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Last night we saw what happens when you make the necessary adjustments in a fight and stick to what brought you to the dance in the first place.
Blaydes after standing with Hunt for about a good half of the first round, knew he was out of his element and that to continue to stand and trade with Hunt would be foolish. From there on out Blaydes would rely on his strengths in his Wrestling to get the job done. Mark Hunts strength, his power, was nullified as he wasn't able to defend himself in his weakest area, and with the credentials and pedigree of Wrestling that Blaydes has, Hunt had no answer for the Takedown. Blaydes greatest asset and tool as an MMA fighter was Hunts weakness, and he didn't neglect to fall back on it when his striking failed. Blaydes didn't get sucked into a brawl, he was aware he was in the danger zone and made the necessary adjustments to stay out of it.
Rockhold on the other hand, while he is a phenomenal striker and overall well rounded fighter, is not an MMA Boxer in the slightest. Predictable combos, poor defense, and little to no lateral movement. What made Rockhold such a presence in the Middleweight division before was the way he worked his stinging kicks to the body and his deadly top game. While he couldn't necessarily work kicks that much to someone like Romero without the threat of being taken down, he get lulled into a Boxing match with Romero. Rockhold genuinely thought he had what it took to continue to stand and trade with Romero, and that he would be able to keep Romero on the outside and pick him apart for 5 rounds. And where he thought he found success in the stand up, he become more and more comfortable and less worried about Romero's explosive presence as well as his own position in the cage, dropping his hands lower and lower each round, and looking to "Counter strike". He brought his own hype so to speak and in the end it cost him.
As far as Rockhold's wrestling is concerned, yes he is more of a defensive wrestler with a damn good scramble, but with almost little to no threat of the takedown on his end, Romero had little to fear in the very limited arsenal Luke made for himself and took full advantage of that. He focused primarily on his striking defense, and waited for his opportunity to land that big shot, and as the fight went on Rockhold got less and less weary of Romero's explosive power. Now I'm not saying his wrestling would have worked 100% but there were times such as when Romero was off balance trying to Knock him out, that he could have worked a takedown or a scramble, but instead he believed in his grit, tried to clinch and whether the storm in hopes of Romero tiring himself out. The major flaw in Rockhold's gameplan was that it relied on the notion that Romero would gas out and that he would turn up in the later rounds. Another major flaw was his belief that he could stand and trade with Romero for as long as he did, imho at some point he should have added the threat of the takedown as silly as it sounds, his kicks weren't gonna work, and his "Boxing" for damn sure wasn't gonna work.
In short, where Blaydes was weak, Hunt was strong, and where Hunt was weak, Blaydes was strong, the difference being, Blaydes strength was able to compensate for his weakness and dominate in a way Hunts wasn't. Rockhold on the other hand was strong where Romero was weak, and weak where Romero shined, the difference in this fight being, Rockhold limited his arsenal to mostly his "Boxing", and Romero virtually had no weakness in the fight as Rockhold had very little threat or interest in taking the fight to the ground.
Blaydes was the smarter fighter yesterday and it showed. Rockhold forgot what brought him to the dance and thought he could "Box" his way to a decision. Blaydes self awareness as a fighter saved him from getting KTFO, where Luke had little no self awareness that he could get KTFO.
Blaydes after standing with Hunt for about a good half of the first round, knew he was out of his element and that to continue to stand and trade with Hunt would be foolish. From there on out Blaydes would rely on his strengths in his Wrestling to get the job done. Mark Hunts strength, his power, was nullified as he wasn't able to defend himself in his weakest area, and with the credentials and pedigree of Wrestling that Blaydes has, Hunt had no answer for the Takedown. Blaydes greatest asset and tool as an MMA fighter was Hunts weakness, and he didn't neglect to fall back on it when his striking failed. Blaydes didn't get sucked into a brawl, he was aware he was in the danger zone and made the necessary adjustments to stay out of it.
Rockhold on the other hand, while he is a phenomenal striker and overall well rounded fighter, is not an MMA Boxer in the slightest. Predictable combos, poor defense, and little to no lateral movement. What made Rockhold such a presence in the Middleweight division before was the way he worked his stinging kicks to the body and his deadly top game. While he couldn't necessarily work kicks that much to someone like Romero without the threat of being taken down, he get lulled into a Boxing match with Romero. Rockhold genuinely thought he had what it took to continue to stand and trade with Romero, and that he would be able to keep Romero on the outside and pick him apart for 5 rounds. And where he thought he found success in the stand up, he become more and more comfortable and less worried about Romero's explosive presence as well as his own position in the cage, dropping his hands lower and lower each round, and looking to "Counter strike". He brought his own hype so to speak and in the end it cost him.
As far as Rockhold's wrestling is concerned, yes he is more of a defensive wrestler with a damn good scramble, but with almost little to no threat of the takedown on his end, Romero had little to fear in the very limited arsenal Luke made for himself and took full advantage of that. He focused primarily on his striking defense, and waited for his opportunity to land that big shot, and as the fight went on Rockhold got less and less weary of Romero's explosive power. Now I'm not saying his wrestling would have worked 100% but there were times such as when Romero was off balance trying to Knock him out, that he could have worked a takedown or a scramble, but instead he believed in his grit, tried to clinch and whether the storm in hopes of Romero tiring himself out. The major flaw in Rockhold's gameplan was that it relied on the notion that Romero would gas out and that he would turn up in the later rounds. Another major flaw was his belief that he could stand and trade with Romero for as long as he did, imho at some point he should have added the threat of the takedown as silly as it sounds, his kicks weren't gonna work, and his "Boxing" for damn sure wasn't gonna work.
In short, where Blaydes was weak, Hunt was strong, and where Hunt was weak, Blaydes was strong, the difference being, Blaydes strength was able to compensate for his weakness and dominate in a way Hunts wasn't. Rockhold on the other hand was strong where Romero was weak, and weak where Romero shined, the difference in this fight being, Rockhold limited his arsenal to mostly his "Boxing", and Romero virtually had no weakness in the fight as Rockhold had very little threat or interest in taking the fight to the ground.
Blaydes was the smarter fighter yesterday and it showed. Rockhold forgot what brought him to the dance and thought he could "Box" his way to a decision. Blaydes self awareness as a fighter saved him from getting KTFO, where Luke had little no self awareness that he could get KTFO.
