- Joined
- Apr 14, 2024
- Messages
- 2,015
- Reaction score
- 4,533
First of all I love this kid. He's an absolute Chad. He has the look. He has the skills. He has the size. He has the power. He has the speed. He has exquisite entrance music selection. He's humble in victory and doesn't put on any lame ass gimmicks. There's absolutely nothing cheap or fake about him. It's hard not to be excited about him. He's a breath of fresh air to the HW division.
With that said there are 2 concerns I have as a fan.
1) Tom really believes in himself and goes for it. He isn't afraid of taking risks and when he's on offense it appears that he leaves himself open which makes him susceptible to counters.
I noticed this in his first fight with Blaydes and it also showed in his second fight with Blaydes last night. It also showed in his fight with Pavlovich.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing because in combat sports you have to take risks and its better to get caught swinging than to get caught looking.
He clearly feels like he has enough of an edge over his opponents to take such calculated risks and its paid off so far but I just hope that it doesn't bite him one day.
2) Cardio- I'm not accusing Tom of having bad cardio I just have no idea about how good it is because he's only been out of the first round once in his career.
This is a good thing and a bad thing because knowing you can fight hard in the championship rounds at high intensity is a huge indicator of how long you'll reign as champion and how well you will perform against truly elite fighters. All the greats had to prove that they're capable of doing this and it will be no different for Tom.
I was thrilled that Tom absolutely smoked Blaydes in a minute but I think he would have benefited more from a slightly longer fight where he really gets to test his wind and overall game.
This kind of experience would be important for a fight against Jon Jones who doesn't brawl toe to toe. Instead he stays in his bicycle and moves around well and knows how to avoid damage and collects points with kicks. This usually frustrates his opponents and can be physically and mentally exhausting.
Jones is a clever and sneaky veteran who knows how to play this game very well and can do this for 5 rounds. He also knows how to frustrate his opponents and land something sneaky while they chase him. You don't want to be tired in round 2 and 3 against Jones because knows how to steal the championship rounds with the best of them.
Good cardio will be crucial in such a fight especially if Tom will have trouble finding and hurting Jones enough to finish him early. Obviously there's a chance that Tom's cardio is good enough to handle this but I'd love to see it before treating it like a given.
These are my two main concerns as a fan but both of these issues Tom and his team can examine and address properly if he ever gets a chance to fight Jones.
With that said there are 2 concerns I have as a fan.
1) Tom really believes in himself and goes for it. He isn't afraid of taking risks and when he's on offense it appears that he leaves himself open which makes him susceptible to counters.
I noticed this in his first fight with Blaydes and it also showed in his second fight with Blaydes last night. It also showed in his fight with Pavlovich.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing because in combat sports you have to take risks and its better to get caught swinging than to get caught looking.
He clearly feels like he has enough of an edge over his opponents to take such calculated risks and its paid off so far but I just hope that it doesn't bite him one day.
2) Cardio- I'm not accusing Tom of having bad cardio I just have no idea about how good it is because he's only been out of the first round once in his career.
This is a good thing and a bad thing because knowing you can fight hard in the championship rounds at high intensity is a huge indicator of how long you'll reign as champion and how well you will perform against truly elite fighters. All the greats had to prove that they're capable of doing this and it will be no different for Tom.
I was thrilled that Tom absolutely smoked Blaydes in a minute but I think he would have benefited more from a slightly longer fight where he really gets to test his wind and overall game.
This kind of experience would be important for a fight against Jon Jones who doesn't brawl toe to toe. Instead he stays in his bicycle and moves around well and knows how to avoid damage and collects points with kicks. This usually frustrates his opponents and can be physically and mentally exhausting.
Jones is a clever and sneaky veteran who knows how to play this game very well and can do this for 5 rounds. He also knows how to frustrate his opponents and land something sneaky while they chase him. You don't want to be tired in round 2 and 3 against Jones because knows how to steal the championship rounds with the best of them.
Good cardio will be crucial in such a fight especially if Tom will have trouble finding and hurting Jones enough to finish him early. Obviously there's a chance that Tom's cardio is good enough to handle this but I'd love to see it before treating it like a given.
These are my two main concerns as a fan but both of these issues Tom and his team can examine and address properly if he ever gets a chance to fight Jones.
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