What Can Charles Olivera Adjust to Beat Islam?

[Paolo Delutis]

Tough question I know but I was rewatching the his fight against Benny and I wondered to myself “what adjustments would it take for him to beat Islam?”

So guy’s what do you think he needs to change to get the upper hand?

these are my thoughts:

1 Don’t be comfortable on your back! Islam does a lot of his work from half guard and can pound him out or submit him again if Charles stays comfortable on his back.

2 striking defence is key. A part of what lost Charles the first fight is he was rocked early on and he couldn’t clear the cobwebs which made his striking and submission defence worse.

3 don’t engage the grappling exchanges. Don’t try to wrestle a great wrestler when you don’t have the same level of offensive wrestling.

So these are my observations I know they’re pretty cursory and not very good so I’d like to hear what you guys think!

From a coaching stand point... If Charles was my guy..

The adjustments id make are mental...

1) floor is lava.. Charles has to treat being on the ground on the bottom like the floor is lava...he can not conceed or accept this position but in order for this to work he has to switch his mentality..BJJ top heavy game vs bottom game


2) Believe in his stand up, i believe he holds the advantage here and has to press it...these Dagistanni fighters do very well when its one way traffic and their leading the dance but not so much going the other way ( Volk vs Islam) .. Charles needs to have confidence to know the stand up is his realm...

3) Chute Boxe Bless...Charles needs to come out as the embodiment of the Chute Boxe academy...aggressive and sure footed ...last time he gave too much respect to Islam paid too much mind to what Islam was doing...he needs to fight his fight and believe/know its enough to get the job done...i think the first fight was more about Islam's ability to consistently perform in his style again and again and less about Charles not performing his best...If you give Islam an inch to succeed hes gunna take the mile..Charles needs to be tuned in from the word GO if hes gunna beat Islam...

IMHO ( hoping to be a coach one day or would love to be one)

 

[fishNjits]

Hire Craig Jones to teach him how to get the fuck up.

 

[Yep]

Kick that fools head clean off Mac style. Oh wait.

Be like water.

Fight in Brazil

 

[HHJ]

Most of those tips is telling Charles to not fight like he always does,and dont let Islam do all the things he always does lol

 

[sdpdude9]

Avoid the grappling scenarios and prioritize getting back up instead of attacking if he is taken down. While he’s a great Submission artist, Islam is going to be very hard to catch and will likely get advantageous positions the longer they are on the mat.

Play the range game and pick his shots. Avoiding the big attacks, Islam punished him repeatedly for those big actions. Basically, Oliveira needs to fight quite different than he usually does. The beserker style isn’t a great approach against a safe and patient fighter like Islam. You have to use solid fundamentals, like Volkanovski did. Islam makes mistakes too, but you’re not going to draw those out being wild.

 

[chinarice]

I hope Charles can pull it off. He's 1000x more fun to watch than Islam is

 

[moosaev]

Serious answer -
- avoid being taken down in the centre of the octagon at all costs, if it comes to grappling get your back to the cage ASAP and make it hard for Islam to get subs whilst you work back to you feet

- Dominate the striking exchanges (easier said than done obv but Charles can do this if he mixes his kicks in and works on his defence)

- If the stand up clinch is iniated then get it up against the fence and look for the trips

- Take him to the later rounds and when Islam gets tired (and he does as we saw against Volk) look for the situation off of those trips where he gives up his back, this comes naturally to wrestlers and he wouldn't do it fresh but tired its possible

Taking it to the later rounds is worse for Charles. To me it’s pretty clear that Islam gassed against Volk due to the much shorter re-hydration (24 hr Vs 36 hr) and the weirdness or the timing (11am fight time). Olives has to hurt Islam early for any chance at winning.

 

[Reptile_Bong_Hit]

Here are three fights that I'm watching if I'm Charles' camp:

1. Volk vs Islam
2. Usman vs Edwards
   • I'm looking at how successful Leon was anti-wrestling against the fence by attacking Usman's grip and avoiding wrestling in the clinch.
3. Benny vs Gamrot
   • We know Charles can attack the legs; can he utilize leg attacks to stand back up like Benny did?

