Rewatch Kevin Holland vs Joaquin Buckley | FREE FIGHT | UFC Orlando

[AL-Tappo McSnappo]

What a knock out

 

[Skarsgard]

It's easy to forget how good his striking is.

 

[Viva]

It's easy to forget how good his striking is.

The knockout itself was fine, but he was whiffing on some many attempts before it, to the point where he was basically turning his back on his opponent. Without such a reach advantage I question his effectiveness.

81” on a WW is just nuts. And as we’ve seen with Jon Jones, length can make up for skill is many ways.

 

[Skarsgard]

The knockout itself was fine, but he was whiffing on some many attempts before it, to the point where he was basically turning his back on his opponent. Without such a reach advantage I question his effectiveness.

81” on a WW is just nuts. And as we’ve seen with Jon Jones, length can make up for skill is many ways.

I read it more as baiting Buckley to get more desperate and reckless as the fight went on. Holland wasn't really loading up on the shots, so it's hard to see it as whiffed attempts that spun him out if control.

 

[mmadeewana]

I hope wonderboy shows a striking clinic and retires.

 

[Viva]

I hope wonderboy shows a striking clinic and retires.

I would love to see it, but I’m concerned about Holland’s 6” reach advantage. Not to mention Wonderboy is clearly slowing down.

Still, this fight will likely be a heater regardless of who wins.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Buckley is like Uriah Hall, not sure what it is about them but they aren't very good (relativepy speaking) yet people think they're somehow championship level potential or something. Not even top 10 caliber guys in one of the most shallow divisions in the sport. Holland has always been a level above a guy like Buckley.

 

[chinarice]

Buckley probably could have implemented a wrestling gameplan and brought the fight to a decision he could have won but instead he decided to stand and trade with a guy with a huge height and reach advantage.

Ah well, he'll run into someone like Khamzat again that won't play his game and just beat him without much threat.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Buckley probably could have implemented a wrestling gameplan and brought the fight to a decision he could have won but instead he decided to stand and trade with a guy with a huge height and reach advantage.

Ah well, he'll run into someone like Khamzat again that won't play his game and just beat him without much threat.

Do you watch much combat sports? Because in MMA, Boxing, Kickboxing etc guys with longer reaches and more height get outstruck all the time. Plenty dudes in the UFC with shorter reaches who can beat Holland standing I'd wager, Buckley is just a swing for the fences, telegraph, single and two punches at a time kinda guy who relies on his physical advantages too much. In some cases, that kinda style is actually beneficial vs taller guys if you know how to pressure properly and have the cardio to employ it...We've seen that time and time again, in boxing for the last 150 years even. I also think Buckley probably gets chewed up on the mat by Holland, dudes guard is pretty offensive and tricky and I cannot really ever remember Buckley being able to score takedowns and show effective control at any point in his UFC career.

Obvious things relative to Buckleys game he needs to work on and game plans he can apply, dude probably will always just be a middle of the road fighter who has big performances vs the less talented middle of the pack types and gets hammered back down the rankings whenever he gets a step up or fights a legitimate prospect. Also Buckley should be at 170lbs, obviously, despite his long reach he will not be able to abuse his horsepower effectively vs guys like Rodrigues and Vettori that are enormous.

 

[chinarice]

Do you watch much combat sports? Because in MMA, Boxing, Kickboxing etc guys with longer reaches and more height get outstruck all the time. Plenty dudes in the UFC with shorter reaches who can beat Holland standing I'd wager, Buckley is just a swing for the fences, telegraph, single and two punches at a time kinda guy who relies on his physical advantages too much. In some cases, that kinda style is actually beneficial vs taller guys if you know how to pressure properly and have the cardio to employ it...We've seen that time and time again, in boxing for the last 150 years even. I also think Buckley probably gets chewed up on the mat by Holland, dudes guard is pretty offensive and tricky and I cannot really ever remember Buckley being able to score takedowns and show effective control at any point in his UFC career.

Obvious things relative to Buckleys game he needs to work on and game plans he can apply, dude probably will always just be a middle of the road fighter who has big performances vs the less talented middle of the pack types and gets hammered back down the rankings whenever he gets a step up or fights a legitimate prospect. Also Buckley should be at 170lbs, obviously, despite his long reach he will not be able to abuse his horsepower effectively vs guys like Rodrigues and Vettori that are enormous.

Nah man, I never watch much combat sports
.l
I'm glad you were able to decipher my lack of watching combat sports based on one matchup in one specific combat sport

"I watched a guy with shorter reach outstrike someone taller with longer reach therefore your comment shows me you know nothing about combat sports"

Sherdog, ladies and gentlemen.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Nah man, I never watch much combat sports
.l
I'm glad you were able to decipher my lack of watching combat sports based on one matchup in one specific combat sport

"I watched a guy with shorter reach outstrike someone taller with longer reach therefore your comment shows me you know nothing about combat sports"

Sherdog, ladies and gentlemen.

It's a great place, I'm glad you like it.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Buckley is like Uriah Hall, not sure what it is about them but they aren't very good (relativepy speaking) yet people think they're somehow championship level potential or something. Not even top 10 caliber guys in one of the most shallow divisions in the sport. Holland has always been a level above a guy like Buckley.

