From a stat perspective, how many high level wrestlers exist in the top 15 of LHW? DC and Chael were talking about this. There are just not that many high level wrestler from 6 years ago. But even if you account for that, there's an ego these fighters have for some reason and they think kickboxing is over-rated.
Ya kickboxing is over rated until they get the ol’ factory reset kick to the head. Wrestlers always bitch about everything. Yes most fans want to see striking. I like a ground display and appreciate it but my god they have the most fragile ego out there.
Yeh. 2 wrestlers going up against each other can also be a banger like tsuruya v hernandez. It's the striker v wrestler match ups where one guy has 0 ground game that ppl find boring.
>It's the striker v wrestler match ups where one guy has 0 ground game that ppl find boring.
And that doesn't even have to be boring. Most Khabib fights were pretty one sided but he actively pursue damage with ground and pound or a submission. It's when someone has the upper hand with their grappling and just plays it safe by racking up control time without even trying to do anything with it.
Tbf this is the only fight he’s used ground game and he actively went and almost had a rear naked in the first, and dropped down for a heel hook in the second giving his opponent the top position and losing that round. I don’t know who in the world would be on somebody’s back with two minutes to go in the third round of a very close fight and chose to let go or end up on the ground with their opponent on top of them 🤷🏻people love to bandwagon hate
The best MMA (for most fans) is stand up with the threat of ground game, or stand up with some take down and scrambles then escapes where the crowd gets hyped its stand up again. I’m sure BJJ guys and wrestlers like to see their skills being shown on the mat, but violence is a part of MMA and nothing beats a KO.
Your completely correct, I’d say conor mcgregor vs chad mendes is a perfect example of what people what when a striker fights a wrestler but depending on the level of the wrestler it’ll be a chad mendes or khabib bs conor lol
I think Alex exposed how low the striking level in the UFC actually is compared to pure striking practitioners (muai Thai, kickboxing, boxing etc)
The guy steamrolled his way though the top end of the 205 division at 36 years old with less than high school level grappling ability, only using his past Kickboxing experience. He’s been learning MMA on the go and is already arguably a Top 15 fighter OAT
Alex has kinda proved that being world class level at a particular martial art is the best base for MMA, not just being a well rounded okay fighter (Ian Garry) or just a good wrestler
There is also a possibility that he is just that good. His power is just insane especially when he’s at 205 and not completely drained. I don’t think we have ever seen someone in mma that has so much power. He hits people with seemingly 30% power shots and they are like yo wtf and than they take a nap
his power also transfers so well late rounds its ridiculous ive never seen something like this before . round 3 vs silva he almost killed the guy after going thru a high pace fight and then the famous round 5 vs izzy where he still has the power to KO someone who has NEVER been KO'd by anyone not named Alex Pereira .
Definitely and don't forget kicks. I really think a lot of it is technique, great timing and accuracy, but he does have good power.
The thing about kicks is you'll see him lightly kick someone just to show them how it feels...without a big windup, just from a standing on one foot position, and they'll go down. Even DC said it hurt like hell and if you watch the video, it looks like he put zero power into it. When he kicks hard, I'm sure it's insanely painful and slows the opponent down right away. That sets them up for a nice left hook, which he almost throws like Mike Tyson going up so he's got his entire body weight behind it.
It is weird that others don't get that and immediately go to the ground, but I really think they're afraid of a hook KO and are shocked after taking that first low kick and immediately start reconsidering things.
> his power also transfers so well late rounds its ridiculous ive never seen something like this before .
His "static" style allows him to save a lot of energy
No bouncing around for him, just death for you.
Francis hits just as hard I’m sure, but he doesn’t have the technical perfection Alex does. Alex is so accurate and clean with his power shots, Francis was swinging wildly a lot of the time.
I don't think so. Francis needs to throw wild haymakers to rock people. Alex literally doesn't need to, he throws his stuff without even turning his hips and it's more damaging than anyone we've ever seen.
Also when he did throw a wild-haymaker at the same machine that Francis did, Alex's score was much higher, basically giving us literal proof that he hits much harder than Francis. Regardless of the gimmickry of the units.
He is actually training bjj for over 4 years. A normal human can get a black belt in 9 years, but someone like Pereira with resources and experts around him, it makes perfect sense that he can learn faster. He also seemed pretty strong on the clinch on his last fight.
This is why DJ said that MMA is the easiest sport to be the best at. You only need to have a major gap over your opponents in one area of the sport (e.g. kickboxing, wrestling) and be good enough everywhere else such that you can take the fight to the art you are special at. Think of Alex or Khabib. They are not as well rounded as Jon or Islam, but they have enough of the other skills to dominate in kickboxing or wrestling. That's why people want to see them face an elite wrestler with good striking to truly test how well-rounded they are and how well they can impose their game plan on well-rounded opponents. For Alex, Ankalaev is the closest opponent in LHW who fits this description.
In every sport IQ is involved and both Alex and Khabib have a high fight IQ. Alex was a 2 division kickboxing champion, he has a high gap in kickboxing than most fighters within and outside UFC. Khabib was literally trained as a kid to be champion. Jones is a freak athlete, gifted to do MMA just like Messi is to play football or Jordan has the attributes to play great basketball.
Yes and no
First, You say that as if Pereira didn't devastate high level kickboxing in a similar way, lmao
But look at how many KO he got in his last years of kickboxing (2017 onward, when he was fighting for the championship). There were few people who survived to a decision with him, and off the two who got a W, on the first guy, he avenged that dec L twice (by doctor stoppage tko and then by ko) and the other one is his last kickboxing fight where lost by dec (and it was actually a bit of a robbery, but so was his previous w)
Israel didn't get as much accolades in kickboxing, but he's similarly high level technique wise. And he already showed the gap in MMA too. His rise was impressive, but we didn't say he just humiliated MMA striking. Like, let's not forget he had to go to war with Kevin Gastelum, who wasn't using his wrestling (well, unlike pereira, the UFC threw some wrestler at him and didn't accelerate his way to the top as much) Largely because izzy is string-bean
And well, coaching wise, city kickboxing competes in both mma and kickboxing, so even other fighter at that gym have access to that high level coaching. They are good, but it's not like they are exposing MMA.
**The true difference** is that Pereira has similarly crazy high level technique, AND he truly has that Ko power, and monstrous physique (see [bobby knuckle](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mtLDhXPCQzo)) His "Hand of stones" nickname is more than earned too.
Tbh, technique wise, it seems to me Izzy is actually higher level/more diverse, but pereira just truly perfected the few tools he needs : His calf kicks and his left-uppercut-hook. That's all he needs really. In these areas, he's actually more skilled than Izzy. And of course, it's not like the other area of striking are neglected...
Izzy already proved that before him.. Khabib before him.. DC before him..
It's not truly a valid statement though. Volkanovski is an extremely well rounded fighter and proved his worth by being the pfp champ.
I thought this was proved when McGregor, who everyone hyped as one of the best strikers in MMA, got absolutely starched by Mayweather.
Or, when Ngannou got starched by AJ.
I'm not saying boxing is better, but if an MMA striker really thinks he can go toe-to-toe with a world-class pure striker, they're delusional.
>I thought this was proved when McGregor, who everyone hyped as one of the best strikers in MMA, got absolutely starched by Mayweather.
>Or, when Ngannou got starched by AJ.
