Ankalaev impressed me but his game worries me against guys like Prochazka

[trilla]

I think his arsenal is super impressive. Unlike his Dagestani counterparts he's great on his feet, but great in his Sambo as well. But seeing him get rocked by a striker lesser aggressive and reckless than someone like Prochazka has definitely got me worried. I don't think he can withstand a barrage like the one against Reyes, and if he doesn't utilize his wrestling more he could be in for a short night. What do you guys think?

 

[fortheo]

I think he'd use his wrestling more. He was in control of the santos fight for the vast majority of the fight, which is likely why he didn't wrestle more. With the way Jiri fights, I doubt ankalaev would feel in control and thus he'd likely mix the wrestling in.

Who knows, though. hopefully we get to see it play out this year.

 

[Grapplefest]

Jiri might be the easiest matchup for Ankalaev, he struggles more against guys that back up against the fence and don't press the action since he's a counter fighter, since Thiago just backed up against the fence and was scared as hell ankalaev couldn't finish him, with Jiri he'll be plodding forward all fight right to be hit by Ankalaev's precise counters

 

[Luvhawky]

I think he'd use his wrestling more. He was in control of the santos fight for the vast majority of the fight, which is likely why he didn't wrestle more. With the way Jiri fights, I doubt ankalaev would feel in control and thus he'd likely mix the wrestling in.

Who knows, though. hopefully we get to see it play out this year.

While he was in control the margin of control wasn’t that much. He won the fight decisively but it still wasn’t that impressive to me. But I think that is a function of how you view Santos in the division. I view him now as a solid gatekeeper and no longer a contender.

 

[Marko Polo]

I really don’t hold it against him getting rocked by that punch. It came from no where and there’s no way to anticipate something like that in a scramble. He recovered well enough

 

[BROWNPRIDE]

I don’t think anyone would withstand that barrage that Prochazka did on Reyes.

 

[MMAProfessional]

People sleeping on Glover. I think he has a decent chance tbh. Jiri gets touched but he could also run through Glover considering he gets hurt every fight pretty much.

 

[JonJonesNeedle]

I actually worry for Jiri if he fights against Magomed. Magomed is a great counterstriker with decent power and great grappling.

Of course Magomed vs Santos ended up being the classic counterstriker vs counterstriker type fight, aka a snoozefest. Magomed did get dropped, but Santos landed the heavy shot to behind the ear. Those kinda shots will mess up your equilibrium very bad.
And Santos is a guy who dropped the current champ in Glover, and KO'd the former champ in Jan. idk why it's such a bad thing to get dropped and then have a comeback win against a great LHW striker in Santos.

 

[Noraaq]

Santos is a tougher stylistic matchup for Ankalaev

 

[Pepy]

People sleeping on Glover. I think he has a decent chance tbh. Jiri gets touched but he could also run through Glover considering he gets hurt every fight pretty much.

Jiri is one of those fighters that get tagged a bit too much but have an interesting career until their chin cracks

 

[StonedLemur]

I think he'd use his wrestling more. He was in control of the santos fight for the vast majority of the fight, which is likely why he didn't wrestle more. With the way Jiri fights, I doubt ankalaev would feel in control and thus he'd likely mix the wrestling in.

Who knows, though. hopefully we get to see it play out this year.

This year would be fantastic.
Unfortunately I think Jiri is fighting for the title and then it'll be months if he wins or loses.

 

[RockyLockridge]

worried? jiri decaptiating him is a good thing for everyone. It's not like you'd actually root against jiri, would you? He's the most exciting LHW fighter since chuck Liddell

 

[M.U.S.C.L.E.]

Magomed stands too straight up. Glover rocks him, Jiri rocks him, even in-shape Reyes rocks him, the list goes on and on. Oh, and they take him down and pound him out.
Anklaev had Santos back up against the cage the entire fight and only threw 10 strikes per round.
Can you imagine the fear were he to face Khalil Rountree???

I think Anklaev's good, but were they to fight right now, Papa Jan would sleep him with his superior kickboxing. Again, I'm a fan, but I'll admit Anklaev's ground game is way overated.

 

[JKS]

A guy like Jiri who moves forward and is aggressive plays right into his game. Look what happened to Cutelaba.

 

[fortheo]

Whole he was in control the margin of control wasn’t that much. He won the fight decisively but it still wasn’t that impressive to me. But I think that is a function of how you view Santos in the division. I view him now as a solid gatekeeper and no longer a contender.

I agree

 

[CatchtheseHands]

Ankalaev seems really stiff to me. He has nice clean counters but he's not very mobile at all. Pre-Jones Santos probably could of finished him in the stand up.

 

[DS66]

Nobody looks good vs Santos. He's a counter striker with elite power who has a few big dangerous explosions per fight, but otherwise stands there and feints. The style really didn't match up well vs Ankalaev, who is also a pure counter striker on the feet.

I think Ankalaev/Jiri would be fireworks, but I have no idea what the outcome would be. I feel like they'd both land a lot and it would come down to whose chin holds up. Ankalaev would be smart to commit to his grappling in that one.

 

[r-harper-1]

He’d have a much different game plan against Jiri

 

[ExxA]

I actually worry for Jiri if he fights against Magomed. Magomed is a great counterstriker with decent power and great grappling.

Of course Magomed vs Santos ended up being the classic counterstriker vs counterstriker type fight, aka a snoozefest. Magomed did get dropped, but Santos landed the heavy shot to behind the ear. Those kinda shots will mess up your equilibrium very bad.
And Santos is a guy who dropped the current champ in Glover, and KO'd the former champ in Jan. idk why it's such a bad thing to get dropped and then have a comeback win against a great LHW striker in Santos.

Yeah, Santos still packs power the problem is his knees are shoot so he cant really blitz like he used too. He kinda tried at the start of R4 or something but it didnt last long nor lead to anything. No shame in getting rattled by him IMO.

 

[HeDidn'tWantTheFight]

Jiri obviously got flash knocked out by the Reyes upkick, but otherwise, his chin has held up. He's gotten cracked by big shots from both Oezdemir and Reyes, and he's barely taken a step back. The chin will crack in a couple fights if he keeps taking that kind of damage, but I think he's got a good shot at Ankalaev until that happens.