What are some great in-fight adjustments you’ve seen turn the tide of a fight?

In-fight adjustments are one of my favourite things in MMA. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to stay focused and change tactics for something that you maybe didn’t prepare for.

Could you point me to some more to watch?

The ones I remember are:

Cejudo/Moraes - Cejudo starts blasting Moraes from the clinch after getting kicked to pieces in round 1

Stipe/DC II - Stipe starts going to the body and eventually KOs DC

Jones/Machida - Jones feints the kick that Machida was countering in round 1, and rocks him with an elbow (if I remember correctly)

“Panic-wrestling” and opponents gassing don’t really count. I’m interested in intentional changes in strategy.

 

crazy that you mentioned cejudo morales because that was the first one that came to mind. That was some of the best thai clinch knees I’ve ever seen delivered. Simply a thing of beauty how Henry started manhandling him with them.

 

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Machida was already concussed here by a ground and pound elbow Jones landed that is what the real in fight adjustment was (mixing in the wrestling against Machida)

 

Recently Dustin made a great adjustment against Conor and I’m not talking about calf kicks. Conor was catching him with a right uppercut leaning to the right. Dustin adjusted by shortening up his right hook counter and caught Conor every subsequent time Conor tried the same shot.

 

Hughes after getting taking a nutshot from Trigg.

 

Fuck.....Juiced up Jon was beyond savage. Damn near killed him. That remains one of the more brutal standing guillotines I’ve seen. Cinched in perfectly.

 

Speaking of Conor, Mayweather made some amazing adjustments against him. In the first round Mayweather was fighting from the outside and got countered with an uppercut. He then completely switched strategies to one where he just walked forward with his guard up drawing shots and throwing power shots when he got close, which Conor was not prepared for.

 

Imagine ducking like that vs Ngannou

 

They are talking about in-game adjustments that they didn't prepare for and had to adjust to on the spot. Dustin and his boxing coach prepared to counter that lead uppercut combo, Conor's 1-2, and pull counters. It's just harder to counter when Conor is fresh and still has his speed, timing, power. Dustin started catching Conor when he slowed down after the clinch fighting.

The list in the original post is pretty spot on, not many fighters/trainers/coaches can make adjustments on the spot in real time. Most have a certain game plan they worked on prefight that they stick to win or lose.

 

Mir submits Big Nog via arm bar after almost being tkoed

 

He learned from the GOAT

 

Definitely Miocic with his bodyshots on DC in their first rematch.

 

Interestingly, it's similar to what Diaz did in his second fight with Connor. He was getting pieced for 1-2 rounds by overextending and getting countered. His corner just told him to shell up and walk forward. Obv. didnt win, but it made Connor have to grind it our for 5 rounds.

Overeem vs Sakai had an often see gameplan change. Reem was getting pieced up, so he started the old hug and drag, which Sakai had no answer for and got GnPed to oblivion.

 

Floyd is great at making reads and adjustments during the fight. That's why he starts slow, he's analyzing your techniques, patterns, timing, strategies, and game plan. Then makes his adjustments to counter your style as the fight progresses. He realized Conor didn't have an inside game or a active power jab to stop his forward pressure so he started walking him down and fighting him on the inside. Great adjustment and read from Mayweather. He has great fight IQ.

 

justin going down to 75%

 

Nothing specific is coming to mind, but I love when you can hear the corner's (often angry) advice, and the fighter *actually* implements the change in strategy immediately. I always consider fighters who can think/react/listen in the moment to be the most skilled and most dangerous. Conversely, fighters with low fight IQ, who don't listen to their corners or can't change-up a plan that isn't working drive me crazy.

 

Dillashaw vs Garbrandt I comes to mind. In the corner, after the first round, Ludwig told TJ to stop using punches to set up his high kick because Cody was reading it, and instead just lead with the kick. TJ proceeded to land the kick and finish the fight.

Pretty sure there were some other details to the adjustments he made after a terrible first round, several good breakdowns on youtube.

 

Justin Gaethje got caught by Tony while swinging wild, one of his old tendencies that Trevor Whitman called him on, he shortened up his punches and wiped Tony out.

 

This was one fight where I was impressed that someone didn't just keep doing the same thing that was losing them the fight. Boetsch was down the first 2 rounds and then came out in the 3rd and actually tried to do something about it.