Can JDS improve his cardio

[Sirwastealot]

Before he fights Cain again. It is probably his biggest weakness imo. He didn't have much trouble stopping TDs in the first round or getting to his feet, his defense is also lacking but he kept throwing decent shots until the end. If he had some more energy he would have been a real threat to Cain.

Theres some other fighters who would benefit a lot from better cardio, BJ Penn being at the top of the list. Yet they never seem to figure it out. Is it simply a matter of putting in more hours or do some fighters just naturally have bad cardio?

Junior is young and motivated. What can he do to completely change his cardio? Change his diet, lose some muscle, start putting in more time training?

And i have to say, Cain may have got tired in the fight but he did prove why his cardio is so talked about. Not many HWs can stay that busy for that long, its a huge asset to have.

 

[Matt Boy]

Before he fights Cain again. It is probably his biggest weakness imo. He didn't have much trouble stopping TDs in the first round or getting to his feet, his defense is also lacking but he kept throwing decent shots until the end. If he had some more energy he would have been a real threat to Cain.

Theres some other fighters who would benefit a lot from better cardio, BJ Penn being at the top of the list. Yet they never seem to figure it out. Is it simply a matter of putting in more hours or do some fighters just naturally have bad cardio?

Junior is young and motivated. What can he do to completely change his cardio? Change his diet, lose some muscle, start putting in more time training?

And i have to say, Cain may have got tired in the fight but he did prove why his cardio is so talked about. Not many HWs can stay that busy for that long, its a huge asset to have.

Didn't read.. if he is human then yes he can improve his cardio

 

[IAC]

Train in a city that's not only 10 meters higher than the ocean level would help.

He should stick his camp to S

 

[roggg]

JDS's cardio went out the window when he got rocked by that right hand. He never recovered fully from it. I dont know if he was as prepared as he needed to be for a 5 round war or not, but his performance in that fight was not due to poor cardio.

 

[tkotom]

People will point to muscles but throughout the whole fight Cain was getting him down but he would pop right back up. Not only that but the way he would push Cain's face away and outmuscle him at times was interesting to say the least.

Imo it wasn't that he had atrocious cardio, it was Cain's pace that surprised him and he gassed. He should have started stringing together some combinations rather than running around the octagon hoping Cain would give up on the TD's.

Maybe work off his back as well? He's shown that he's like Anderson and near impossible to finish, it wouldn't kill to work off his back and preserve some energy, then again he seems most comfortable on his feet.

HW is one of those divisions where one punch can really change everything more than other divisions.

 

[knoxville80]

His cardio is ok, he needs to improve a lot his boxing and also wash with lotsa soap his ears, cuz he didnt get it when for 5 consecutive rounds his cornerman told him to KEEP HIS HANDS UP.

 

[strawberry]

It's not like we've seen a pattern of JDS gassing in fights (by HW standards). I still think the shot that Cain floored him with in round 1 took a lot of wind out of JDS' sails.

It's pretty hard for me to sit here at my keyboard and insinuate that JDS didn't train hard enough for a title fight considering the amount of punishment he took in the first two rounds. That'll tend to suck the life out of you no matter how hard you trained.

 

[Prex32]

If he had some more energy he would have been a real threat to Cain.
.

this is true

 

[Kleistra**]

People tend to have better cardio once they don't get fucking blasted on the chin on a regular basis.

 

[Cuesta]

Yes he can, by not getting smashed in the face in the first round. That's very strenuous.

 

[Sirwastealot]

JDS's cardio went out the window when he got rocked by that right hand. He never recovered fully from it. I dont know if he was as prepared as he needed to be for a 5 round war or not, but his performance in that fight was not due to poor cardio.

Can a punch really cause that kind of damage? JDS seemed to be tiring even before the punch, but after it he seemed exhausted. Even at the beginning of every round, he seemed spent, he was moving slowly and had no bounce in his feet. I know getting hit takes a lot of wind out of you, but cardio has to be a big factor there.

Look at frankie edgar against Maynard, he was smashed and almost finished. But it didn't tire him out, and his cardio probably helped him recover as fast as he did.

 

[ACT]

Funny thing about getting getting almost knocked out, it makes it pretty hard to defend TDs

 

[ACT]

Can a punch really cause that kind of damage? JDS seemed to be tiring even before the punch, but after it he seemed exhausted. Even at the beginning of every round, he seemed spent, he was moving slowly and had no bounce in his feet. I know getting hit takes a lot of wind out of you, but cardio has to be a big factor there.

Look at frankie edgar against Maynard, he was smashed and almost finished. But it didn't tire him out, and his cardio probably helped him recover as fast as he did.

