Breakdown of Donald Cerrone vs Eddie Alvarez at UFC 178

What reminds you the most about Muay Thai use in MMA? I think the most remembered moment is when Anderson Silva broke Rich Franklin's nose at UFC 64. Back then, there were fighters who still didn't know about the Thai clinch.

Today, no elite fighters are unaware of the Thai clinch, but Muay Thai is not only about clinching. Let's think about a fighter's style and how it incorporates Muay Thai.

At UFC 178, Donald Cerrone faced Eddie Alvarez in the co-main event. Alvarez had a shorter reach and his striking style relied heavily on boxing. Therefore, he needed to step in and out when striking.

Alvarez used that step-in movement well early on and he landed a high volume of punches in the clinch. He took the first round as a result, but don't forget that Cerrone had already started to punish Alvarez's body with knees.

Since Alvarez had to step forward when punching because of his reach disadvantage, Cerrone's knees worked well as counters.

In the second round, Cerrone's counterattacks with knees dealt more damage to Alvarez's body, and this damage left Alvarez unable to fight in the clinch.

When clinches did happen, Cerrone's knees stopped Alvarez from dirty boxing. When fighting from a distance, Cerrone's low kicks hurt Alvarez's leg and that slowed him down.

This made it easier for Cerrone to continuously attack Alvarez's leg. I also point out that Alvarez's step-in punches became ineffective with his leg damaged.

This fight was largely about which fighting length was better for each fighter. The competition mostly took place at a short length, and Cerrone held an advantage due to body and leg damage that allowed him to win.

          Cerrone talk about fight.


Muay Thai (and kickboxing) is about creating attacks from several different lengths and finding the most preferred and successful length in order to win a fight.

Cerrone's skill at doing this showed in his fight with Alvarez. He succeeded with Muay Thai without relying entirely on the Thai clinch, but rather by relying upon other important and lesser-known parts of Muay Thai.


We should think more about how fighters try to get better at using length and angles against each other.

Breakdown of Josh Thomson vs Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 7

When Josh "The Punk" Thomson knocked out Nate Diaz last year, I was really moved by the content of the fight. It was a totally strategic fight. Recently, when Diaz has lost, it has normally only happened when he is forced to grapple from the bottom. Thomson did not go that route, and instead he chose to strike and knocked Diaz out. It reminded me how Thomson himself was knocked out during his first UFC run by Yves Edwards (and his high kick), but in the fight with Diaz, Thomson used Diaz's reflexes against him to land his own high kick.

Let me provide a breakdown of that fight.

At first, Diaz was aiming to brawl with his hands from a comfortable distance. What Thomson did to counter that was to avoid fighting from that distance. He either kicked from far away or used clinch work in close. Another key tactic was Thomson’s decision to change stances, which made Diaz's reflexes slower. That made Thomson’s attacks more varied and gave Diaz more to worry about.

Also, Thomson’s clinching and shots forced Diaz to sprawl and that made Diaz's reflexes slower as well. Thomson landed a variety of kicks and even punches to the knee. He tried to avoid being predictable, and because of that, it was harder for Diaz to predict and anticipate high kicks. All of these things confused Diaz. In the end, he could not figure out what was coming next and he was unable to react in time with his blocking hand before Thomson’s high kick landed.

When Thomson was asked to describe his fight with Tatsuya Kawajiri, a question was posed as to whether he had become frustrated by Kawajiri’s ability to control the action on the ground. Thomson answered that he did not feel that Kawajiri had frustrated him, but rather that Kawajiri had succeeded at executing his strategy and that he had not. That ultimately cost Thomson the fight. There was no "what if?" scenario about Thomson’s opponent or about the fight after it had ended.

Now, when I think about Thomson’s fight with Diaz, it reminds me of his answer to the question about the Kawajiri bout. Thomson built a strategy and he detailed the skills and techniques that he needed in order to knock Diaz out. Most of the time, a fight isn't going to go exactly how one fighter imagined, but Thomson’s strategic movement and his striking and grappling skills were executed perfectly against Diaz. Before the fight, Thomson really broke down what Diaz had to offer him and he prepared a great game plan. That, along with Thomson’s past fight history and veteran mentality, made me feel that this was the most enjoyable strategic fight in recent times.



My checkpoints during the watching of the fight:

Round 1:
With 3:26 remaining, Thomson punches Diaz’s knee.

With 3:19 remaining, Thomson lands a high kick, but beforehand Diaz reacts to Thomson’s punch.