If Charles put all of his energy into standing back up and avoiding grappling exchanges, could he emulate what Volk and Leon did? Volk has a low center of gravity and is extremely agile; but Charles has more grappling than Volk and Leon combined--he just needs to develop a plan and execute it.

The range of attacks Charles can throw on the feet is somewhat related to how easy he can stand back up after being taken down. Assuming it is just as difficult as the first fight, if I'm Charles, I'm:

• Still cutting of the cage and walking (not jumping) Islam down very aggressively; high kicks are fine at range, but I'd prefer to stay in boxing range the whole time.
• I'm jabbing to the body and head (high volume--like every 10 seconds), and feinting; ideally, the jabs to the body should look like level changes.
• Although I'm mostly avoiding teeps, body kicks and leg-kicks, I'm still showing them in feints.
• I'm saving the right straight and left hook (and other power shots) for counter punches (when Islam goes first) or for when they cross the black line and Islam's back is against the cage.

The primary weakness to this approach is that by staying in boxing range Islam can attempt a takedown or clinch at any time (but at least you don't have to worry as much about Islam's kicks). But by limiting Charles' attacks in space to jabs to the head and body (with feints), he should be in the best position he can to defend a takedown under the circumstances--and this is where the Volk and Leon fights come into play.

 

[fortheo]

Tough question I know but I was rewatching the his fight against Benny and I wondered to myself “what adjustments would it take for him to beat Islam?”

So guy’s what do you think he needs to change to get the upper hand?

these are my thoughts:

1 Don’t be comfortable on your back! Islam does a lot of his work from half guard and can pound him out or submit him again if Charles stays comfortable on his back.

2 striking defence is key. A part of what lost Charles the first fight is he was rocked early on and he couldn’t clear the cobwebs which made his striking and submission defence worse.

3 don’t engage the grappling exchanges. Don’t try to wrestle a great wrestler when you don’t have the same level of offensive wrestling.

So these are my observations I know they’re pretty cursory and not very good so I’d like to hear what you guys think!

He did a lot of them last night.

1. Don't close the distance wrecklessly with flying shit.
2. Hand fighting and slipping the left
3. Keep the southpaw's power hand in check by forcing them to block high kicks
4. He's the longer fighter: use it at times and keep islam at the end of his kicks

As for charles being on his back -- he's fine there. He was down there cool as a cucumber while benny waswas reacting to Charles's bottom game and blowing his wad. When Charles wanted to get back to his feet, he did, and he already showed us that he can get back to his feet against islam, too.

Also, his first fight against islam and the islam vs. Volk fight give him far more material to study Islam's stand up than he had in the first fight.

 

[moosaev]

I hope Charles can pull it off. He's 1000x more fun to watch than Islam is

Charles is more fun to watch than any fighter currently on the roster, no need to shit on islam who gets a bad rap, both his olives and Volk fights were entertaining as hell. As was his Tsaryukyan fight. With the right opponents he’s great to watch, he just has a lot of salty haters who call him boring because he’s whoopin on their favorite fighters.

 

[Stuart0502]

Taking it to the later rounds is worse for Charles. To me it’s pretty clear that Islam gassed against Volk due to the much shorter re-hydration (24 hr Vs 36 hr) and the weirdness or the timing (11am fight time). Olives has to hurt Islam early for any chance at winning.

I agree that taking it to the later rounds is a bad idea for Charles but I'm not convinced the rehydration was necessarily a factor.

It may be the case that whilst Volk is a notch above Islam in cardio terms he's two or three notches above Charles in cardio terms.

Maybe I'm wrong and the rehydration was a big factor but either way I'm fairly certain both Volk and Islam have better cardio than Charles.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Serious answer -
- avoid being taken down in the centre of the octagon at all costs, if it comes to grappling get your back to the cage ASAP and make it hard for Islam to get subs whilst you work back to you feet

- Dominate the striking exchanges (easier said than done obv but Charles can do this if he mixes his kicks in and works on his defence)

- If the stand up clinch is iniated then get it up against the fence and look for the trips

- Take him to the later rounds and when Islam gets tired (and he does as we saw against Volk) look for the situation off of those trips where he gives up his back, this comes naturally to wrestlers and he wouldn't do it fresh but tired its possible

Hate to be a dick but this is all very bad advice.

