Wreck it Wandy**
Orange Belt
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2012
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I keep seeing Junior indicted for being "one-dimensional," which to me is indicative of a poor understanding of MMA.
You don't need to be good everywhere to succeed in the sport. You only need two things: one aspect of MMA in which you are superior to your opponent and the ability to make that aspect the sole focus of the fight.
This can be broad; you can be an all-around better striker, so you need TDD. Alternatively, you can be better with kicks but not punches, in which case you need TDD, the ability to stay at range, and the timing to avoid retaliatory lunches.
If you have those things, literally nothing else matters. Your BJJ is meaningless, your clinch game is meaningless.
To make it clearer, look at someone like Diaz, who is devastating standing and on the mat, but has no positional control. You only need to be better than him on either the feet or the mat, not both.
Now look at someone like Koscheck or Cormier; thanks to their wrestling, you have to be better than them both standing and on the mat. You have to prepare for both aspects while they only need to prepare for one.
Junior doesn't need to be a better grappler or kicker than you; he makes you box with him. The ability to do so is the only thing he needs besides his hands.
You don't need to be good everywhere to succeed in the sport. You only need two things: one aspect of MMA in which you are superior to your opponent and the ability to make that aspect the sole focus of the fight.
This can be broad; you can be an all-around better striker, so you need TDD. Alternatively, you can be better with kicks but not punches, in which case you need TDD, the ability to stay at range, and the timing to avoid retaliatory lunches.
If you have those things, literally nothing else matters. Your BJJ is meaningless, your clinch game is meaningless.
To make it clearer, look at someone like Diaz, who is devastating standing and on the mat, but has no positional control. You only need to be better than him on either the feet or the mat, not both.
Now look at someone like Koscheck or Cormier; thanks to their wrestling, you have to be better than them both standing and on the mat. You have to prepare for both aspects while they only need to prepare for one.
Junior doesn't need to be a better grappler or kicker than you; he makes you box with him. The ability to do so is the only thing he needs besides his hands.
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