Has Leon's grappling improved enough to give him a chance against Usman?

I think so, especially since you can also argue that Usman's knees seem to get worse by the day and he hasn't been using wrestling gameplans as much recently. Also, in the first fight, Usman did win with wrestling, but it was far from dominant.
 
It’s more of an usmans wrestling has eroded from his knees and hips. It happens to about every wrestler that’s why most turn to stand up fighters.

Leon will have a good chance. I just don’t really want to see it.
 
NGute87 said:
It seems fighters have an easier time covering the striking gap vs covering the wrestling gap.
Usman finishes Leon this time around.
Click to expand...

This. Wrestling is one of those skill gaps that non-wrestlers have a difficult time closing. BJJ and striking can be learned but it's rare to see someone who's not from a wrestling background outwrestle a guy that's been doing it since they were a kid.

Masvidal trains with Romero and flew out a bunch of wrestlers to prepare for Usman. Didn't help him much. Ditto for Porier against Khabib.

Leon has come a long way since the first Usman fight when he was still green. His BJJ has improved and he can out-point anyone on the feet. Based on what former AKA coaches and training partners have said, his wrestling is better now too. But highly doubtful it's good enough to out grapple the likes of Belal and Burns let alone Usman.
 
Probably not. But if he can lean on his speed, he might be able to pull the upset. Usman tends to strike a lot more these days. Not sure if it's because he's just feeling his hands more, or because those known rickety knees Usman has are really causing him problems wrestling now. If he can draw Usman into extended striking exchanges his speed could pay dividends. But it's hard to think about picking against Usman with pretty much anyone in the division.
 
Leon won first round and in the second was winning when Miragliotta robbed him restarting the fight when he was dominating in the fence.
This rematch need happen.
 
He seems like a live dog. He rather effortlessly shrugged off Belal.
 
JonJonesNeedle said:
No, Leon Scott's grappling has not shown to have improved at all.

Do you know what Scott has shown? That he can almost be KTFO by a semiretired unranked LW Nate Diaz.
Click to expand...
Not to mention that he needs to cheat to avoid being submitted by a semiretired unranked LW Nate Diaz.

Fight should have been restarted in the center of the octagon with the heal hook sunk in and a point, if not two, deducted for the intentional foul.
 
Masdival can stuff Usman's wrestling and force a stalemate for 25 minutes and you bums think Leon can't?
 
Usman's offensive striking has improved a lot, but defensively, Usman is still very hittable. He shows a lot of bad tendencies defensively in his boxing. I definitely favour Usman but I don't think this is going to be a grappling heavy fight. Leon is very hittable too though lol. I'm just saying, this isn't an impossible fight for him to win. Everyone talks about how much Usman's striking has improved (true) but the improvements have been offensively, defensively he's still susceptible & shows some bad tendencies
 
Can he protect himself from Toe Stumps? NOO.
 
fortheo said:
I think so, especially since you can also argue that Usman's knees seem to get worse by the day and he hasn't been using wrestling gameplans as much recently. Also, in the first fight, Usman did win with wrestling, but it was far from dominant.
Click to expand...


Usman has grown into a world class MMA striker. He just straight up doesn't need to wrestle anymore, but he knows his counter wrestling is there if he needs it.

People are a bit weird with giving Leon credit, he's clearly one of the best in the division and he's good at everything. A lot of his decisions are against fighters who are very difficult to put away.

Personally I think Leon is the toughest test for Usman in the division now so far as proven opponents.
 
It's going to look like he got trampled by a pachyderm.

Usman has improved significantly while Leon is still point fighting
 
BlessedBC said:
The only way Usman loses is if he decides to try and strike with Leon trying to prove something, if he sticks to a proper game plan Edwards only chance is to catch him on the way in.
Click to expand...
Leon has had 1 KO in his last 12 fights. Usman has more KO/TKO's recently and is more likely to get a finish by striking. That said, Leon has a chance of winning a point fight if they stand the entire time. I think Usman is too smart for that, though.
 
He's obviously better 10 fights later and years of training don't know if that's enough.
Usman has also improved and more impressively he might just jab Leon face off for 5 or to a tko.
 
Usman's 34 years old now and isn't the wrestler he used to be. The fight will be won on the feet, and Leon has the better overall standup but not quite the power. He needs to use quickness and footwork, while mixing up the strikes to avoid what happened to Jorge. If he fights smart and sticks to a plan, he can win.
 
No. Not skill for skill. No.

The real question is has Usmans knees and body (and chin) accumulated enough wear and tear to diminish him to the point where others that are not as skillful as him can beat him at grappling…..
 
I don't see Leon stuffing the takedowns in the rematch
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,280,145
Messages
58,261,821
Members
175,984
Latest member
Omar Ahmed Lotfy

Share this page

Back
Top