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lol i'd analyze it, but I'd fail. I just signed up with a boxing gym today though, so maybe my analytical skills will start to improve
A Basic Study of Angles and Good Footwork (Gif Heavy)
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lol i'd analyze it, but I'd fail. I just signed up with a boxing gym today though, so maybe my analytical skills will start to improve
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Discipulus
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Okay, more later, but I've always loved this one. Putting my GIFs in spoiler tags to help the SAAMAGs of the world. :wink:
This is one of my favorite examples of a southpaw taking the inside angle against an orthodox fighter. Just about everyone is convinced that the only way for a southpaw to fight an orthodox opponent is to put his lead (right foot) outside the opponent's lead (left) foot. Of course there are times that its necessary to step off the center line to secure an angle, but the safest and most potent position is typically one in which you face the opponent's center line, which also serves to protect your own. And constantly hunting for the outside foot position can actually end up opening your center line to the opponent.
In this GIF, Thiago tries to land his right hand by taking a small step to the outside. It's not until recently that he's learned to pursue and press the center line with the jab--at the time he fought Machida, he was all about his right hand. Once he's taken the step, the super-aware Machida easily slides to his left, outside the path of the right hand. This is the inside angle. He is facing the center of Thiago Silva, and there is no way for Silva to hit him back with power.
Unfortunately, the Karate background of Machida seems to give him a tendency to overextend, and he does so here. His first punch ends up putting his upper body past his feet, but he compensates pretty nicely by doing a bit of a shift punch, advancing his angle further as he throws a straight right that connects with a whole lot of weight behind it and drops Silva, probably furthered by the fact that he is on one foot at the moment the punch lands.
Who doesn't love Machida?
This is one of my favorite examples of a southpaw taking the inside angle against an orthodox fighter. Just about everyone is convinced that the only way for a southpaw to fight an orthodox opponent is to put his lead (right foot) outside the opponent's lead (left) foot. Of course there are times that its necessary to step off the center line to secure an angle, but the safest and most potent position is typically one in which you face the opponent's center line, which also serves to protect your own. And constantly hunting for the outside foot position can actually end up opening your center line to the opponent.
In this GIF, Thiago tries to land his right hand by taking a small step to the outside. It's not until recently that he's learned to pursue and press the center line with the jab--at the time he fought Machida, he was all about his right hand. Once he's taken the step, the super-aware Machida easily slides to his left, outside the path of the right hand. This is the inside angle. He is facing the center of Thiago Silva, and there is no way for Silva to hit him back with power.
Unfortunately, the Karate background of Machida seems to give him a tendency to overextend, and he does so here. His first punch ends up putting his upper body past his feet, but he compensates pretty nicely by doing a bit of a shift punch, advancing his angle further as he throws a straight right that connects with a whole lot of weight behind it and drops Silva, probably furthered by the fact that he is on one foot at the moment the punch lands.
Who doesn't love Machida?
As per request, an analysis of Gustafsson:
He was a really interesting fighter to look at. First, I just want to note that I've only seen 1 of his fights in full and am basing most of my observations off of highlights.
Even with the limited material, I've come to the conclusion that his footwork is impressive because it is dangerous whether he is moving forward or the opponent is. It should also be mentioned that Gustafsson's style is based on hitting people very hard. His footwork really plays to his strengths and he uses it to take advantage of his height better than any fighter I've seen in the mma when it comes to boxing.
Skip to 0:40 and you'll immediately be introduced to one of Gustaffson's favorite tricks: a lead right hand combined with a step with his right leg. I'll delve deeper into his favorite followups for this technique later, but for now let's just appreciate how beautiful the knockout is. Watch how he hops to his right slightly, plants and explodes forward from an angle to smash his right straight into the face of his opponent. This is the definition of circling then catching an opponent as he turns. Pause at 0:43. If you get it at the right time, just as the punch lands, you'll see that his opponent's feet are facing off to his sides and in no position to do anything. This is what allows Gustafsson to explode forward with so much momentum. It isn't a feat of speed, it's a feat of timing and creating openings.
