Media Robert Whittaker on Masvidal-Diaz fight

Good interview. It was always easy to be a fan of Whittaker but it's even easier knowing he's a fan of the Diaz brothers.
 
MescalineDreams said:
when you say he didn't look good, you're exclusively judging his boxing at range.
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Lol not true. His boxing at range looked the most sloppy yes, but overall he just looked like he didn't belong in the top 10. I think I'd favor everyone in the top 15 against Diaz except Lawler or maybe Maia (except in a 3 RD fight).

Pettis is a decent win, but he is not a real top 10 WW. Stylistically, Nate was also a bad match-up for him. I'm not saying his win over Wonderboy was a fluke, because it wasn't, but a lot of people would still favor Stephen in a rematch.

The only way I can see Masvidal losing to Nate is if he coasts the late rounds and loses a split decision. I'm very willing to eat crow if Nate proves me wrong.
 
MescalineDreams said:
when you say he didn't look good, you're exclusively judging his boxing at range.

Problem is, there was never any intention on fighting there. The whole game plan was to take away his kicks, those punches were often nothing more than setups to get into the clinch, work his boxing on the inside, dirty box, lean and push the pace on Him. Mixed in with s bit of wrestling and jits

He looked good the only place where it really mattered, where he game planned to be and most of his training centered around.

For me I don't think his boxing at range looked great either, but he looked Great everywhere else. Those combinations at the end of the 2nd were vintage Diaz bro shit.

If he fought someone like Mas or another boxer, someone where he didn't have to be concerned about kicks so much.. You'd see a much better Nate at range akin to his fights against Conor, MJ etc. but his training and gameplan was entirely centered around not fighting there in the first place


People who are judging Nate from that, saying his boxing looked like shit or whatever, clearly aren't seeing the bigger picture
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Good points.

I am also not so sure Masvidal has evolved. Nate certainly has though.

Jorge has been going on these little 2 -3 fight win streaks the majority of his career. you would have to go all the way back to 06-08 to see any kind of a decent win streak out of him. He's won 2 now, one against Till who was vastly overhyped by the UFC because they desperately needed someone to fight Woodley. Till's claim to fame was was squeaking by a decision against Wonderboy who had gone 1-1-1 in his last 3. Then he got the perfect knee into Askren who many felt (myself included) would win a grappling war of attrition.

Masvidal has created hype by having a couple of highlight reel wins and by acting like a thug. Hence the low brow fans.

Nate on the other hand has evolved into a much more complete fighter. Despite the long layoff and likely the adrenalin dump from fighting again after so long, as you pointed out he neutralized Pettis's best weapons and nearly finished him.

I suspect wrestlers will still be his kyptonite as 170 is top heavy with them. Askren said it best, when he talked about wrestling being a life long sport. There are a couple of guys that have developed a decent wrestling game without the background, GSP, Whittaker and Maia come to mind but its rare. I think Nate's striking and BJJ will always be his strengths and wrestling will be where he will lack traction.
 
Masvidal is going to expose Diaz's lazy nature.
 
Dirge said:
Good points.

I am also not so sure Masvidal has evolved. Nate certainly has though.

Jorge has been going on these little 2 -3 fight win streaks the majority of his career. you would have to go all the way back to 06-08 to see any kind of a decent win streak out of him. He's won 2 now, one against Till who was vastly overhyped by the UFC because they desperately needed someone to fight Woodley. Till's claim to fame was was squeaking by a decision against Wonderboy who had gone 1-1-1 in his last 3. Then he got the perfect knee into Askren who many felt (myself included) would win a grappling war of attrition.

Masvidal has created hype by having a couple of highlight reel wins and by acting like a thug. Hence the low brow fans.

Nate on the other hand has evolved into a much more complete fighter. Despite the long layoff and likely the adrenalin dump from fighting again after so long, as you pointed out he neutralized Pettis's best weapons and nearly finished him.

I suspect wrestlers will still be his kyptonite as 170 is top heavy with them. Askren said it best, when he talked about wrestling being a life long sport. There are a couple of guys that have developed a decent wrestling game without the background, GSP, Whittaker and Maia come to mind but its rare. I think Nate's striking and BJJ will always be his strengths and wrestling will be where he will lack traction.
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Well Jorge may have the same skills but

Seems like right now there's more urgency. Like he wants it more. You can see it in his body language pre / post fight, how he speaks, his overall energy. There's just a certain confidence and maturity about him that I've never really noticed before until prior to his fight against Till

Think he realized that fight was some real do or die shit for his career and it pulled something out of him.

on some level I think his age was showing a bit compared to the 26 year old till, but he was very patient, calculated. Countering well and very wise about his punch selection and timing which I guess you expect from a veteran.

