How come Phil Davis couldn't take "Rumble" down?

[OriginMMA]

so you didnt watch the rashad evans fight. he made davis look like an amateur

If I recall, Rashad was taken down once wasn't he? Regardless he demolished him still.

 

[dc007]

His wrestling pedigree hasn't translated well to MMA. He has struggled to take lots of people down.

 

[autocorrelation]

rumble shut him down

 

[FlameBallKid]

Kept getting punched in the face

 

[Skydome]

This. Davis isn't that good at wrestling either, Rashad toyed with him.
Rumble seemed far more focused, he reacted quickly to all TD attempts

Actually Phil is really, really good at wrestling. Rashad just has a more devloped MMA wrestling game and it showed

 

[ABSthetics]

Phil Davis cowered after getting hit hard the first time in the fight and was scared to put much into anything else he attempted the rest of the fight.

That and his wrestling isn't all that great MMA wise. I was pretty surprised he took Machida down. Davis looks like a solid fighter in general until he comes across someone with TDD and will give him fits. He doesn't seem to have much heart and grit at all and Im a pretty big fan of his. I was waiting for him to cry in the Rashad fight.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Will someone give me a technical breakdown of why Phil Davis couldn't get a takedown? Obviously the main reasons he was getting punched in the face. I was really under the impression that he could take anyone down and I can't even recall a fight that he wasn't able to get to the ground.

Does anyone else cringe at his striking? I feel like he's not confident in his striking and never commits on a single punch or combination. Or maybe he only throws to setup the takedowns? If he had threatening hands he would be dangerous, but until then good luck at ever beating anyone in the top 5.

One more question.. who should he fight next?

Rumble is big, strong and a talented wrestler. Plus Rumble knows how to strike. So Phil got schooled.

Suga also schooled Phil.

 

[chaoticmayhem]

Rumble is a huge LHW. He also is decent at wrestling. Bad match up for Davis.

 

[RachelZane**]

i think it was because rumble is more skilled

 

[JKS]

Has good TDD

 

[FootstompShonie]

he is not good at closing distance on takedown attempts

his wrestling style relied on attacking from a half collar tie

in wrestling, people shoot from here

but rumble made him shoot from like 3-4 feet away every time, so he had time to see the takedowns coming

puts into perspective, the crazy speed guys like sonnen and gsp have to consistently hit double legs from way out there

And Rosholt even owned him in the clinch. I remember watching their match And Davis gets so frustrated and starts like slapping Rosholt.

Also Davis seems like one of those guys who just shuts down when he starts getting hit hard. In the last two rounds he barely even tried any takedowns and the ones he did we're half-hearted.

 

[FinBJJ]

Because 205 is the new rumbleweight.

 

[Face Punch]

To start, he was at a size and strength disadvantage. Then, when he shot he was usually off balance trying to get away from the strikes or after getting tagged. When he came in, his base was way too high. Didn't bend his knees or lower his weight, kind of just bent over at the waist under AJs punches and pushed into the abdomen, rather than the waist/thigh area.

That, and Anthony is a stud wrestler, himself. He probably knew Phil couldn't hang in the striking department, would be forced to shoot that sloppy double, and had a full training camp defending them.

 

[Steve08]

he is not good at closing distance on takedown attempts

his wrestling style relied on attacking from a half collar tie

in wrestling, people shoot from here

but rumble made him shoot from like 3-4 feet away every time, so he had time to see the takedowns coming

puts into perspective, the crazy speed guys like sonnen and gsp have to consistently hit double legs from way out there

Great insight, definitely puts in perspective how different shot range is in wrestling as compared to mma.

I would only add that Davis seems to alternate between "kicking mode" or "wrestling mode" exclusively; he is not good at blending skills to use strikes to set-up shots. My thought is that he wouldn't have so much trouble closing the distance if only he used the threat of punches to get inside, as Cain does so well.

I can't say much about the tactics of Chael cause I don't like him as a fighter, but regardless of his speed, GSP was also VERY GOOD at using the threat of his jab to set-up shots (and vice versa). Many of the takedowns in his second fight with Koscheck were hit while Josh was flinching in response to lead-hand feints and unprepared to counter-wrestle.

 

[Steve08]

In the last two rounds he barely even tried any takedowns and the ones he did we're half-hearted.

Well, you have to think of it from Davis's perspective. When he would stand, Rumble would outstrike him because he was better, and when he tried to shoot, Rumble would just sprawl on him because Phil shoots from a mile away due to his seeming inability to perform 1-2-shot in a fight.

Consequently, I imagine that, after a point, Davis just simply didn't know what to do.

 

[mrsinister]

If he'd watched Rumble's past fights he'd have known it's easy to get him down once you poke his eyes out.

 

[FootstompShonie]

Well, you have to think of it from Davis's perspective. When he would stand, Rumble would outstrike him because he was just better, and when he tried to shoot, Rumble would just sprawl on him. I would imagine that, after a point, Davis probably simply just didn't know what to do.

Yeah I kinda understand, but I mean, if your game is takedowns you gotta just keep going for them. He tried like only 1 every 3-minutes. Of course he was going to lose.

Someone like Shields or Maia or Sonnen show you have to just keep going for takedowns and you'll eventually succeed, or just lose, but at least they give their effort the whole time and try for a victory.

Davis gave up IMO. He did in the Rashad fight too.

 

[DoUEvenLiftBro]

If he'd watched Rumble's past fights he'd have known it's easy to get him down once you poke his eyes out.

That's a good point. If Rumble ever gets to Jones, that's a bad matchup for Rumble. He's lost via TKO-eyepoke before and Jones is the master of the eyepokes.

 

[iloveufc123]

Anthony is a gamed opponent

 

[leosgf]

First of all, Rumble was really ready, his defendive wrestling were on point. Also, Phil couldn't set them up with striked. And another thing I noticed is that Rumble broke Phil mentally when he defended the first shots, you could see on Phil's face, he was like: "Shit, can't I get this fucking takedown?".