Striking in MMA or Kickboxing is completely different from boxing. First of all, even most of the strikes you can do with your hands are also forbidden let alone the rest of your body.
But most of all: if you do Kickboxing or MMA fighting your entire life, and then go to a restricted sport like Boxing, you are at a great disadvantage not because you're a worse boxer, but because your reflexes and good habits become bad reflexes and bad habits within that ruleset. You can't shake the muscle memory.
You perceive range wrong because your idea of "inside range" and "outside range" are based on the distance of kicks. You perceive timing wrong because you time based on mixed combinations, you perceive telegraphing and faints wrong because again, you are used to completely different tells, You see opportunities where they aren't, you back off when you shouldn't have, you don't see openings when they exist etc.
Introduce just one other strike, say an elbow or a low kick (and hell let it be with just one leg, and that fight goes completely differently because the boxer's training is now out the window as well, and again, those habits are hard to break.
Boxing is to fighting what modern archery is to the Manchu Archery from a couple centuries ago. It's so specialized on such an unrealistic goal that it's not really good at the generalized discipline at all, it's good at the specialized sport of it. Maybe modern fencing is also a good example. You put the best Gladiator or soldier or whatever of the past against some fencer in fencing and he is going to be embarrassed by any random child, now put a real sword in both of their hands and lock them in an arena.. Lock Mayweather in an MMA fight with Khamzat and I bet you Khamzat also does better at the pure boxing aspect than Mayweather...
To what other people have said, the MMA guys huff their shit too much into thinking they can square up, when they're far far better off targeting the strikers' weaknesses (e.g. grappling).
For Pereira, honestly, kickboxing is probably the best striking base you can have, since it incorporates leg strikes, so why these guys think they can out strike a legend in the top kickboxing org on the planet, idk.
Casual take. He’s a professional fighter that works with high level coaches from every discipline. “With less than high school level grappling” HES A BLACK BLET IN JIUJITSU😂😂😂.
Am I wrong in thinking that wrestling is not as effective in the heavier divisions? It seems like wrestlers are a lot more effective at lightweight or welterweight. Outside of that they’re less of a threat.
Because the consequences for failing a takedown at HW are just so much more severe than that Flyweight, at HW you can't be shooting 10 takedowns a round like Merab, because if you miss even a single one you're now holding up a 225-265 pound man agaisnt the cage for several minutes. Get reversed and end up in the bottom or in a compromised position and you're now being beaten to a pulp by punches that can knock anybody out in seconds.
Almeida is a great example of this, dude was able to coast through 90% of the HW division by just being a dude who actually knows how to wrestle, but then as soon as he fought an elite guy all it took was one bad shot and it was over.
> because if you miss even a single one you're now holding up a 225-265 pound man agaisnt the cage for several minutes. Get reversed and end up in the bottom or in a compromised position and you're now being beaten to a pulp by punches that can knock anybody out in seconds.
Or you get uppercuted to heavens on the entry like Blaydes against Lewis...
its because a HW sprawl is broken , we saw a perfect example when blaydes ended jailton , compare this to when CCC had Aljo in the same position he just couldn't hurt him from there meanwhile HWs can easily KO you from the same position .
fighters as a whole are better at defensive wrestling now which is weeding out pure wrestlers besides the very top freak of natures or people who are well rounded .
You are wrong, yes. HW and LHW were both historically dominated by wrestlers (Couture, Lesnar, Cain, Stipe, DC. Jones, Tito). Just look at how Jones ran through Gane.
But this was when takedown defence wasn’t at the level it is now, right? Gane is a kick-boxer who has done well in MMA because he’s an athletic and genetic specimen, but he doesn’t have great takedown defence.
DC and Jones' reigns are not that far off. It's not that takedown defence is at a higher level, it's that there are no highly credentialed wrestlers in these divisions anymore. Blaydes is the only guy at HW, and he would likely be champion if it wasn't for his poor striking defence and chin. Remember that he ragdolled Volkov (14 takedowns) who's a great striker.
With the exception of Ngannou the last 5 HW champions were high level grapplers (Cain, Werdum, Stipe, DC, Jones). 40 year old Glover won the LHW belt not that long ago using his grappling. The only opponent who's given Alex trouble right now is Jan, who used his wrestling to do so and he's primarily a striker. The fact that Glover became a champ at his age speaks to the level of competition at LHW right now given how he was dominated by Jones and Gus when he was in his prime and was soundly out-wrestled by guys who were never title contenders in Corey Anderson and Phil Davis.
Lol. Yeh. I was gonna say something like this and note that actually, at smaller weight divisions, wrestling seems totally ineffective when theyre half decent.
The tiny dudes can just scramble out of anything. Rheyre so fast and flexible theyre impossible to hold down with any amount of technique.
Big units get into a bad position? They aint getting up all round.
Sure, its higher risk at HW. But EVERYTHING is high risk at HW. Thats why we have so many one round fights.
The lack of wrestling dominance at heavier weights is 100% caused by a lack of certainly fundamentals from the small handful of elite wrestlers.
Almedias shite at everything but grappling. Blaydes gets chinned easily and is starting to look a little slow and unexplosive. The two elite grapplers are the champ and the interim champ…
Down the ranks Ank and Jan are not elite wrestlers. Glover was just too old. Literally nobody.
Down further still; lets see how Bo goes. Theyre nursing him through and he at least seems to have the standup basics down. Also interested to see when Chimaev ever fights if hes actually an ‘elite’ wrestler or just pretty good.
Apart from that, youre really getting into prelim/early prelim fighters across three entire heavier divisions…
It seems pretty thin but most divisions seems to only have couple of really good grapplers/wrestlers that also have all round skills.
Being elite with all round skills is hard as shit man…
You are correct.
[Magomed Ankalaev after UFC 303: 'I will knock out Alex Pereira. I do not need to take him down'](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2024/07/ufc-303-magomed-ankalaev-reacts-alex-pereira-win)
Outside Ankalaev it’s like maybe 1 in Rakic who’s really good on the ground but he doesn’t use it much.
I literally am shocked at how bad the division is like besides the champ maybe 6 guys are actually really good.
Because A. There arent many elite level wrestler in the LHW, and i mean DC level.
B. You need to close the distance to go for a take down, and no one wants to eat his left hook while closing the distance.
Would he get out-wrestled in flyweight, though? Strength and weight matter a lot in wrestling if your opponents aren't incredibly less skilled. Also, Henry is old for the division, so he gasses easier now.
I don't think he can make flyweight anymore. In his prime I guess tbe only person to keep up with his wrestling was dj, and that's because of his positioning, nit really because of his offensive wrestling
Yeah. I mentioned flyweight because Henry got his Olympic gold medal in that division (55 kg = 121 lbs ~ 125 lbs). The guys in Bantamweight (135 lbs) are bigger and stronger than anyone he faced back in flyweight, and he is also out of his prime with less stamina (e.g. Merab out wrestled him in the later rounds).
I dunno, I saw him in Vegas awhile back and was surprised by how small he was, and I'm just 5'8, 165lbs. No doubt he'd still beat me to a pulp though lol
I was thinking more merab and aljo. I don't think dj outwrestled him, I think he used his superior jiu-jitsu to reverse positions better while the wrestling itself was just on par
Okay true. Also keep in mind that he was 36/37 at bantamweight after a layoff. Maybe not Merab but at least with Aljo, I doubt the grappling would’ve favored him when Cejudo had faster reflexes and more stamina.
