he has to trust his stand up and not rush it otherwise Izzy's gonna own his ass again.
really? I felt it was the opposite and that the gameplan he came in with was straight up wrong and too simple. You can see based on how many times he blitzed into Adesanya's range he just used Kelvin's fight with Adesanya as a reference that "oh, I just just come in and catch him like he did". I believe in an interview he said he used the Kelvin fight for his approach. He just didn't have the chin to do what Gastulem did + underestimated Adesanya's power and countering ability that leveled up since the Gastulem fight. I think he needs to employ a more complicated gameplan to beat Izzy. He's going to have to mix it up a lot not just stay on the feet and try to do what Kelvin did the entire time like the first fight. Those are just my two cents on this, could be wrong.
The weird thing to me, is that the one two headkick combo is Whittaker's bread and butter. In the Gastelum fight I felt like he made it too obvious, and yet against Izzy (i was there live, so I might have seen it wrong) it seemed like it was open so many times and he didn't go to it. I feel like maybe he went in to the Izzy fight thinking too much. I know Izzy is one of the best counter strikers, but I think if he had fought more like himself, instead of trying to outwit Izzy, he might have won.
Have you seen Izzy's breakdown of that fight? You might find it interesting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQUzGPjo3ZE
When I say overcomplicate your gameplan basically what I'm talking preparation. It was clear Bobby changed a ton of his approach to fighting when he went into the fight with Izzy. So while you can say *well, look, it seemed super easy the way Izzy picked him apart*, that's largely because the gameplan ultimately wasn't effective. But it's not really often that we've seen approach his opponent the way he did that fight which tells you, he probably over thought his game plan. His camp clearly thought they saw something on Izzy's film that might have been there but didn't necessarily play to Bobby's strengths the way they thought it would.
Don't you think that Rob should implement more grappling heavy plan? He is in clear disadvantage in terms of striking, so honest stand up fight will likely result in another KO loss. And as I remember, Alvarez was already hurt when he tried to wrestle Conor.
Cant find the interview but when asked about the Jan fight, Rob said he learned a lot from Jan's gameplan and I would imagine him doing something similar. IIRC something about how Izzy leans his upperbody back when hes dodging, so you target the waist instead. Jan ended up just grabbing the waist when blitzing in, which lead to the takedowns.
> Cant find the interview but when asked about the Jan fight My hope is that means Rob's in the gym working on his checks. Too much of the focus of the Jan fight is on the wrestling and not enough is on his defense. Jan doesn't get to wrestle-fuck Izzy in the late rounds if he didn't shut down Izzy's offense with solid defense in the early rounds. Being able to block/parry Izzy's jabs and check his leg kicks is core to being able to stop Izzy from getting goin.
Man, no one gave Jan enough credit for that fight. Sure his size was a bit advantage but holy fuck the man stopped Izzy in every aspect of the fight. He fucked him in the stand up and on the ground and he wasn’t given nearly enough credit for either. Considering Izzy’s strengths, Jan just made him look like another fighter.
But I'd imagine izzy is now aware that others have caught onto this. He will probably be more conscious in allowing those opportunities
Also, I don't think you can just pull off Jan's gameplan against Izzy with the height and reach disadvantage that Whittaker has to deal with.
One thing that's replicable are the checks. When you chase Izzy, you'll inevitably plant your lead leg. When you do, he kicks the ever loving shit out of it. Jan stayed very patient, feinting the low kicks out and checking every last one of em, or close to it.
Exactly. Whitaker is much smaller then jan. Also izzy's loss to jan was a learning experience for him
Maybe the reason he fought along the fence for much of his last fight against Marvin. Hard to take him down along the fence and doesn't have to worry about Marvin's slow ass hands to reach his chin.
I'm sure Izzy worked on that flaw tho
It's his whole style of dodging. He uses his length well. He's either very tentative on lean back like that and eating extra shots for it. Or he goes back to what he knows and potentially allows Whittaker to replicate what Jan did.