When you treat a fight like the war/ simulated fight to the death it is instead of a sparring match.. You see a different fighter. Think that's definitely something we might be seeing in Mas, there's an urgency and seriousness about him. He's also in some of the best shape we've seen him in which is another indication of that

He's a guy with all the skills but never really hit his potential, that realization hitting combined with knowing you don't have long left in the sport the can be the tipping point

But who knows, maybe he does revert back to old ways and this seeming resurgence will be short lived. For now, he seems like a different Jorge
 
BooBoyMan said:
Lol not true. His boxing at range looked the most sloppy yes, but overall he just looked like he didn't belong in the top 10. I think I'd favor everyone in the top 15 against Diaz except Lawler or maybe Maia (except in a 3 RD fight).

Pettis is a decent win, but he is not a real top 10 WW. Stylistically, Nate was also a bad match-up for him. I'm not saying his win over Wonderboy was a fluke, because it wasn't, but a lot of people would still favor Stephen in a rematch.

The only way I can see Masvidal losing to Nate is if he coasts the late rounds and loses a split decision. I'm very willing to eat crow if Nate proves me wrong.
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I don't think you're analyzing this too deeply at all my man

But obviously entitled to your opinion
 
I wish whit had a podcast man. Or a analyst or something.

Hes got the best interviews
 
MescalineDreams said:
I don't think you're analyzing this too deeply at all my man

But obviously entitled to your opinion
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I understood what you said and I agree, it was a great gameplan. I still think he'll get outclassed by Masvidal.
 
Yacob said:
Diaz wins with cardio....


Never heard anyone say that


I'll offer my personal original opinion: throw leg kicks
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Diaz actually checked Pettis's kicks and fucked up his leg. Glad to see that he finally turned a corner there.

However, he did look kind of rusty. Not sold on him being a top level WW.

However, Whittaker knows a fuck of a lot more about this stuff than me.
 
BooBoyMan said:
Jorge has good cardio too, is everyone forgetting that or something?? In fact he has better cardio than what Diaz displayed in his last fight.
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I'm sure Diaz does have better cardio, but I doubt it'll be a huge factor like in many of his other fights. I think Masvidals power will keep him back a bit more.
 
Nate lost the 4th round in the second Conor fight. He also has been to rounds 4 and 5 exactly twice in his career. It's funny how the mantra of Nate's godly cardio is being repeated over and over, while he has been a 3-round fighter his entire career and he slowed down/reduced his output in many of his third rounds.

I wouldn't be even a tiny bit surprised if Masvidal looks better in rounds 4 and 5. Of course if that happens Sherdog will say - "Ring rust", "Nate beyond his prime", "He old"... and stuff like that.
 
MEAN357 said:
Nate reached his final form.. he finally learned to check kicks in his last fight and mangled Pettis legs by doing so lol
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He’s known how to check kicks for a long time (see rd2 vs MJ). In most fights though, he prefers to ignore the low kicks and keep his long stance, favoring his boxing style over defense. Against McGregor and a few others, this is what cost him the win.
 
Yacob said:
Diaz wins with cardio....


Never heard anyone say that


I'll offer my personal original opinion: throw leg kicks
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1. Diaz checks leg kicks nowadays.

2. They are in opposite stances.

3.) Masvidal isn't an expert leg kicker.
 
pseto223 said:
Nate lost the 4th round in the second Conor fight. He also has been to rounds 4 and 5 exactly twice in his career. It's funny how the mantra of Nate's godly cardio is being repeated over and over, while he has been a 3-round fighter his entire career and he slowed down/reduced his output in many of his third rounds.

I wouldn't be even a tiny bit surprised if Masvidal looks better in rounds 4 and 5. Of course if that happens Sherdog will say - "Ring rust", "Nate beyond his prime", "He old"... and stuff like that.
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They can't really say that, Masvidal and Nate are practically the same age and they both almost have the same amount of fights. Albeit Diaz has been in much more wars and been dominated more. They are practically similar fighters.
 
I see Nate winning by being a real gangster
 
Not sure who takes it but as long as they beat each either silly which fair chance should transpire, will be entertaining. Jorge can win with better footwork and not brawling with Diaz, but Diaz will bait him.
 
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