Fast forward to 1:40 and you'll see the same right hand lead make an appearance. Notice that this time, his opponent is savvy enough to retreat instead of attempting to counter from a poor position, but not enough to circle instead of backing into the cage. Gustafsson uses a cool trick here, he keeps his forward momentum going and steps his right foot all the way through to switch stances and move off to the right. From southpaw, he throws a jab that beats the cross Diabate tries to counter with. With Gustafsson's body blocking the exit to the left, Dibate tries to circle away to his own right. Gustafsson anticipates this and turns fast enough to drop him with a left hook that he circles into.
At 2:01, we see that Gustafsson has backed Hamill into the cage. Hamill, being a wrestler, is prone to ducking when he panics and feels cornered. Gustafsson capitalizes on this habit by leading in with an uppercut (still a right hand lead while stepping forward, noticing a pattern?) that comes in from the side. He uses the momentum from the step to shove Hamill into the cage and land a second sneaky right uppercut in the space created. He then lands two more free shots as Hamill circles out. This is great footwork because it shows him coming from an angle to land a well picked shot then using his footwork to put him in position to muscle Hamill in the clinch and land followup shots.
In the next sequence starting immediately after, we see more of Gustafsson's rushing footwork. Notice his long steps as he blitzes forward. Committing to attacks like that is only safe when the opponent is incapable of or unwilling to counter. Gustafsson gets away with it because he always uses lateral movement at the beginning of these rushes. In this example, he leads with a left hook as he hops inside Hamill's jab, then is safe to run forward because Hamill is already on the defensive and in no position to counter. Note his use of the uppercut as the second punch in this exchange to ensure Hamill stands upright instead of shooting. This forces Hamill to run backwards or circle, but he only has the skill to move straight back. Another extremely important detail of this exchange is where they end up. See how Gustafsson runs straight at him using straight shots as he backs up. As soon as Hamill stops moving and starts ducking, Gustafsson switches to uppercuts and starts moving to the side so that he can end up on Hamill's side in the clinch and use it to turn him.
The finish of that fight is just a series of well picked shots. Gustafsson is a man who knows how to use the right tools in the right situations. He uses uppercuts to split the guard when Hamill is in front of him and a right hook when Hamill tries to circle away. Punch selection and footwork are related. When you're in a good position like that and you don't want your opponent to escape, using the right punches will keep the opponent from moving in a direction you don't want him to move in. Angles are best when used to specifically land certain punches that you see openings for. In this fight, Gustafsson constantly uses his angles to land uppercuts when he normally throws a lot of straight punches. Look at the final punch he lands to drop Hamill. Hamill's feet are pointing off to Gustafsson's sides while Gustafsson has his lead shoulder, hip, foot and fist all contained in a plane that splits Hamill's body in half down the middle. This is the most picture perfect example of an inside angle that you're ever likely to see.
Now we move on to the second highlight:
The first thing you'll see comes at 1:09 when he drops Thiago Silva with a beautiful uppercut. In this knockdown, his control of range is what's important. Gustafsson's reach and movement made Silva desperate to close the distance. As a result, he ducks and leads with a haymaker that Gustafsson has plenty of time to see and react to. The beauty of the footwork here is that Gustafsson is content to stay in a range JUST outside where he can be hit quickly. From there, he is ready to counter an opponent who is desperate to come forward or work to create an opening to rush through. In this instance, we see his control of range being used to take advantage of an opponent willing to lead. He uses a nice check hook as he hops back slightly after the uppercut as well, but Silva is already falling and it misses. So while there doesn't appear to be any real footwork going on here, it exists in the sense that it is used to keep Gustafsson at the perfect distance to counter or to lead.
Enjoy the jab knockdown at 1:20 for now, but I'll come back to it later when it's shown at a better angle. Instead, look at 1:26 to see Gustafsson once again controlling the range so that he can land easily while the opponent has to leap in. This is another example of his using footwork to maximize the benefits of his height and reach.
