Watching Alex Garcia fight Strickland, it was the first time I watched a UFC fight and thought that one of the fighters looked like he had no special skills. Usually, a guy looks good in some aspect of the standup or is a monster on the ground or in wrestling, but Garcia just didn't seem to have anything. Strickland beat him up standing. Garcia had some okay takedowns, I guess, but nothing special by any means and you certainly can't categorize him as a wrestler. And I saw no sign that he is a grappling wizard. Yes, some guys are good -- but not great -- anywhere and that's understandable. But this is the first time I thought I saw a UFC fighter who was maybe average (at best) everywhere. Just very lackluster. Am I missing something?
When he was fighting for Ringside MMA in quebec, I remenber him being a agressive striker, good leg kick enough power in both hand. But that was VS a much lower level of opposition. He look like a poor version of Thiago Alves. He developed a good double leg takedown with time. But not much else. To be fair with the guy, he has been crippled with injury in the last few years. And fighting under Firas Zahabi make you look boring I guess.
He fought poorly. He landed a few excellent jabs on Strickland, but Strickland did more so to him. In priniciple, there is nothing to suggest that he can't win a fight of jabs, he just chose not to. He also managed to back Strickland up against the fence, and then just let go of the pressure entirely, letting Strickland circle back out without any kind of punishment. He may seem to have cardio issues, but then again his nose got busted up fairly early so that might have had something to do with it.
This is the new breed of MMA "athlete". Not fighter, athlete. Grow up in an MMA gym training just whats needed for the UFC, never developing their martial arts arsenal in specific disciplines.