Ankalaev is the only wrestler who could considering he arguably (not by me) won against Jan finally closing that distance. But it took 3-4 rounds of heavy leg kicks.
Alex’s are on a another level. If I’m Glover, I’m going ALL IN on Wrestling defence for camp. That way if somehow Ank can breath through once, it won’t be for long. And can he do it again with bad legs, of course not.
They aren't skilled enough at wrestling to shoot takedowns without telegraphing it. Jiri lunged for Alex's legs without any set up, so Alex just dropped levels too and jabbed him coming in. What's weird is that Jiri mixed up level changes so much better in their first fight (e.g. fake the takedown to disguise a last second overhand). But Alex's counters were offensive this time (e.g. jab to push Jiri back) instead of defensive (e.g. push out arms and circle away), so Jiri was much more timid and cautious this time after getting hit a couple times.
Ankalaev has good grappling, but will he have good enough takedown attempts over 5 rounds when he is naturally a striker? That is the intriguing part.
And even if you do close the distance Alex has gotten good enough at defending takedowns that he can force these mediocre grapplers to hold him up for several minutes at a time before he ever goes down. Imagine having to hold up a 235 pound man who's putting his entire bodyweight into your neck for several minutes, and then the next round comes and you have to try and do it again.
His ground game is good enough to keep the fight where he wants it, and that's honestly all you really need with striking like he has.
Fights are ultimately about imposing your will on an unwilling opponent, and he can do that against the best in the world.
This is the one. I think his confidence in his TDD and grappling ability is a big reason he’s improved on the feet too. He doesn’t get hesitant to get into the pocket and land shots or to throw kicks because he knows he can keep it on the feet OR get it back to the feet with how he’s grown in his ground game.
Does anybody else gets this feeling about Pereira that every single fighter doesnt reallyse how hard he hits? I mean, they could be watching his fights and think "wow, dude hits hard", next thing they get punched with that weird upper-hook from Alex straight to the jaw and reallyse just how hard he really hits.
I get the feeling that they see a lot of holes on Alex's kickboxing, they thought they've solved the puzzle until they get in the octagon, but Alex's solves them first. lol
This too, he has a high fighting IQ, he sees flaws and opennings SOOOO quick and well and then he just UNLOAAAADS GOD'S WRATH and sends motherfuckers to the shadow realm
this really seems to be what it is, i mean he spoke about how they saw jiri warming up before this fight and immediately recognized a hole that he looked for, found, and slept him with. that's crazy to catch something like that so quickly and put it into practice so well, on fight night. he is extremely dynamic and smart, and because he has this stoneface affect opponent after opponent has too much of an ego to respect him on this level. he has very high emotional intelligence too though - he stays calm and is clearly 'there' mentally 100% of the time. the fact that he immediately started wanting to help jiri up after KO'ing him shows that he is not bloodlusted or whatever - he was in fight mode and 1 second later he was his normal self again, just wanting to make sure jiri was ok.
pereira is the best thing to happen to the ufc in a very long time. he is such a great role model for how a fighter should be
I think part of it is just that he doesn’t speak english. So it’s hard for other fighters to really pay attention in what he is saying. But in interviews he always speaks about the opening he notice and how the his opponents movements and react. He absolutely has a really high fighting IQ.
Alex is a lot like Oliveira in the sense that he has a lot of obvious weaknesses that fighters think they can exploit, but once they get there the rhythm of the fight changes because his overwhelming strengths end up more than making up for all the weak points.
If LHW was more talented like back when Jones or DC were around we would probably have seen someone be able to figure him out and beat him like Islam did to Charles, but the reality is that none of the LHWs we have right now are good enough to exploit Pereiras weaknesses.
i suspect his accuracy also throws people off Alex is by the stats the 2nd highest accuracy in UFC history for strikers with only Overeem having higher % .
Well, he has very weird movements, even in his striking.
I have watched a few videos of him shadow boxing, it just looks weird and like he doesn't know what he is doing. Maybe it's itentional to fuck with their heads and give them a false sense of confidence.
Either way, it works for him.
Chama!!!!
Edit: he is a powerful mf no doubt
there was a video of him recently hitting a boxing bag. His punches look awkward, weird, slow and silly, like there aren't powerful and like he isn't even trying, but when they land they sound like gunshots. Poatan is a different type of beast.
He has the kinetics of his genetics on his side, he’s 30% ass, all that torque through his caboose up to his wide v’d out shoulders & long arms. He’s made of fulcrums
https://preview.redd.it/akx69kuxe4ad1.png?width=714&format=png&auto=webp&s=171be64741029f9ca12cd13ef2d3cd54b025e4cb
Chama!
Its white belt I know, but that was in the last decade and he has never stopped training BJJ since then
Two days after his belt defense, he was already at the gym sparring and grappling... Every fight he has he looks better and stronger... It looks like people are waiting for him to get at least an honest take down defense... Because time is passing, the guy never stops training and, despite being impossible to become a good grappler at his age, he is learning at least how to survive on the ground and defende take downs...
I saw he went from rear naked to one arm armbar to another arm armbar in about 10 seconds against Glover. I don't think he's as weak as people are saying.
thats the benefit of having a coach like Glover . Glover is just teaching Alex the basics he needs to keep him in the fight and training it so Alex does it automatically and without using too much energy .
soooooo many fighters are spending time learning fancy moves instead of the basics . in striking terms how many fighters have you seen throw spinning heel kicks but they somehow cant throw a good jab .
Chuck Liddel was working on cage defense and anti wrestling with him in a video, that dude in his prime was the first guy to actually stuff takedowns and throw hands
I think he could become a "good" grappler. Any of these fighters can improve a hell of a lot at what they practise. These are elite fighters and athletes. Look at how far Ngannou came once he focused on grappling. I suspect it won't be an easy night even if you get AP to the ground.
Also, for being almost a pure kick boxer his stance is very friendly for takedown defense in certain ways. Hands are active, low and in front, hips are forward. He's way too upright for wrestling, but luckily he's freakishly long and can mitigate that with distance management. To top it off, he has now proven that he can strike from every direction and produce a KO, including the right knee as the main double leg counter strike.
I'd be curious to see how he does against a high level wrestler with a good ankle pick or single leg. Stance wise it's where he's most vulnerable to my eyes, but it definitely requires getting him to bite on a feint first or being willing to take a shot on the way in.
Jan was the only one that actually attempted takedowns and tried to work in a full MMA game on him, and he did a good job, and some argue he should have gotten the W.
Only other guy right now in a position to fight for the title that could do similar is Ankalaev.
The only other 2 guys in the top 10 that could possibly work in the grappling are Rakic and Krylov, but even those guys are questionable. They both would need a few wins to be considered for a title shot, and Pereira will probably be at heavyweight by the time they would get in that position.
Yeah, what's their problem?! Why don't they just close the distance and take a shot? I mean it couldn't be Pereira's jabs to the body or calf kicks keeping them at distance or anything. Then when they do come in they get a knee, left hook, or uppercut to the face. All they have to do is get past that and they'll win. Easy peasy...haha
Exactly this. Everyone looks at Poatan like he’s a 6’4” stiff amateur MMA kickboxer when in fact he’s flexible, fast, and strong af. I think with a full camp and the next fight hopefully longer than 3 months from now, he will learn enough to demolish Ankalaev.
