- Joined
- Jan 7, 2018
- Messages
- 59
- Reaction score
- 0
Contrary to the narrative that the HW division is going backwards instead of forwards according to people on Sherdog. Stipe proved last night that you can't become the HW champ without being well rounded, and if you do, you won't be defending for long. That was one of the most one sided performances ever at HW by Stipe. It takes a real mixed martial arts background to be competitive at the highest level of HW. The older more experienced guys will continue to flourish in this division grace to their fighting experience, well rounded abilities and fight IQ. You saw a professor take the student to town last night. MMA isn't just about raw power, there are many levels to this game.
Stipe outstruck Francis 200-33! And out struck him in the 4th 82 strikes to 0. That is outrageous. Not only that, Stipe had an amazing gameplan, and easily took Ngannou down at will, even landed 2 TDs in round 1. Not sure why people think this fight was boring, you just witnessed a real mixed martial artist shutdown a very green fighter in Francis Ngannou.
The gameplan to beat Francis was already laid out since his very first fight with Luis Henrique where he got taken down and looked helpless until the ref stood them up. I thought he would have improved his ground game a bit, but there wasn't ever enough time for him to improve from the bottom in preparation for Stipe. Also interesting to note that Stipe lit Francis up standing with nice crisp boxing, and Stipes head movement was incredible the entire fight.
Congratulations Stipe. As for Ngannou, I think he should maybe switch up his camp and bring in some people who can help him with his TDD and bottom game. I think he can still be successful at HW, and with the right people surrounding him can perhaps make another run at a title down the line, but for right now the Cain, Werdum and Stipe types will continue to maul him until he rounds out his skills.
I hope the UFC hype machine gets behind Stipe before his fight with Cain, can't wait to see it. It is going to be epic.
Stipe outstruck Francis 200-33! And out struck him in the 4th 82 strikes to 0. That is outrageous. Not only that, Stipe had an amazing gameplan, and easily took Ngannou down at will, even landed 2 TDs in round 1. Not sure why people think this fight was boring, you just witnessed a real mixed martial artist shutdown a very green fighter in Francis Ngannou.
The gameplan to beat Francis was already laid out since his very first fight with Luis Henrique where he got taken down and looked helpless until the ref stood them up. I thought he would have improved his ground game a bit, but there wasn't ever enough time for him to improve from the bottom in preparation for Stipe. Also interesting to note that Stipe lit Francis up standing with nice crisp boxing, and Stipes head movement was incredible the entire fight.
Congratulations Stipe. As for Ngannou, I think he should maybe switch up his camp and bring in some people who can help him with his TDD and bottom game. I think he can still be successful at HW, and with the right people surrounding him can perhaps make another run at a title down the line, but for right now the Cain, Werdum and Stipe types will continue to maul him until he rounds out his skills.
I hope the UFC hype machine gets behind Stipe before his fight with Cain, can't wait to see it. It is going to be epic.
