Kevin Lee's Problem Is Easily Fixed

[jx820]

I think it would be a mistake to treat this loss like cardio was his only problem. His cardio failed because he wasn't landing his takedowns and when he TDs were stopped he wouldn't let them go. He was married to the TD because his striking is just not up to par with the elite guys at LW or WW. His technique issues created his cardio issues.

 

[superpunch]

And then he lost it all pretty much immediately.



We have the score cards, Lee only won the first round and was looking worst and worst. It competitive up to a certain point, but the whole thing wasn't close.

TRTor is another guy who went from shit cardio to great cardio.

Rampage's cardio early in PRIDE was whatever. His cardio in the UFC around the time of the Dan Henderson fight was legendary.

Dan Henderson is also another guy who's had shit or insane cardio at varying points in his career. Gassed in 1 round against Jake Shields. Looked great in 5 insane rounds against Rampage.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

I think it would be a mistake to treat this loss like cardio was his only problem. His cardio failed because he wasn't landing his takedowns and when he TDs were stopped he wouldn't let them go. He was married to the TD because his striking is just not up to par with the elite guys at LW or WW. His technique issues created his cardio issues.

One of Fighter Kevin Lee's biggest issues is that he does not know how to punch. I would not say that he "arm punches" but he "upper body" punches. No power generation from the legs.

 

[Vergilius]

I agree. He also looks very tense in his striking and seems like he feels he must be going forward throwing bombs. If he could relax and pick his moments better, I feel like he could go 5 rounds with energy to spare. Finally, he also needs to work on his footwork: he seems to only go either forwards or backwards. Learning to move to the side better would buy him valuable time and save him from having to throw/wrestle all the time.

 

[Rvd Slmr]

TRTor is another guy who went from shit cardio to great cardio.

Rampage's cardio early in PRIDE was whatever. His cardio in the UFC around the time of the Dan Henderson fight was legendary.

Dan Henderson is also another guy who's had shit or insane cardio at varying points in his career. Gassed in 1 round against Jake Shields. Looked great in 5 insane rounds against Rampage.

Doping isn't exactly the best solution for Lee under USADA.

 

[TheOneAboveAll3]

Why is seconds not available? I had to pick minutes but would have went with seconds.

 

[ThoskaBrah]

People seem to see the problem in Lee only, I dont think Lee was bad at all. I think Dos Anjos would be a huge problem for anyone this night, he grappled and defended the take downs extremely well time after time. And Lee tried to stand with Dos Anjos when he realized the takedowns dont work, but by that time he was pretty exhausted and then got outstruck easily in round 3/4.

 

[cooks1]

LOL at energy management. That's a bunch of bollocks. That's not his problem, or anyone's problem. That's the excuse people give to avoid confronting the real problem, which is cardio.

The only round Lee won in that fight was the first round. The second round was close, but he was already running out of steam. The times he was doing the shit you want him to be more measured with (TD attempts, power strikes) were the only times he was winning the fight. Lets repeat that. You want him to change what he was doing when he was winning.

Terrible strategy. The correct strategy is to make sure he has the energy to to what he needed to win for 25 minutes.

To that question, the answer is a long time. Elite level cardio is very hard to just develop and takes a while. Gotta hit the road.

 

[Balistic]

Heart and brain transplants are NOT easily fixed. Lee has the mentality of a child

 

[TJH Exitium]

Yoel Romero is proof this article is BS

Yoel Romero paces himself very well in fights, which is a complete polar opposite of Lee's style.

Romero tends to move very slow and lethargic seeming for large parts of his fights, but he's actually just pacing himself and tricking his opponent into thinking he's gassed. He moves very slow until he sees an opening and explodes offensively in controlled bursts.

Lee could learn a lot from Romero's style and pace, instead of just blitzing forward the way he does.

Colby has the cardio to go at a high pace throughout the fight. Romero and Lee do not

 

[Franklin U.]

Unfortunately..... and I've seen enough to offer up my personal opinion, Kevin Lee has more issues than just " cardio".
Lee is a solid fighter - nothing more. Can he evolve to the point of becoming upper tier/ elite? Anything is possible but in this case it would take the sacrifices that I dont see doing . Even then, no guarantees.
This is a brutal sport and after awhile " you are what you are".

 

[Mike]

No he has multiple problems. Cardio, standup, and heart.

Heart will be the hardest one to correct and may be impossible to fix.

 

[KeepItRealist]

Hes dancing to much around the cage

Barboza should have gone for the knee or another kick and Lee would have have been out. He really screwed the pooch in that fight. Even his horrific TD defense wouldn't have mattered if he had been smarter in the spots he had to win the fight.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

His biggest problem seems to be he thinks he has the cardio, clinch game and takedown chains that Colby, Usman and Khabib have. When he tries to wrestle like they do he gasses out.

He needs someone to teach him stand up for the purpose of setting up takedowns, GSP would probably be one of the best former fighters to teach him or get him in touch with people to teach him how to better set up takedowns so he doesn't spend so much energy failing.

 

[MuayThaiBX]

He needs to realize that he doesn't naturally have great cardio and budget his energy output accordingly. I don't think his problem is downright terrible cardio. More like he has average to slightly below cardio but expends energy early like he thinks he has EPO Dillashaw cardio. I think it's a hubris problem. He is so confident that he thinks he can just go put it on his opponent full bore and they will crumble. When they don't he's sort of fucked a few rounds later.

 

[Melas Chasma]

It's more about skills. Kevin isn't good at MMA.

Its retarded to say a top10 level MMA fighter in the most competitive weightclass "isn't good at MMA".

 

[fortheo]

Being able to utilize his reach with a jab and a teep or push kick would do wonders for him. For a guy who looks up to GSP, you think he'd know to utilize his reach, make his opponents try to close the distance on him and then duck under for an easy, well timed takedown.

Right now he just forces everything.

 

[Knuckledragger]

Kevin Lee should get a job selling cars.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

We have the score cards, Lee only won the first round and was looking worst and worst. It competitive up to a certain point, but the whole thing wasn't close.

Well.. it seems that Lee is the LW/WW Weidman

 

[Knuckledragger]

Its retarded to say a top10 level MMA fighter in the most competitive weightclass "isn't good at MMA".

Hes not good at mma. Hes peaked. Hes reached the ceiling for his level of intelligence. Sure hes athletic and explosive but hes just wasting what little brain he has left looking stupid in there.