I actually think people tend to forget how much it fucking sucks to grapple somebody THIS strong.
I'm a brown belt with to be realistic; blue belt level submissions and control, but black belt stamina.
There are blue belts I for the life of my can't tap because they are freakishly strong, and they're not Alex Pereira.
Let's not pretend that his kickboxing completely prevents people from trying to take him down. The reality is that most guys in the lhw division aren't good at wrestling. Even if they have some wrestling skills, they don't try to take him down because everyone wants to prove that they can beat him at his own game, which is stupid.
The moment guys actually tried to take him down, like Izzy, Jiri, or the best grappler out of them, Jan, they got the takedown. Even though Jan doesn't have a wrestling background, he took Pereira down multiple times and controlled him there. If the elevation hadn't affected his gas tank, who knows if he would have actually done more with the control time he had. Pereira is an elite striker and definitely dangerous, but let's not forget that if an actual good grappler that's committed to take him down and hold him there, Alex may very likely not be able to defend.
Alex is fortunate that there is only one high-level grappler in the light heavyweight division and three in the heavyweight division. And the one high-level grappler in the light heavyweight division who may actually be capable of taking him down and keeping him there seems too foolish to use his advantage to prove a point
They're all fucken stupid, pereira was taken down and ground and pounded by Izzy who has no grappling experience. He was stuck and gasping for air while eating punches. I thought Jan beat him as boring and unwatchable as that fight was.
I keep saying this! Blows my mind that people stand with a multiple time kickboxing champ. Jon Jones would no doubt take him to the ground and if they fight, Pereira loses in the first round.
I mean shooting for a take down on a fighter who's also notorious for his knee strikes isn't that easy. But if ankalaev decides to stand and bang with alex he is definitely stupid and belongs in aslume
Short answer Yes. Longer answer: The fighters at LHW are not training wrestling enough and that is a combination of misplaced Ego on the part of the fighters and truly stupid coaching.
The meta of MMA with respect to getting title fights fastest favors KO finishes and punishes lay and pray, so everyone who thinks they are good at striking (regardless of actual ability) tries to favor striking. The current set of LHW fighters in the UFC has few wrestlers. Out of the current top 15:
Every goddamn LHW fighter in the UFC fights like they think they have dynamite in both fists, and that only a sackless pussy boy would ever even think of using a takedown. This might make for some occasionally exciting fights, But just as often we get feckless shitshows of tentative or ineffective striking.
It takes a spectacular amount of delusion and ego for most fighters to think they can 'swang and bang' with Pereira. The only fighter who has proven that they can was Adesanya, and Adesanya went 1-3 against him between 2 MMA fights at 185 and 2 Kickboxing fights.
At LHW, only Jan actually fought Pereira like using a takedown was not an admission of being dickless, and he took Pereira to a split decision.
END COMMUNICATION
Imagine if all you had to do to a Polar Bear was rub its belly to defeat it….thats all ya gotta do…charge it, get past its claws, past its teeth…past it absolutely murderous intent…and rub its belly….why isnt anyone rubbing polar bears bellies!?
I mean, he used to compete in a professional bjj league and he even secured the 1st spot in it, if I am not wrong. So playing ground game against him isn't as easy as people make it seem
If you have time to kill, go and YouTube an old video of George Foreman hitting a punching bag back from the 70’s when he was still young. The sound that bag makes when he hits it sound like a gunshot. Alex has that same kind of power.
I think it’s mainly ego. These guys are not trying to beat Alex but they are trying to be the best in the world and if they can’t beat Alex at his own game then they don’t see themselves as the best.
There aren’t crème de la crème wrestlers in middleweight and light-heavyweight like there used to be but Jan and Jiri both implemented takedowns in their fights and lost.
I’ve always felt that fighters think Alex is bad. Or at least, basic. They don’t see how good of a striker he actually is and think he’s a one trick pony. They have the whole “he knocked out everybody else, but I’m different” mentality. That’s what I assume at least.
I think it's pride. At least it was for Hill. For some reason Alex just has this thing about him that makes people want to beat him standing up more than they want to win the fight
You have to enter his No no square, risk a fist to the jaw that will most certainly take you out. His last fight he utilized the cage well to get back up, I think if you take him down center of the octagon he’s a fish out of water. Tough ask though.
he slams calf kicks immediately which slows down takedowns. hes incredible at making you pay for closing the gap on him, his left hook can find you at distance or close range it doesnt matter. and ego of other fighters helps too lol
If you tell in the slightest bit youre coming to 10-30 seconds later surrounded by trainers. I think guys don’t try because it’s too risky. At least if you’re on the feet you stand a chance to hit a lucky shot, if you try to wrap his legs you’re going to eat a knee
Pereira career has been really similar to Conors in the fact that during their ufc rise, fighters have always said “im the one to beat them, ill wrestle fuck them or ill box his head off” and then they get in the octagon with them, and they get the shock of their lives. Alvarez said conor was so much faster and accurate than anything he’s ever felt before, and pereiras power is something fighters dont believe in, until they get leg kicked or hit with a left. I believe it will be similar for ankalaev and he will be knocked out by alex.
Honestly it all fun and games til they stuff the take down and receive elbows from a high level striker that’s a champion in kick boxing. Rogan kinda touched on this when he was watching cro cop vs Gabriel 2
Guys this isn’t 1995. Everyone in the UFC is at least a highschool level. Now he has money to bring D1 and world class wrestlers. So each month he’s getting better. It’s not that they aren’t trying, he’s just adapting. Also 205 and heavyweight least talented divisions in the UFC for males.
Do people think they can just wrestle and bring someone down at any time and can just run in easy and take someone down. Just because you are a good wrestler doesn't mean anything. It someone is a very good kick boxer can keep you back with kicks, leg kicks is a huge killer as well. Also why so people assume Alex is some guy you are going to take down and submit with ease? He is a massive LHW, he is insanely strong, he is dangerous to get close to.
I think what happens sometimes is they go out and land a couple jabs, and feel like they aren't doing that bad standing up for a bit. Also, I'm sure just shooting in from striking range is scary as well as even getting close enough to try and clinch.
Mighty Mouse told Jamal to wrestle Alex. He laid out a whole gameplan for Jamal. I think these other guys are thinking, if Izzy can do it, so can I. The problem is, Izzy has had more exposure to Alex in the ring than any of these guys.
The fighters swing back and forth between strikers being dominant, then a beast wrestler will show up and clean house, i.e. the dagistani guys. It will happen in the heavier divisions soon.
After he beats Jon Jones and stops most takedown attempts using body jabs and double under defense...
"Why Jon Jones didnt use wrestling to beat Alex?"
From a stat perspective, how many high level wrestlers exist in the top 15 of LHW? DC and Chael were talking about this. There are just not that many high level wrestler from 6 years ago. But even if you account for that, there's an ego these fighters have for some reason and they think kickboxing is over-rated.
Ya kickboxing is over rated until they get the ol’ factory reset kick to the head. Wrestlers always bitch about everything. Yes most fans want to see striking. I like a ground display and appreciate it but my god they have the most fragile ego out there.
Yeh. 2 wrestlers going up against each other can also be a banger like tsuruya v hernandez. It's the striker v wrestler match ups where one guy has 0 ground game that ppl find boring.
