UFC 156 - Five Friday Questions- ANSWERED

1.  WILL FRANKIE'S NORMAL SPEED ADVANTAGE BE NULLIFIED BY DROPPING DOWN IN THE FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION?
Yes.  Normally, Frankie jumps in and out, lands some punches and takes very little damage.  Aldo's job stopped him repeatedly, as did his signature leg kicks that reduced his mobility.


2.  WILL ALDO GET TAKEN DOWN?
No.  Well, once.  But wrestling played a very small role in this fight, outside of the single take down in the later rounds.  The bigger factor was Edgar's cardio which started turning the fight around in the later rounds, but not soon enough.


3.  CAN NOGUEIRA NEUTRALIZE RASHAD EVANS'S TAKEDOWNS?
Yes.  Nogueira fought off one take down attempt and for the rest of the fight Evans tried to out-quick Nogueira in the striking department.  The last two opponents to beat Nogueira relied on their wrestling to neutralize his high-level boxing skills.  Evans fight tactics puzzled most observers and cost him only his third loss in the Octagon.


4.  WILL BIGFOOT ESCAPE THE FIRST ROUND WITHOUT GETTING KNOCKED OUT?
Not only did he escape the first round, but he also escaped the second round and then knocked out Overeem in the third.  Part of this can be blamed on Overeem overconfidence in his own abilities and his disdain for Silva's speed and fighting technique.


5.  WILL DEMIAN MAIA SUBMIT FITCH IF HE GETS POSITION?
No, but Maia controlled the entire fight from the ground.  The former middleweight and much larger Maia took Fitch down at will.  Fitch fought off relentless submission attempts the entire fight and in the process generated zero offense of his own

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UFC 160: Five Friday Questions

Image
1.  CAN SILVA AVOID THE GROUND? In their last meeting, Bigfoot Silva threw a low kick, Cain Velasquez quickly caught the kick, took Silva to the ground and dominated him from there.  Since that time, Silva admitted he made a mistake in his approach with Cain, but does that mean he won't throw kicks?  Is he practicing his takedown defense?  Cain is not only the fastest heavyweight but also the best wrestler, Cormier notwithstanding.  On his feet, Cain has been wobbled and his only loss came when Junior Dos Santos caught him in a stand-up exchange.  Silva might also hope to gas him out like he did with Alistair Overeem before he put him away, but Cain also possesses the best cardio in the division.  Still, anything is better than fighting Cain on the ground. 2.  WILL JUNIOR DOS SANTOS TAKE THE FIGHT TO THE GROUND? Dos Santos can outbox pretty much anyone in his division but any fighter who tries to stand with Hunt may land a few successfully, ...
Read more

UFC 159: Jones vs. Sonnen

Why bother, it seems, with Jon "Bones" Jones holding an edge over Chael Sonnen in every conceivable area the fight could rumble through. Striking?  Only Lyoto Machida, master of accuracy and speed, has come close to outstriking him and that was in the first round. Submissions?  Jones has submitted the last two BJJ black belts he's faced. Physicals?  Jones has the longest reach in any division and is the second tallest light heavyweight. Wrestling?  That just so happens to be Chael's biggest strength.  And Jones's. So what happens when Chael tries to pressure Jones with takedowns?  He'll need to threaten Jones with his own strikes to open up an opportunity for a takedown, but if he dares tread there he'll face Jones's UFC-best reach, elbows, oblique kicks and side kicks.  Clinch and you enter the elbow zone.  Kick and you find yourself on your back and again in the dreaded elbow zone.  A Sonnen victory would be a bigger upset than Ma...
Read more

UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva 2

Image
Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez walked through Antonio Silva like a paper finish line when they first fought one year ago.  Velasquez took Silva down early in the fight and finished him on the ground,  taking almost zero damage.  Coming into this fight we can only wonder if anything will change. Since their last meeting, Silva plastered both Travis Browne and heavily-favored former K-1 champ Alistair Overeem on their feet.  Neither of them threatened to take him to the ground, whereas the heavyweight champion wields the best MMA wrestling in his division and drags everyone down into his domain.  In reclaiming his throne, the constant threat of takedowns and actual attempts rattled former champion and boxing wunderkind Junior Dos Santos to the point it was Velasquez who landed the most significant strikes.  Silva must defend those takedowns or try to catch him much in the way Junior Dos Santos did in handing Velasquez his first loss. While Silva's...
Read more