With 2:42 remaining, Thomson tries to initiate a clinch.

With 2:39 remaining, Thomson touches Diaz's arm and then lands a high kick (Diaz again reacts to Thomson’s hands).

With 1:33 remaining, Thomson tries strike when Diaz show back (which reminded me of how Edwards finished him). This indicates that he was not very worried about the risk of getting hit.

With 0:32 remaining, Thomson gets a takedown. With so little time left in the round, there was little risk of getting submitted.

Round 2:
With 3:28 remaining, Diaz takes Thomson down. Thomson is only focused on getting back to his feet and he does so.

With 1:37 remaining, Thomson shows high kick movements and then goes to a clinch.

With 1:29 remaining, the final head kick lands. Diaz tries to react to Thomson's hands, but he ducks into Thomson's high kick and is finished with punches soon after.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

Breakdown of Michael Chandler vs Rick Hawn at Bellator 85

When you looked at the Michael Chandler vs Rick Hawn matchup on paper, did you expect that much domination from one fighter?

Looking at the fighters' styles, Chandler is the quicker athlete while Hawn has more power in his hands. In the fight, Chandler pressured with strikes and takedowns before Hawn could get settled. Chandler's striking pressure and takedowns did not blend together quite as well when he fought Patricky Pitbull or Eddie Alvarez, but when he fought Hawn he completely avoided Hawn's jab by controlling the distance at all times.

There are critics who state that Chandler's hands are too low when he fights, but guarding is not the only way to avoid punches. When you control the distance, you can avoid strikes. Also, Chandler having his hands lower had the additional benefit that he could better watch out for Hawn's punches. Because Chandler controlled the distance, it meant that he did not have to be worried about Hawn's striking when he went for takedowns. Chandler had the best motions for takedowns because he did not get hindered by Hawn's striking.

 I've pointed out Chandler's changes, but I also want to point out that Alvarez changed his style against Shinya Aoki for a more distance-based fight in their rematch.

Of course, I am interested to see whether Alvarez can go to the UFC and have fights there, but the changes that both fighters have made will make up an interesting aspect of a Chandler-Alvarez rematch if it happens. Also, Aoki himself recently scored a victory with strikes that were mixed in with a takedown attempt.

The lightweight division is rapidly improving and has the most depth of any weight class in MMA.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent (from MMA Rising) for English editing.  

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.

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.

Breakdown of Escudero vs Miller at UFC 103 (with some Jordan Breen)

After UFC 103, HumungusMMA asked me on twitter about Efrain Escudero vs Cole Miller.

@shiroobi what did you think of Escudero's head movement? 1 foot away from all of Miller's punches.

Of course, Escudero avoided almost every strike by Miller. Escudero was very conscious of Miller's reach, and was able to move his head just off the end of Miller's hand when he struck.

@humungusMMA It's more about length matter I think because Escudero keep length Miller can't hit left jab,When Miller comin Escudero counter.

Cole Miller seemed to think he should be putting Escudero up against the cage, and cornering him with his reach, but in reality, Escudero didn't have any problems with being there, because he had enough space and head movement to stay off the end of his punches. Escudero's head movement allowed him to come forward, making Miller move back and reset his distance, so he could use his reach. However, because he couldn't strike as well he stepped back and reset, Escudero was able to counter.

When Escudero succeeded in countering Miller, he chased him to now allow Miller to regain distance and used his reach. Miller couldn't strike while going backwards, and Escudero kept coming forward, and knocked him out.

HumungusMMA, is this a better answer for you?

I run a site called "SKILL MMA", but regrettably, I haven't done much evaluation of skills in MMA. Hopefully this satisfies you, and you can understand why I run a site with such a name.

* * *

After wrote this, I asked Jordan Breen to brush up the English writing and asked his opinion.

Shiroobi: How you think about content? Is there any chance of improve or any fault?

Jordan: I like it a lot. The one thing I'd point out though is that the punch Escudero clobbered him with coming forward, he actually shortened the punch, which very few guys in MMA can do properly. Most guys would've thrown a lunging, retarded punch, and it would've flown over Miller's shoulder or something. Escudero shortened his right hand coming forward and smashed him right on the chin.

Jordan: Same way Kongo caught Cain coming in. Most guys can't cut their punches short and drive them like that, it's actually fairly high level stuff you don't get in MMA too much.

Jordan: Most MMA guys, running forward at an opponent, would've thrown their punch far forward, and it would've either completely missed, or not had any power on it because it would been an arm lunge.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English and giving a thoughtful view.