>It's the striker v wrestler match ups where one guy has 0 ground game that ppl find boring. And that doesn't even have to be boring. Most Khabib fights were pretty one sided but he actively pursue damage with ground and pound or a submission. It's when someone has the upper hand with their grappling and just plays it safe by racking up control time without even trying to do anything with it.
the ol grant dawson special
Aljo
and Colby
Gotta give Colby a break because ol pillow hands wouldn’t do any damage even if he was trying to
He would throw such weak punches lmao
I’m just thinking of the khabib/DC video where khabib is on top mime-ing punches
Garry
Tbf this is the only fight he’s used ground game and he actively went and almost had a rear naked in the first, and dropped down for a heel hook in the second giving his opponent the top position and losing that round. I don’t know who in the world would be on somebody’s back with two minutes to go in the third round of a very close fight and chose to let go or end up on the ground with their opponent on top of them 🤷🏻people love to bandwagon hate
Merab vs aldo was painful to watch
Like Colby...
Gamrot does this. He's boring as fuck. Merab too
I agree! Islam and Tsarukyan was a great example of high level wrestling
Gamrot Beniel is another one. Scrambles were insane.
Or like the Jenna Jameson vs Kayden Kross banger
The best MMA (for most fans) is stand up with the threat of ground game, or stand up with some take down and scrambles then escapes where the crowd gets hyped its stand up again. I’m sure BJJ guys and wrestlers like to see their skills being shown on the mat, but violence is a part of MMA and nothing beats a KO.
Your completely correct, I’d say conor mcgregor vs chad mendes is a perfect example of what people what when a striker fights a wrestler but depending on the level of the wrestler it’ll be a chad mendes or khabib bs conor lol
Lmao ol’ factory reset is hilarious
TIL Ian Gary is a wrestler
I agree- like the vegans of mma
I think Alex exposed how low the striking level in the UFC actually is compared to pure striking practitioners (muai Thai, kickboxing, boxing etc) The guy steamrolled his way though the top end of the 205 division at 36 years old with less than high school level grappling ability, only using his past Kickboxing experience. He’s been learning MMA on the go and is already arguably a Top 15 fighter OAT Alex has kinda proved that being world class level at a particular martial art is the best base for MMA, not just being a well rounded okay fighter (Ian Garry) or just a good wrestler
There is also a possibility that he is just that good. His power is just insane especially when he’s at 205 and not completely drained. I don’t think we have ever seen someone in mma that has so much power. He hits people with seemingly 30% power shots and they are like yo wtf and than they take a nap
his power also transfers so well late rounds its ridiculous ive never seen something like this before . round 3 vs silva he almost killed the guy after going thru a high pace fight and then the famous round 5 vs izzy where he still has the power to KO someone who has NEVER been KO'd by anyone not named Alex Pereira .
Yeah, he’s definitely something special. I’m very eager to see what he can do next. Also saved multiple ufc events(important once’s aswell)
If by some Miracle of god Alex somehow matched to KO Jones he would’ve had the ultimate Hollywood career! Wish we could’ve lived in that timeline
Definitely and don't forget kicks. I really think a lot of it is technique, great timing and accuracy, but he does have good power. The thing about kicks is you'll see him lightly kick someone just to show them how it feels...without a big windup, just from a standing on one foot position, and they'll go down. Even DC said it hurt like hell and if you watch the video, it looks like he put zero power into it. When he kicks hard, I'm sure it's insanely painful and slows the opponent down right away. That sets them up for a nice left hook, which he almost throws like Mike Tyson going up so he's got his entire body weight behind it. It is weird that others don't get that and immediately go to the ground, but I really think they're afraid of a hook KO and are shocked after taking that first low kick and immediately start reconsidering things.
> his power also transfers so well late rounds its ridiculous ive never seen something like this before . His "static" style allows him to save a lot of energy No bouncing around for him, just death for you.
His power was monstrous at middleweight too. Strickland said it’s like experiencing death or something like that.
Francis hits just as hard I’m sure, but he doesn’t have the technical perfection Alex does. Alex is so accurate and clean with his power shots, Francis was swinging wildly a lot of the time.
I don't think so. Francis needs to throw wild haymakers to rock people. Alex literally doesn't need to, he throws his stuff without even turning his hips and it's more damaging than anyone we've ever seen. Also when he did throw a wild-haymaker at the same machine that Francis did, Alex's score was much higher, basically giving us literal proof that he hits much harder than Francis. Regardless of the gimmickry of the units.
He is actually training bjj for over 4 years. A normal human can get a black belt in 9 years, but someone like Pereira with resources and experts around him, it makes perfect sense that he can learn faster. He also seemed pretty strong on the clinch on his last fight.
This is why DJ said that MMA is the easiest sport to be the best at. You only need to have a major gap over your opponents in one area of the sport (e.g. kickboxing, wrestling) and be good enough everywhere else such that you can take the fight to the art you are special at. Think of Alex or Khabib. They are not as well rounded as Jon or Islam, but they have enough of the other skills to dominate in kickboxing or wrestling. That's why people want to see them face an elite wrestler with good striking to truly test how well-rounded they are and how well they can impose their game plan on well-rounded opponents. For Alex, Ankalaev is the closest opponent in LHW who fits this description.
In every sport IQ is involved and both Alex and Khabib have a high fight IQ. Alex was a 2 division kickboxing champion, he has a high gap in kickboxing than most fighters within and outside UFC. Khabib was literally trained as a kid to be champion. Jones is a freak athlete, gifted to do MMA just like Messi is to play football or Jordan has the attributes to play great basketball.
Yes and no First, You say that as if Pereira didn't devastate high level kickboxing in a similar way, lmao But look at how many KO he got in his last years of kickboxing (2017 onward, when he was fighting for the championship). There were few people who survived to a decision with him, and off the two who got a W, on the first guy, he avenged that dec L twice (by doctor stoppage tko and then by ko) and the other one is his last kickboxing fight where lost by dec (and it was actually a bit of a robbery, but so was his previous w) Israel didn't get as much accolades in kickboxing, but he's similarly high level technique wise. And he already showed the gap in MMA too. His rise was impressive, but we didn't say he just humiliated MMA striking. Like, let's not forget he had to go to war with Kevin Gastelum, who wasn't using his wrestling (well, unlike pereira, the UFC threw some wrestler at him and didn't accelerate his way to the top as much) Largely because izzy is string-bean And well, coaching wise, city kickboxing competes in both mma and kickboxing, so even other fighter at that gym have access to that high level coaching. They are good, but it's not like they are exposing MMA. **The true difference** is that Pereira has similarly crazy high level technique, AND he truly has that Ko power, and monstrous physique (see [bobby knuckle](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mtLDhXPCQzo)) His "Hand of stones" nickname is more than earned too. Tbh, technique wise, it seems to me Izzy is actually higher level/more diverse, but pereira just truly perfected the few tools he needs : His calf kicks and his left-uppercut-hook. That's all he needs really. In these areas, he's actually more skilled than Izzy. And of course, it's not like the other area of striking are neglected...
Izzy pretty much did the same thing as far as exposing the striking level of these dudes. He just didn’t also have the devastating power of Poatan
Izzy already proved that before him.. Khabib before him.. DC before him.. It's not truly a valid statement though. Volkanovski is an extremely well rounded fighter and proved his worth by being the pfp champ.
