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Strong username to post content.His striking is elite, Top 3 in the division for sure. In some aspects he's even better than the other elite strikers at FW. He's one of the best strikers in all of MMA (boxing specifically), not just his division. The shit he does is rather amazing, the kind of stuff you'd think you wouldn't see in an MMA match, especially against UFC-level opponents working. For instance, the dude knocked Brimage down with two perfectly placed BOLO punches. The first one wobbled him, the second one put him down. They look like winding, diagonal/slashing uppercuts to those that don't know what they are. It's a type of punch you don't normally see that much of in boxing, save for a few that were great with them over the years, and basically never see in MMA. To not just land them but really make them count, and from an MMA fighter, is impressive.
Before Travis Browne standing elbow KO'd Barnett, a couple years before him even, Conor KO'd a guy in Cage Warriors with standing elbows against the cage while stuffing his takedown attempts. Elbows that were legal and landed to the side of his head. You don't see that shit everyday and everybody went apeshit when Browne did it against Barnett, though Conor did it before him.
The above are just two examples of shit he's pulled off that's been extremely impressive and, in both cases, he basically finished his fights with them (though he landed some extra punches after Brimage was knocked down to seal the deal). There is nobody like him in MMA, he's definitely a unique talent. A very unique fighter.
He calls himself a master of human movement. That's because he understands the importance of the human body being able to move in lots of different ways, both for offense and defense. It confuses his opponents. He'll switch up his tempo from low, mid, and fast as well to remain less predictable and to make it harder to get his rhythm and time his attacks. He'll change striking levels and go low, mid and high with strikes at times too. He leads and counters well, which is really important (fighting off the back and front foot), which most MMA fighters can't do or do well. He's at his best when countering though, at least with his hands that is. All of these things are clear signs of a competent, intelligent striker. His power, great speed (hands and overall), and reflexes definitely make him even more dangerous when applying his skills.
He's dynamic and creative with just about all of his strikes, not just "flashy", which he gets called a lot. He'll do hand trapping, covering the lead hand of his opponents and effectively taking away their jab before attacking. He'll throw "spinning shit", ie. kicks for instance. He'll throw and land standing elbows (which he landed one on Brimage that he stepped in with). He'll throw and repeatedly land straight punches (not just his jab here), ie., his "soft cross", where he doesn't transfer his weight when he throws it (basically just an arm punch to disrupt his opponent's rhythm).
He'll also throw kicks, ie. high kicks, without loading them up too (not just punches). He'll throw them straight from his stance. He'll sidestep, pivot, hop-step, and circle with attacks and while defending. He makes heavy use of angles when entering range and when exiting. He's always looking to get a clear path to a strike on his opponent and avoid theirs in return. His footwork is phenomenal, his composure is second to none, his posture is second to none, his accuracy, timing and combos are great, his feints are there and very effective, he has subtle yet just enough head movement, great slips, good parrying ability, he'll sway/fade away for evasive defense too (rolling), and he'll occasionally block strikes if he is momentarily squared up or feels that he has to (though he typically tries to evade them entirely or stay on the end of them). The guy does it all. There's been a good number of breakdowns written about his striking game and even a bit on his noticeably improving ground game and they're all highly recommended reads.
I really like how you mentioned his rhythm or changes in tempo when he almost lulls fighters to sleep. He got that karate kicks and style mixed with great boxing footwork and angles
