UFC 313: Pereira vs. Ankalaev

[Oblivian]

I'm going to fade anyone that uses calf kicks now.

 

[mkess101]

It's a cheap trick because any any mfer can do it, provided the opponent doesn't have the ability to check them, and the outcome can be fight altering.

They also shouldn't really have any baring on the fight, if it's used against a competent fighter, but against many of the aforementioned fighters it will.

It's not like a flying knee to the head that can be fight altering, but require a lot of skill and athleticism to pull off.


Yeah, I still consider it to have been revolutionary in 2022, they slowly crept into the sport more and more around 2020.

I am saying Blachowicz is washed because the only thing he had success with against Ankalaev is the calf kick.

Whether it's because it is a newer technique, that some fighters are still taking time to adjust properly to, or Ankalaev is a just shitty/ lazy LHW, I don't know, but what really matters is that it's a technique that requires very little skill, compared to many of the other approaches in MMA, but can conversely have fight altering impact.

Blachowicz deftly utilised the biggest low input/ high output technique in the sport, but outside of that, he did very little, and that is because he is in fact washed.

This is such a weird take on calf kicks. I'm not really sure how to convey that it's not at all how you're making it out to be. Calf kicks have been a part of Muy Thai forever. I only seriously trained MMA from 2003-2007 and we were using them then...and training to check them. When you throw them you're opening yourself up to being timed for a 2 down the pipe (straight punch with the dominant hand). Calf kicks aren't some sort of "cheat code", or every low skilled guy would just spam them and make the UFC.

Like I said, if they were "revolutionary" in 2022, how were Aldo, Volk, etc using them to win world titles well before that? With Aldo, literally a full decade + prior to that?

And the reason it's relevant here with regards to Jan is that Pereira throws them more, harder, and better than Jan. By a lot. If Ank struggled to stop Jan from landing them early, his legs might be totally ruined inside 2 rounds vs Alex.

 

[rille31]

Like Guitterez at +112

 

[Oblivian]

I won't convince you too much haha.
For me it's mostly the step up in competition.
Blaydes has faced all tiers of comp for many years, and for some reason is still underestimated when it comes to both his striking and his grappling. Don't get me wrong, he is a few years older (34 vs 31) and has been put out by heavy hitters, so I would totally get why you'd take the undefeated guy at such good odds.
Heck, maybe I need to do some more tape watching. Maybe it'll convince me to switch my bet haha.

I think they potentially neutralize each other wrestling, so it just seems close to me. That's my very bare bones take on it.

 

[DalchaLungiambula]

This is such a weird take on calf kicks. I'm not really sure how to convey that it's not at all how you're making it out to be. Calf kicks have been a part of Muy Thai forever. I only seriously trained MMA from 2003-2007 and we were using them then...and training to check them. When you throw them you're opening yourself up to being timed for a 2 down the pipe (straight punch with the dominant hand). Calf kicks aren't some sort of "cheat code", or every low skilled guy would just spam them and make the UFC.

Like I said, if they were "revolutionary" in 2022, how were Aldo, Volk, etc using them to win world titles well before that? With Aldo, literally a full decade + prior to that?

And the reason it's relevant here with regards to Jan is that Pereira throws them more, harder, and better than Jan. By a lot. If Ank struggled to stop Jan from landing them early, his legs might be totally ruined inside 2 rounds vs Alex.

I said they started creeping in about 5 years ago.

Volkanovski fought Holloway in that period, and he wasn't specifically targeting calf kicks like Blachowicz was.

Jose Aldo?

He was throwing regular leg kicks when he was champion, not calf kicks.

Wtf??

You just argue for the sake of it.

Focus on winning fucking money, instead of winning arguments!!

I already said I expect Ankalaev to get killed by calf kicks..........

It might have been a technique in muay thai, but they were essentially never sighted in MMA, and the strategy of deading someone's calf was not part of any gym's gameplanning.

