Beating the taller guy

[Macca97]

Was sparring this dude in mma, about 4 kgs lighter than me but probably about 5 inches taller and has a big reach advantage, he fights very long too.
Basically he just kept his range and threw 1-2s, I'd fought guys much longer than him but he fights long very very well and always keeps the same distance and just hits me with jabs, although he's not dangerous per say its just annoying I can't put strike him because I have trouble hitting him and my only success is to the body.(forgot to mention we were only boxing standing because he didn't have shin pads will a few kicks but mostly boxing) His reach also made setting my takedown up much much harder, although every time I shot I took him down I only shot once per round, the rest of the rounds were pretty much him just jabbing me in the face and occasionally nailing me with a solid straight, and me getting frustrated and getting a few shots in to the body.
Anyway I'm basically lookin for the best way to counter this, usually im the better striker and better boxer and I still felt like technically I was I just couldn't get in range.

 

[TheFinerDetails]

Do you have a cage to work? Position is key to everything in striking, and striking a bigger guy is no different.
Did you attempt slipping or cutting angles at all to counter the 1-2's?
If a guy is 1-2ing you at range and keeping distance, you will never be able to catch counter the guy, because he sounds like he was just pawing at you and retreating rather than 1-2ing for an opening of any sort.
If you time his left hands you can land a BIG counter right hand, it's becoming my favourite punch to develop atm, been landing it loads. If he steps in with his jab, you can perform a small stepping overhand right over that lead hand as it slips to your shoulder, cracks em right on the kissa (or if they have that shoulder up it'll plow into the side of their head at least, might hit behind the ear for a nice ko ).
If you can work kicks I'd probably work off of what he defends with. If he covers up hard when you try to blast through him, get his cover up reaction and blast his legs with a chopper! Works wicked.
Probably best not to body kick or head kick a guy that much taller than you, but hey, if you want to do it and feel confident, go for it!
I think the worst thing you can do in sparring is hold yourself from doing new things that you don't usually do. If you never try a headkick, how will you ever know if you can't do it effectively?
I use this example for pretty much every "short guy" thread, but...Mike Zambidis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUcinq1xxes

Study his style for kickboxing in my honest opinion, it's working great for me as a 175lb'er at 5"10. I think what he does has allowed me to believe in myself and not hold back techniques that other people would completely block from their array of strikes.

 

[spunkbun**]

Assuming orthodox vs orthodox.

If kicks were allowed I would have said that I like to catch the left jab and pull it down and out while kicking with the rear round kick, but since it's only hands..
What about pushing his jab to the left while going forward and the right? From there you can do whatever.

 

[Macca97]

Do you have a cage to work? Position is key to everything in striking, and striking a bigger guy is no different.
Did you attempt slipping or cutting angles at all to counter the 1-2's?
If a guy is 1-2ing you at range and keeping distance, you will never be able to catch counter the guy, because he sounds like he was just pawing at you and retreating rather than 1-2ing for an opening of any sort.
If you time his left hands you can land a BIG counter right hand, it's becoming my favourite punch to develop atm, been landing it loads. If he steps in with his jab, you can perform a small stepping overhand right over that lead hand as it slips to your shoulder, cracks em right on the kissa (or if they have that shoulder up it'll plow into the side of their head at least, might hit behind the ear for a nice ko ).
If you can work kicks I'd probably work off of what he defends with. If he covers up hard when you try to blast through him, get his cover up reaction and blast his legs with a chopper! Works wicked.
Probably best not to body kick or head kick a guy that much taller than you, but hey, if you want to do it and feel confident, go for it!
I think the worst thing you can do in sparring is hold yourself from doing new things that you don't usually do. If you never try a headkick, how will you ever know if you can't do it effectively?
I use this example for pretty much every "short guy" thread, but...Mike Zambidis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUcinq1xxes

Study his style for kickboxing in my honest opinion, it's working great for me as a 175lb'er at 5"10. I think what he does has allowed me to believe in myself and not hold back techniques that other people would completely block from their array of strikes.