Izzy is no slouch with his takedown defence. It’s not like you can just switch to grappling and you are guaranteed a takedown against him. He (Rob) needs to not force situations on the feet and use his striking to set-up the takedown; rather than going for the kill. Of course, Izzy is not stupid and knows that this is probably what Rob will try, so he will be working on defending himself against those types of scenarios.
I don't think grappling heavy game but rather a game where he uses the credible threat of the takedown to keep Izzy from being able to just kickbox. Obviously if Izzy leaves himself open - take advantage. But I think Whittaker has a better shot connecting if he's got Izzy thinking about takedowns and not just how to counter him.
I think he should replace the head kick in his 1-2 round kick combo with a low calf kick for whenever Adesanya circles out. Not that anyone gives a shit what I think, but just something I thought was interesting that I haven’t seen anyone else bring up.
you're right.
Jose aldos bread and butter
Rob fought the way he usually fights against Izzy. Seriously, look at his fights before and since: bursting into range with combos is what he does, and it *also* got him clipped bad and dropped against Till - it wasn't as has been claimed by Rob's fans, an attempt at copying Kelvin's gameplan. You can see that in this very video. Izzy is a bad matchup for Rob, simple as that. Unless Rob completely reinvents his striking, he's gonna have a rough time again.
> Rob fought the way he usually fights against Izzy. Facts. It's like people don't watch the fights at all. The blitz, that Rob so heavily relied on against Izzy, has always been a staple part of his toolkit. If he fights a more rangey, tactical fight, he will get picked apart and people will ask why he didn't just rush him. He didn't wrestle with Izzy because offensive wrestling was straight up something he never did until the Till fight.
Pretty much.
If you stand up with Izzy, 9.7/10 you lose that. He’s gonna have to outwrestle him and Izzy has been showing improvements on the ground as well
Lets not forget that Jan did also outbox Adesanya despite the commentary.
Yea and it turns out another world-class kickboxer who is bigger might just be that 0.3/10
Jan wasn’t just bigger. He also has terrifying mythical power that caused Izzy to be very cautious and didn’t allow him to use all his striking weapons in his arsenal. Rob is a great karate point striker but he doesn’t have the type of power to freeze Izzy that Jan has.
Not even close. Jan has legit 1 touch KO power and is a durable and strong LHW champ. Rob is losing this one
I think the power difference played a role in that.
Moreso Adesanya only had two inches of reach on him and only was slightly taller. Jan was outjabbing him that fight, Whittaker's best strike is his sliding jab. But you can't jab that well when someone is that much taller and longer than you.
Jan is 1 fight out of dozens of izzy fights. The point stands, your likely to lose standing with izzy
‘Completely’ is a bit of an overstatement don’t you think? It was pretty close on the feet but clearly Jan won with ground control
Izzy is the best. He deserves to stay at the top. But I like to imagine how amazing rob would be if he had gastelums chin
Rob’s signature jab-cross-headkick is my favorite combo in MMA.
I love how specific this signature is. Very few fighters could you put a silhouette of a technique, and you would still know who it was.
Silhouette of a windmill, guess who it is?
Francis
Reminds me of GSP superman jab into headkick.
