Yan might have the best striking defence I’ve seen

[Marko Polo]

Can’t remember him getting caught with anything. I recall one time Sterling disguised a kick and threw it lightning fast but Yan raised his leg and checked it. He blocked everything. I guess in the smaller weight classes it can pay off to cover up in a boxing style of defence, but that doesn’t translate too well the higher up you go as fighters have enough power to just punch threw and around your guard with those smaller gloves.

Shame about the DQ. I actually thought “imagine if Yan just blows Sterling’s head off here with a knee” seconds before it happened, and then I see him ask the corner something and I thought he was asking “Should I?” Rather than “is it legal” because we’ve seen that Yan can be pretty nasty in his social media posts.

I think a fair outcome would have been a DQ but the belt becomes vacant, and then Yan and Sterling rematch for it. It’s not like Yan was getting beat and committed a foul out of desperation. He was winning the fight and looked like he was coming on strong while Aljo had slowed down.

 

[Minnja]

Yeah, Yan is very composed and for the most part has really good defense. But if Aljo could keep that pace of round 1 I can see him possibly stealing a decision. Even though Yan blocks a ton, we often see the more active aggressive fighter win decisions even if they weren't really landing too many clean. I was kind of more impressed with Aljo in the beginning for having that gameplan because I was not expecting it, but it does highlight a possible flaw of Yan. In typical Yan fashion he got stronger as the fight progressed but I do think he might need to address the possibility of simply being outpointed by a high volume fighter with great cardio and durability.

As far as the DQ, as bad as it was it was necessary imo. Anything other than the belt changing hands would set a bad precedent for a champion to "accidentally" do an illegal strike to possibly retain the belt or just as a final FU to the challenger. IIRC for unintentional fouls it would be a NC, or in some cases they score the fight up until the foul but I don't remember what determines the latter scenario. For intentional fouls they need to be as harsh as possible to not give any loophole for fuckery

 

[SeattleFightFan]

Ya his slips are the best I’ve seen since young Mousasi.

It’s that boxing training.

 

[DOMMA]

No doubt, he has great defensive boxing, never moves straight back and rarely gets hit flush. He also has an incredible chin, very hard to rock this guy.

 

[Fedor Emelianenko]

And New

 

[JustBleed69]

Can’t remember him getting caught with anything. I recall one time Sterling disguised a kick and threw it lightning fast but Yan raised his leg and checked it. He blocked everything. I guess in the smaller weight classes it can pay off to cover up in a boxing style of defence, but that doesn’t translate too well the higher up you go as fighters have enough power to just punch threw and around your guard with those smaller gloves.

Shame about the DQ. I actually thought “imagine if Yan just blows Sterling’s head off here with a knee” seconds before it happened, and then I see him ask the corner something and I thought he was asking “Should I?” Rather than “is it legal” because we’ve seen that Yan can be pretty nasty in his social media posts.

I think a fair outcome would have been a DQ but the belt becomes vacant, and then Yan and Sterling rematch for it. It’s not like Yan was getting beat and committed a foul out of desperation. He was winning the fight and looked like he was coming on strong while Aljo had slowed down.

Eh. He leaves his body and lead leg super exposed when he shells up.
No-one seems to have taken advantage of it quite yet though.

 

[SCTwins]

I knew this dude was gonna be a problem. I can't remember which fight it was, but I believe it was one of the Asia cards. He walked his opponent down without throwing anything, got right in his face and blocked or slipped a bunch of shots. Then when he got a tiny window he unloaded and finished the guy.

Seems like he sees mosy shots coming from a mile away.

 

[Tweak896]

People were sleeping on Yan, but he could've found a better way to win

 

[Askren’s chin]

The reliance on the high guard does leave his body exposed and sterling was able to land a few nice body shots. It is very good for keeping himself out of danger when coupled with his parrying and slips. It is good for conserving energy as his defence doesn’t rely on quick twitchy movements (unlike, for example Aldo, who also has good boxing defence). Plus his forward pressure makes it very hard for guys to sit down on their strikes making his defence even more effective.

 

[Johnny_Knuckles]

It's easy to say someone has got great striking defence when they just fought a gassed out wrestler winging spinning elbows. That said, that wrestler was also hitting yan a lot

 

[TheEG]

It's as if, and correct me if I'm wrong, that holding up a guard in MMA actually works and you don't have to just put up a guard to block kicks or move your head out of the way of punches.

Striking Defense in MMA is so bad at this point that when someone shells up, we immediately assume it's because they've been rocked, because for the overwhelming majority of fighters, the only time they'll ever put a guard up with both hands is when they're stunned.

 

[XDeathClutchX]

Yan is a very good fighter and well rounded.

I would like to see him fight Sandhagen soon. I think Sandhagen probably KO him but it should be a great fight either way.

Sucks he threw that illegal knee. I had the fight 2-2 and seems Yan was fresher for the 5th rd.

 

[BigDramaShow26]

All of these guys who grew up boxing are just levels above.