1. Islam much like Khabib and the whole Abdulmanap School prefer getting takedowns against the cage, that way if a guy is able to get back up they can still maintain contact and just look for mat returns and make it a continuation or fence wrestling. Also if they take down guys with formidable guards pressing the agains the cage immobilizes their offense largely. I think Islam will look to have Charles against the cage..."avoid takedowns in open space" Oliveira should probably avoid takedowns everywhere and avoid his back ever getting against the cage.

2. "Dominate the striking exchanges" isn't advice, you have to suggest how he can do that? I'll say while Charles has great variety of strikes he pot shots or throws no more than 2 strikes at a time for the most part, Islam being a defense first counter striker...that won't ever work. Realistically, Charles can rewrite his striking deep into his 30s but if he could do a better job standing his ground, pressing forward and actually putting shots together to penetrate Islam's defense and force exchanges where we know Islam is more vulnerable like Volk did, he can have success...potentially. At range I think Oliveira should work alot on launching leg kicks, there's a lot of reasons to believe Islam's heavy stance gets frustrated by low kicks.

3. Bad advice again, Charles should not look for takedowns period. He looked for takedowns vs Islam last fight and got countered and taken down himself each time. Charles is a far lesser wrestler, judoka, grappler etc and much weaker physically...attempting trips means putting yourself on one leg, which means giving the far superior takedown artist in Makhachev a free opportunity...Charles should NOT try to trip Islam against the cage.

4. I think Charles has shown a far worse gas tank than Islam, if you think because Islam gassed after a bad cut in the 5th after winning the 4th vs Volk...that that is somehow a valid gameplan for Charles, that's funny. Just because Charles is finishing everyone in the first 2 rounds doesn't rewrite the history he has of fading under pressure...meanwhile Islam has amazing cardio...Volk just so happens to perhaps have the best in the sport or close to it ontop of cutting far less than LWs do.

 

[moosaev]

I agree that taking it to the later rounds is a bad idea for Charles but I'm not convinced the rehydration was necessarily a factor.

It may be the case that whilst Volk is a notch above Islam in cardio terms he's two or three notches above Charles in cardio terms.

Maybe I'm wrong and the rehydration was a big factor but either way I'm fairly certain both Volk and Islam have better cardio than Charles.

Islam said the rehydration was a factor. And tbh it looked like it to me, he looked weak and flat.

 

[SharpasaRazor]

Hate to be a dick but this is all very bad advice.

1. Islam much like Khabib and the whole Abdulmanap School prefer getting takedowns against the cage, that way if a guy is able to get back up they can still maintain contact and just look for mat returns and make it a continuation or fence wrestling. Also if they take down guys with formidable guards pressing the agains the cage immobilizes their offense largely. I think Islam will look to have Charles against the cage..."avoid takedowns in open space" Oliveira should probably avoid takedowns everywhere and avoid his back ever getting against the cage.

2. "Dominate the striking exchanges" isn't advice, you have to suggest how he can do that? I'll say while Charles has great variety of strikes he pot shots or throws no more than 2 strikes at a time for the most part, Islam being a defense first counter striker...that won't ever work. Realistically, Charles can rewrite his striking deep into his 30s but if he could do a better job standing his ground, pressing forward and actually putting shots together to penetrate Islam's defense and force exchanges where we know Islam is more vulnerable like Volk did, he can have success...potentially. At range I think Oliveira should work alot on launching leg kicks, there's a lot of reasons to believe Islam's heavy stance gets frustrated by low kicks.

3. Bad advice again, Charles should not look for takedowns period. He looked for takedowns vs Islam last fight and got countered and taken down himself each time. Charles is a far lesser wrestler, judoka, grappler etc and much weaker physically...attempting trips means putting yourself on one leg, which means giving the far superior takedown artist in Makhachev a free opportunity...Charles should NOT try to trip Islam against the cage.

4. I think Charles has shown a far worse gas tank than Islam, if you think because Islam gassed after a bad cut in the 5th after winning the 4th vs Volk...that that is somehow a valid gameplan for Charles, that's funny. Just because Charles is finishing everyone in the first 2 rounds doesn't rewrite the history he has of fading under pressure...meanwhile Islam has amazing cardio...Volk just so happens to perhaps have the best in the sport or close to it ontop of cutting far less than LWs do.

