is Thompson a One Dimensional Fighter/Striker?

[Guestx]

so he becomes too tentative and gun shy. or, he's only able to be his 100% awesome self if his competition is not on his level.

it is fighting smart especially if his philosophy is based on the quote you posted earlier.

but he's not going to get the belt that way or hold on to it if he somehow does. and if he is getting paid 60k/60k like another poster mentioned in a different thread then he should really consider fighting for KK or RIZIN or Bellator

I thought he won the second fight with Woodley. It was very close but, like today, I thought he edged it out. This should've been his second title defense (a successful one, at that).

But the judges suck.

As for his career earnings, he hasn't been getting paid nearly as much as he should (outside of the Woodley fights):

http://thesportsdaily.com/2017/11/05/stephen-thompson-career-earnings-fox11/

 

[Deleted member 391673]

Saying he’s on a one dimensional striker is the stupidest thing I ever heard.he got amazing footwork,good boxing,great kicks,great countering,good precision and amazingly combo and blitz.
There’s a reason why he schooled Rory,masvidal,Hendricks and whittaker

wow. kudos to me for saying the stupidest thing you've ever heard. you're going full hyperbolic.

amazing footwork doesn't mean he's not 1-d.

good boxing? he's got good straights. i didn't see anything amazing boxing wise or any amazing combinations in this fight.

great kicks? lead-leg leg kick, back foot roundhouse - mostly to the body. some side kicks.

great countering? yes. and i give that credit, but it doesn't work if his opponent doesn't over-commit.

his blitz/combos are basically a straight punch blitz similar to what machida does. he never plants his feet down to throw anything heavy.

 

[Deleted member 391673]

I thought he won the second fight with Woodley. It was very close but, like today, I thought he edged it out. This should've been his second title defense (a successful one, at that).

But the judges suck.

As for his career earnings, he hasn't been getting paid nearly as much as he should (outside of the Woodley fights):

http://thesportsdaily.com/2017/11/05/stephen-thompson-career-earnings-fox11/

he probably would've won the 2nd woodly fight if he didn't get knocked down in the end, but it was an absolutely boring fight to watch.

edging out a decision on points without damage is a risky way to win and it backfired on him.

 

[3sumrock]

wow. kudos to me for saying the stupidest thing you've ever heard. you're going full hyperbolic.

amazing footwork doesn't mean he's not 1-d.

good boxing? he's got good straights. i didn't see anything amazing boxing wise or any amazing combinations in this fight.

great kicks? lead-leg leg kick, back foot roundhouse - mostly to the body. some side kicks.

great countering? yes. and i give that credit, but it doesn't work if his opponent doesn't over-commit.

his blitz/combos are basically a straight punch blitz similar to what machida does. he never plants his feet down to throw anything heavy.

So how’s he one dimensional again?you didn’t give a single reason.

 

[Deleted member 391673]

So how’s he one dimensional again?you didn’t give a single reason.

i did in my original post.

i consider him 1-dimensional because: no clinch, no takedowns, no submissions, no grappling offensive.

his striking is counter-striking with an occasional blitz, mostly straights, 3or4 different kicks.
no hooks, no elbows, no knees, no uppercuts, no rear-leg leg kicks.

sounds one dimensional to me

 

[Liquid Samurai]

i think so.

no clinch/cage work, no threat of takedowns, no ground game, no submission game.


what about as a striker?

again, i think so.


he shows absolutely no urgency. he expects all his opponents to come forward and waits for them to over-commit so he can counter, but when his opponent doesn't over-commit he doesn't change his approach at all.

his swarming/forward aggression consists of Jab,Straight,Jab,Straight or Straight,Jab,Straight,Jab.

he basically thew only lead-leg leg kicks and straights the whole fight.

no elbows, no front kicks, no knees, no hooks, no upper-cuts. i saw maybe one or two strikes to Till's body.

it's like playing a fighting game and using 5% of the characters moveset.


he needs to change-up his strategy. maybe not even change-up, but incorporate other strategies into his game.

I've commented in the past that he needs to focus intensely on his boxing technique for a while. Alot of his punches are thrown paw up,and he finishes square using little of his waist or shoulders to generate power, and as you said there's little to no variation in his attack with his hands. He creates good angles, and has great oppurtunities against opponents who are exposed to taking shots. If he had a polished boxing game such as Conor, he'd be finishing alot more of his fights.

 

[3sumrock]

i did in my original post.

i consider him 1-dimensional because: no clinch, no takedowns, no submissions, no grappling offensive.

his striking is counter-striking with an occasional blitz, mostly straights, 3or4 different kicks.
no hooks, no elbows, no knees, no uppercuts, no rear-leg leg kicks.

sounds one dimensional to me

That’s not even close to one dimensional if we talking about striking
You can say his boxing is little bit limited but that doesn’t mean he’s one dimensional

 

[1.11]

He should've gotten the decision today.

