Better late than never: Rockhold's Problem

He' ll have to adapt current Overeem style of fight.... cautious and defensive and pick his spots offensively
 
He needs to tighten his defense, expand his kicking offense even further, and work on getting the takedown from the clinch. Use his kicks to get people to want to be on the inside, and then get them to the floor. A Jon Jones-esque gameplan, just without the boxing.
 
It seems like a mental problem— Luke just isn’t realistic about his strengths and weaknesses. He had a reach and kicking advantage over Yoel, but didn’t capitalize. Yoel had the clear speed advantage, so Luke’s best bet for success would’ve been to keep him at kicking range, wear him down with kicks, then get more aggressive with the clinch and power kicks after Yoel slowed down.

I have to believe that Hooft laid out a better strategy, including more varied strikes, than Luke used. For example, that check hook has become Luke’s go-to counter, and he continued to use it against Yoel despite little success. To begin with, it’s risky for a southpaw against a faster southpaw, because it requires you to pivot toward your opponent’s power hand. Luke used it enough so that it was just a matter of time before Yoel guessed right and caught him.

This. He relies on his check-hook waaay too much. It gets very predictable, especially since he leans back with his chin up while doing it.

Yes, and yes. The check hook has become a bit too predictable, and he didn't seem to have an efficient alternative set-up or counter move to keep the reactive strategy going and Yoel guessing. His striking game is actually quite rudimentary, lacking versatility. Yoel was a bit too mobile and low for Luke to find his range.
 
Mostly agree. Luke's not got the tools to be like Anderson. The right counter hook was his downfall as it missed and Yoel landed over the top with his power hand. Worked in SF against Jardine and others, and pressing forward to land a liver kick or a head kick, his best offensive weapons, worked against Costa, but require a heavier output against fighters who won't timidly back down towards the cage.

Yeah, Luke has a problem when he cannot impose his will and have someone back down. His entire game revolved around keeping his opponents at bay or backing up. Romero had none of it.
 
He needs to tighten his defense, expand his kicking offense even further, and work on getting the takedown from the clinch. Use his kicks to get people to want to be on the inside, and then get them to the floor. A Jon Jones-esque gameplan, just without the boxing.

This recipe is missing the secret ingredient that ultimately made it unstoppable.

Juicy-Juice.jpg
 
Rockhold went into the fight with Romero with a sound gameplan. Keep the range with the 1-2, throw the inside leg kick, circle and get out when Romero explodes. Wear him out progressively, and increase pressure accordingly.

The problem was that this strategy requires someone with very good lateral and head movement, someone quick and mobile. Like Whitaker. Rockhold is long and lanky, has good range, but his head movement and footwork is not particularly brisk. He is prone to getting hit more than usual.

Romero started to realize he could plow through the 1-2 combos, and started to connect more in round 2. Rockhold stayed in gameplan, hoping Romero would soon blow his wad before he could catch him. But Rockhold just wasn't quick enough. It was the right plan against Romero, just not the best for Rockhold to execute. He didn't make a mistake, he just came up short.

I think Rockhold is going through a similar problem to Weidman's: he forgot that he is a pressure first fighter, who dominates in top control and with pressure. He is not a reactive fighter, like Anderson, who can play defensively, since he doesn't take pressure well, and is not the most graceful in movement or reflexes. He needs to take a more aggressive approach, and get himself in the positions he needs to be.

it takes a high level of boxing experience and skill to be able to use head movement and lateral footwork,
very few mma fighters have that skill, certainly not rockhold, who is a well below average boxer
standing, rockhold has a long reach and a strong left kick, which is a great advantage as it is..
but other than that, he really has nothing else

a cruder, more basic defensive approach that he could emply is to
use his lead hand to keep distance, keep his chin down, or even use the clinch
 
I think that it's time for Rockhold to switch up his training or something. I'm all for him refining his striking but there comes a time when you have to take a step back and come to the realization that it's just not your strong suit in a particular fight. I mean Rockhold's original background is in BJJ but he just seems like another fighter who has forgotten where he may hold an advantage.

I may have honestly wanted to see a grapple heavy type of style to force Romero to carry his weight around for most of the fight.
In that position he's out of the way of Romeros heavy hands, he could potentially tire him out grinding against the cage, and if it happens that Romero eventually takes him down then he falls into the BBJ game of Rockhold. I realize that Romero is an olympic level wrestler, but I still think Rockhold would have had more of a chance with this scenario.

Worst case scenario, he would have gotten knocked out and be in the same position he's in right now, but at least he would have fought in his strong suit.
 