Uriah was massively high level potential, just didn't have the mentality. His potential was enormous.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Uriah was massively high level potential, just didn't have the mentality. His potential was enormous.

Strong disagree.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Strong disagree.

Why? From my perspective, he had power, speed, athleticism, decent chin, good timing, good variety of shots, pretty strong, decent cardio.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Why? From my perspective, he had power, speed, athleticism, decent chin, good timing, good variety of shots, pretty strong, decent cardio.

Watched his fights on the regional level, was out struck standing vs Philippou and flattened by a left hook from Weidman. Uriah Hall wasn't bad because of "his mental game" he was just the kinda guy who crushed lesser competition impressively and was incredibly hyped up and overrated from TUF. His striking was always very static, he doesn't throw in combinations well, he doesn't fight off the back foot well, he tends to be a little chinny and gunshy when pressured (because he lacked the well rounded striking to combat it, and had bad defense under fire. he was only good at a specific range for the most part).

He always showed serviceable takedown defense but nothing that would ever be good enough, if guys like Mousasi and Muniz can exploit it, you know good wrestlers wouldn't have a hard time doing it either. Gastelum a much more talented athlete definitely outshined Hall despite a massive size disadvantage to win TUF. Hall has a handful of decent wins in his entire career, Mousasi, Santos and Jotko...and Santos was like a 9-3 fighter at the time, the Mousasi fight was one of the biggest flukes in MMA history (Yes yes flukes don't exist). His wins over the corpses of Anderson and Weidman only mean something to the lamens.

I just never saw it, he had decent speed and power, he was definitely a big MW with solid athleticism but he never once showed "championship" potential, I always saw him like I did Dan Hooker, a top 10 guy by rank only but really an incomplete fighter with holes who isn't top 10 caliber and their careers and records kinda show that. There were plenty or fighters who showed championship potential that struggled to put it together, I just didn't see that in Hall.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Watched his fights on the regional level, was out struck standing vs Philippou and flattened by a left hook from Weidman. Uriah Hall wasn't bad because of "his mental game" he was just the kinda guy who crushed lesser competition impressively and was incredibly hyped up and overrated from TUF. His striking was always very static, he doesn't throw in combinations well, he doesn't fight off the back foot well, he tends to be a little chinny and gunshy when pressured (because he lacked the well rounded striking to combat it, and had bad defense under fire. he was only good at a specific range for the most part).

He always showed serviceable takedown defense but nothing that would ever be good enough, if guys like Mousasi and Muniz can exploit it, you know good wrestlers wouldn't have a hard time doing it either. Gastelum a much more talented athlete definitely outshined Hall despite a massive size disadvantage to win TUF. Hall has a handful of decent wins in his entire career, Mousasi, Santos and Jotko...and Santos was like a 9-3 fighter at the time, the Mousasi fight was one of the biggest flukes in MMA history (Yes yes flukes don't exist). His wins over the corpses of Anderson and Weidman only mean something to the lamens.

I just never saw it, he had decent speed and power, he was definitely a big MW with solid athleticism but he never once showed "championship" potential, I always saw him like I did Dan Hooker, a top 10 guy by rank only but really an incomplete fighter with holes who isn't top 10 caliber and their careers and records kinda show that. There were plenty or fighters who showed championship potential that struggled to put it together, I just didn't see that in Hall.

I agree that he was over ranked in relation to his actual accomplishments and he basically lived off the Mousasi win for years, but that doesn't mean he didn't have the potential.

 

[HuskySamoan]

I agree that he was over ranked in relation to his actual accomplishments and he basically lived off the Mousasi win for years, but that doesn't mean he didn't have the potential.

I never saw it, he got wrestled by Sean Strickland ffs. I just never saw the potential and thought it was a morons narrative to say "when Uriah is on he's one of the best in the world". The guy had a pretty damn limited skillset, wasn't all that good at imposing it and had clear holes in his game that were there to be exploited. The Middleweight division was also so bad after the SF era guys aged out of their primes that anyone "had the potential" I guess, but again I never saw it.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I never saw it, he got wrestled by Sean Strickland ffs. I just never saw the potential and thought it was a morons narrative to say "when Uriah is on he's one of the best in the world". The guy had a pretty damn limited skillset, wasn't all that good at imposing it and had clear holes in his game that were there to be exploited. The Middleweight division was also so bad after the SF era guys aged out of their primes that anyone "had the potential" I guess, but again I never saw it.

I think people mean he had all the physical tools you need in a fighter, just not the mental ones. I think when it comes to getting techniques and gameplans wrong then somebody with a weak mentality would possibly struggle when things go wrong in training as much as they would in a fight.

 

[HuskySamoan]

I think people mean he had all the physical tools you need in a fighter, just not the mental ones. I think when it comes to getting techniques and gameplans wrong then somebody with a weak mentality would possibly struggle when things go wrong in training as much as they would in a fight.

Was he really any better of an athlete than guys like Weidman? Luke? Jacare? Romero? TRTVitor? Whittaker? Brunson? Gastelum? Because I never really saw that personally.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Was he really any better of an athlete than guys like Weidman? Luke? Jacare? Romero? TRTVitor? Whittaker? Brunson? Gastelum? Because I never really saw that personally.

I would say more explosive and powerful than most of those guys, yeah.

Romero, no.