Belals Takedowns

[BowserJr]

Why did he attempt so few?

He didn't go for 1 till like the end of rnd 2 and only tried 2 in and 3.
Rnd 4 and 5 he got him down.

If he fought Leon like this he would've lost. What happened?

For the record I'm not a fan of his style. I just find the change in style very strange. Had he gone for them in rnd 1 the fight would've been so different

 

[evergreenrider]

He is getting old, maybe the ol knees just can't handle da riddum

 

[BowserJr]

He is getting old, maybe the ol knees just can't handle da riddum

Yeah it could be. Agter the 3rd round I got the sense that he probably had some tweak during camp (probably from age) that prevented him from doing the usual stuff.

 

[aerius]

There's several reasons I think. Belal relies heavily on the fence for his takedowns and this was why he did well against Leon and poorly vs. JDM. Leon likes to fight at long range and has a shitty boxing game in the pocket, when he's pressured he'll almost always back away or angle off to keep the range open and then reset before throwing anything. He doesn't have the chin or head movement & defence to bang it out in the pocket like Lawlor or JDM, so every time Belal pressured in with strikes he could back Leon towards the fence and then shoot on him and start the chain wrestling.

JDM on the other hand is perfectly fine with standing his ground and trading in the pocket, Belal had a much harder time trying to push him back with strikes since he was getting hit hard with return shots every time he tried to pressure. JDM also had much better cage awareness and worked hard to stay the hell away from the fence, he made it a priority to stay near the middle of the cage and put a bunch of strikes down the middle to keep Belal from getting a good shot. It's basically the Al Iaquinta gameplan vs. Khabib; keep away from the fence so they can't chain wrestle and they have a much harder time getting takedowns.

 

[Oscar Madison]

Belal used up to much mojo on the walkout.

 

[Intermission]

He went for takedowns, but late in rounds. The only fear he has is that it turns into some sort of Conor-Chad Mendes fight. Where the wrestler blows his load and then the striker takes over.

 

[Spacebadger]

Ego and Canelo hands

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

Someone in the play-by-play mentioned this last night, but he was “having just enough success striking that he didn’t feel he needed to go for takedowns” and I agree. The first 3 rounds weren’t blowouts, and you could even make the argument that Muhammad won round 1…

Muhammad only really started grappling after Della Maddalena started taking over the striking…

 

[fortheo]

Why did he attempt so few?

He didn't go for 1 till like the end of rnd 2 and only tried 2 in and 3.
Rnd 4 and 5 he got him down.

If he fought Leon like this he would've lost. What happened?

For the record I'm not a fan of his style. I just find the change in style very strange. Had he gone for them in rnd 1 the fight would've been so different

Belal shot once in round 1, and three times in round 2, and at least nine times total in the fight. That is not a small amount of shots. Also, Jack had belal biting on the feints early -- belal clearly knew he couldn't just shoot recklessly otherwise he'd be punished, and he indeed was punished most times he did shoot.

 

[BowserJr]

There's several reasons I think. Belal relies heavily on the fence for his takedowns and this was why he did well against Leon and poorly vs. JDM. Leon likes to fight at long range and has a shitty boxing game in the pocket, when he's pressured he'll almost always back away or angle off to keep the range open and then reset before throwing anything. He doesn't have the chin or head movement & defence to bang it out in the pocket like Lawlor or JDM, so every time Belal pressured in with strikes he could back Leon towards the fence and then shoot on him and start the chain wrestling.

JDM on the other hand is perfectly fine with standing his ground and trading in the pocket, Belal had a much harder time trying to push him back with strikes since he was getting hit hard with return shots every time he tried to pressure. JDM also had much better cage awareness and worked hard to stay the hell away from the fence, he made it a priority to stay near the middle of the cage and put a bunch of strikes down the middle to keep Belal from getting a good shot. It's basically the Al Iaquinta gameplan vs. Khabib; keep away from the fence so they can't chain wrestle and they have a much harder time getting takedowns.

This is why O still come to sherdog.

That's a very astute observation. I've watched all of JDMs fights and not much of Belals cuz theyre a bit snoozy.

