Saturday, May 14, 2011

Breakdown of Morango vs Escudero at Tachi Palace Fights 9

I wrote about Efrain Escudero's knockout of Cole Miller on this blog. Read it if you haven't yet.

Breakdown of Escudero vs Miller at UFC 103

I recommend you watch Escudero-Miller, then watch Camoes-Escudero.

Fight Video of "Morango" Cameos vs Escudero by Sherdog

Escudero is waiting to counter Morango, and Morango notices it. So, he uses different strikes than Miller did. He uses hooks, compared to Miller's mostly straight punches. Why? It's harder to counter. It is harder to track the course of a hook. A cross is easier to watch and recognize once you recognize the distance.

Morango notices that when he strikes, Escudero aims to counter, so he went with hook combinations, clinched up, or stepped back after his strikes to end the exchange.

Morango was very aware of Escudero's game in other ways. He also forced clinches and went for takedowns early on, having success with both, as Escudero was so focused on counterpunching he couldn't respond. Escudero was always looking to counter, whereas Morango used punches to set up his takedowns. That made Escudero think about what Morango was doing, and slowed down his own attack.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen (write for Sherdog) for English and editing.