There's a lot to talk about starting at 1:40. Look very closely as soon as it cuts to the exchange and you'll see Gustafsson moving to his right in preparation to lead with a right uppercut on an opponent who is already retreating. He probably would have been better off with his right straight, but the important part is that he steps forward and switches stances (as we know he loves to do). From southpaw, he throws a rear head kick that cuts the opponent off from circling to Gustafsson's left. With the opponent's movement to the left halted, Gustafsson plants his left foot after the kick (switching stances again) and steps left with it so than he can get a better angle to kick his opponent in the head with a front kick. From there, he goes into the southpaw stance and pins Hamill against the cage to go for the finish (see above, I talked about this finish in the first highlight). This shows you how Gustafsson uses his footwork to both set up kicks and punches, while cornering the opponent. Switching stances is generally something that I don't like, but he does it so strategically in this exchange that I can only admire it. Note again how the strikes he use each have specific purposes. The uppercut keeps Hamill upright and retreating, the left kick cuts off his escape, the right kick does damage and pushes him into the cage, the uppercuts split his guard and do damage, the right hook cuts off his retreat to the other side and the final uppercuts finish the job. That's a brilliant combination to end the fight, perfectly tailored and adapted to the situation. He attempts a very similar sort of combination against Thiago Silva at 2:28, but it isn't as successful. It does once again show his use of the uppercut to force opponents to retreat though.
Back to that jab knockdown. If you go to 2:10 you see it from a better angle. Watch Gustafsson circle just out of range until Matyushenko leaps in with a desperate left. Gustafsson keeps his cool and has time to react because of his footwork, plus he has an outside angle at the time his jab lands. He gets hit too, but the important part is he only got hit because Matyushenko rushed forward so quickly that he got laid out by a jab. That's how to control the range AND use lateral footwork to take angles everyone.
CONTINUED IN NEXT POST
Finally, a quick highlight of his last fight vs Shogun:
About 20 seconds in, he moves to a very far angle behind his jab. He actually moves outside a low kick (seriously, I don't think that kick lands at all, that's awesome!) that Shogun tries to counter with and manages to drop/trip him as he catches Shogun badly off balance.
At 0:56, you see him using that lead right uppercut again to close the distance, but this time he used it to punch into the clinch and land a knee.
At 1:03, you see him lead with a right straight to back Shogun against the cage and land a knee as he covers up. These two knees are the main reasons I decided to throw in this short video. Gustafsson often leads with his right hand and I discussed that it's safe for him because he takes angles beforehand. However, I left out that it's also safe because he uses that big step to rush into the clinch if his opponents try to stay in range and cover up. Against Shogun, who often defends by standing there and covering, Gustafsson exploited that defensive flaw by punching to close range then quickly transitioning to a clinch and landing a good knee. These are the best examples, but he frequently uses his rush to clinch up and avoid any counters. I talked about this a little when talking about the Hamill fight.
Finally, watch him use his jab to cut the cage off and corner Shogun at 1:08. With Shogun backed against the cage and stationary, he lands a beautiful front kick and uses the stance switch as he lands to retreat from the counter right.
So, in summary, Alexander Gustafsson is fucking dangerous. He uses a deadly jab and his footwork to control the range as he tries to create angles while forcing the opponent to turn. Then, one of 2 things happens. Either the opponent rushes him and gets dropped (with say, a right uppercut or jab) or he creates an opening to rush them (usually with a right straight, sometimes with a right uppercut). When he rushes them, he either backs them into the cage and tees off or rushes into a clinch (sometimes a clinch against the cage, when everything goes right) and uses it to turn the opponent or land strikes. His footwork is excellent because he can use it to counter you when you rush or to corner you and unload. He utilizes interesting stance switching and can take angles to land both kicks and punches while making the most use of his reach. In short, he's brilliant.
About 20 seconds in, he moves to a very far angle behind his jab. He actually moves outside a low kick (seriously, I don't think that kick lands at all, that's awesome!) that Shogun tries to counter with and manages to drop/trip him as he catches Shogun badly off balance.
At 0:56, you see him using that lead right uppercut again to close the distance, but this time he used it to punch into the clinch and land a knee.
At 1:03, you see him lead with a right straight to back Shogun against the cage and land a knee as he covers up. These two knees are the main reasons I decided to throw in this short video. Gustafsson often leads with his right hand and I discussed that it's safe for him because he takes angles beforehand. However, I left out that it's also safe because he uses that big step to rush into the clinch if his opponents try to stay in range and cover up. Against Shogun, who often defends by standing there and covering, Gustafsson exploited that defensive flaw by punching to close range then quickly transitioning to a clinch and landing a good knee. These are the best examples, but he frequently uses his rush to clinch up and avoid any counters. I talked about this a little when talking about the Hamill fight.
Finally, watch him use his jab to cut the cage off and corner Shogun at 1:08. With Shogun backed against the cage and stationary, he lands a beautiful front kick and uses the stance switch as he lands to retreat from the counter right.