Winning on points is a valid way to win a fight and I thought he outpointed his opponent. Much of the fight was spent with Till standing around while Wonderboy was hitting him with kicks to the body and blitz attacks to the head and body. Occasionally Till would throw something and hit the air.

The only round I thought Till clearly won was the 5th. Thompson did more than enough to get the decision, I think.

P.S. Karate Combat. Not Karate Kombate.

Did you not read the judging criteria? Waving your hands in the air and shaking your head wins you the round in 2018.

 

[Deleted member 391673]

That’s not even close to one dimensional if we talking about striking
You can say his boxing is little bit limited but that doesn’t mean he’s one dimensional

how do you define one-dimensional? and what are some of your examples of 1-d fighters and/or strikers?

 

[Guestx]

he probably would've won the 2nd woodly fight if he didn't get knocked down in the end, but it was an absolutely boring fight to watch.

edging out a decision on points without damage is a risky way to win and it backfired on him.

I would love to see him go out there and knock everyone out. That would be great. But he's not going to get it every time and sometimes we're going to get a fight like we got today.

Maybe it's because I study karate myself, but I am enamored with his style. So many karate systems are built around the idea of hitting without getting hit, so Thompson's style entrances me. I feel like I'm in a literal trance watching him use his footwork, movement and blitz attacks to get in, strike and get out of range.

That's his game: Get in, strike, get out without getting countered. And I love watching it.

I am actually reminded of a quote from Bill Wallace a while back. As you probably know, Wallace was a champion kickboxer from the 70s with many KOs on his record. He said he never hit guys hard. He didn't load up on shots. Instead he would move and then throw techniques at the right time and guys would run into them and often times the result was a knockout.

I think Thompson's style is similar. He's not going to brawl with you. He's not going to swing for the fences. Instead, he's going to go out there and play a disciplined game and throw the right techniques at the right time. Sometimes the result is a knockout and sometimes it's not. But personally, I always enjoy watching it. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole 25 minutes with this fight.

 

[moreorless87]

To be fair when Thompson is really dominating a fight he does press his advantage putting away guys like Hendricks but closer matches against opponents who carry more threat he is definitely very defensive rarely committing to strikes much. You could at least say with Machida that whilst he was somewhat limited(did throw knees though) he did commit to his counters more, putting himself at more risk to potentially land fight ending shots.

One issue IMHO is that WW generally lagged behind in terms of striking talent until recently, lots of brawling wrestlers like Hendricks and Ellenberger.

 

[Guestx]

good boxing? he's got good straights. i didn't see anything amazing boxing wise or any amazing combinations in this fight.

He likes to do jab, cross, roundhouse. That's probably his premiere combo.

That's how be put Dan Stittgen away.

But I will agree he favors straight punches. Doesn't do a lot of hooks or uppercuts or throw many elbows.

That all goes back to his point fighting background. It's straight punches that score so that's what's ingrained into his muscle memory.

great kicks? lead-leg leg kick, back foot roundhouse - mostly to the body. some side kicks.

He's got some sweet spinning kicks, too.

i did in my original post.

i consider him 1-dimensional because: no clinch, no takedowns, no submissions, no grappling offensive.

He has good takedown defense, which shouldn't be overlooked.

We used to call that "wrestling in reverse." He's hard to get down.

 

[Brettco]

I can't stand fighters who can only lead OR counter. It's stupid.

Counter Mcucgregr

 

[BigDramaShow26]

He just won 4 rounds against the next UFC hype machine. I'd say hes pretty good.

 

[IIIIIIII]

They both had the same gameplan to sit back and counterstrike. It was a way better version of rashad vs. rogerio lol, which goes to show you how terrible that particular fight was haha.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Crazy nobody else has Matt Browned his ass since then. There is a way past the karate point style

 

[Guestx]

Crazy nobody else has Matt Browned his ass since then. There is a way past the karate point style

Only thing he had to do to avoid that happening a second time was improve his TDD, which he did.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Only think he had to do to avoid that happening a second time was improve his TDD, which he did.

Yea youre right

I think somebody with forward pressure, good boxing, and brutal leg kicks gets it done a la’ the Shogun/Machida fights. Chop the front leg to holy hell.

 

[rjmbrd]

Crazy nobody else has Matt Browned his ass since then. There is a way past the karate point style

It's not crazy, Hendricks and Berger are both excellent MMA adapted wrestlers, and had nothing for him when they attempted take downs.

Thompson's main training partner became Chris Weidman after the Brown fight, and he's spent years developing his counter wrestling. If guys could get him down, they would. He's just very hard to take down now and may kick your face in on your way in.

Woodley was able to secure a really solid take down in their first fight, but he's a freak athlete with explosive timing that few can match.

 

[Guestx]

Yea youre right

I think somebody with forward pressure, good boxing, and brutal leg kicks gets it done a la’ the Shogun/Machida fights. Chop the front leg to holy hell.

I guess it's one thing to say it, another thing to do it.