Shogun is such an under rated counter puncher. 1 of the best counter punchers in LHW history IMO

[PROlogic]

A lot of Shogun's finishes were either counter punch KOs or a counter punch that hurt his opponent and lead to the finish

Cross counter over Machida's left

As Forrest takes his head off the center line and leads with a right straight, Shogun dips to his left slipping outside of the right while countering with his right.

That's what hurt Forrest and started it all.

All though, if Shogun's counter right were a little more straight, compact, and a little more accurate over the chin, then that would've either dropped Forrest or put him out right there.

Still a beautifully timed counter right, but it couldve been cleaner with better technique and better accuracy

However as we will go on to see, Shogun has continually been improving his boxing skill - and is still improving his boxing to this day. Shogun today is a much better more skilled boxer then at any previous point in his career


This one is just devastating

Shogun counters Te Huna's lead lead uppercut with a check hook counter.


Now this is just awesome right here and is the embodiment of all the improvements Shogun has made to his boxing over the years - and shows where he's at right now with his much improved slick boxing

Pay attention to Shogun's footwork

Steps back, makes the left fall short/kind of parries it

Steps back, knows his range, right hand in position, plants, shoulder in leans away and pull counters, unloading the counter right as Villante is coming into it

That was just fucking beautiful boxing skill from Shogun

Here it is from another angle to appreciate

Again what leads to the finish is Shogun hurting his opponent with a counter

*The story of the fight was Shogun continually countering Village's jabs with overhands and straights

Shogun's countering has now became a larger staple of his game (with much improved footwork - plus the fact he is always fienting now too to either off set, disguise his entries, set up etc )

Shogun today is better, slicker, smarter, more skilled then he has ever been

 

[PROlogic]

Every one thinks Volkan is just going to run through Shogun.

When he's trying to walk down behind his jab and work off his jab, those will be countless countering opportunities for Shogun right there (he destroyed Villante countering off his jab)

Volkan is a great combination puncher, but Shogun can now do a great job of avoiding/covering up and countering inbetween shots/combos

If Volkan chases Shogun like he does every one else, Shogun can absolutely get Volkan coming into a counter

This is just as much a dangerous fight for Volkan (if Shogun is on point, disciplined, and ready)

I understand why people sleep on Shogun.

Before this winning streak he was very inconsistent,

But when Shogun is on - he's on, and especially now since he's improved his boxing to a level that it was never at before

Thats the reason why Shogun is on this 4 fight winning streak.

Because he made a genuine effort to evolve his game and he dramatically improved everything about his boxing, from his footwork, to utilizing his jab/working behind his jab to cover ground, to feinting opponents out, to his defense etc

War Shogun baby!

2018/2019 Shogun champion again warwagon campaign. I BELIEVE

 

[xMaxPower]

nice analysis.

Definitely betting on Shogun. He's like a +300 underdog.
I believe this is a 50/50 fight. I give Volkan a slight edge on the feet because his hand speed and power appear to be better, but shoguns counter ability is a little bit better. Shogun has the option of taking it to the ground also.

 

[AngryPorto]

There's no way in Saint's Fuck that he's gonna be champion again but I do agree that he's still very dangerous, not an easy matchup for anyone, especially up-and-comers.

 

[PROlogic]

Shogun is great at fighting on his back foot or when fighting an opponent who leads

Shogun's biggest weakness has actually been when he's forced to lead or when he's forced to cover distance


Shogun improved on that greatly

You may ask how Shogun accomplished this?

Simple

Before Shogun would just rely on kicks to set up his punches - and would often just try to lunge in on opponents who would already be damaged or off set by the kicks

Once Shogun stopped kicking, with his limited boxing at that time, it just became very difficult for Shogun to safely cover distance/work his combinations, set up his heavy punches

Thats why at that time, Shogun was terrible without his kicks

Shogun realizing that he could no longer kick, started working on his core boxing to compensate

Thats what Shogun changed to remedy that, and is what allowed Shogun to go on this current winning streak


Shogun went back to the basics and simply improved his fundamental boxing

Now Shogun fients to disguise his intentions, will jab repeatedly to off set opponents/find his range and cover ground defensively responsible/set up his punches

Shogun has always been good at timing counters but now he's great at countering - and with making countering a more active part of his game

Shogun Improved his footwork dramatically too in now being able to take the right subtle steps to be just in position to land or just out of position

Shogun is so much better now then he has ever been

Simply Improving his TDD, footwork, and boxing has taken Shogun a long way

There's still a lot of fighting and learning left in Shogun

 

[PROlogic]

nice analysis.

Definitely betting on Shogun. He's like a +300 underdog.
I believe this is a 50/50 fight. I give Volkan a slight edge on the feet because his hand speed and power appear to be better, but shoguns counter ability is a little bit better. Shogun has the option of taking it to the ground also.

Shogun's countering is wayyy better

But yes that's another huge factor as well

The ground game.

