He did amazing. And his footwork was like three times better then ever before.
And thats saying something. Because he allready had some of the best footwork in MMA.
Very impressive.
Sorry for the wall of text... I’m finishing my second coffee...LoL, I agree with you, he looked amazing... I’m a fan of both guys, so my opinion should be pretty objective. WB’s speed, reflexes, pace, and movement looked great all fight long, especially considering his age. At this point looked in his career Machida looked much more deliberate in his movements, his speed and timing weren’t what they were, and he was getting clipped more often than earlier in his career, the same hasn’t happened with WB. Additionally as you touched on, his footwork is probably better than we’ve ever seen it, I was amazed with his ability to move in and at odd angles with varied trajectory get off and pivot out before Geoff could even begin to counter, it was ridiculous. He had Neal puzzled and guessing all night, his chin also looked solid, during the exchanges when Neal did catch him he didn’t flinch, even the few times he was caught flush. I was honestly surprised that he never really showed signs of significantly slowing down or falling off in his strike count. During the later rounds, I was surprised when he started sitting down on his punches, considering he could’ve easily just cruised to a UD, it appeared he wanted the finish. I’ve always been a fan of his abilities because he’s a true striking technician, besides gotta root for the old guys and we actually share the same last name. But I will admit the second Woodley fight and his contentment by winning via point fighting kinda turned me off as of late, but this performance was definitely different. Don’t get me wrong I know most fighters struggle to finish guys in the top 10, however when I see guy like Masvidal and Burns able to pull off finishes, I see no reason why a superior striker such as WB cannot do the same... besides just playing it safe. I’m guessing his awareness of what the UFC is looking for in fights was the reason we saw him becoming more aggressive and willing to engage in a firefights towards the end of the match. I’m really torn on if I want to see him get a shot against Usman, this TS would most likely be his last, I’d rather see him getting a TS with odds that favor him more. In theory he potentially matches up well against Usman, but considering Usman most likely can match WB’s cardio I think the fight ends up being a wall’n’stall stinker. Of course if i ends close fight that going to the scorecards, well we all know how that plays out... unless you’re Cruz or Cejudo. However if Burns pulls off the upset, I’d love to see that fight, that’s a much better stylistic matchup that favors WB and I’d definitely give him the edge in that fight...