So, in summary, Alexander Gustafsson is fucking dangerous. He uses a deadly jab and his footwork to control the range as he tries to create angles while forcing the opponent to turn. Then, one of 2 things happens. Either the opponent rushes him and gets dropped (with say, a right uppercut or jab) or he creates an opening to rush them (usually with a right straight, sometimes with a right uppercut). When he rushes them, he either backs them into the cage and tees off or rushes into a clinch (sometimes a clinch against the cage, when everything goes right) and uses it to turn the opponent or land strikes. His footwork is excellent because he can use it to counter you when you rush or to corner you and unload. He utilizes interesting stance switching and can take angles to land both kicks and punches while making the most use of his reach. In short, he's brilliant.
Discipulus
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Gustafsson uses a variety of jabs, too. He'll do the pet-pet-slap thing that Sinister always mentions, he'll use a flicker jab and up-jab to keep his opponent thinking reactively, and he does a great job of using a pawing jab to land that right uppercut he loves so much. If he'd add a left hook to his game he'd be a really dangerous tall guy, even without having the reach of Jones.
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@ "a guy"
i really enjoyed the read and breakdown , you mentioned a lot of things i missed, funny thing is that our kickboxing coach has us do much of that stuff but until you see it working you just dont implement it .
@"disipulus "
thanks for the machida gif , i will switch stance and use the same step machida used to draw the right cross but i was adding the triangle step to get the guy to throw the cross , machida doesnt use the triangle step , he just waits for the cross , that explains why i was getting tagged if i slowed down any
i really enjoyed the read and breakdown , you mentioned a lot of things i missed, funny thing is that our kickboxing coach has us do much of that stuff but until you see it working you just dont implement it .
@"disipulus "
thanks for the machida gif , i will switch stance and use the same step machida used to draw the right cross but i was adding the triangle step to get the guy to throw the cross , machida doesnt use the triangle step , he just waits for the cross , that explains why i was getting tagged if i slowed down any
Okay, more later, but I've always loved this one. Putting my GIFs in spoiler tags to help the SAAMAGs of the world. :wink:
This is one of my favorite examples of a southpaw taking the inside angle against an orthodox fighter. Just about everyone is convinced that the only way for a southpaw to fight an orthodox opponent is to put his lead (right foot) outside the opponent's lead (left) foot. Of course there are times that its necessary to step off the center line to secure an angle, but the safest and most potent position is typically one in which you face the opponent's center line, which also serves to protect your own. And constantly hunting for the outside foot position can actually end up opening your center line to the opponent.
In this GIF, Thiago tries to land his right hand by taking a small step to the outside. It's not until recently that he's learned to pursue and press the center line with the jab--at the time he fought Machida, he was all about his right hand. Once he's taken the step, the super-aware Machida easily slides to his left, outside the path of the right hand. This is the inside angle. He is facing the center of Thiago Silva, and there is no way for Silva to hit him back with power.
Unfortunately, the Karate background of Machida seems to give him a tendency to overextend, and he does so here. His first punch ends up putting his upper body past his feet, but he compensates pretty nicely by doing a bit of a shift punch, advancing his angle further as he throws a straight right that connects with a whole lot of weight behind it and drops Silva, probably furthered by the fact that he is on one foot at the moment the punch lands.
Who doesn't love Machida?
Great stuff, I've been waiting for this haha
That's my favorite light heavyweight at his best right there! Looking forward to future posts.
Really? Sweet. His jab made few appearances in the highlights I found but it looked sharp. I'll have to actually watch some of his fights. Highlights can be misleading and leave out techniques like different jabs that end up playing a huge role in the fight. But just from that bit of footage, I'm very interested in Gustafsson and look forward to studying his fights in full.
I'm glad you appreciate it. It's always a unique and satisfying feeling to watch a fighter at the highest level use things that you're being taught. There's so much to be gained from analyzing fights and I'm really hoping more people will give it a shot in this thread!
Discipulus
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Great stuff, I've been waiting for this haha
That's my favorite light heavyweight at his best right there! Looking forward to future posts.
Really? Sweet. His jab made few appearances in the highlights I found but it looked sharp. I'll have to actually watch some of his fights. Highlights can be misleading and leave out techniques like different jabs that end up playing a huge role in the fight. But just from that bit of footage, I'm very interested in Gustafsson and look forward to studying his fights in full.
