"I understand MMA & Combat Sports Better than You"
Since you typed it we know it's true yeah? Seems if you were confident in your opinions you would just share them and let whomever reads it make that judgement - seems like a pretty insecure statement to make (whether factually true or not). Appreciate you letting me know your opinions are superior to mine, really strong way to lead an argument!
Really?
Wasn't it you who said, to me, "
I don't think you understand MMA"?
This is why I said, "I understand MMA & Combat Sports better than you."
You seem to fancy yourself as
the determiner of who knows what.
I think
you're the one who led this into an argument by saying, "
I don't think you understand MMA"
Try approaching me different and will see what happens.
I actually can tell from your posts that you know a lot about combat sports and that's why I was wiling to intelligently engage you and try to see if you could help me understand something I was missing based on my own analysis.
LOL, now your admitting "
(you)can tell from (my) posts that (I) know a lot about combat sports." <45>
In point of fact, I
did help you understand something you're missing:
physicality +
constitution.
Some fighters have these things but don't use them to their uttermost. Paulo Costa appears to know he is a superior specimen to anyone he's ever faced, and imposes himself on them accordingly.
I understand your points about physicality and imposing your will on someone, but it's my overall perspective that at the elite levels the best-of-the-best are typically incredibly defensively sound (in all combat sports) and use that edge to exploit their opponents. Physicality only means so much if you have the technicality to impose it (or if your opponent chooses the wrong strategy that allows you to exploit it). Being bull-strong doesn't help you that much against someone that is quicker/better footwork and matador-fast; they snipe you and then aren't there when you attack. It's incredibly annoying as the shorter/stockier fighter to eat jabs/low-kicks as you try to close distance only to have your opponent continually escape laterally (or even worse pivot you at times).
Depends on who were talking about. I gave 3 examples where 3 men imposed their will on Thomas Hearns, 2 of whom knocked him out, the other one came close, but got knocked out. (This may happen to Costa too, but I doubt it.)
Marvin Hagler was better all the way around than Thomas Hearns, and steam-rolled him ... but both Barclay and Roldan were inferior athletes.
Yet both of them (especially Barclay) were physically tougher than Hearns.
You said imposing yourself on someone "can't be done in MMA," but I beg to differ.
Why do you think Khabib and Usman are so absolutely dominant? They have superior physicality to their opponents,
and they know it, and
they apply relentless pressure against opponents ... who may be technically faster, superior .. but are ultimately physically weaker, and
not made of the same mettle. Khabib and Usman both completely dominate their opponents with their physical superiority, and break them, time-and-time again.
If you pay attention,
Paulo Costa is exactly like this, but is more striking-based than grappler-based. Costa has repeatedly backed every single person he's ever faced all over the cage, wearing them out physically and mentally, basically knocking everyone TF out, save the one another physical specimen he faced in Yoel Romero.
Everything you say may or may not prove to be true, except I disagree with you regarding Costa's technical soundness. He is better than you're giving him credit for.
Costa throws extremely-hard, leveraged left hooks to the liver, as well as right hooks to the spleen and ribs, also adding heavy kicks to both sides of the abdomen as well.
I mean super heavy. And he continues to do this round-after-round. If you watch, Costa's body shots have earned him as many or more wins as his head shots. (His body shots have set up almost all of his head shots also.)
Where Whittaker and Gastelum head-hunted, Costa will not do this.
Costa's destroying Adessanya's body will prove to be the difference. It will also prove to be why Adessanya gets knocked out.
This brings us back to the subject title of this thread, Adessanya leaning back. Izzy is going to have his ribs murdered, and that's going to affect his leaning-back style. After he takes a few devastating body shots, he is going to lean forward and start covering up more, and that's when Paulo Costa is going to knock him out.
Of course I may be wrong, but this is how I envision the fight.
