Merab's weakness exposed - Body shots

[MeganFan]

It seemed every decent body shot was hurting him. They weren't normal reactions to body shots. Maybe he's dealing with an injury or he's just weak to his body. His face is so calloused up that you probably can't knock him out. But hit him in his body, and he will crumple.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

That's everybody's weak point.

 

[Söze Aldo]

He needs to condition his liver.

 

[MeganFan]

That's everybody's weak point.

He seemed to have an overexaggerated response to them though. Like him yelling out when he got kicked.

 

[HHJ]

We already knew that with the Omalley fights.

But even with Yan, Merab makes it very hard to land follow up shots when he gets hurt.

 

[surgeyou1]

I don't know why people don't invest in body work more. Especially if you are facing a guy with a granite chin. Plus it saps their gas tank too.

 

[moosaev]

It seemed every decent body shot was hurting him. They weren't normal reactions to body shots. Maybe he's dealing with an injury or he's just weak to his body. His face is so calloused up that you probably can't knock him out. But hit him in his body, and he will crumple.

He also got hurt by a teep from Suga. The secret is out, he’s weak to the body.

 

[mkt]

Yeah, that was weird. It was also a weakness of Cerrone, but he had lots of bad accidents from rodeos, water skiing and extreme sports...so it's not surprsing his insides were sensitive. Not sure why Merab is like that.

 

[Killhippies]

He took them well considering how well placed the shots were, liver chin doesn't really exist. You just need to protect yourself and Merab is never going to win a striking match vs Yan. He needs to spam takedowns to be effective but it is harder to do that when the nose is broken.

His cardio is his greatest weapon and the broken nose compromised it.

 

[MeganFan]

Yeah, that was weird. It was also a weakness of Cerrone, but he had lots of bad accidents from rodeos, water skiing and extreme sports...so it's not surprsing his insides were sensitive. Not sure why Merab is like that.

If I'm remembering right, Cerrone had his guts outside of his body at one point from a car accident. So his body weakness is understandable.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

It was already exposed against O'Malley, it's still not easy to hit him there often

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

I mean, how else can you hope to sap a guy with cardio like Merab? Everybody has a weakness for getting smashed in the liver repeatedly lol

 

[GearSolidMetal]

He seemed to have an overexaggerated response to them though. Like him yelling out when he got kicked.

He got kicked flush, full-force, so loud half the arena could hear it.... IN THE LIVER.

Most 'tough guys' would have instantly collapsed in pain.

 

[FreedomCricket]

Merab was just being dramatic. Body shots like that hurt everyone. You either hide it, or you buckle and your body shuts down. Merab was just yelling out as a way to deal, which he did recover fairly quickly from those shots.

 

[ExitLUPin]

I wouldn't say it's just a Merab thing. We saw Henry hurt multiples to the body a few fights earlier. Body-striking has made strides in MMA, but it is still underutilized by most fighters. Yan and even Talbott just have levels of striking ability far above the vast majority of MMA fighters.

 

[HHJ]

He got kicked flush, full-force, so loud half the arena could hear it.... IN THE LIVER.

Most 'tough guys' would have instantly collapsed in pain.

This is the point.


He may have yelled, but he sucked it up and kept fighting, rather than fall to floor writhing in pain.


Its like when Usyk was getting blasted by Tyson fury, you could tell that shit was hurting him badly, but he just grit though it and keep going

When that happens, its actually shrugging off what would kill mortal men

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

I don't know why people don't invest in body work more. Especially if you are facing a guy with a granite chin. Plus it saps their gas tank too.

This, it's a time tested approach

 

[Deadwing88]

Yan Haa goat level of boxing for mma

 

[Söze Aldo]

I don't know why people don't invest in body work more. Especially if you are facing a guy with a granite chin. Plus it saps their gas tank too.

MMA fighters have a terrible habit of neglecting body work. It's almost always leg/calf kicks and head hunting.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

This is the point.


He may have yelled, but he sucked it up and kept fighting, rather than fall to floor writhing in pain.


Its like when Usyk was getting blasted by Tyson fury, you could tell that shit was hurting him badly, but he just grit though it and keep going

When that happens, its actually shrugging off what would kill mortal men

Did Tyson Fury kick Usyk in the liver?


My point is, they're very different shots.
Many fighters, in both MMA & kickboxing, nickname the liver 'The Off Button.'
Body-punches to the liver hurt, and have ended many boxing matches.
Kicks to the liver - multiply that impact my two.
And Merab took two in that fight.

If Merab had instantly collapsed from either of those liver body kicks, no one outside of Sherdog would have said 'Wow, he's not as tough as we thought.'