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.
Another wrestler may have been a better example. The point is that even if one of your skills sucks, if you ensure that it doesn't matter, you're still a superior MMA fighter to someone better in that area but unable to bring it to bear.
people said the same thing about the Diaz bros and Penn. "who cares if their opponents are more well-rounded strikers, these guys are better boxers!" eventually they all got picked apart by more well-rounded strikers
Because they lack the ability to MAKE people box with them. Junior stymies kicks with counters and clinching with footwork. You wind up forced to trade hands with him. Catching kicks can also work towards that end.
JDS being 1 dimensional is retarded, dude has some of the best TDD in the UFC and is now a BJJ BlackBelt
that's kinda BS. Nick took out Cyborg and Nate took out Cerrone. It just took better gameplans with kicks to expose them. JDS isn't even all that great at dealing with kicks, to be honest. the only people he's successfully countered off them were Gonzaga and Mir, both of which were incredibly slow and throwing poor kicks
Yeah fighters like GSP bendo Cruz Aldo bones Anderson junior Cain overeem Bigfoot rashad lyoto okami koscheck Diaz cerrone Maynard mendes nunes meniivar barao Suck /:
actually agree somewhat. Master of one art sometimes trumps jack of all trades. If you're really really excellent at one thing, and proficient at others, people will have a hard time nullifying your one excellent skill. It's why Chocolate L could ko so many people. Because his TDD and ability to get up off the ground were so good.
This is the issue with being well rounded, you made the case for being wellrounded in your description of Cormier and Koscheck. Being one dimensional or singular doesn't mean that Junior isnt skilled, Junior is a very skilled striker with elite striking and that is his game. But some fighters have a larger skillset that allows them to be elite or good to great in many different aspects which make them complete fighters. When people talk about being wellrounded, we mean being a complete fighter and being able to take the fight anywhere and also win anywhere. You have no boundaries where you can win or take a fight and that pretty much is what most mean as well-rounded. It is an advantage and a strategic advantage if someone was to take away your main skillset. It is the reason why Cormier stated that it would be harder to train for Jones then against JDS. He didnt say it would be easier to beat JDS then Jones just harder to train for him then JDS. GSP's well roundness is the reason why he is so dominant, WW's cant beat him anywhere.
Cruz, Aldo, Bendo, GSP and Anderson disagree with you. Id also posit that controlling where the fight takes place is a hallmark of well roundedness, because of the three major branches of MMA (BJJ, wrasslin, striking) you need to have at least 2/3 in order to effect positional control. In order to force someone to strike you need good counter wrasslin, in order to force someone to grapple you must be able to get them down, in order to beat a wrassler you need to make them afraid to grapple or afraid to stand.
