Short guys vs tall guys (striking)

[rockcity]

To all short fighters 5'9 and under, what are your stratigies striking wise against fighters over 6'0

 

[ChachiKiller]

To all short fighters 5'9 and under, what are your stratigies striking wise against fighters over 6'0

Fast feet, lots of fakes, time their jabs, eat their body initially then go to the head (from someone 6'4").

 

[ssullivan80]

Go to the body, take away their leverage by keeping your hips lower and closer to theirs inside, use angles dont go straight in, get in close bang up the body relentlessly. Use your jab at the gloves, elbows, forearms to pin their hands up, disrupt their timing, change levels and smash up the gut!

(Im 6ft 2in, 175. This is how shorter fighters give me trouble. Hope those little bastards arent reading this!):icon_chee

 

[Rawn_MT]

Go to the body, take away their leverage by keeping your hips lower and closer to theirs inside, use angles dont go straight in, get in close bang up the body relentlessly. Use your jab at the gloves, elbows, forearms to pin their hands up, disrupt their timing, change levels and smash up the gut!

(Im 6ft 2in, 175. This is how shorter fighters give me trouble. Hope those little bastards arent reading this!):icon_chee

lol, i'm 5'9 130, that's how shorter guys do it. attack the body.

 

[fernk]

like their saying, i attack the body, leg kicks. I'll get in close with alot of head movement and fakes.

Also, i literally just learned this is effective, jab at the arms/gloves/forearms to throw off timing works well against taller fighters, i feel like a noob for not knowing this.
I have a fight in a week with a guy way taller than me so i'll try to confirm all the advice haha

 

[Borb]

I'm 6'2", and when I spar against someone will good footwork, it makes it so much harder to use my reach to my advantage. Good footwork is always a plus, but I've found it most effective a height equalizer.

 

[rockcity]

nice seeing some of the taller guys posting advice on how to beat them, thanks for the advice,

 

[M@sato]

Watch any Mike Zambidis fight to pick up pointers. He is listed at 5'5 - 5'6 in most publications, yet when I saw him in person he looked even shorter than that! Check out his promo picture with "Kid" Yamamoto (5'4"), he is shorter than Kid! Nonetheless he's fighting in a division where the average height is around 5'10", and does pretty well.

 

[Brawnyman***]

Has been stated but I am 6'4" I get hit in the body ALOT when sparring smaller fighters.

Body, Body, Head.

 

[radman]

Try to stay on inside, low kicks, and dam avoid their head kicks. Dam I got caught in technical and ate 3 head kicks! Thank the Lord I do bridges, kneck bridges, and neck rolls to strengthen my head.:icon_chee

 

[ssullivan80]

Go to the body, take away their leverage by keeping your hips lower and closer to theirs inside, use angles dont go straight in, get in close bang up the body relentlessly. Use your jab at the gloves, elbows, forearms to pin their hands up, disrupt their timing, change levels and smash up the gut! (Im 6ft 2in, 175. This is how shorter fighters give me trouble. Hope those little bastards arent reading this!):icon_chee

Once again, just to reiterate! Jabing the gloves, elbows, forearms of a taller and lankier opponent is golden! (if you have a reach disadvantage even more so)

Specifically, jab at his gloves, forearms or elbows as you are closing the gap, it will make it far more difficult for him to catch you on the way in. Better yet, if your quick enough to double or triple that jab on the way in and get his hands up, drop levels and fire in with a short hook/shovel-hook in the gut! :icon_twis

(for MT, this is a great way to set up your low kicks! gets you in range and the jabing at the gloves distracts your opponent from seeing your low kick or beginning one of his own)

 

[TyCarrerra]

Except for the girls and the couple of little kids at the gym, at 5'8", I seem to be the smallest guy there.

I just started training MT, and I just found out I can get in easier by throwing mid-level (high for me) kicks to their forearms and following it up with a punch from the same side as my kick. After that, I no longer have to worry about their jabs since I am
"inside"... Except those damn hard a*s knees. What do I do with those?

Great tips on jabbing to the gloves, forearms to disrupt their timing. Didn't think about that...

 

[ssullivan80]

Except for the girls and the couple of little kids at the gym, at 5'8", I seem to be the smallest guy there.