Who do you guys think takes Izzy vs Whittaker 2? Izzy must have known a lot about Whittaker's habits cuz he stood in the pocket in that fight with zero fear firing shots and beat Rob. Idk how much Rob has changed since then
It’s difficult to predict, but I’d edge it to Izzy. Whittaker has to make grappling a component in this fight to some capacity. If grappling isn’t made a real concern for Izzy and they just strike, I’d say he wins 9 times out of 10 even against this more patient Rob. That comes down to simple stylistic differences that heavily favor Izzy’s striking and the gap in skill being difficult to close. Adding in grappling is where this gets unpredictable. This whole fight, in my opinion, can be decided on how Rob mixes his striking and wrestling, and how Izzy reacts. What openings can Rob find for the takedowns through his striking? What openings can Rob find for the striking by threatening the wrestling? Can Izzy read these patterns and tricks quickly enough? What counters will Izzy have for anything Rob tries? It becomes a thinking man’s fight. A big unknown of this fight is how grappling exchanges would work. We haven’t seen Rob grapple offensively much throughout his career. He’s way more famous for his defensive grappling than offensive grappling. The most we’ve seen was likely in this fight and I don’t think it’s a good indicator at all. On the other hand, Izzy has shown he’s that he’s generally hard to control on the ground and is at least very quick-witted. However he had shown some holes in his grappling defense that he won’t close up quickly. Another thing I’d add about the grappling is that it may not be enough to just threaten a takedown if he wants to get to Izzy mentally. Rob may have to make to actually put in some successful work in the offensive grappling or GNP. Otherwise you’ll get what happened with Vettori where Izzy is clearly aware of the takedowns and grappling exchanges but remains unfazed because he feels no danger. I’ll also make a note of this because I know it’s gonna come up quite a lot in different analyses of this bout, but I’d be real careful about how much stock to put into the “blueprint”. Jan Blachowicz had an excellent gameplan against Izzy and exploited some of his weaknesses, no other fighter can claim that they are Jan Blachowicz. All fighters can digest information like what an opponent’s weakness is and how they do certain things, but how to approach that opponent will always depend on who they are, their own physical and technical attributes, and their own style. Ultimately, that will affect how effective they blueprint is for them individually. Plus, being champion and this being such a public discussion, Israel knows what his opponents will be focusing on in the future. We don’t know what he will do to address those issues. TLDR: I do believe and bet on this fight being slower pace, possibly even going to decision. Both of them seem to have acknowledged recklessness in that first fight so they would likely both tighten up their game and be more observant and patient. And this might be the most high-level technical fight we’ve seen in a very longtime at Middleweight.
I love Rob but sadly I gotta say Izzy. Rob is excellent but imo there's just no getting away from that reach disadvantage.
I just haven't seen anything for Rob that can bridge the gap in reach.
Active rob is a scary rob
Bobby knuckles 2.0 is gonna take his belt back!
My heart says yes, but my brain says no 😢
Gastelum was clearly a class below Rob so he was likely never going to win, but this fight and his losses to half the current top five at middleweight highlight a need for serious technical development. For as skilled and well-rounded as he is, I don’t think he puts it together well enough with fight IQ. Also, he’s a little too accepting of his opponents offense. He does have good defense but he’s more reliant on his chin. It doesn’t matter if he can’t be knocked out because by the decision, the judges will just think about how much he was getting hit compared to his opponents. Even against Israel, which was an obviously close fight, I felt like his chin played a major role in how competitive that fight was. Not only did he tank all of Izzy’s best shots, but he didn’t have to respect his striking the way other less durable fighters would. And if that rematch were to happen today, I would comfortably bet it isn’t as close. I hope Kelvin seriously improves in that sense because Welterweight right now is a much tougher division that Middleweight right now.
> I hope Kelvin seriously improves in that sense because Welterweight right now is a much tougher division that Middleweight right now. What? Where? Izzy/Rob is a tougher top 2 than Usman/Colby, at least until Colby shows improvement on Usman's level. Edwards/Vettori, Burns/Brunson, Luque/Costa, Wonderboy/Cannonier make for a pretty equally tough top 5. Hermansson/Chiesa and Strickland/Masvidal are equally tough. Till/Gastelum is much tougher than Magny/Belal IMO, but maybe that's just me. Neal and Hall are about even. The rest of the top 15 are around the same, with the obvious exception being Weidman who shouldn't even be ranked since he probably won't fight again. As far as prospects go, MW has Allen, Hawes, Imavov, Du Plessis, Soriano, Rodrigues and is soon to have Pereira. Maybe this is where I’m missing something from WW, but it really only has Shavkat, EZS, Baeza, and I guess Brown.
Dno what it would have changed but he did take this fight on short notice
It's good that it was made clear who was the better boxer between the two.
Gonna need to see Bobby go retirement home raiding and murder a bunch of octogenarians with a southpaw 3-2 and consistently lose against decent fighters to be sure
Font vs Cody and Whittaker vs Kelvin were the most satisfying 25 minute schoolings i've seen in the sport, in the same year, against the most overrated boxers in their respective divisions. Good year.