 

[BigDramaShow26]

Love Pereira but I gotta fade him here. I think Jiri and Hill kind of suck. I mean yeah they are good for this era of 205, but they are sloppy and not technical at all. I think Ankalaev and Jan are better than both. People forget how much Pereira struggled with Jan. When they finished the fight I thought for Jan might win.

Just the constant threat of wrestling is enough to be a problem for Alex. He will have to think more about it. He won't be able to committ as much to his usual kicks. Everyone wants to harp on Ank not being the typical Russian wrestler. He can still do it better than anyone Alex has faced. He also has clean standup and has knocked people out. He's dangerous and I think he will win.

 

[mkess101]

I said they started creeping in about 5 years ago.

Volkanovski fought Holloway in that period, and he wasn't specifically targeting calf kicks like Blachowicz was.

Jose Aldo?

He was throwing regular leg kicks when he was champion, not calf kicks.

Wtf??

You just argue for the sake of it.

Focus on winning fucking money, instead of winning arguments!!

I already said I expect Ankalaev to get killed by calf kicks..........

It might have been a technique in muay thai, but they were essentially never sighted in MMA, and the strategy of deading someone's calf was not part of any gym's gameplanning.

Did you really just try to say Aldo was only throwing "regular leg kicks" and not kicking his opponent's calves as he was coming up?? Or that Volk wasn't targeting Max's calves with those low kicks?

I mean yeah we can end this discussion but you are straight clueless on this topic my dude. Doesn't mean you're a bad handicapper or don't make money betting and sometimes I do like your outlook on fights but on this one...Holy shit.

 

[Marko Atanasovik]

Ring rust, short notice, coming from injury torn ACL, loss before against Gaethje and he is the favourite...

 

[rille31]

Ring rust, coming from injury torn ACL, loss before against Gaethje and he is the favourite...

and extremely short notice

 

[mkess101]

Ring rust, short notice, coming from injury torn ACL, loss before against Gaethje and he is the favourite...

5 year age difference and a LOT of mileage difference. And the first fight was super close, eye poke may have swayed it and been the difference.

I agree, red flags with Fisiev for sure too with the surgery, layoff etc. But also with Gaethje given the absurd amount of punishment he's taken in his career and then last time out gets hit a million times and then flatlined as the fight ends. That type of thing can be (doesn't mean IS necessarily, but CAN be) the kind of beating that sends a guy down the road to being washed. Justin did it to Tony. It's possible that Max did it to Justin. But we don't know yet.

 

[StewDogg11]

They have not been "common" for more than 4-5 years.

Is all that people do on here is argue about petty nonsense and try to win arguments

Benson Henderson was throwing calf kicks back in the WEC dude lol.

 

[DalchaLungiambula]

Benson Henderson was throwing calf kicks back in the WEC dude lol.

Not with the intention of deading the leg, by targeting the peroneal nerve.

It's crazy how bad the people on here seemingly are at comprehending English.

Bro, did you not read the message that you quoted.

COMMON.

They have not been COMMON for more than 4-5 years, lmao.

Do you even speak English kid.

And the other bloke.

Did you really just try to say Aldo was only throwing "regular leg kicks" and not kicking his opponent's calves as he was coming up?? Or that Volk wasn't targeting Max's calves with those low kicks?

I mean yeah we can end this discussion but you are straight clueless on this topic my dude. Doesn't mean you're a bad handicapper or don't make money betting and sometimes I do like your outlook on fights but on this one...Holy shit.

I said Volkanovski didn't SPECIFICALLY target the calf vs Holloway.



What part of the video depicts Volkanovski specifically pursuing calf kicks.

He's kicking all over the leg, which is not what you see from today's fighters who exclusively target the calf...

And where in this video is Aldo calf kicking anyone, except in the fight vs Yan which was in 2020.



Of course maybe a couple land on the calf, but he is not implementing any strategy to dead his opponent's leg with calf kicking, like we see today after the revolution took place.

 

[mkess101]

Not with the intention of deading the leg, by targeting the peroneal nerve.

It's crazy how bad the people on here seemingly are at comprehending English.

Bro, did you not read the message that you quoted.

COMMON.

They have not been COMMON for more than 4-5 years, lmao.