His fight against Thiago Silva was really a masterclass on jabbing in MMA. And very exemplary of the importance of footwork and positioning. Thiago had no nuances to his footwork--it was clear that he was looking for the right hand or the left hook, and he never tried to set it up. Gustafsson, on the other hand, was taking angles, changing range, and jabbing like a mother.
His performance against Shogun... not so great. I haven't watched it in a while, but Gustafsson clearly doesn't know how to stop an overhand right from a fighter fast enough to close with it, which Thiago wasn't and Shogun was. I'm interested to see how he'd do against a boxer with skills comparable to his, but there really aren't any in the LHW division. Machida's the only guy that compares in pure striking, but his style is far removed from that of Gustafsson.
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Make no mistake, he will get submitted or TKO'd on the ground by Jon Jones. But he has more skill on the feet, especially with his boxing, than the majority of UFC fighters.
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haha, you are probably correct, but I I don't think gus will be taken down as easily as most people think. Gus has like the 2nd or 3rd highest tdd in the division behind jones. Also his wrestling has looked a lot better lately. I can't root against one of my favorite fighters, crazier upsets have happened!
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Discipulus
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Gustafsson's takedown defense, according the the UFC: 83%
Lyoto Machida's takedown defense: 82%
Jon Jones' wins by TKO or submission: 83%
Yeah, I don't see it happening. Gus is a live dog, for sure, but Jones is just too well-rounded.
Everything I could find of the Silva fight looked great. I'll have to watch it at some point.
The Shogun fight is the only one I've seen and it definitely wasn't the technical showcase his other fights appear to be. I'd be very interested to see him fight Machida. Machida moves faster and probably has better timing, but Gustafsson has much better punching technique and a more diverse arsenal. I'd put money on Machida just because he's my favorite fighter in that weight class, but I could see Gustafsson winning.
Sad but probably true.
Discipulus
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Jones is a challenge to the ego of any striking enthusiast, because he's not really that great of a striker. His kicks are pretty solid, but his boxing needs lots of work. It's tough for a boxing and Muay Thai lover like me to accept that he'll beat down my favorite fighters without ever needing to excel them in striking technique.
I feel that. I think the problem with Jones is his biggest weaknesses standing are hard to exploit. At kicking range, his length and solid technique ensure that he's winning the battle. That puts the pressure on his opponents to close the range and Jones is full of tools to prevent that. Between the simple extension of his arm and fingers to threaten the eye poke, his side kicks, oblique kicks, elbows and more, it's very difficult to even start getting close to him. Once you do, he just keeps moving back with those fingers in your face and it's hard to chase him. So by the time you get past his kicks and avoid the eye poke and the elbows, you have to keep moving forward very quickly to stay in the range you worked so hard to get in. At that point, it's easy for him to stop backing up and let you run into his clinch, which leads to you getting finished by his devastating elbows or tapped out once he beats the submission defense out of you.
Gustafsson has as good a chance as anyone with his dangerous hands and great footwork, but his best chance is to knock Jones out in boxing range, which is the most difficult range to establish against Jones. He's a really smart guy and his striking style is really suited to his build and skill set. He might not ever exceed or even match the technique of great strikers, but on a conceptual level his standup is pretty impressive considering how it fits into his overall game.
yeah people think your hating if you call jones striking into question, but it's just not that great; his biggest strength is his willingness to throw any sort of strike, though he is tech limited. His mind is not limited, if he thinks it will work he will try it; he has favorite tech; but he isn't against using anything that may be effective, leg kicks-front kicks-sidekicks-oblique kicks-hooks-bodyshots-knees-standing elbows-jab-etc. He may not be good at all the tech, but there isn't a tech that he WON'T use; which makes it very hard to counter and or prepare.
but honestly he has some obvious tech holes off/def...its just most guys aren't able to navigate his range, diversity of attacks, or his throws/trips/shots...his actual tech striking isn't hard to be countered..but these other things are.
also-gustaffson is very hittable, if a guy has some quickness and willingness to land the shot, not be dissuaded by his jab and his movement; guys start aggressive but start to sit back once he starts picking them off which makes them more susceptible to being outmaneuvered and picked apart. Rua wasn't going to be kept out, and when he wanted to land he was going to land...which he did again and again; that was a big concern for me w/gustaffson.
