Ngannou's grappling isn't that terrible, Stipe is just THAT good!

[BigMuffler]

It's pretty common these days to see people saying Francis has terrible grappling and can't grapple at all, but did we already forget he showed some solid grappling before? Blaydes who dominated Hunt and Oleynik had trouble taking and keeping him down, he had a flashy sub win which had this board going wild albeit against a journeyman, and even thwarting Overeem in the clinch shows some savvy not just brute strength (unless you think any powerlifter could do the same). Ngannou has decent grappling and above average defensive wrestling, he may have said he doesn't train grappling but that's clearly just to save face after looking bad against STIPE.

Stipe is the f'king GOAT.. firefighter in MMA

 

[Dogo1]

A little of both

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

A little of Bethe

 

[fastone]

Stipe is that good; was not surprised.

 

[Goodfella86]

I think Francis is better than we think. He has 4 sub wins, each with a different technique. And after the Stipe fight, his tdd is definitely better than it seems. But I do think Francis is very weak off his back. He looked completely lost there. It didn't just look like an off night; it looked like he would be lost, regardless of the opponent (although very few could take him down).

 

[DarkneT]

Tell me something I didn't already know

I told all you noobs this for weeks leading up

 

[executionermma]

Sherdog goofs are 8 or 80, either you're a one dimensional can or you are the next Mike Tyson, no in between for former hype trains already derailed.

 

[STRAWBOSS]

his "grappling" may be ok but when he was on his back, he seemed rather desultory so one may legit question over pancakes his "ground game".

are you in agreeance?

 

[Coconut Joe]

Ngannnou's take down defense was nonexistent?

 

[Mixfight]

His defensive wreslting and understanding of under hooks is pretty weak IMO. His strength makes up for it in the clinch which is why Reem couldn't do anything but once Stipe hit him with some good shots and changed levels on him Ngannou had nothing to offer in the wrestling. He's still a very green grappler IMO. Not terrible but still has a long way to go.

 

[VIPERdude]

It's pretty common these days to see people saying Francis has terrible grappling and can't grapple at all, but did we already forget he showed some solid grappling before? Blaydes who dominated Hunt and Oleynik had trouble taking and keeping him down, he had a flashy sub win which had this board going wild albeit against a journeyman, and even thwarting Overeem in the clinch shows some savvy not just brute strength (unless you think any powerlifter could do the same). Ngannou has decent grappling and above average defensive wrestling, he may have said he doesn't train grappling but that's clearly just to save face after looking bad against STIPE.

Stipe is the f'king GOAT.. firefighter in MMA

I dont disagree really, however even IF Ngannou WAS the best wrestler in the division it wouldn't matter his cardio wouldnt have been able to sustain a successful grappling match. He blew his load trying to KO Stipe an entire first round. Then he had to save his energy in each additional round just for one blast of energy that lasted 5 seconds at best. Then he was again wasted.

 

[Affenschädel]

Jeeesus...

 

[Goatenstein]

He's the black Todd Duffee

 

[Chagaev]

and even thwarting Overeem in the clinch shows some savvy not just brute strength (unless you think any powerlifter could do the same)

In the beginning of the fight, Pudzianowski not only dominated Timmy in the clinch, but also took him down.

Marius had six months experience in MMA.

 

[g*r*b]

Let's not forget that Ngannou spent his energy far too lavishly right at the start. He thought all he had to do to get the belt was connect hard enough once, and chased that "once" so hard that he ended up flailing away far more than his usual manner. If that hadn't happened, Stipe would have had a harder time grappling him and might not have been so successful.

But then, if Stipe didn't manage to evade that flailing so well, Ngannou's grappling wouldn't even have become an issue...so yeah, Stipe IS that damn good.

 

[Joseph_McBride]

Sure his tdd is good but his actually grappling is white belt level. He literally used ZERO technique from the bottom to get up. Just explode. And if he was 30+ pounds heavier it would've stopped working after the first time.

 

[HelloJapan]

Gas tank.

 

[JayJayFrench]

Mighty Mouse isn't that short, Struve is just that tall.

 

[Stevanchez]

Stipe is great.

Ngannou is one-dimensional.

Both are true.

 

[Cooliox]

Ngannou's grappling is terrible, but he's so overwhelmingly strong that he can stop your takedowns with raw power.

In the end, technique beats power... because without technique, you're just applying more force than you actually need.

That's what 'technique' is essentially. It allows you generate greater amounts of force while applying controlled levels of energy.