Great offense, poor defense

[Steve08]

Anderson Silva.

The guy dominated during an era when fighters were one dimensional and the training was very basic. Literally the first legit opponent he faced in the UFC beat him.

Ludicrous. Anderson is one of the finest defensive strikers in mma history.

Vitor Belfort isn't a legit striker?? lol

 

[Steve08]

Idc what CC was known for I watch fights and can tell he is a poor defensive fighter.

Okay then congrats: you literally do not understand what you're watching.

 

[ShreddinMMA]

Idc what CC was known for I watch fights and can tell he is a poor defensive fighter. A lot of fighters get reps and become known for things that aren't true such as, Mark Hunts insane knockout power, Jon Jones only wins because of reach, Fedor beat guys way bigger than himself (all of his good wins are against regular sized heavyweights, excluding Sylvia but that is debatable if that is actually a good win).

Rofl.

You don't care what Cro Cop is known for. Or what actual professionals have claimed Cro Cop is fantastic at. You just pull untrue shit out of your ass and pretend it's fact.

Makes sense here on Sherdog.

 

[adamsilva]

Overeem

 

[Steve08]

Worst footwork ever in mma

Taking angles in 2006 when JDS can't even side-step in 2013.

Lol

 

[Private Whatley]

Rampage blocked them more than rolled with them, he was the best in MMA at blocking punches at one point in time. Not sure what that type of guard it is called but when I did Muay Thai for a while that is exactly how they taught us to block, grab the back of your head with one arm so that you are guarding with your arms and not relying on huge gloves that you won't have.

Yea, I've wondered why more MMA fighters don't block that way. Rampage often grabs the back of his head, bends the arms to shield the side of his head and turns them at an inward angle with his elbows protruding forward to deflect straight punches. I find that style of guard to be generally more effective when it comes to deflecting punches but I imagine it's especially effective in MMA, where the gloves are smaller and the window openings are more accessible. Also, the ability to deflect punches with the point of the elbow increases the potential for hand breaks.

 

[Steve08]

Yea, I've wondered why more MMA fighters don't block that way.

blocking punches in general is not ideal for mma because it forces you bolt-upright to brace against the punch, and will probably expose you to takedown attempts. For example Rashad exploited Rampage's defense by raising his guard with punches and then shooting under for a takedown.

Head movement and footwork is better, especially footwork as it is the safest and will take you away from your opponent's takedown attempts (wrestlers will be warned for timidity if they continually back up, but there is no such penalty in mma).

 

[Ryan Phillipe]

Worst footwork ever in mma

Taking angles in 2006 when JDS can't even side-step in 2013.

Lol

Haha I didn't realize you were one I those pride white knights you must've been one of those 30k(lol) that watched pride. Way to use JDS a guy that besmirched Cc and made him quit to prove CC is a great defensive striker. CC couldn't outstrike Nelsonor Randleman, once avian k-1 credentials(which CC really doesn't have that impressive of) don't mean shit in mma.

 

[moreorless87]

Fedor had great deceptions and head movement, but a big part of his low hit stat per min was him beating the fuck out of most of his opponents without much resistance.

Like his early fights and then his fights with Nog, Herring, Goodridge, Ogawa and Randleman, and the Coleman rematch, the Lindland & Choi fights, even the short Sylvia fight.

That's a lot of combined minutes almost solely on the offense.

Surely attacking someone makes few strikes taken more impressive? Fedor rarely had fights were he was playing it safe for long periods standing against an opponent he outclassed ala say Anderson vs Maia, Leites or Cote.

 

[moreorless87]

Haha I didn't realize you were one I those pride white knights you must've been one of those 30k(lol) that watched pride. Way to use JDS a guy that besmirched Cc and made him quit to prove CC is a great defensive striker. CC couldn't outstrike Nelsonor Randleman, once avian k-1 credentials(which CC really doesn't have that impressive of) don't mean shit in mma.

..or perhaps he's one of those people who just enjoys watching quality MMA reguardless of where its happening and has done so for years rather than someone with a childish attachment to a brand who slavishly follows the hype of said brand.

 

[Shagrath]

Fedor and Cain yet no Brock?

Brock had offense?

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Idc what CC was known for I watch fights and can tell he is a poor defensive fighter. A lot of fighters get reps and become known for things that aren't true such as, Mark Hunts insane knockout power, Jon Jones only wins because of reach, Fedor beat guys way bigger than himself (all of his good wins are against regular sized heavyweights, excluding Sylvia but that is debatable if that is actually a good win).

How long have you regularly watched MMA? Based on your posts it seems like you couldn't have been watching much longer than 2 years if that long.

 

[fearoth]

Melvin Manhoef is the ultimate glass cannon. Reem as well, kill or be killed.

 

[ShreddinMMA]

Haha I didn't realize you were one I those pride white knights you must've been one of those 30k(lol) that watched pride. Way to use JDS a guy that besmirched Cc and made him quit to prove CC is a great defensive striker. CC couldn't outstrike Nelsonor Randleman, once avian k-1 credentials(which CC really doesn't have that impressive of) don't mean shit in mma.