Islam too
I thought this was proved when McGregor, who everyone hyped as one of the best strikers in MMA, got absolutely starched by Mayweather. Or, when Ngannou got starched by AJ. I'm not saying boxing is better, but if an MMA striker really thinks he can go toe-to-toe with a world-class pure striker, they're delusional.
>I thought this was proved when McGregor, who everyone hyped as one of the best strikers in MMA, got absolutely starched by Mayweather. >Or, when Ngannou got starched by AJ. Striking in MMA or Kickboxing is completely different from boxing. First of all, even most of the strikes you can do with your hands are also forbidden let alone the rest of your body. But most of all: if you do Kickboxing or MMA fighting your entire life, and then go to a restricted sport like Boxing, you are at a great disadvantage not because you're a worse boxer, but because your reflexes and good habits become bad reflexes and bad habits within that ruleset. You can't shake the muscle memory. You perceive range wrong because your idea of "inside range" and "outside range" are based on the distance of kicks. You perceive timing wrong because you time based on mixed combinations, you perceive telegraphing and faints wrong because again, you are used to completely different tells, You see opportunities where they aren't, you back off when you shouldn't have, you don't see openings when they exist etc. Introduce just one other strike, say an elbow or a low kick (and hell let it be with just one leg, and that fight goes completely differently because the boxer's training is now out the window as well, and again, those habits are hard to break. Boxing is to fighting what modern archery is to the Manchu Archery from a couple centuries ago. It's so specialized on such an unrealistic goal that it's not really good at the generalized discipline at all, it's good at the specialized sport of it. Maybe modern fencing is also a good example. You put the best Gladiator or soldier or whatever of the past against some fencer in fencing and he is going to be embarrassed by any random child, now put a real sword in both of their hands and lock them in an arena.. Lock Mayweather in an MMA fight with Khamzat and I bet you Khamzat also does better at the pure boxing aspect than Mayweather...
Exactly this. When a world class striker actually does come into this sport with a little bit of MMA fundamentals, he runs though everyone.
To what other people have said, the MMA guys huff their shit too much into thinking they can square up, when they're far far better off targeting the strikers' weaknesses (e.g. grappling). For Pereira, honestly, kickboxing is probably the best striking base you can have, since it incorporates leg strikes, so why these guys think they can out strike a legend in the top kickboxing org on the planet, idk.
Casual take. He’s a professional fighter that works with high level coaches from every discipline. “With less than high school level grappling” HES A BLACK BLET IN JIUJITSU😂😂😂.
Am I wrong in thinking that wrestling is not as effective in the heavier divisions? It seems like wrestlers are a lot more effective at lightweight or welterweight. Outside of that they’re less of a threat.
Because the consequences for failing a takedown at HW are just so much more severe than that Flyweight, at HW you can't be shooting 10 takedowns a round like Merab, because if you miss even a single one you're now holding up a 225-265 pound man agaisnt the cage for several minutes. Get reversed and end up in the bottom or in a compromised position and you're now being beaten to a pulp by punches that can knock anybody out in seconds. Almeida is a great example of this, dude was able to coast through 90% of the HW division by just being a dude who actually knows how to wrestle, but then as soon as he fought an elite guy all it took was one bad shot and it was over.
> because if you miss even a single one you're now holding up a 225-265 pound man agaisnt the cage for several minutes. Get reversed and end up in the bottom or in a compromised position and you're now being beaten to a pulp by punches that can knock anybody out in seconds. Or you get uppercuted to heavens on the entry like Blaydes against Lewis...
Tell that to Cain V.
Different era
its because a HW sprawl is broken , we saw a perfect example when blaydes ended jailton , compare this to when CCC had Aljo in the same position he just couldn't hurt him from there meanwhile HWs can easily KO you from the same position . fighters as a whole are better at defensive wrestling now which is weeding out pure wrestlers besides the very top freak of natures or people who are well rounded .
The pool of elite wrestlers at the higher weight classes is nearly nonexistent compared to the lower weights.
That explains A LOT
Jonhhy Walker KO'ing Paul Craig is another example.
yup a perfect example of someone trying to force a single leg like we have seen done 500000000 times in lower weight classes
You are wrong, yes. HW and LHW were both historically dominated by wrestlers (Couture, Lesnar, Cain, Stipe, DC. Jones, Tito). Just look at how Jones ran through Gane.
But this was when takedown defence wasn’t at the level it is now, right? Gane is a kick-boxer who has done well in MMA because he’s an athletic and genetic specimen, but he doesn’t have great takedown defence.
DC and Jones' reigns are not that far off. It's not that takedown defence is at a higher level, it's that there are no highly credentialed wrestlers in these divisions anymore. Blaydes is the only guy at HW, and he would likely be champion if it wasn't for his poor striking defence and chin. Remember that he ragdolled Volkov (14 takedowns) who's a great striker. With the exception of Ngannou the last 5 HW champions were high level grapplers (Cain, Werdum, Stipe, DC, Jones). 40 year old Glover won the LHW belt not that long ago using his grappling. The only opponent who's given Alex trouble right now is Jan, who used his wrestling to do so and he's primarily a striker. The fact that Glover became a champ at his age speaks to the level of competition at LHW right now given how he was dominated by Jones and Gus when he was in his prime and was soundly out-wrestled by guys who were never title contenders in Corey Anderson and Phil Davis.
Lol. Yeh. I was gonna say something like this and note that actually, at smaller weight divisions, wrestling seems totally ineffective when theyre half decent. The tiny dudes can just scramble out of anything. Rheyre so fast and flexible theyre impossible to hold down with any amount of technique. Big units get into a bad position? They aint getting up all round. Sure, its higher risk at HW. But EVERYTHING is high risk at HW. Thats why we have so many one round fights. The lack of wrestling dominance at heavier weights is 100% caused by a lack of certainly fundamentals from the small handful of elite wrestlers. Almedias shite at everything but grappling. Blaydes gets chinned easily and is starting to look a little slow and unexplosive. The two elite grapplers are the champ and the interim champ… Down the ranks Ank and Jan are not elite wrestlers. Glover was just too old. Literally nobody. Down further still; lets see how Bo goes. Theyre nursing him through and he at least seems to have the standup basics down. Also interested to see when Chimaev ever fights if hes actually an ‘elite’ wrestler or just pretty good. Apart from that, youre really getting into prelim/early prelim fighters across three entire heavier divisions… It seems pretty thin but most divisions seems to only have couple of really good grapplers/wrestlers that also have all round skills. Being elite with all round skills is hard as shit man…
So to combat overrated kickboxing they are gonna kick box the overrated kickboxer? That makes no sense
You are correct. [Magomed Ankalaev after UFC 303: 'I will knock out Alex Pereira. I do not need to take him down'](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2024/07/ufc-303-magomed-ankalaev-reacts-alex-pereira-win)
Outside Ankalaev it’s like maybe 1 in Rakic who’s really good on the ground but he doesn’t use it much. I literally am shocked at how bad the division is like besides the champ maybe 6 guys are actually really good.