I just started training MT, and I just found out I can get in easier by throwing mid-level (high for me) kicks to their forearms and following it up with a punch from the same side as my kick. After that, I no longer have to worry about their jabs since I am
"inside"... Except those damn hard a*s knees. What do I do with those?Great tips on jabbing to the gloves, forearms to disrupt their timing. Didn't think about that...

dont come straight in, come in at an angle( / vs. l ). Also, why the same side? try doing the opposite, it will be easier to find an angle and avoid the knee. Rear right kick to the forearms step back across with left hook to the body. If your quick/flexible enough with your lead leg it can be very effective to close the gap. I like to use a snap (tkd type roundkick) kick off my lead leg up high into opponents rear glove or forearm, as my leg comes down i drop and fire in with a short right hook into the body. If done quick enough, it is very effective.

if your coming in off the mid-kick as your describe, I am assuming your punching the body following that kick? If yes, soon as they drop down from the body shot, clinch em! being in a dominating clinch position from a shorter fighter is miserable (I speak from experience. It is probably my least favorite position to get stuck in with a shorter fighter. I find it far more difficult to work out of a shorter fighters clinch than a taller one, assuming both have good clinch skills)

 

[Marvin Covar]

Get past his jab and fire away at the body, even better if you catch him at a corner.

 

[TyCarrerra]

dont come straight in, come in at an angle( / vs. l ). Also, why the same side? try doing the opposite, it will be easier to find an angle and avoid the knee. Rear right kick to the forearms step back across with left hook to the body. If your quick/flexible enough with your lead leg it can be very effective to close the gap. I like to use a snap (tkd type roundkick) kick off my lead leg up high into opponents rear glove or forearm, as my leg comes down i drop and fire in with a short right hook into the body. If done quick enough, it is very effective.

Forgot to mention that I stand southpaw (right handed, but I see better standing like that, even playing baseball), and when I throw my left roundhouse kick to their forearms, my left hand is the closest and ready for small hook/jab into the face. Now that you mention it, their body should be more open, and a right punch to the body while coming down from the kick would have more force in it. Being shorter, I find that I get too excited when I get inside, and always end up headhunting. Then those damn knees from those homone-fortified-milk kids start coming.

if your coming in off the mid-kick as your describe, I am assuming your punching the body following that kick? If yes, soon as they drop down from the body shot, clinch em! being in a dominating clinch position from a shorter fighter is miserable (I speak from experience. It is probably my least favorite position to get stuck in with a shorter fighter. I find it far more difficult to work out of a shorter fighters clinch than a taller one, assuming both have good clinch skills)

Just started so I haven't really learned anything on clinching yet. Though I always thought it would be useless for a smaller guy to get into clinching with a bigger guy.

So much to learn! I just wished I started taking up MT a long time ago. Love muay thai!

Thanks guys!

 

[YAMEZ]

i personally HATE fighting littler guys than me...they always go straight for the body or try and shoot in at my legs...so personally i jab a TON to keep them away, semi-hard straight kicks to the shins, also to keep them away, and if they try and shoot in at my legs i just sprawl like there is no tomorrow and try and get the back.:icon_twis

 

[ninjadeathcult]

Funny I literrally started a begginers mma course last night in a tin shed in an industrial area in the middle of nowhere and I was the tallest 6"3 and had the longest reach by quite a fair bit (the next tallest guy being maybe 5"11) we were doing a spar session (only aiming for shoulders and gut. and literally noone could get close enough to get me and where dancing around like crazy trying to get inside, I could see how this could make a taller/ longer reach guy a bit lazy with his technique though so im gonna really focus on get a dope technique as well..just love hitting little people

 

[Ian Coe]

I'm 5 11 185lbs and fight thai.

All but one opponent of mine has been above 6 ft 1.
All I can suggest is getting very good at reading your opponent, be very fit to out work them (when they're fucked and can't keep you away their sitting ducks) and learn how to throw hard body shots and close quarter kicks (left body shot, lean back and right hand head works a treat under the right circumstances).

On a negative side I would say learn how to slip and then learn how not to when elbows are thrown. Things get nasty if you're against a good, taller elbower and you start trying to slip punches.

 

[Boston]

Definitely fast feet, fakes, and takedowns. I try to use BJJ for tall guys.

 

[showdown]

All these comments are great! With me being 5'7", getting tips from other shorties and all the tall guys (props to you guys for helpin' us out!) is awesome and very helpful! Thanks a lot!