I wonder about the fact that JDM has very good lateral movement and maybe Belal didn't feel he had good position to take him down but I also figure he could shoot and push until it goes to the fence then take him down.

But if what youbsay is true, that he normally pressures woth strikes then that is probably the answer.

However when he did try what I mentioned it workd. But like you said if that's not what he normally does then he probably wasn't confident in it

 

[BowserJr]

Belal shot once in round 1, and three times in round 2, and at least nine times total in the fight. That is not a small amount of shots. Also, Jack had belal biting on the feints early -- belal clearly knew he couldn't just shoot recklessly otherwise he'd be punished, and he indeed was punished most times he did shoot.

I dont remember him shooting in rnd 1 and only remember 1 in rnd 2. By the 3rd rnd I was like wtf is he doing?

 

[BowserJr]

Someone in the play-by-play mentioned this last night, but he was “having just enough success striking that he didn’t feel he needed to go for takedowns” and I agree. The first 3 rounds weren’t blowouts, and you could even make the argument that Muhammad won round 1…

Muhammad only really started grappling after Della Maddalena started taking over the striking…

That's another good point. I actually could see him winning round 1 too

Interesting if that's what his corner was thinking too. If it was it's like a slight variation of landing a heavy shot and only head hunting for that shot afterwards but losing the rest of the way

 

[froggyluv]

Is JDM a primary Boxer background? He seemed to have that kinda body/head movement

 

[TriangleMonkey]

He was wanted to show the Canelo hands was real and he wasn’t just a grappler to all his fans

 

[AL-Tappo McSnappo]

Why did he attempt so few?

He didn't go for 1 till like the end of rnd 2 and only tried 2 in and 3.
Rnd 4 and 5 he got him down.

If he fought Leon like this he would've lost. What happened?

For the record I'm not a fan of his style. I just find the change in style very strange. Had he gone for them in rnd 1 the fight would've been so different

guy was on his death bed just 7 months ago, i don't think he fully recovered, he is an idiot, he should have vacated and come back after a year, i said this before the fight too.

 

[TRYHARD 2001]

No one mentioning the whole training during Ramadan at 36 factor?

Fasted cardio might be effective at fat loss (probably more of a gimmick) but I don't think it's ideal for a pro fighter looking to perform at his peak.

 

[cburm]

Why did he attempt so few?

He didn't go for 1 till like the end of rnd 2 and only tried 2 in and 3.
Rnd 4 and 5 he got him down.

If he fought Leon like this he would've lost. What happened?

For the record I'm not a fan of his style. I just find the change in style very strange. Had he gone for them in rnd 1 the fight would've been so different

Belal did 2 years of hs wrestling and then trained with Islam and khabib.. those guys are great at clinch takedowns and using the fence .. just a theory

 

[cburm]

No one mentioning the whole training during Ramadan at 36 factor?

Fasted cardio might be effective at fat loss (probably more of a gimmick) but I don't think it's ideal for a pro fighter looking to perform at his peak.

THey fast in the day then eat at sundown so I don't think Ramadan is an issue folks make it an issue..

But after doing that for 20 plus years.. def shouldn't be an issue now cutting all you're water weight for a day 2 or 3 days before a fight to make weight yeah it could factor but I don't see it being the problem

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

No one mentioning the whole training during Ramadan at 36 factor?

Fasted cardio might be effective at fat loss (probably more of a gimmick) but I don't think it's ideal for a pro fighter looking to perform at his peak.

Because the only people who use Ramadan as an excuse are Muslim fighters who don't feel like fighting and non-Muslims who do not know how Ramadan functions.
If you intermittently fast, you're basically living your life Ramadan-lite

 

[BowserJr]

Belal did 2 years of hs wrestling and then trained with Islam and khabib.. those guys are great at clinch takedowns and using the fence .. just a theory

For sure. They also have a lot of freestyle, catch wrestling, and judo takedowns though. I guess belal not so much.

I actually dont like the cage. It plays too big a role IMO. A ring is too random and unreliable to be used offensive or defensively so it keeps the action moving unlike a cage where fights stall out. JMO