Why/ how did Werdum peak so late?

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superpunch

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He didn't reach the top until he was in his late 30s.

But he's been around forever. He's been fighting since 2002. 15 years. I remember him fighting back in PRIDE and he was good but nothing special then. A career like his is very unique!
 
His striking improved massively in a few years and combined with his grappling he became a beast.
 
Rehydrated Dos Anjos said:
His striking improved massively in a few years and combined with his grappling he became a beast.
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I'm looking over his career record right now and it looks like he's always been a beast, just never really appreciated for how good he is. He only ever lost to amazing fighters; prime Arlovski/ Nog/ JDS/ Sergei/ Miocic/ and Overeem.

It looks like he's always just been a dark horse that never got a lucky break. Kind of like Guy Mezger but eventually, unlike Guy, rose to the top.
 
He left his BJJ-centric team in Brazil and moved to a more striking and MMA in general based team.
 
Werdum is underrated. He's a freakin destroyer. That flying kick right on Travis chin was a legendary UFC moment for me. Fkn epic. Who the hell does that especially at HW that was some Jackie chan shit
 
Rafael Cordeiro is why, and dedication to rounding out his game in what should have been the twilight of his career is how.
 
Honestly part of it is I think that the division has gotten weaker, another part is that he's evolved sideways. Early Werdum was much more focused on offencive grappling, whilst not a great wrestler he was quick for a big guy and like Maia could be very aggressive without fear of being put on his back. As that young agility started to decline he naturally became much more focused on his striking offence adding kness that could really hurt opponents.

I mean you look at Barnett and the same was true, he perhaps didn't improve his standing offence(although started at a higher level) but he became much more of a striker because he didn't have the agility for takedowns anymore, indeed his two UFC loses both came from overcommitting to poor takedown attempts.
 
As others have said, he really devoted himself to working on his weaknesses. Since his striking improved, he really only lost to Stipe, and slayed a slew. I was looking today, I believe he is 16-2 in finished fights with lots of big names on the resume.
 
moreorless87 said:
Honestly part of it is I think that the division has gotten weaker, another part is that he's evolved sideways. Early Werdum was much more focused on offencive grappling, whilst not a great wrestler he was quick for a big guy and like Maia could be very aggressive without fear of being put on his back. As that young agility started to decline he naturally became much more focused on his striking offence adding kness that could really hurt opponents.
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He used to slap. He had no striking. Threw himself to the wolves at Chute Boxe, and has slowly become a good striker. It helps set up his takedowns, and if he is better than his opponent standing, his opponent is fucked because nobody wants to take him to the mat.
 
combo of evolving his striking and at the same time HW doesnt exactly have a new surge of youngins coming through. the top guys got a long shelf life
 
He’s always been an elite level fighter.
Some have trouble seeing it that way because he’s never had that long undefeated stretch that gives a fighter an aura of invincibility, but he’s got one of the best HW resumes ever, and only been beaten by the elites.

He’s also elevated his striking level significantly ever since the Ubereem defeat.
 
focusing 24/7 on his muay thai, and not worrying about wrestling or takedown defense because he knows nobody in the HW division wants to go to the ground with him.

That's why he beat Cain, everybody is so afraid of Cain takedown and GnP that they just don't strike with confidence because they don't want to be taken down. Werdoom doesn't care about being taken down, so he could stand up and bang with total confidence. kicking, kneeling etc.

That fight exposed Cain striking. He is just a decent kickboxer with terrific ground and pound. But not an elite striker
 
Ultra O’Dia said:
He used to slap. He had no striking. Threw himself to the wolves at Chute Boxe, and has slowly become a good striker. It helps set up his takedowns, and if he is better than his opponent standing, his opponent is fucked because nobody wants to take him to the mat.
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Honestly to me that's a kind of UFC hype falsehood, you watch Werdum back 2005-06 and he very definitely did have striking and indeed had been working with Crocop's team to achieve it whilst being his BJJ coach.

Its actually that era of Werdum who used his striking to setup takedown attempts vs the likes of Sergei and Aleks where as standing he was much more focused on his own defence and I would argue more difficult to hit as a result. Werdum today is the reverse, its more he uses the fear of his grappling to help his striking offence, most obviously vs Hunt but generally he does stuff other fighters don't for fear of being taken down.
 
moreorless87 said:
Honestly to me that's a kind of UFC hype falsehood, you watch Werdum back 2005-06 and he very definitely did have striking and indeed had been working with Crocop's team to achieve it whilst being his BJJ coach.

Its actually that era of Werdum who used his striking to setup takedown attempts vs the likes of Sergei and Aleks where as standing he was much more focused on his own defence and I would argue more difficult to hit as a result. Werdum today is the reverse, its more he uses the fear of his grappling to help his striking offence, most obviously vs Hunt but generally he does stuff other fighters don't for fear of being taken down.
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Spot on. Perfect example....
 
For sure one of the least utilized striking moves at heavyweight.
EDIT: Had a few cocktails today, posted wrong thread.
 
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It took a while for his striking to develop. Similar to Jacare, both happened in Strikeforce.

If you watch the Strikeforce HW tournament you can watch Werdums striking improve. It's kind of cool.
 
Hardwork, dedication.
 
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