He wasnt just pawing the punches were solid but they weren't fully committed, I had a bit of success slipping the jab and coming straight into the body and letting a few hits off before he jabbed his way out.

I would have destroyed his legs if we were both wearing shinguards id say but still, not much luck countering I think I needed to just move my head a bit more and be agressive, especially with my wrestling I should have been shooting more and it would have opened my striking up.

I tried numerous times to clinch up with 0 success whatsoever (I may have gotten one takedown can't recall) but basically wasnt having much luck clinching up, and with every attempt I was eating a jab or straight right for my troubles.

This guy couldn't possibly be more frustrating unless he had a brutal guillotine or was a southpaw, lol

 

[Gregster]

I've not done MMA; I can only speak on striking.

The conventional wisdom as I understood was if you're short, "bulldog" a taller guy; get in close and stay there, inside his effective range.

Speaking as the guy who tends to be taller (6'3"): not necessarily bad advice, but don't get lulled into thinking you're safe as long as you're "inside." I trained under an accomplished competitive fighter who was as tall as I was; I learned a couple wicked surprises to use against guys in close.

Footwork and maneuvering is also important. I trained TKD at a school which placed quite a bit of emphasis on boxing and "hands" into the overall game. This included sparring drills where we'd pair off and alternate with one guy *only* kicking and one guy *only* punching. By being forced to rely on punching, we had to not only develop "hands" but skill at slipping inside an opponent's kicking range.

One of the regulars was a guy named "Jose" was an amateur Golden Gloves boxer when he was a kid in the Phillipines. [CONT'D]

 

[Gregster]

[CONT'D]

Like any capable, properly-trained TKD fighter, I definitely had good footwork...but this guy's footwork was *sick.* Despite being 6-7" shorter and about twice my age, fighting him when he was "hands only" was murder. The guy could work angles and close distances like nobody else I trained with. It was a real education.

Whatever you do: you likely need to stay aggressive. Give a taller fighter time to maneuver and create distance, you make it harder for yourself. You won't likely get far trying to draw in or counter-strike a taller guy.

 

[Was Exiled]

Ugh I suck against people taller than me, you can imagine my dismay when I travelled to my first smoker at 15 years age after about 5 months training and had to fight a guy who was probably about 6'2/6'3. I got destroyed with knees in the clinch. I'll try dig up the video for the lols.

 

[Phantomill2k2k6]

Was sparring this dude in mma, about 4 kgs lighter than me but probably about 5 inches taller and has a big reach advantage, he fights very long too.
Basically he just kept his range and threw 1-2s, I'd fought guys much longer than him but he fights long very very well and always keeps the same distance and just hits me with jabs, although he's not dangerous per say its just annoying I can't put strike him because I have trouble hitting him and my only success is to the body.(forgot to mention we were only boxing standing because he didn't have shin pads will a few kicks but mostly boxing) His reach also made setting my takedown up much much harder, although every time I shot I took him down I only shot once per round, the rest of the rounds were pretty much him just jabbing me in the face and occasionally nailing me with a solid straight, and me getting frustrated and getting a few shots in to the body.
Anyway I'm basically lookin for the best way to counter this, usually im the better striker and better boxer and I still felt like technically I was I just couldn't get in range.

It's amazing how you just nailed it yourself in your opening post when i'm confronted to taller opponent i go for the body or leg first , when you cut down a tree you don't swing high or go for the top , your welcome*

 

[SanShou01]

(forgot to mention we were only boxing standing because he didn't have shin pads will a few kicks but mostly boxing) His reach also made setting my takedown up much much harder, although every time I shot I took him down I only shot once per round, the rest of the rounds were pretty much him just jabbing me in the face and occasionally nailing me with a solid straight, and me getting frustrated and getting a few shots in to the body.

That's probably one of the best way for a Boxer with longer reach to take advantage of shorter guys trying to take them down. Just jabbing, footwork and setting up for that straight. He can do this all day if he's just as good as you or better. You have to kick him. If he didn't have shinguards on, then that's fine, I'll just kick and he can't kick. Not my problem. It's an old trick to not bring shinguards in because they can't kick or don't like getting kicked. A lot of Boxers/comedians do this.