How did Israel go from almost losing to Vettori to beating Gastelum?

[MMAProfessional]

Even the Silva fight it seemed like Israel wasn't a top fighter. How did he go from getting taken down multiple times in two fights to beating one of the best in the division pretty convincingly? Keep in mind it's been only a year since that fight. Crazy.

 

[accolyte1022]

Improving by training and more time.

 

[MMAGA]

Bending styles, I would imagine.

 

[Klaavical]

I did a 180 on my opinion of him on Saturday. Brother is legit, excellent TDD, cardio, heart etc

 

[Paulsp]

He’s improving leaps and bounds from fight to fight by training hard and gaining more octagon experience imo


He’s even aware at how quickly he’s improving

 

[chinarice]

Because he is training hard at closing the holes in his game.

Dude is a fantastic fighter and I hope after Saturday, the doubters will now accept it. (Not holding my breath on this)

 

[Espresso]

By training UFC really, really hard

 

[Fishmonger]

C3PO.

 

[Londonjitsu]

Vettori popped straight after and is now banned.

Probably why he was struggling with his grappling.

 

[The Accuser]

1. He has improved.

2. He is an overrated champ who beat a very likeable but overrated fighter in a rather weak division.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

How did he go from getting taken down by Vettori to defending Brunson's takedowns and tkoing him? He's only been seriously dedicated to mma for a couple of years now and he's improving incredibly fast.

 

[Marc A]

I did a 180 on my opinion of him on Saturday. Brother is legit, excellent TDD, cardio, heart etc

Is Kelvin known for td?

 

[Kwic]

Styles make fights.
ANd on a given night you may have a better or a worse day.
Plus he seems like a guy who raises to the level of his opponent (if the opponent is good).

 

[VVarhead]

Is Kelvin known for td?

Yes? He's an excellent wrestler.

 

[LockardTheGOAT]

Fighters improve overtime.

Hard to believe, isn't it? But it's true.

 

[Phisher]

He's improved. He's also been training grappling for a long time. Dude made his MMA debut in 2013.

We've seen that kind of progression in defensive grappling before with Wonderboy. He went from being unable to stop any of Matt Brown's shots to being one of the better counter-wrestlers in the UFC in a couple of years.

 

[Hookhooks]

If you have not watched Izzy on JRE it's really worth a listen.

 

[accolyte1022]

By training UFC really, really hard

Sherdoggers have known this since '93

 

[Phisher]

Yes? He's an excellent wrestler.

He's good. Not excellent. Kelvin's grappling is actually best in scrambles.

Adesanya stuffing Brunson was a lot more impressive. He's a worse overall fighter than Kelvin, but a much better MMA wrestler.

 

[PurpleDrank]

Vettori popped straight after and is now banned.

Probably why he was struggling with his grappling.

Oh shit i didnt even know that lmao. Also Vettori didnt come "close" to winning. He maybe won a round, if you wanna be generous.