- Joined
- Jun 13, 2009
- Messages
- 45,914
- Reaction score
- 102,104
This is my opinion and thoughts after having some time to process the event.
Max Holloway faced a guy last night that takes a very different approach then he does. Max Holloway is essentially going to do the same thing every fight. Like a Jon Jones, or gsp. He is what he is and he is gonna make it his fight and force you to figure it out. Volkanovski adapts. He changes his gameplan significantly fight to fight and tailors it to the guy he’s facing. I think the valuable lesson for max is that he needs a better plan B. We’ve never really seen him beaten on the feet, so he’s never had to engage in grappling as the basis for his gameplan, but I think it was obvious he need to try clinching and using his height in the clinch last night. Get in dirty and take away that space for volk to sit back and hit those legs.
He didn’t adjust mid fight, so he lost. Max is a guy that has all the tools to win that volk fight, but he just did not adapt. Instead of adapting with offense he switches stances, but that doesn’t solve the problem it only prolongs it.
Colby came in as he always does pressuring. Hard, fast and all at once he appeared to be winning early in the night. In fact, I’d argue round 1 was his best. Now Kamaru is staying cool, staying calm and picking shots. More or less matching the pace but hitting the body more and landing those long, loaded up straights and jabs. In round it became apparent (in my opinion) that Colby was getting caught on his way in. Usman was timing the entry and punishing him. Now, colby sticks with it for all 25 minutes, and in my opinion the longer it went on the worse he looked. The scoring comes down to how early do you think usman took control.
Normally when you’re getting beat with technical striking you adapt. There was no clinch. No takedowns. No feints. I’m shocked that Colby, once he stalls in r3 doesn’t swarm usman and follow with grappling. I’m not sure if he believed he was winning, but the dudes got a broken jaw and doesn’t even try to get away from that jab. I think Colby needed to get away from his gameplan and try to SLOW THE FIGHT DOWN. Because simply put, he was too beat up to continue pushing the pace for a win.
Max Holloway faced a guy last night that takes a very different approach then he does. Max Holloway is essentially going to do the same thing every fight. Like a Jon Jones, or gsp. He is what he is and he is gonna make it his fight and force you to figure it out. Volkanovski adapts. He changes his gameplan significantly fight to fight and tailors it to the guy he’s facing. I think the valuable lesson for max is that he needs a better plan B. We’ve never really seen him beaten on the feet, so he’s never had to engage in grappling as the basis for his gameplan, but I think it was obvious he need to try clinching and using his height in the clinch last night. Get in dirty and take away that space for volk to sit back and hit those legs.
He didn’t adjust mid fight, so he lost. Max is a guy that has all the tools to win that volk fight, but he just did not adapt. Instead of adapting with offense he switches stances, but that doesn’t solve the problem it only prolongs it.
Colby came in as he always does pressuring. Hard, fast and all at once he appeared to be winning early in the night. In fact, I’d argue round 1 was his best. Now Kamaru is staying cool, staying calm and picking shots. More or less matching the pace but hitting the body more and landing those long, loaded up straights and jabs. In round it became apparent (in my opinion) that Colby was getting caught on his way in. Usman was timing the entry and punishing him. Now, colby sticks with it for all 25 minutes, and in my opinion the longer it went on the worse he looked. The scoring comes down to how early do you think usman took control.
Normally when you’re getting beat with technical striking you adapt. There was no clinch. No takedowns. No feints. I’m shocked that Colby, once he stalls in r3 doesn’t swarm usman and follow with grappling. I’m not sure if he believed he was winning, but the dudes got a broken jaw and doesn’t even try to get away from that jab. I think Colby needed to get away from his gameplan and try to SLOW THE FIGHT DOWN. Because simply put, he was too beat up to continue pushing the pace for a win.