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Rockhold went into the fight with Romero with a sound gameplan. Keep the range with the 1-2, throw the inside leg kick, circle and get out when Romero explodes. Wear him out progressively, and increase pressure accordingly.

The problem was that this strategy requires someone with very good lateral and head movement, someone quick and mobile. Like Whitaker. Rockhold is long and lanky, has good range, but his head movement and footwork is not particularly brisk. He is prone to getting hit more than usual.

Romero started to realize he could plow through the 1-2 combos, and started to connect more in round 2. Rockhold stayed in gameplan, hoping Romero would soon blow his wad before he could catch him. But Rockhold just wasn't quick enough. It was the right plan against Romero, just not the best for Rockhold to execute. He didn't make a mistake, he just came up short.

I think Rockhold is going through a similar problem to Weidman's: he forgot that he is a pressure first fighter, who dominates in top control and with pressure. He is not a reactive fighter, like Anderson, who can play defensively, since he doesn't take pressure well, and is not the most graceful in movement or reflexes. He needs to take a more aggressive approach, and get himself in the positions he needs to be.


Great analysis..i think he fought great just like you pointed out .. very few fighters would of done much better with their back agaisnt the cage and romero pressing with "special" strength and stamina at 40. Rockhold has always been a gnp specialist he needs to get back to this, whether at 185 or 205.
 
Rockhold went into the fight with Romero with a sound gameplan. Keep the range with the 1-2, throw the inside leg kick, circle and get out when Romero explodes. Wear him out progressively, and increase pressure accordingly.

The problem was that this strategy requires someone with very good lateral and head movement, someone quick and mobile. Like Whitaker. Rockhold is long and lanky, has good range, but his head movement and footwork is not particularly brisk. He is prone to getting hit more than usual.

Romero started to realize he could plow through the 1-2 combos, and started to connect more in round 2. Rockhold stayed in gameplan, hoping Romero would soon blow his wad before he could catch him. But Rockhold just wasn't quick enough. It was the right plan against Romero, just not the best for Rockhold to execute. He didn't make a mistake, he just came up short.

I think Rockhold is going through a similar problem to Weidman's: he forgot that he is a pressure first fighter, who dominates in top control and with pressure. He is not a reactive fighter, like Anderson, who can play defensively, since he doesn't take pressure well, and is not the most graceful in movement or reflexes. He needs to take a more aggressive approach, and get himself in the positions he needs to be.
He fights a bit small. Logically speaking he is one of the biggest and tallest in the division. There is more of him to hit. Even a smaller faster Anderson had to learn to roll with the punches in his prime. He was really only matrixing at 205 and the worse strikers at 185.

There was that thread about him at 205 I think he should try it if he refuses to change how he fights.
 
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Rockhold doesn't handle pressure well at all, if his opponent goes for the clinch or stays on the outside he excels but in your face pressure and he just crumbles and this is something he doesn't seem to get at all
 
Rockhold went into the fight with Romero with a sound gameplan. Keep the range with the 1-2, throw the inside leg kick, circle and get out when Romero explodes. Wear him out progressively, and increase pressure accordingly.

The problem was that this strategy requires someone with very good lateral and head movement, someone quick and mobile. Like Whitaker. Rockhold is long and lanky, has good range, but his head movement and footwork is not particularly brisk. He is prone to getting hit more than usual.

Romero started to realize he could plow through the 1-2 combos, and started to connect more in round 2. Rockhold stayed in gameplan, hoping Romero would soon blow his wad before he could catch him. But Rockhold just wasn't quick enough. It was the right plan against Romero, just not the best for Rockhold to execute. He didn't make a mistake, he just came up short.

I think Rockhold is going through a similar problem to Weidman's: he forgot that he is a pressure first fighter, who dominates in top control and with pressure. He is not a reactive fighter, like Anderson, who can play defensively, since he doesn't take pressure well, and is not the most graceful in movement or reflexes. He needs to take a more aggressive approach, and get himself in the positions he needs to be.

First, he went for outside leg kicks not inside.

Secondly, Whittaker is not long and lanky like Rockhold.

Thirdly, he did make a mistake even to your accord. Lateral movement and headmovement right? What did he do when he got backed up to the cage? Made a mistake.
 
First, he went for outside leg kicks not inside.

Secondly, Whittaker is not long and lanky like Rockhold.

Thirdly, he did make a mistake even to your accord. Lateral movement and headmovement right? What did he do when he got backed up to the cage? Made a mistake.

How does it feel to be a pompous ass?
 