Edgar didnt get hit by a 245 lb HW. And yes a punch can cause a lot of damage, derp.

 

[Sirwastealot]

Yes he can, by not getting smashed in the face in the first round. That's very strenuous.

This seems to be the consensus opinion here, but im not so sure.

Theres a big difference between being rocked, and getting tired. Getting blasted in the face will rock you (and JDS was rocked) but it won't completely drain you of your stamina. If anything its body shots that drain your stamina more, and that also takes a while not just 5-10 punches. Unless you have bad cardio to begin with.

Theres dozens of examples of fighters getting beat way worse than JDS was in the first round, and not tiring.

 

[herbertderbert]

I think not getting almost KO'ed in the first round and finding a legit S&C coach would give him better cardio. And by S&C I'm not just talking flipping tires and swinging sledge hammers. GSP has taken a very scientific approach to S&C and it has seemingly paid off immensely.

 

[Sirwastealot]

Edgar didnt get hit by a 245 lb HW. And yes a punch can cause a lot of damage, derp.

Reading comprehension fail, i said that "kind" of damage. Ok forget Edgar, how about Brock against Carwin? Fedor against Fujita? Nog against, well most of his fights.

 

[DrHouse]

I think Junior should move to the US to train, problem is there's not many camps out there with quality HWs. I know he's supposed to be part of Team Nogueira, but it seems to me that he spends more time at home in Salvador training (basically Boxing) with Luis Dorea. It's gonna be difficult to find guys that emulate Cain, there's no guys out there that are that big and move that well for that long.

So can he improve his cardio? Yes. I guess he needs to do more work on getting out from underneath his opponents, stuffing takedowns and generally striking when the threat of the take down is there. The guy is a black belt in BJJ, but he seems to avoid the ground like the plague. Maybe spending a couple minutes on his back before working to get up is something he should have tried against Cain.

To me though, I can't shake the feeling that there was something behind Junior's lack of conditioning. I know fighting off takedowns isn't easy, doing it while being 240 pounds must be even harder, but I just find it hard to believe he didn't train the scenario that he would have to fight off takedowns and get back to his feet multiple times. It could be that he really doesn't train grappling as much as we expect from a world champion, grappling endurance and striking endurance is different. It could just be that no man that heavy can hold that pace, maybe Cain Velasquez is unbeatable beyond the first round. Maybe Junior should focus on fight ending tactics early, like uppercuts, knees, guillotines, submissions off his back. When Junior is fresh, his scrambles and TDD are unmatched. Even when Junior was tired, Cain was unable to really plant him on his back for very long. There was also a defended single leg takedown later in the fight, I think 4th or 5th round, Junior's balance and ability to fight off that takedown was almost BJ Penn like.

 

[Bleedforme**]

Yes he can, by not getting smashed in the face in the first round. That's very strenuous.

This is stupid talk, he gassed vs cro cop and Nelson.

 

[moreorless87]

JDS's cardio went out the window when he got rocked by that right hand. He never recovered fully from it. I dont know if he was as prepared as he needed to be for a 5 round war or not, but his performance in that fight was not due to poor cardio.

As much as Rogan was going crazy with the hype of Cain's pace I do think you saw Jnr slowing down before the big shot landed, Cain saw it too IMHO and responded by coming forward even more aggresively and landing it.

I do have to wonder how much of it was mental aswell, to me JDS really seemed unprepaired for that kind of pressure so perhaps that messed up his breathing pattern?

Junior has obviously had a number of high level fights but I'd argue this is the first time he's come under serious pressure how a high level opponant. In the UFC he burst onto the scene so quickly I think that after Werdum and Struve everyone has been paying him a ton of respect standing.

 

[Sirwastealot]

It could be that he really doesn't train grappling as much as we expect from a world champion, grappling endurance and striking endurance is different. It could just be that no man that heavy can hold that pace, maybe Cain Velasquez is unbeatable beyond the first round. Maybe Junior should focus on fight ending tactics early, like uppercuts, knees, guillotines, submissions off his back. When Junior is fresh, his scrambles and TDD are unmatched. Even when Junior was tired, Cain was unable to really plant him on his back for very long. There was also a defended single leg takedown later in the fight, I think 4th or 5th round, Junior's balance and ability to fight off that takedown was almost BJ Penn like.

Good post, especially that part. I got the same feeling while watching the fight, JDS isn't known for bad cardio and if he can't keep up with Cain for more than a round most HWs will struggle. But, like you said, even when Junior was tired he wasn't easy for Cain to deal with. The biggest advantage Cain really has at HW is cardio/pace and if Junior can step his cardio up significantly he has the tools to really punish Cain.