Some thoughts on Gustafssons development

[mmaMusashi]

Just heard Gus teammate Cedenblad (in a swedish clip) talk about the Gus-Shogun fight where he thougt Gus boxing and footwork never got going really and he didn't seem to find the right range. But he was impressed that he won afterall without doing good on his strongest weapons. And he was impressed about his wrestling and becoming better overall.

Personally, I had the same thoughts about the fight and this is some thoughts I have after the Shogun-fight and Gus development.
Gus was very onesided (and his fights was very onesided) when he came to the UFC. He had won every fight fast with strikes only and occasionally had to defend a takedown.

What I want to write about is that I am very impressed about that Gustafsson has such confidence to try new stuff out and not just stick to his strong game. This is the same as with J.Jones (I think Bones is no1 in the UFC in experimenting with new stuff). For each fight he adds new aspects and techniques to his game. I think that's the sign of the future champions, to have such confidence to do that in your biggest UFC fights (every fight is Gus most important so far).

His additions in his UFC fights:
Hamman - short fight - we only saw his old sluggish game
Davis - Davis closed in on him before he could strike with him. Well there, he wasn't shy to try to wrestle Davis (bad thought at the time).
Diabate - Besides great boxing and offensive confidence (nothing new) he showed his first kicks and first Metzger takedown as well as his first submission (RNC) I think.
Te Huna - Good movement and grappling on the floor from bottom. Metzger and RNC again.
Hamill - Great takedown defense, clinch (stepping away and threatened with knees a couple of times). This was the first fight he really started using kicks to some more extent.
Janitor - Too short fight to show anything new
Silva - Now he used good combinations with dangerous knees a couple of times. He kicked quite a lot. First time he used the odd looking outer trip.
Shogun - Did a lot of new takedowns (never saw him do any of those before) like single leg, trips, sweeps, "wizzer to judo throw"

So being just a boxer with ok takedown defense he has added:
great takedown defense,
decent kicks,
decent clinch/knees,
decent wrestling.
decent groundgame (we haven't seen him much on the ground but from what I have heard it could be rated decent)

So what we have here is a tough, strong fighter that have great boxing and TD but is just decent on the rest, but learns fast and have great confidence. But he's already ranked around 3-5 and is just 25 years. What can we expect from him?

 

[europe1]

Now that I think of it - while his previously forte in punching and footwork never got going - Alexander's kicks and knees looked much improved in the Shogun fight. Previously his kicks had just been range-finders and distance-dictators. This was the first time he launched some offensive power in his kicks - most notably the front kick to the face and the body kick which hurt Shogun. His knee's from the clinch where also very effective - which he has only used sparsely in the past.

 

[Dickson Gracie]

Good post, and I agree with you. Gus's boxing did not look very tight in this fight, but his wrestling looked extremely improved. I'm not sure he's going to have what it takes to beat Jones right now. However, if he's able to bring the best version of each of his individual skills to the fight, it should at least be somewhat competitive. I'm a fan and I hope he has a nice long and successful career.

 

[Bolshevik***]

in before jones nut-huggers claiming he has nothing for jones.

 

[TheComebackKid]

in before jones nut-huggers claiming he has nothing for jones.

I think Gus would be the favorite on the feet but Jones wrestling will more than likely make the difference although Gus size could help him a bit.

But with Gus length and technical skills he would probably be Jones toughest opponent on the feet.

 

[BrazilianDude]

I`m still not sure about his wrestling yet. Shogun is not a good measure for this. I was impressed by his chin and his striking. The fight against Thiago Silva showed he has very good footwork.

 

[Elbower]

into a well rounded fighter,however he still has holes in his game especially striking defence,wrestling and jujutsu.
His takedown defense against Rua was obvious when the latter went for the back hold ,gus has no answer for it but to hold the fence,an illegal move but he got away with it this time.
His JuJutsu needs improvement as evidenced by his reluctance to finish both Silva and Rua by ground and pound.A conscus decision on his part to avoid possible submissions.
His kicks needs more diversity,I have yet to see him use the high round house kick that could be a huge addition to his arsenal.We all know Cro Cop made a career out of it..
I
He has huge potential to be achampion but he got shore up the gaps in his game first,a real possibility because of his excellent chin and youth.

 

[hedkix]

Gus looked horribly average in this fight. In no way is he ready for Jones. Maybe in 4-5 fights. Maybe not even then.

 

[Bolshevik***]

Gus looked horribly average in this fight. In no way is he ready for Jones. Maybe in 4-5 fights. Maybe not even then.

there he is. :icon_lol:

 

[HeexX]

Pretty much agree with everything you said. He develops so quickly and will be a big threat to Jones very soon. If he comes in mentally focused, that is. He can't be starstruck while fighting for the belt.

Just a side note: He showed great movement in the Hamill fight, to the extent Hamill didn't even try to shoot in for a takedown. So I'd just switch that up.

 

[Grimm911]

Gus looked horribly average in this fight. In no way is he ready for Jones. Maybe in 4-5 fights. Maybe not even then.

Shogun beats average fighters

 

[loegdberg]

About Alex being starstruck... I don't think he'd have the same problem vs any other top fighter apart from a LHW Wandy, perhaps. He didn't get startstruck 'cause he faced top competition, but because he fought one of his biggest idols. Imagina going up against the guy you've looked up to (and possibly even feared) for almost a decade. He was able to overcome that pretty quick, however, and I believe the Shogun fight was the first and last time we'll ever see him like that.

And to ts, I completely agree. One thing I've noticed though is how people are saying his TDD is pretty bad even though he's got one of the highest TDD% in the division. I'm not saying his wrestling skills are great, but the stuff he does is working.

Alex is a guy with great potential, and given some more time I think he's got a good chance of becoming one of the GOAT. Mind you, I'm not saying he's anywhere close to GOAT status right now, though.

 

[mmaMusashi]

Gus looked horribly average in this fight. In no way is he ready for Jones. Maybe in 4-5 fights. Maybe not even then.

Well, he didn't shine (except for the takedowns) but he did beat up/mauled down Shogun to the extent that he looked like he didn't want more in the end.

But I agree to some people saying he looks average. He doesn't really look like he is the best skilled fighter but he's 7-1 in the UFC and all fighters he faced is actually very dangerous fighters (of different kinds) and he has stopped all but 2 (and those he won clearly). He only have a couple of fighters ranked above him and at the moment I only think he would have problems with Jones and Evans. I think he beats all others.

But that's the scary thing. He has so much left in him that he can refine and improve. By the speed he picks up things he will be excellent in those areas in 1-2 years. Let's see if Gus or Jones rule the LHW at that time (or maybe Jones is at HW and Gus rule th LHW)?

 

[fortheo]

I think he needs at least two more full training camps before he should face jones. That is if he hopes to win. He is constantly improving, but his weaknesses still play into jones strengths. I don't want to see him fight jones till at the earliest next december.

 

[AllHailKrull**]

In before delusional Jones haters think Gus stands a cha..oh wait

in before jones nut-huggers claiming he has nothing for jones.

 

[Dart Feld]

TC is the only other level headed Gus fan I've seen on here.

Good breakdown on his progess. Unfortunately this thread is destined to turn into a pissing contest between zealots.

 

[Dickson Gracie]

I think he needs at least two more full training camps before he should face jones. That is if he hopes to win. He is constantly improving, but his weaknesses still play into jones strengths. I don't want to see him fight jones till at the earliest next december.

I agree with you. I'd like to see Gus get 4 more fights before he faces Jones, but that's never going to happen (unless he loses a fight prior to Jones).