I know DC is a great wrestler and all, but Volkan didnt even know how to defend off his back

It was an absolutely pathetic display of BJJ

There are white belts who would've been able to defend better

If Shogun can get it to the ground, Volkan is fucked

I can picture it being like Shogun's fights against Overeem

 

[TheScorpionDude]

A lot of Shogun's finishes were either counter punch KOs or a counter punch that hurt his opponent and lead to the finish

Cross counter over Machida's left

As Forrest takes his head off the center line and leads with a right straight, Shogun dips to his left slipping outside of the right while countering with his right.

That's what hurt Forrest and started it all.

All though, if Shogun's counter right were a little more straight, compact, and a little more accurate over the chin, then that would've either dropped Forrest or put him out right there.

Still a beautifully timed counter right, but it couldve been cleaner with better technique and better accuracy

However as we will go on to see, Shogun has continually been improving his boxing skill - and is still improving his boxing to this day. Shogun today is a much better more skilled boxer then at any previous point in his career


This one is just devastating

Shogun counters Te Huna's lead lead uppercut with a check hook counter.


Now this is just awesome right here and is the embodiment of all the improvements Shogun has made to his boxing over the years - and shows where he's at right now with his much improved slick boxing

Pay attention to Shogun's footwork

Steps back, makes the left fall short/kind of parries it

Steps back, knows his range, right hand in position, plants, shoulder in leans away and pull counters, unloading the counter right as Villante is coming into it

That was just fucking beautiful boxing skill from Shogun

Here it is from another angle to appreciate

Again what leads to the finish is Shogun hurting his opponent with a counter

*The story of the fight was Shogun continually countering Village's jabs with overhands and straights

Shogun's countering has now became a larger staple of his game (with much improved footwork - plus the fact he is always fienting now too to either off set, disguise his entries, set up etc )

Shogun today is better, slicker, smarter, more skilled then he has ever been

I wouldn't say he's a counter puncher. He's just someone that capitalized in some good counter punching situations.

But If there's anything nice anyone wants to say about Shogun I'm here to support it

WAR SHOGUN!

 

[whooty]

I see Shogun beating Volkan if he can avoid getting clipped early.

However there's a snowball's chance in hell that he beats either Gustafsson or Cormier imo.

 

[Liquidskies]

 

[moreorless87]

Shogun did definitely switch some of his emphasis between his Pride run and his UFC run, I mean he was always dangerous standing but a lot of his success was based on his grappling where as UFC Shogun worked more on his boxing.

The third ACL injury clearly had a massive effect on him though, vs Chuck and Machida so much of his success was ability agility being able to race forward or backward as needed where as by the time he was fighting Hendo he became far slower and its only gotten worse since.

No way on earth is he as good today as he was in 09/10, its more the LHW division is dying on its ass with guys like Corey Anderson and Gian Villante being pushed as prospects who wouldn't have been top 20 a decade ago.

 

[BlkBeltJones]

Good point.

Would be sweet if he could pull out the KO against Volkan (Even though I like him a tad bit more AFTER his loss to DC)

 

[Philtard]

Shogun is a brawler. He's nowhere near a decent counter puncher.

Damn standards have dropped.

 

[Boomb]

I always liked Shogun.

 

[ChoKuRei]

Always loved that left hook KO he landed against Te Huna. Shogun has one of the best mma careers ever IMO

 

[pinkybrief]

pillow hands

 

[hot carl]

Shogun wings a few haymakers that happen to kind of land, and here we are heralding him as a counter punching legend.

Sherdog gonna Sherdog

 

[CrimsonFan]

Shoguns boxing was honestly pretty bad in pride. He won fights just by being athletic and having really powerful kicks and stamina for days.

Ive been really impressed with his improvment in that area recently. Its basically why hes still relevant. He knows he cant kick anymore so he improved his boxing and TDD.

Now hes one of the better boxers at 205.
And hes got alot of power and tons of experience. I actually think hes still really good. His chin is his biggest enemy

 

[UL]

shogun is the goat

he'd ko prime fedor too

 

[Bubblun]

Remember when Roach said Shogun punched like a girl before training with him?

"It's funny, when we first started working together [Rua] wasn't punching really hard because he didn't have his balance and his feet under him, and I told him he punched like a girl. The last day he said, ‘Freddie, can I ask you a question? Do I punch like a boy now?' I said, ‘Yes, you do.' He's really fun guy to be around and a really hard worker. We had a really good time."

"He didn't have his feet under him. He wasn't pivoting off the right foot at the right time," Roach explained. "The thing about striking is having weight on the right foot at the right time, and driving off that foot. He was more or less just using his upper body, which is okay. But if you get your whole body behind your shot, it's just much, much better."

"He went from an okay puncher to a great puncher in less than a week. He picks up on things very quickly because of the athlete he is. It was like night and day, when he started to when he left. He really, really had a lot more power under his shots. But the thing is, he has to sit down with his shots a little bit more. Sometimes it's a little bit harder with MMA because of the aspect of being kicked at the same time, but it did work for him. When we worked off angles it worked really, really well. I was really happy with the progress."

 

[NaughtyBoy]

pillow hands

You try to be funny ?