Media Erin Blancfield: "Valentina's ground game is very, very basic"

[kalabula]

Ya but it’s very effective in the MMA sense. What else could matter? She’s not doing BJJ tournaments.

 

[Geniusss]

Personally I never thought Grasso would be a title contender. She isn't bad but she isn't really exceptional anywhere outside of her boxing. She might be a little underrated there but it is still not exceptional.

She is only a title contender because the champ needed a challenger to stay active while the big dogs of the division earn the title shot and recover from the injuries

 

[Pierced7681]

I can see what she means.

She has struggled to get out of certain positions. Nunes, Maia, and Santos have been able to control for entire rounds

Like while her grappling is functional in MMA, I doubt that she makes it to podium at any pure BJJ or wrestling competitions

I think fighters like Taila Santos, Tracy Cortez, Tatiana Suarez, Erin Blanchfield would all beat her on the ground

But good luck getting her to the ground

Valentina doesn’t train jiu jitsu, why would she enter a bjj tournament? She’s a black belt and master of sport in Judo. Probably trained sambo as well but I haven’t looked online to see if she has or not.

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]

Valentina doesn’t train jiu jitsu, why would she enter a bjj tournament?

It’s a hypothetical dude

 

[Shay Brennan]

She is out of her prime. She's 35.

She doesn't need to be in her prime though, to outstrike every FLW on the planet.
That's just how good her striking is.

 

[Substance Abuse]

She doesn't need to be in her prime though, to outstrike every FLW on the planet.
That's just how good her striking is.

I know, but fighters seemingly age overnight when you see them every six months and they're in their 30s.

 

[Shay Brennan]

I know, but fighters seemingly age overnight when you see them every six months and they're in their 30s.

I do think that Val doesn't fight enough. Only twice a year.
I don't know about now, but back when she won the belt she was so much better then the rest of the division, she probably could've fought more often.

 

[Pierced7681]

It’s a hypothetical dude

“Valentina wouldn’t medal in a martial art she doesn’t train” lmao no shit dude, way to state the obvious

 

[Lee_]

She is overstating the case is all.

Valentina is well-rounded, but not as advanced as Erin on the ground.

 

[HaulParris]

Erin Blanchfield now considers herself the de facto No. 1 contender in the women’s flyweight division, and she’s anxiously awaiting the next title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso at UFC 285.

Perhaps the most interesting part about her analysis is Shevchenko’s perceived weakness on the ground might play directly into what Blanchfield does best.

“Valentina, I don’t think it’s any secret her striking is very good,” Blanchfield explained. “Her Muay Thai is very crisp. She even has some decent body lock takedowns. But I think on the actual floor, her jiu-jitsu, it’s not bad. It’s just very, very basic."

“I don’t think she has many submissions. I don’t think she can get out of certain positions very well, like what we saw against Taila. I kind of think that’s where her game is the most basic and probably could use some improvement."

“I know I could fight with Valentina anywhere, but against anybody in the flyweight division, I know that my jiu-jitsu is better,” Blanchfield said. “I can finish anybody.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mm...ling-as-very-very-basic-could-use-improvement

I appreciate her enthusiasm.

 

[Kratos94]

Blancfield couldn't get Andrade down at all in the first and Shevchenko is very good at managing her distance. It will be another late finish/decision win for Shevchenko.

 

[SuperNerd]

At least from the captions in the OP Erin is pretty accurate.
Erin has a grappling advantage, and it's Val's weakest part of her game, it's pretty basic.
GSP was pretty basic everywhere.

She's right and that head and arm BS will not work on Erin.

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]

“Valentina wouldn’t medal in a martial art she doesn’t train” lmao no shit dude, way to state the obvious

First off it's not obvious to everyone. There are people who don't realize that Valentina isn't the best grappler in her division.

She does train BJJ as apart of MMA training.

The reason I put out the hypothetical is show that her grappling isn't as good other girls in the division who have won respectable grappling competitions.

 

[Pierced7681]

First off it's not obvious to everyone. There are people who don't realize that Valentina isn't the best grappler in her division.

She does train BJJ as apart of MMA training.

The reason I put out the hypothetical is show that her grappling isn't as good other girls in the division who have won respectable grappling competitions.

No she doesn’t train bjj. She’d kick the shit out of them all in a Judo tournament though, which is a grappling competition.

 

[m249viking]

It's mms girl so this or that doesn't matter as much as how it all comes together. Nunes doesn't have the best bjj either but good luck getting to the ground if she doesn't want to go

 

[JustBleed69]

At least from the captions in the OP Erin is pretty accurate.
Erin has a grappling advantage, and it's Val's weakest part of her game, it's pretty basic.
GSP was pretty basic everywhere.

Schev is good, but all of those chicks have horrendous grappling and Santos exposed some of those holes.

 

[duke_droese]

Shev should fight Erin, the Santos rematch and/or Weili.

After that I'd call it a career. No need to get smoked fighting younger ladies who she'd destroy in her prime.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

What do you guys think?
As a fun fact Valentina has taken every single one of her opponents down (we are talking about girls like Santos, Peña, Nunes, Holm, etc)

And most of her finishes have been on the ground (Andrade, Peña, Chookagian, etc)

I think that Shevchenko is arrogant in the extreme.

July 20. Nope.. No rematch for Taila that just beat me.

Read this boys, it’s hilarious..

https://www.mmafighting.com/platfor...e-thing-to-pretend-they-know-another-to-do-it

Nunes and Dana said they both want the the trilogy fight in the post presser on July 30, 2022.

Shevchenko ducked Amanda again.

Manon has knee surgey in early November. So on or about Dec 10-12. Shevchenko chose to call out Manon. What a clown.

So around January 9. Shevchenko says the UFC won’t find her fights. And says “Where are you girls”?

January 18, it’s announced rank 6 Grasso is next.

And now.. Erin talks too much. Already laying the groundwork to deny her the next TS.

Sorry fellas.. This is NOT happening. Not on my watch. I WON’T allow you to rewrite history.

Be honest or be quiet.

I wonder how many years it will take for some people to realize that challenging my memory by spewing bullshit is a REALLY BAD idea?

My ever expanding memory warehouse has room for every word Shevchenko, Ngannou, Jones and Dana say. Everybody else for that matter too.

 

[Emjay]

Cool story. Try your BJJ then without getting roundhouse kicked to the face.

All she has to do to avoid that is not spam right hands like she's playing a videogame.

 

[FIghtxIQ]

Definitely. It is safe to say that Valentina doesn't give out freebies in terms of getting hit. If she gets hit a lot against Grasso then she is getting old. Her sister has already slowly transitioned out of the sport.

Personally I never thought Grasso would be a title contender. She isn't bad but she isn't really exceptional anywhere outside of her boxing. She might be a little underrated there but it is still not exceptional.

If Valentina is getting hit that would be because of Grasso's boxing. She's one of the best boxers in wmma. Muay thai tends to have a weakness vs boxing based fighters that can check kicks. So Grasso has ways to win the striking exchanges.