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Got KO'ed in his last UFC fight against Hooker, and has since been KO'ed by Tanaka and Takaya in Pancrase.
Hatsu Hioki needs to hang it up
- Thread starter EndlessCritic
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Yea he is getting put out on a more regular basis. Getting caught with vicious shots. I seen the other 2 kos they were bad. Curious too see how bad the streetfight Bancho took him out last night Takaya is the man
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That was fucking awesome. Takaya eating a few to come back with that big overhand and follow up punches at the bell. Thanks for posting that.
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Worth checking out the other finishes, some great ones on the card
Shot a tooth into the crowd and everything
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I don't think getting knocked out by guys with knockout power is necessarily career-endingly bad.
He may wanna clean up his hook-game if he's really determined to make them a powerful part of his style, though, otherwise he'd be better off using his dancer's legs to focus on landing front-kicks like he did a lot in the past. He has a lot of potential with hooks-- rocking Takaya as simply as he did is a testament to that, and with his 70" wingspan on his almost-6'0 frame, hooks would suit him way better than focusing on jabs would. But the fact that he got knocked out the same way twice in a row as he was throwing a hook [hooks were also a big part of his strategy against Dan Hooker, but he didn't have many other real effective ways to use 'em aside from the bob-hook combo, and once Hooker realized that the fight started to change] shows he has a lot of things to adapt still. A lot of muscle-memory with specific skills he's spent years developing that he has to attune to the style necessities that come with throwing hooks regularly and effectively.
Keeping his guard up mid-combination would be a good place to start. A lot of fighters in MMA drop their hands after they throw a punch or as they throw combinations (Cody Garbrandt does it in just about every highlight-reel moment he has), so doing this isn't really like a reprehensible sin at all, but, even though it's difficult to learn completely, it'd really help out Hioki if he wants to focus more on hooks. A lot of guys who are known for having great hooks have a tendency to have pretty disciplined guards for this exact reason.
Doing some of those Lethwei neck exercises to toughen up his durability may also help him out. His neck and traps could be a lot thicker and the connection between a thick neck and having a tendency to be more durable is pretty well-established, and Lethwei guys swear by that stuff, and they're the toughest guys in all of legal combat sports.
He may wanna clean up his hook-game if he's really determined to make them a powerful part of his style, though, otherwise he'd be better off using his dancer's legs to focus on landing front-kicks like he did a lot in the past. He has a lot of potential with hooks-- rocking Takaya as simply as he did is a testament to that, and with his 70" wingspan on his almost-6'0 frame, hooks would suit him way better than focusing on jabs would. But the fact that he got knocked out the same way twice in a row as he was throwing a hook [hooks were also a big part of his strategy against Dan Hooker, but he didn't have many other real effective ways to use 'em aside from the bob-hook combo, and once Hooker realized that the fight started to change] shows he has a lot of things to adapt still. A lot of muscle-memory with specific skills he's spent years developing that he has to attune to the style necessities that come with throwing hooks regularly and effectively.
Keeping his guard up mid-combination would be a good place to start. A lot of fighters in MMA drop their hands after they throw a punch or as they throw combinations (Cody Garbrandt does it in just about every highlight-reel moment he has), so doing this isn't really like a reprehensible sin at all, but, even though it's difficult to learn completely, it'd really help out Hioki if he wants to focus more on hooks. A lot of guys who are known for having great hooks have a tendency to have pretty disciplined guards for this exact reason.
Doing some of those Lethwei neck exercises to toughen up his durability may also help him out. His neck and traps could be a lot thicker and the connection between a thick neck and having a tendency to be more durable is pretty well-established, and Lethwei guys swear by that stuff, and they're the toughest guys in all of legal combat sports.
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You joke, but before his UFC debut people were genuinely touting him as the #2 or 3 FW in the world.
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I remember people claiming he was going to take out Aldo some years back. Then he flopped in the UFC.
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Didn't see the fight but he lost a UD
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Man, takaya was about to get ktfo. Nice comeback ko from takaya. Dude got hands and power. Hioki is still the shit but seems like his chin isn't up there anymore since the Dan hooker fight. He was fucking up dan hooker to until the headkick.
Takaya was not about to be KO’d. Takaya was back peddling and rolling with punches trying to reset for better defense and offense. Hioki overestimated Takaya damage, he was not dazed so could counter. It was a risk inherent in fighting. Takaya is mainly a striker with TDD. Hioki should have setup a take down vs brawling with Takaya, who has shown good ability to trade punches and come out on top.
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I hate to say it, but Hioki looks past it. He's definitely not the same guy who ate shots from Omigawa and Marlon Sandro.
Unfortunately, he will be remembered, by many, for underperforming and getting old in the UFC.
Unfortunately, he will be remembered, by many, for underperforming and getting old in the UFC.
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i was one of those guys....
really thought Hioki was the guy to dethrone Aldo. especially after Hioki dominated Marlon Sandro in Sengoku.
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I don't think Hioki's as passed it as Caol Uno was at the start of 2013-- 38 years old, 2-7-1 over his last 10 fights in 5 years years, growing less and less competitive in defeat as the losses progressed, had to resort to fighting a 1-0 Korean to get a victory. But he ended going on a very impressive 6-fight winning streak, including a (people forget about this) big upset over the explosive TAM fighter Daniel Romero, who was just coming off a first-round knockout over Takaya.
The fact that Hioki's 34 automatically leaves him in a better position than that. And as long as he continues to adapt his style to a hooking-based striking game, he could end up going on a very impressive improvement curve and winning streak.
He's also started up a gym (StArt Japan, check it out if you're in the area: https://www.instagram.com/startjapan/ https://www.startmma.com), so he really can't retire just yet. Gyms starting out like that are built around the gym's leader fighting and winning fights to draw attention (and students, with their money) to it until it builds up enough of a base to survive on its own. Retiring right now is putting the gym at a great risk of going under; it's key marketing strategy is gone. If Hioki doesn't want to retire anyways (which's probably the case), that just gives him extra incentive.
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