Dead angle (Breakdown of Stanislav Nedkov vs Luiz Cane at UFC Rio)

In MMA, people often evaluate skill by experience. But sometimes an immature fighter can beat a more mature, skilled opponent. How does that happen?

Last August at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Sengoku veteran Stanislav Nedkov knocked out Luiz Cane. Most people thought Cane’s superior striking would make the difference in the fight. But there is a dead angle, or a blind spot.

Nedkov uses mostly right hooks in his striking, which is his dominant hand. What he did against Cane was use mostly right hooks, followed by a left hook. Nedkov’s right hook comes from an angle which makes it hard to see.

Cane was basically looking to stand in a position far away from the right hook. He also had a reach advantage on Nedkov, so he could utilize footwork and a variety of strikes. But Nedkov was throwing when Cane stepped forward or tried to counter-strike.

With 62 seconds left in the first round, Cane thought Nedkov was damaged and stepped inside to a more high-risk position. Nedkov threw a right hook-left hook combination, both coming at a dead angle toward his opponent. This angle is especially important in MMA, where one shot in close quarters can be enough to finish with small gloves.

For this fight, Cane’s stance and positioning affected the finish. Nedkov watched his opponent and made a move; there is both risk and merit behind it. If a fighter can understand and identify the risk and merit, even an immature fighter can have a chance at an upset.

Why do fighters repeatedly drill the same striking combinations? Because reflex is faster than thinking. Having a go-to pattern can be useful in a tight situation; Nedkov successfully used his reflex against Cain’s strikes and countered with a combination.

For reference, if a fighter’s reflex and strategy goes to a higher level, more competitive standup “chess games” happen, like I wrote in the link below:

http://skillmma.blogspot.com/2011/11/breakdown-of-junior-dos-santos-vs-cain.html

In this fight, Cain Velasquez tried to counter with hooks when Junior dos Santos threw punches and moved back to a normal position.

When these things catch your eye, your joy in watching fights is certainly improved.

Big thanks to Chris Nelson  (Sherdog) for English editing.

Breakdown of Junior Dos Santos vs Cain Velasquez at UFC on FOX

The heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos ended so quickly that it disapponted some people. I, like many, think the UFC and Fox should have shown Guida-Henderson instead of 30 minutes of of hype. But, I don't understand why people think it's a total failure. If you look at the details of the fight, I think any MMA fan can still enjoy it, even if it was short.
 
Immediately, Dos Santos was superior in terms of speed to Velasquez, so, he didn't need to attack first. Dos Santos was able to react to Velasquez's attack and counter, instead. Moreover, dos Santos is great at using his back step to create an angle for his dominant right hand. He goes to the right side to set up that right hook, making it much harder to see.
 
Dos Santos throws a left hook with 4:22 remaining, and Velasquez answers with a left hook of his own. I think that movement made dos Santos try it again. At 4:18 remaining, dos Santos shows a left hook feint, then throws a right hook to the body, bringing the attention to Velasquez's torso.
 
Then, with 4:05 remaining, dos Santos throws a left jab, which I don't think he had any intention of landing. If you watch the replay at the end of the fight, it looks like he uses the jab to gauge Velasquez's movement. He expected Cain to answer with the left hook, and he was able to counter with his right hand. Look at the post-fight replay and watch the mechanics.
 
Short fights can still have plenty of rich MMA content if you really look.


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