Do you even speak English kid.

And the other bloke.

I said Volkanovski didn't SPECIFICALLY target the calf vs Holloway.



What part of the video depicts Volkanovski specifically pursuing calf kicks.

He's kicking all over the leg, which is not what you see from today's fighters who exclusively target the calf...

And where in this video is Aldo calf kicking anyone, except in the fight vs Yan which was in 2020.



Of course maybe a couple land on the calf, but he is not implementing any strategy to dead his opponent's leg with calf kicking, like we see today after the revolution took place.

You're nitpicking, and I'm sure you know that. Jan also landed leg kicks on Ank that weren't on the calf, so he wasn't "exclusively targeting the peroneal nerve". Aldo landed leg kicks up and down the leg but he BATTERED people's calves. Going all the way back to his WEC days.

Calf kicks have been a part of MMA for a long time. Shogun used to use them a lot. Hell, look at Griffin/Rampage for the LHW title back in 2008! Forrest absolutely targets the calf and has Rampage wobbling because of it. Gaethje used to target the FUCK out of people's calves back in the WSOF. Watch his fights vs Foster and Palomino FFS. If you wanna say they became more a focus in the last 5 years, okay. But acting like they're this "new, cheap novelty" that isn't meaningful as far as how good a fighter is...wow.

 

[Thesnake101]

But also with Gaethje given the absurd amount of punishment he's taken in his career and then last time out gets hit a million times and then flatlined as the fight ends. That type of thing can be (doesn't mean IS necessarily, but CAN be) the kind of beating that sends a guy down the road to being washed. Justin did it to Tony. It's possible that Max did it to Justin. But we don't know yet.

Line is getting priced as though that already happened though. It'd be one thing if he was the favorite and money was coming his side, but the opposite is true here. Justin is a worthwhile dog while Fiziev isn't a good favorite to back on paper, mind you that doesn't mean Rafel won't win, just that he shouldn't be the clear favorite here imo.

 

[mkess101]

Line is getting priced as though that already happened though. It'd be one thing if he was the favorite and money was coming his side, but the opposite is true here. Justin is a worthwhile dog while Fiziev isn't a good favorite to back on paper, mind you that doesn't mean Rafel won't win, just that he shouldn't be the clear favorite here imo.

Ehh, I don't think -135 means anyone thinks he's a "clear" favorite. I think the line speaks to the uncertainty of the fight all around. Justin won the first fight, but imo the eye poke really did shift all the momentum. Fisiev looked far sharper and quicker and as soon as the eye poke happened it seemed like all the momentum he'd built just crumbled. Maybe that's making too much of it, just what it seemed like when I rewatched.

IMO any plays made either way should be very conservative here. There are a ton of unknowns with this one.

 

[StewDogg11]

Not with the intention of deading the leg, by targeting the peroneal nerve.

It's crazy how bad the people on here seemingly are at comprehending English.

Bro, did you not read the message that you quoted.

COMMON.

They have not been COMMON for more than 4-5 years, lmao.

Do you even speak English kid.

And the other bloke.

I said Volkanovski didn't SPECIFICALLY target the calf vs Holloway.



What part of the video depicts Volkanovski specifically pursuing calf kicks.

He's kicking all over the leg, which is not what you see from today's fighters who exclusively target the calf...

And where in this video is Aldo calf kicking anyone, except in the fight vs Yan which was in 2020.



Of course maybe a couple land on the calf, but he is not implementing any strategy to dead his opponent's leg with calf kicking, like we see today after the revolution took place.

Lol says the broke degenerate gambling addict who’s known as a joke around here. Pat Barry literally ended a fight in the UFC with leg kicks 17 years ago. Edson Barboza did as well 15 years ago and again 12 years ago.

 

[chill doggie]

Jan almost beat Pereira.

Ankalaev has a pretty straightforward path to victory, mix it up to create opportunities for grappling.

 

[chill doggie]

Jan almost beat Pereira.

Ankalaev has a pretty straightforward path to victory, mix it up to create opportunities for grappling.

Will he fight smart though?