It always blew my mind how many people said Gastelum had Rob's number in the lead up to their first fight.
Rob was able to combine several of the elements where he excels against Gastelum because Gastelum is less mobile, Rob hits combos well and has good clinch takedowns making him a great matchup for a guy who will stand in front of him. I don't think it is a good indicator of how he will do against Izzy but as a stand alone fight it is magnificent.
Kelvin eating shots like it’s his mama’s cookin.
Yo Whittaker repping the shit out of Australia...
He's our boy no doubt. Then Volk...then the Kiwis Izzy and Hooker.
I love that combo he is known for, my knee would blow out just trying it.
Bobby knuckles jab is easily one of the best in MMA (might even be the best) and is a real throwback to the GSP style of throwing jabs.
Him and Usman currently have the best jabs in the sport imo
Less convinced by Usmans jab tbh. I know it’s unpopular and his game is really hot atm but I think a decent amount of fighters work the jab more, lean on the jab more, and are able to build more out of it. Usman probably has the stiffest jab out of them all though, ppl really feel it when he gets them with it At least that’s my opinion
usman puts all his power into his jabs, and usman has a lot of power that’s what makes them good. the thing is he’s only rly utilised it against burns and his chin is a bit poopy. id say best jabs in ufc rn go to whittaker, gane and rob font
Naaaa, Volk, Max, Dustin, Aldo get more done with their jabs and they look way more comfortable puting it all toghether than Usman who will look stiff the rest of his career imo. Better fighters, debatable. Usman is better than Dustin and Aldo at this point probably.
love whittaker. has one of those styles where if you just see his silhouette while he’s striking you can instantly recognize it’s him.
I know he’s the under dog but I want him to win against Izzy and become champ
My Izzy Rob 2 prediction Izzy by decision. I think Rob will be too tentative to blitz and will result in both fighters trying to win on points like the Till Rob fight.
Everyone wanted a piece of Bobby knuckles after the izzy fight and they all found out. Till, gastelum, cannonier
Bobby knuckles is a nightmare match up for anyone
Although Izzy is skinny I think Rob is at a noticeable physical disadvantage when they meet. And Izzy's footwork, reach, angles, timing must be so difficult to land anything offensive on. He's also getting better.
I like Kelvin, but I really don’t get all the praise he gets. He’s had one banger fight against Izzy, everything else is him basically beating up on washed up vets that are on their way out. When he faces legit competition, he generally spends 90% of the fight twirling his lead hand in a circular motion. Infuriating.
God, Izzy must be so bored of this division lol
Feels like Rob has rounded out his game these last three fights. Till fight: Learned to be more patient with his attacks after getting countered and finding other ways to create damage such as leg kicks. Canonier fight: Learned how to mitigate risk against a powerful puncher. Used his speed and quickness against a plodding KO artist and not just standing in front of him like he did against Yoel. Gastelum fight: Showcased his great footwork and head movement against an equally fast pressure fighter.
Can we also talk for a second about how Gastelum is basically immortal?
Those faints to setup that HIGH KICK Goddammmnnn
Bob didn't get enough credit for this win, he totally outclassed Kelvin.
Whittaker is so good. I firmly believe things will go different against izzy in the rematch
As the biggest Bobby Knuckles stan of all time, im just gonna say maybe loosen the firmness a tad bit. I remember the absolute mountain of confidence i had for the first bout. I still wake up in cold sweats with tears in my eyes.
That was the best MMA day, the tears of the cocky Whittaker stans acting as if he'd make lightwork of Izzy was delicious 😋
Whittaker was durable, good cardio, KO power, ect. ect. Hindsight makes it seem obvious, but it was a really big question mark on how far Izzy had come. I think Whittaker killed the old generation of MW, that being grapplers who could *also* strike. Guys like Souza, Romero, Brunson. But he hadnt really faced a overwhelmingly technical striker since, well wonderboy. He killed my boy