He was doing the glove touch stuff last night, but he was also throwing some serious heat at Prates.
He was definitely a lot more offensive last night.
I'm usually one of his more vocal critics, but I thought he delivered last night.
It was definitely much less timid than the Shavkat fight.
Here's my thoughts: he was more aggressive not to please fans but because he simply could be and aggression via pressure on Prates was Ian's best way to minimize damage, proven by Prates' abysmal output the first 4 rounds. Prates had no grappling threat to speak of, so Ian could fire off the right high kicks to keep Prates' power hand up high and taking damage. He was efficient enough with this that he could circle towards Prate's power side as well as away from it to stay off the fence which basically plateaued Prates as he had no backup plan. Ian also completely dominated the handfight from start to finish, with Prates getting frustrated, dropping his hand or trying to parry, with Garry popping him for free right on the nose or chin.
Prates showed last night a certain type of frustration that we see in guys who have become used to the fight going their way constantly. Not really a "hammer vs nail" thing as it wasn't damage that disheartened Prates. Not a huge knock on Carlos, and not worried about his future or anything like that, though I would like if he stopped smoking as it visibly affected his gas in the 5th round, as anyone could predict. Ian is a good fighter, and I saw this as a 50/50 fight going in.
Shavkat is a much deeper puzzle to solve. He has a finishing threat standing and on the ground, with strikes and subs. Different animal. Shavkat's snatching of Neal's neck and Jean Silva's ninja choke on Bryce are giving me hope that we'll see more standing sub attempts in general.
Ian fought a good fight last night, though he showed things he can improve on as well. He had some sloppy TDs that would be punished by better, more well rounded, less smokey drinky fighters. His gas tank in the 4th and 5th peters out noticeably the two times we've seen him there. He was hit with the same sweep multiple times, including Prates landing in full mount off of it. Again, things that would be punished by better fighters.
Ian also shows great fight IQ when it comes to his understanding of winning a fight in the eyes of a judge. I also see he has an understanding of body mechanics. He would put his foot down step and grind on Prates' calf when he had him grounded, would grab his own wrist on the body lock, the dipping high kick he was throwing all night.
Ironically, Ian would fit into fighting nerds gym great in all likelihood. Was a good, technical scrap.