Rofl.

He shows you an example of Cro Cops high level footwork. You retaliate with the same, weak, responses that others have tried and failed with.

How about you show us a gif of Cro Cops sloppy footwork instead? Oh wait, you probably don't know anything at all about striking to begin with. So you're just going to come back with some other weak examples

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Worst footwork ever in mma

Taking angles in 2006 when JDS can't even side-step in 2013.

Lol

Cro Cop was a beast, so was Wanderlei, it's unfortunate he put on too much muscle for the OWGP. Wanderlei would have done much better if he was closer to 210-215 like in the first fight where he had the speed advantage but I think he was trying to be prepared to fight Barnett or Big Nog later on. That first fight was great I just wish it had judges so Wanderlei would have a win over Cro Cop.

 

[ShreddinMMA]

Cro Cop was a beast, so was Wanderlei, it's unfortunate he put on too much muscle for the OWGP. Wanderlei would have done much better if he was closer to 210-215 like in the first fight where he had the speed advantage but I think he was trying to be prepared to fight Barnett or Big Nog later on. That first fight was great I just wish it had judges so Wanderlei would have a win over Cro Cop.

It also doesn't help Cro Cop had a bad style for Wanderlei, especially at that point in Cro Cops career (much more well rounded MMA game).

That was the fight that began Wanderlei's major decline .

 

[moreorless87]

Ludicrous. Anderson is one of the finest defensive strikers in mma history.

Vitor Belfort isn't a legit striker?? lol

That's pushing it way way too far but I think Andersons actual strengths were a bit different those he was hyped to have.

For me Andersons greatness is much more about his offencive creativity, his toughness and subs from his back and his understanding of the power that intimidation by mind games could have.

The classic Anderson sholder roll was for me was as much part of his mind games as it was defence. You watch someone like Mayweather or Tooney at there best and the sholder rolling you see is them picking out punches as there thrown and responding. You watch Anderson and whilst he obviously is paying attension to his opponent the rolling is more a set sequence he goes though, often when he knew opponents were getting desperate and would keep to the typical left/right combos.

Weidmans threat on the ground IMHO forced him into busting out these kinds of sequences against an opponent who wasn't broken mentally. Again I suspect Ray Longo had scouted Anderson's pre planned sholder roll and knew that if Weidman broke up his combo's with a double left he could catch Silva pre emptively going in the wrong direction with a big right.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Yea, I've wondered why more MMA fighters don't block that way. Rampage often grabs the back of his head, bends the arms to shield the side of his head and turns them at an inward angle with his elbows protruding forward to deflect straight punches. I find that style of guard to be generally more effective when it comes to deflecting punches but I imagine it's especially effective in MMA, where the gloves are smaller and the window openings are more accessible. Also, the ability to deflect punches with the point of the elbow increases the potential for hand breaks.

Yeah, it's a great guard for MMA but I think the reason people don't use it as much is it's not as necessary or as useful in a huge octagon vs a smaller ring with corners, footwork is a much better way to avoid punches in an octagon than in the ring where blocking and returning fire works better due to the reduced space and 4 corners to get trapped or trap your opponent in. It's also a bit harder to react to shots so you would have to have a strong wrestling base to compensate which Rampage most certainly had.

 

[Private Whatley]

blocking punches in general is not ideal for mma because it forces you bolt-upright to brace against the punch, and will probably expose you to takedown attempts. For example Rashad exploited Rampage's defense by raising his guard with punches and then shooting under for a takedown.

Head movement and footwork is better, especially footwork as it is the safest and will take you away from your opponent's takedown attempts (wrestlers will be warned for timidity if they continually back up, but there is no such penalty in mma).

I agree that Rampage's biggest weakness is his footwork or lack thereof and his plodding style can be exploited by strong wrestlers. That said, it's still important to be able to block punches properly. Head movement and footwork are great and all until you do get clipped and cornered. Additionally, everyone loses a step with age and with that lost step come diminished reflexes. When that happens, it's especially important to have a good fundamental base when it comes to hand and head positioning. Just look at the respectively tragic and celebrated latter day careers of Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins.

In terms of MMA, Shogun is a great example of a dude once renowned for his frenetic style and wild movement who can no longer fight that way due to a multitude of injuries and three serious knee operations.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Haha I didn't realize you were one I those pride white knights you must've been one of those 30k(lol) that watched pride. Way to use JDS a guy that besmirched Cc and made him quit to prove CC is a great defensive striker. CC couldn't outstrike Nelsonor Randleman, once avian k-1 credentials(which CC really doesn't have that impressive of) don't mean shit in mma.

No one is being a Pride white knight, we just can't stand people like you who obviously haven't watched MMA long and yet you talk about it like you know what you're saying and trash fighters that you never watched fight till they were in the twilight of their careers. Or you have watched MMA a while and are just stupid and don't know what you're looking at.

Have some respect for the sport and the fighters and learn something about it instead of just trashing fighters that you didn't get the opportunity to see fight when they were at their best.