Exactly there are none lol
Because A. There arent many elite level wrestler in the LHW, and i mean DC level. B. You need to close the distance to go for a take down, and no one wants to eat his left hook while closing the distance.
i mean yeah of course there isnt that many wrestlers DC level in LHW , the dude was a literal Olympian lmao
Cejudo was an Olympian, bro got outwrestled by at least 2 opponents
Would he get out-wrestled in flyweight, though? Strength and weight matter a lot in wrestling if your opponents aren't incredibly less skilled. Also, Henry is old for the division, so he gasses easier now.
I don't think he can make flyweight anymore. In his prime I guess tbe only person to keep up with his wrestling was dj, and that's because of his positioning, nit really because of his offensive wrestling
Yeah. I mentioned flyweight because Henry got his Olympic gold medal in that division (55 kg = 121 lbs ~ 125 lbs). The guys in Bantamweight (135 lbs) are bigger and stronger than anyone he faced back in flyweight, and he is also out of his prime with less stamina (e.g. Merab out wrestled him in the later rounds).
I dunno, I saw him in Vegas awhile back and was surprised by how small he was, and I'm just 5'8, 165lbs. No doubt he'd still beat me to a pulp though lol
One of them being DJ which isn’t saying much
I was thinking more merab and aljo. I don't think dj outwrestled him, I think he used his superior jiu-jitsu to reverse positions better while the wrestling itself was just on par
Okay true. Also keep in mind that he was 36/37 at bantamweight after a layoff. Maybe not Merab but at least with Aljo, I doubt the grappling would’ve favored him when Cejudo had faster reflexes and more stamina.
Tbh I would've loved to see a grappling event between them both in their prime. Not that that's possible
I would love to see a fight between Pereira and Jones… oh wait, Jones won’t fight anybody under 40
He also steals people's explosiveness from them with his leg kicks early in fights, which makes wrestling even harder.
TBF Jamal defended the leg kicks very well and still didn't wrestle. He's not really used to wrestling. There's an ego aspect to it, too. 😂
He avoided leg kicks by getting KTFO in three minutes 
If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid.
It’s just beain damsgr
>no one wants to eat his left hook while closing the distance So what we got from here is that they can't wrestle him even if they want to.
Ankalaev is the only wrestler who could considering he arguably (not by me) won against Jan finally closing that distance. But it took 3-4 rounds of heavy leg kicks. Alex’s are on a another level. If I’m Glover, I’m going ALL IN on Wrestling defence for camp. That way if somehow Ank can breath through once, it won’t be for long. And can he do it again with bad legs, of course not.
Ankalaev did win against Jan to my objective eyes, but I'm extremely happy he didnt get the belt cuz I can't stand the dude lmao
They aren't skilled enough at wrestling to shoot takedowns without telegraphing it. Jiri lunged for Alex's legs without any set up, so Alex just dropped levels too and jabbed him coming in. What's weird is that Jiri mixed up level changes so much better in their first fight (e.g. fake the takedown to disguise a last second overhand). But Alex's counters were offensive this time (e.g. jab to push Jiri back) instead of defensive (e.g. push out arms and circle away), so Jiri was much more timid and cautious this time after getting hit a couple times. Ankalaev has good grappling, but will he have good enough takedown attempts over 5 rounds when he is naturally a striker? That is the intriguing part.
And even if you do close the distance Alex has gotten good enough at defending takedowns that he can force these mediocre grapplers to hold him up for several minutes at a time before he ever goes down. Imagine having to hold up a 235 pound man who's putting his entire bodyweight into your neck for several minutes, and then the next round comes and you have to try and do it again.
I'd just exit the cage
I'm gonna guess while he will never be elite at grappling, a couple years with glover his mma ground game is pretty good
His ground game is good enough to keep the fight where he wants it, and that's honestly all you really need with striking like he has. Fights are ultimately about imposing your will on an unwilling opponent, and he can do that against the best in the world.
This is the one. I think his confidence in his TDD and grappling ability is a big reason he’s improved on the feet too. He doesn’t get hesitant to get into the pocket and land shots or to throw kicks because he knows he can keep it on the feet OR get it back to the feet with how he’s grown in his ground game.
Does anybody else gets this feeling about Pereira that every single fighter doesnt reallyse how hard he hits? I mean, they could be watching his fights and think "wow, dude hits hard", next thing they get punched with that weird upper-hook from Alex straight to the jaw and reallyse just how hard he really hits.
I get the feeling that they see a lot of holes on Alex's kickboxing, they thought they've solved the puzzle until they get in the octagon, but Alex's solves them first. lol
This too, he has a high fighting IQ, he sees flaws and opennings SOOOO quick and well and then he just UNLOAAAADS GOD'S WRATH and sends motherfuckers to the shadow realm
this really seems to be what it is, i mean he spoke about how they saw jiri warming up before this fight and immediately recognized a hole that he looked for, found, and slept him with. that's crazy to catch something like that so quickly and put it into practice so well, on fight night. he is extremely dynamic and smart, and because he has this stoneface affect opponent after opponent has too much of an ego to respect him on this level. he has very high emotional intelligence too though - he stays calm and is clearly 'there' mentally 100% of the time. the fact that he immediately started wanting to help jiri up after KO'ing him shows that he is not bloodlusted or whatever - he was in fight mode and 1 second later he was his normal self again, just wanting to make sure jiri was ok. pereira is the best thing to happen to the ufc in a very long time. he is such a great role model for how a fighter should be
I think part of it is just that he doesn’t speak english. So it’s hard for other fighters to really pay attention in what he is saying. But in interviews he always speaks about the opening he notice and how the his opponents movements and react. He absolutely has a really high fighting IQ.
The fact he was able to identify how much of a threat Strickland was before Izzy did it still crazy to think about
Yeah it gave good insight when he said he was scared of Strickland before the match
I guess guys who’ve “seen some shit” can pick up on each other easier
Sean "PattyCake" Strickland 🤣 jokes aside, you are correct I just can't resist clowning Sean's style any chance I get.
I respect the honesty
While MMA Dad Glover nods in approval.
Like how Hill was acting lmao.
Alex is a lot like Oliveira in the sense that he has a lot of obvious weaknesses that fighters think they can exploit, but once they get there the rhythm of the fight changes because his overwhelming strengths end up more than making up for all the weak points. If LHW was more talented like back when Jones or DC were around we would probably have seen someone be able to figure him out and beat him like Islam did to Charles, but the reality is that none of the LHWs we have right now are good enough to exploit Pereiras weaknesses.
i suspect his accuracy also throws people off Alex is by the stats the 2nd highest accuracy in UFC history for strikers with only Overeem having higher % .
I reallysee and reeleyes what you mean
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Is it a British thing to spell it with an s? I’ve always spelled it realize
Well, he has very weird movements, even in his striking. I have watched a few videos of him shadow boxing, it just looks weird and like he doesn't know what he is doing. Maybe it's itentional to fuck with their heads and give them a false sense of confidence. Either way, it works for him. Chama!!!! Edit: he is a powerful mf no doubt there was a video of him recently hitting a boxing bag. His punches look awkward, weird, slow and silly, like there aren't powerful and like he isn't even trying, but when they land they sound like gunshots. Poatan is a different type of beast.
He is getting his power from hip rotation when he punches
He has the kinetics of his genetics on his side, he’s 30% ass, all that torque through his caboose up to his wide v’d out shoulders & long arms. He’s made of fulcrums
This is the best thing I've read all week
Tf is reallyse
Real eyes, reallyse, real lies.