I have to believe that Hooft laid out a better strategy, including more varied strikes, than Luke used. For example, that check hook has become Luke’s go-to counter, and he continued to use it against Yoel despite little success. To begin with, it’s risky for a southpaw against a faster southpaw, because it requires you to pivot toward your opponent’s power hand. Luke used it enough so that it was just a matter of time before Yoel guessed right and caught him.

The problem for Luke is that Romero is surprisingly good at making reads, picking up on patterns, and then coming up with a solid plan for landing the KO sequence. Rockhold doesn't have enough depth in his striking game to keep Romero guessing and throw his aim & timing off. Luke can throw a bunch of different strikes but he always falls into a pattern at some point and he doesn't change the timing or way he throws each of his strikes; if you've seen one of his check hooks you've seen them all, seen a leg kick, seen them all, he throws them the same way every single time. Once Romero figured out the patterns & timing it was all over.

As for the check hook, it's actually pretty safe to throw it as long as you do it right. Watch Shevchenko vs. Holm, another southpaw vs. southpaw fight where Valentina pretty much won the fight with her check hook. When you watch her throw it, it's different every time, the timing changes as does the way she throws the punch. Sometimes it loops around on the outside, sometimes it goes inside, sometimes it's a same time counter, sometimes she waits a bit longer. And she pivots out to the side and dips away from incoming punches. It's a lot less predictable and far harder to time & counter than Rockhold's version.

 
Luke Rockhold. He's so hot right now. Rockhold.
 
The problem for Luke is that Romero is surprisingly good at making reads, picking up on patterns, and then coming up with a solid plan for landing the KO sequence. Rockhold doesn't have enough depth in his striking game to keep Romero guessing and throw his aim & timing off. Luke can throw a bunch of different strikes but he always falls into a pattern at some point and he doesn't change the timing or way he throws each of his strikes; if you've seen one of his check hooks you've seen them all, seen a leg kick, seen them all, he throws them the same way every single time. Once Romero figured out the patterns & timing it was all over.

True. My point was that Luke didn't seem to try to vary his strikes, though I'm sure a pro like Hooft had trained him to do so.

As for the check hook, it's actually pretty safe to throw it as long as you do it right. Watch Shevchenko vs. Holm, another southpaw vs. southpaw fight where Valentina pretty much won the fight with her check hook. When you watch her throw it, it's different every time, the timing changes as does the way she throws the punch. Sometimes it loops around on the outside, sometimes it goes inside, sometimes it's a same time counter, sometimes she waits a bit longer. And she pivots out to the side and dips away from incoming punches. It's a lot less predictable and far harder to time & counter than Rockhold's version.


Yes, nice gif. Not only did Valentina execute the check hook better than Luke, she did a better job of choosing when to use it. In all 3 of those sequences, she countered Holly's left hook, where the worst case is that she misses Holly but avoids being in a vulnerable spot.

Luke got hurt pretty bad in the 2nd throwing the check hook to counter a Romero blitz, then did the same thing in the 3rd and got KTFO. Romero was obviously faster, and simply guessed right about Luke throwing the hook. Romero throwing a double jab should've alerted Luke that a hard left would likely follow, so he should have tried to slip it before throwing the hook, or just put a nice front kick in his stomach like Whittaker. Poor Luke.
 
Luke got hurt pretty bad in the 2nd throwing the check hook to counter a Romero blitz, then did the same thing in the 3rd and got KTFO. Romero was obviously faster, and simply guessed right about Luke throwing the hook. Romero throwing a double jab should've alerted Luke that a hard left would likely follow, so he should have tried to slip it before throwing the hook, or just put a nice front kick in his stomach like Whittaker. Poor Luke.

I think Romero was waiting for the lazy hook. I was just watching the fight again and with about 3:45 to go in the 3rd round, Romero uses a double jab to back Rockhold into the fence. Luke doesn't counter and instead starts to circle away so Yoel doesn't pull the trigger on his left hand. A bit over 20 seconds later the same sequence repeats except this time Luke tries to throw back and gets plastered by Romero's left hand. IMO, Romero's ability to make reads and recognize patterns is seriously underestimated. Give him the same look a few times and you'll end up like Weidman or Rockhold.
 
Yet, he's afraid to get anyone in his face. He doesn't like getting hit, so he runs back and ducks and dodges. He would have better luck closing in and making it dirty. But Mr. PrettyFace don't like ugly fights.

It's not his style
 
trt vitor put a little crack in lukes chin. see him about to go to that check hook in this gif before he realizes its too late.

1SdC57A.gif



man that kick looked so good lukes buddy cain started doing em.
 
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