You have taken *extremely* seriously some very off the top of my head things I jotted down, and in the process I believe have in fact been a dick, but I will try to respond.

1. The Dagestani guys are happy to wrestle against the cage but the if you are going to be on the ground with a dagestani wrestler on to of you then being in a sitting position with your back against the cage is about as good as its going to get. You nullify a number of avenues for them to lock in fight ending subs and give yourself a chance of getting back to your feet. The quality of Charle's guard from offensive POV is largely irrelvant bc the fact is we know its not good enough to submit Islam from bottom. If your fighting one of these guys and you're being taken down then the immediate priority is get your butt over to the cage and start trying to work your way up.

2. You are correct its not advice - the thread title didn't actually demand advice so I didn't consider it necessary to make every point conform to that. I was not minded to do the thinkin required to offer a detailed breakdown of what Charles would need to to win the fight on the feet but I don't believe its at all controversial to say he can do that. Islam's striking is improved but I still think Charles could get the best of him here, in fact its probably his most realistic route to winning the fight.

3. Largely take the point here, was trying to think of way in which Charles could attempt to take top position without putting himself in huge danger. I viewed this as the least bad of a number of bad options, largely as per my previous point if you're gonna be takendown the closer you are to the fence the better.

4. This is conjecture - I can't think enough about Charles' past fights right now to think what his gas tank is like overall but when you've had a bad cut there remains the possibility that the next one won't go well either. Its not something you'd want to rely on but its something that could give him a shot down the stretch.

Overall my opinion is that the chance of Charles being Islam are low, Islam is a veyr bad match up for Charles. To where they do exist the answer is probably by TKO in the first couple of rounds but here I have tried to spit ball a few other ways that I think he could survive/gain an advantageous position.

 

[CleverNameEh]

Spam short quick knees and uppercuts into the combos, feint to get the shot, and then KO him stiff.

Easy peasy

 

[jitzmonkey]

Oliveira has to get off the centerline, control the distance, and lower his stance.

If he focuses on the fundamentals, he stands a much better chance.

Problem is that Abdulmanap’s team and AKA put such a heavy emphasis on fundamentals and strategy.
Add to the fact that Islam fights like a machine, and the odds will definitely be long on the Brazilian regaining the belt.

 

[DapperDave]

Take advantage of championship rounds.
Get in shape.
Don't get rocked.
Make Islam work for 4 rounds, then finish him in the fifth.

If Islam lasts to the final bell, you lost. Gotta finish him.

 

[aogiri]

Lots of kicks. Islam and Beneil are both south paw and Charles was having great success with that high kick. He'll be able to maintain his range better with his kicks as opposed to crashing forward with his strikes that could get him countered.

Keep the pressure on Islam so Charles isnt on the fence. Its fine if he gets taken down in the open as he showed to be able to get back up relatively easy but if he gets taken down on the fence its much more likely he stays there for the whole round. Charles is very good at negating damage on bottom though as seen in the Beneil and Islam fights.

Islams defence is good via his footwork and if Charles can keep the pressure on him and back him to the fence it will limit his movement and allow him to tag Islam who is more susceptible to getting tagged up close and Charles was tagging the shit out of Beneil when he was trying exit off the cage which led to the finish.

 

[taugrim]

Serious answer -
- avoid being taken down in the centre of the octagon at all costs, if it comes to grappling get your back to the cage ASAP and make it hard for Islam to get subs whilst you work back to you feet

- Dominate the striking exchanges (easier said than done obv but Charles can do this if he mixes his kicks in and works on his defence)

- If the stand up clinch is iniated then get it up against the fence and look for the trips

- Take him to the later rounds and when Islam gets tired (and he does as we saw against Volk) look for the situation off of those trips where he gives up his back, this comes naturally to wrestlers and he wouldn't do it fresh but tired its possible

All good points.

Charles needs to be patient on the feet. He was reckless in their 1st fight and, like Volk, underestimated Islam's striking. Charles has shown that he has the power and accuracy. All it takes is for him to land 1-2 flush strikes and the other guy is in trouble.

I also think a steady diet of those front teep kicks to the gut to drain Islam's gas tank would be a good idea.

 

[Trabaho]

His quitting mentality