Boxing Champ Oleksandr Usyk Open to Future Fights Against Alex Pereira, Jake Paul

[froggyluv]

Everyone is laughing at the Jake Paul matchup but not realizing he specified MMA, not boxing. Jake Paul in MMA would use the threat of the takedown (he has an elite wrestling background) to KO Usyk cold.

Elite Wrestling Background? You know he was a D1 Highschool wrestler in the state of Ohio -not a Collegiate NCAA D1 wrestler. High School.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Elite Wrestling Background? You know he was a D1 Highschool wrestler in the state of Ohio -not a Collegiate NCAA D1 wrestler. High School.

This. He was a scholastic wrestler not a collegiate one. He was a D1 state-level wrestler but never actually won a state championship. His brother Logan was the better wrestler at the scholastic level and he wrestled collegiately.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Here is Greco-Roman Olympic & 2× World champ Zhan Beleniuk. I can't find any footage of Usyk on the mat with him but Zhan claims they've wrestled for years. Lomachenko also wrestles with him which is no coincidence because he's Usyk's best friend.

When Usyk was detained in Poland months back over a misunderstanding it was Beleniuk that released the footage of the incident.

“The arrest was made public when Ukrainian lawmaker and wrestler Zhan Beleniuk posted videos of Usyk’s arrest.”

Ukrainian Boxing Champion Usyk Arrested, Released at Krakow Airport

The exact reason for the arrest remains unclear at present, though the boxer later called it a “misunderstanding” in a social media announcement following his release.

www.kyivpost.com

 

[Doctor Grudge]

This. He was a scholastic wrestler not a collegiate one. He was a D1 state-level wrestler but never actually won a state championship. His brother Logan was the better wrestler at the scholastic level and he wrestled collegiately.

And Logan was still very far from being an elite wrestler himself at the college level. Someone like Usyk would likely have more effective MMA wrestling than either brother.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

And Logan was still very far from being an elite wrestler himself at the college level. Someone like Usyk would likely have more effective MMA wrestling than either brother.

I'm not sure what Usyk's wrestling in MMA would look like but it's always been hit or miss. We've seen fighters like GSP that had no wrestling background prior to MMA and yet he became arguably the greatest MMA wrestler in history. Jon Jones was only a JUCO (NJCAA) national champion at the collegiate level but in MMA he still managed to outwrestle a decorated folkstyle and freestyle wrestler in Daniel Cormier (2x Olympian, Worlds medalist, and former captain of Team USA).

 

[Doctor Grudge]

I'm not sure what Usyk's wrestling in MMA would look like but it's always been hit or miss. We've seen fighters like GSP that had no wrestling background prior to MMA and yet he became arguably the greatest MMA wrestler in history. Jon Jones was only a JUCO (NJCAA) national champion at the collegiate level but in MMA he still managed to outwrestle a decorated folkstyle and freestyle wrestler in Daniel Cormier (2x Olympian, Worlds medalist, and former captain of Team USA).

It's impossible to tell since it's a different sport. But wrestling your entire life as opposed to just when you're a teenager is a really big difference. Because most people stop wrestling after 21, it's easy for people to overlook that NCAA wrestling is essentially U21 wrestling - guys who continue going to wrestling clubs can usually beat relatively high level college wrestlers just through years of experience and what not.

Usyk is also trained in Greco-Roman which I think is incredibly useful for MMA, and most American wrestlers aren't that great at clinching in general. Usyk is able to deal with much heavier men clinching him in boxing very well, so there is more reason to think his MMA wrestling will be better than someone like Logans I think (bar athleticism, since Logan is much younger). Jake is not even worth mentioning for reason you listed.

Junior college champs are usually still All-American level in D1 (or rather they develop into that by their upperclassmen years), so Jon Jones is a lot more accomplished than people think. His career was cut short because he needed money so he went into MMA, but he easily would have been an accomplished wrestler at a senior college. Perhaps not the level of DC, but certainly not to the point where it'd be strange his MMA wrestling is elite.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

It's impossible to tell since it's a different sport. But wrestling your entire life as opposed to just when you're a teenager is a really big difference. Because most people stop wrestling after 21, it's easy for people to overlook that NCAA wrestling is essentially U21 wrestling - guys who continue going to wrestling clubs can usually beat relatively high level college wrestlers just through years of experience and what not.

Usyk is also trained in Greco-Roman which I think is incredibly useful for MMA, and most American wrestlers aren't that great at clinching in general. Usyk is able to deal with much heavier men clinching him in boxing very well, so there is more reason to think his MMA wrestling will be better than someone like Logans I think (bar athleticism, since Logan is much younger). Jake is not even worth mentioning for reason you listed.

Junior college champs are usually still All-American level in D1 (or rather they develop into that by their upperclassmen years), so Jon Jones is a lot more accomplished than people think. His career was cut short because he needed money so he went into MMA, but he easily would have been an accomplished wrestler at a senior college. Perhaps not the level of DC, but certainly not to the point where it'd be strange his MMA wrestling is elite.

Greco has always been very useful in MMA. Those Team Quest guys were great at it. Yeah, Usyk's use of wrestling in the clinch in boxing has been significant in dealing with these giant heavyweights. Without it he'd just get leaned on and drained by guys like Fury unless he stayed on his bike for 12 rounds.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

As for this Usyk MMA talk, it doesn't appear to be that serious as I suspected.



“Yes, I would be interested [in a boxing exhibition against Pereira], but only after the fight with Daniel [Dubois] to match our belts. I’ve even considered the option of fighting inside a cage. It’s a joke, but every joke contains an element of truth.”