Costa is far less defensively sound throughout fights, he comes in on a straight line and is willing to trade, always looking to load up on power, rarely feinting/jabbing to close distance. That works against a variety of opponents that aren't the-best-of-the-best but even they will have success on you; if you are getting flash knocked down from Uriah Hall's jab then you are going to be in a world of hurt from Izzy whether you believe it or not.
Paulo Costa is a walking, talking definition of the adage, "
Your best offense is your best defense."
When you fight someone in the center of the ring, especially a taller fighter, and you rush -in (like Whittaker did) that's the hardest you can possibly be hit—if the taller fighter has his feet planted and times you right.
But that's
not how Costa fights. He doesn't jump in there, he walks you down (at a very fast pace) walks right through your punches, blocking most—and never stops coming after you—which means Adessanya is going to be backpedaling. The moment a tall fighter starts backpedaling, especially if he's not allowed to set himself, all the leverage on his punches is gone. The more physical Costa is with Adessanya , the better his chances of winning.
And, BTW, Costa did not get dropped from a Uriah Hall's jab, but from an inside hook, elbow-in.
If you know about punching/damage from punches (as a far superior expert in all forms of combat sports you obviously do
) then you know it's the punches you don't see that can hurt you/knock you down or out, not necessarily the hardest thrown punch. Uriah's jab was by no means a power punch and it stunned the shit out of and dropped Costa; he's going to be fighting a guy with far better footwork, far better jab, far better volume (more stuff you already know!) that strategically will not allow himself to get backed into the cage without escaping laterally every single time.
For someone who claims to want to "intelligently discuss" the topic, your sarcastic insertions belie your true intent.
Again, Uriah Hall did not drop Costa with a jab but with a short hook.
2nd, Hall is a much stronger, more devastating puncher than Izzy.
3rd, you're right, it's absolutely possible that Izzy will catch Costa coming in, just like he caught Whittaker.
However, I don't think it's the same story.
For starters, I think Whittaker is chinney. He's been dropped many times, even knocked-out before, with one punch KOs. 2nd, Whittaker flies in there recklessly, hands down, chin up. Costa doesn't do this.
Paulo Costa is a stronger man than Whittaker, has a thicker skull than Whittaker, has a thicker neck than Whittaker, and I think is just a tougher man than Robert Whittaker. He also hits harder and is physically more imposing. If Izzy clips Costa, and drops him, it will not be devastating to Costa. I think Costa will get right back up and be hunting Izzy's ass, with renewed vigor, precisely as he's done in the past. He's a completely different animal than Robert Whittaker.
There are different strategies to beating Izzy as there are all fighters; not every opponent has the same tools to exploit the same holes, so some fighters will have better chances. Whittaker tried to "pressure" Izzy and that played right into Izzy's hands - the closest fights he's had are against guys who stall him out for long periods (Romero distance staring contest where he respects the power+counter ability) or guys that can counter him with power by looking to slip inside (Gastelum).
Completely disagree. Whittaker fought a lame fight against Adessanya, a stupid fight. He didn't pressure Izzy at all (I thought I covered this back in the beginning).
Whittaker stayed on the outside, then rushed-in blindly with haymakers, rather than walking Adessanya down in the style befitting Costa. He had no sustained body attack, and appeared to be going for the KO with every shot, rather than looking to wear Izzy out.
Again, Whittaker also does not have the physicality of Costa. Whittaker has a skinny neck and a somewhat small chin and facial structure. This is why he has been KO'd, and will likely be KO'd again in the future. Paulo Costa is simply a better specimen than Whittaker.
Robert Whittaker has never fought anyone with the same ferocity, and relentless pursuit, backing them up all over the cage like Costa has. He fought Yoel Romero sporadically, and carefully; were as Paulo Costa backed Romero up all over the ring.
You already know all this though, so nothing to be gained from posting with me further I guess
You have an extremely high opinion of yourself and think you're the only person who analyzes fights properly. Newsflash pal, you're not always right, and other people can and will see things you won't.
We both fancy ourselves as "analysts," you in your name directly, me in my title. Next month we will know who is who.