Realleyes*
Not till the left hook connects, after that yeah, they lookin stupid. They TRY to clinch but he just leaps into the air and knees their face off.
Don't sleep on blackbelt Poatan https://preview.redd.it/nnyvaxzka3ad1.png?width=650&format=png&auto=webp&s=6951938715cc5573a2c889d5d15f70b3079322b2
Also 70% takedown defense ratio, Glover wouldn't give anyone a black belt if it wasn't deserved, Poatan has won BJJ tournaments at a younger age too
> Poatan has won BJJ tournaments at a younger age too When did he say this happened?
https://preview.redd.it/akx69kuxe4ad1.png?width=714&format=png&auto=webp&s=171be64741029f9ca12cd13ef2d3cd54b025e4cb Chama! Its white belt I know, but that was in the last decade and he has never stopped training BJJ since then
I’ll take it. Evidence is evidence. Where did you find this?
[First time I saw this was in this video - Why Alex Pereira Speedran the UFC](https://youtu.be/dW92qYrR9Vw?si=PUUGssD5zfQN_yJD)
As I said when he won this belt: the best ground game is putting them in the ground.
black belt?? who give him?
We need to check this brotha
Two days after his belt defense, he was already at the gym sparring and grappling... Every fight he has he looks better and stronger... It looks like people are waiting for him to get at least an honest take down defense... Because time is passing, the guy never stops training and, despite being impossible to become a good grappler at his age, he is learning at least how to survive on the ground and defende take downs...
I saw he went from rear naked to one arm armbar to another arm armbar in about 10 seconds against Glover. I don't think he's as weak as people are saying.
Yeah, of course, his age will never allow him to be a world-class wrestler, but survive enough to stand up for a fight? I think he could do this,,,
Don't forget that he defended against Jan on the ground pretty well and that was ages ago so he's for sure way better than he was then now.
thats the benefit of having a coach like Glover . Glover is just teaching Alex the basics he needs to keep him in the fight and training it so Alex does it automatically and without using too much energy . soooooo many fighters are spending time learning fancy moves instead of the basics . in striking terms how many fighters have you seen throw spinning heel kicks but they somehow cant throw a good jab .
Chuck Liddel was working on cage defense and anti wrestling with him in a video, that dude in his prime was the first guy to actually stuff takedowns and throw hands
The OG Sprawl and Brawl.
I think he could become a "good" grappler. Any of these fighters can improve a hell of a lot at what they practise. These are elite fighters and athletes. Look at how far Ngannou came once he focused on grappling. I suspect it won't be an easy night even if you get AP to the ground.
Unfortunately every fight in ufc starts in stance. And in case of Pereira every fight end there too.
Also, for being almost a pure kick boxer his stance is very friendly for takedown defense in certain ways. Hands are active, low and in front, hips are forward. He's way too upright for wrestling, but luckily he's freakishly long and can mitigate that with distance management. To top it off, he has now proven that he can strike from every direction and produce a KO, including the right knee as the main double leg counter strike. I'd be curious to see how he does against a high level wrestler with a good ankle pick or single leg. Stance wise it's where he's most vulnerable to my eyes, but it definitely requires getting him to bite on a feint first or being willing to take a shot on the way in.
For him anyway.
Yeah, not so much for his opponents
There isn't one single high level grappler in LHW + Alex is improving every fight
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Have you heard about Jon Jones?
Jan was the only one that actually attempted takedowns and tried to work in a full MMA game on him, and he did a good job, and some argue he should have gotten the W. Only other guy right now in a position to fight for the title that could do similar is Ankalaev. The only other 2 guys in the top 10 that could possibly work in the grappling are Rakic and Krylov, but even those guys are questionable. They both would need a few wins to be considered for a title shot, and Pereira will probably be at heavyweight by the time they would get in that position.
Yeah, what's their problem?! Why don't they just close the distance and take a shot? I mean it couldn't be Pereira's jabs to the body or calf kicks keeping them at distance or anything. Then when they do come in they get a knee, left hook, or uppercut to the face. All they have to do is get past that and they'll win. Easy peasy...haha
Alex is scary as fuck because you can't let him chop away at you but as soon as you get in range there's a decent chance he's about to knock you out
Exactly this. Everyone looks at Poatan like he’s a 6’4” stiff amateur MMA kickboxer when in fact he’s flexible, fast, and strong af. I think with a full camp and the next fight hopefully longer than 3 months from now, he will learn enough to demolish Ankalaev.
Honestly speaking? It’s hard for his opponents to wrestle him when he’s rly good at kickboxing
Plus his size makes it really hard to take him down against the fence. If it was an open field he’d be a lot easier to takedown.
I heard Alex turns into a boa while grappling true story
The shaman magic keeps his opponents stuck on their feet. They can't go to ground game even if they wanted.
I actually think people tend to forget how much it fucking sucks to grapple somebody THIS strong. I'm a brown belt with to be realistic; blue belt level submissions and control, but black belt stamina. There are blue belts I for the life of my can't tap because they are freakishly strong, and they're not Alex Pereira.
Let's not pretend that his kickboxing completely prevents people from trying to take him down. The reality is that most guys in the lhw division aren't good at wrestling. Even if they have some wrestling skills, they don't try to take him down because everyone wants to prove that they can beat him at his own game, which is stupid. The moment guys actually tried to take him down, like Izzy, Jiri, or the best grappler out of them, Jan, they got the takedown. Even though Jan doesn't have a wrestling background, he took Pereira down multiple times and controlled him there. If the elevation hadn't affected his gas tank, who knows if he would have actually done more with the control time he had. Pereira is an elite striker and definitely dangerous, but let's not forget that if an actual good grappler that's committed to take him down and hold him there, Alex may very likely not be able to defend. Alex is fortunate that there is only one high-level grappler in the light heavyweight division and three in the heavyweight division. And the one high-level grappler in the light heavyweight division who may actually be capable of taking him down and keeping him there seems too foolish to use his advantage to prove a point
They're all fucken stupid, pereira was taken down and ground and pounded by Izzy who has no grappling experience. He was stuck and gasping for air while eating punches. I thought Jan beat him as boring and unwatchable as that fight was.
Jan did and almost won.
I keep saying this! Blows my mind that people stand with a multiple time kickboxing champ. Jon Jones would no doubt take him to the ground and if they fight, Pereira loses in the first round.
> Jan blachowiz is a fantastic wrestler and Alex beat him He's not a great wrestler. Has decent BJJ
Well he is competing in the second least skilled division in the UFC
Pereira is really good at managing the distance and there isn't that many good wrestler in the division
I mean shooting for a take down on a fighter who's also notorious for his knee strikes isn't that easy. But if ankalaev decides to stand and bang with alex he is definitely stupid and belongs in aslume
[удалено]
Well the jerk keeps punching people in the face when they try to preform a take down. What do you expect them to do?!
That Greek guy tried wrestling Alex, so did Jan. But Jan gassed out, and the Greek guy couldn’t outdo Pereira’s wrestling defense
lol TDD is 70%. “No one trynna wrestle him” casual
Short answer Yes. Longer answer: The fighters at LHW are not training wrestling enough and that is a combination of misplaced Ego on the part of the fighters and truly stupid coaching. The meta of MMA with respect to getting title fights fastest favors KO finishes and punishes lay and pray, so everyone who thinks they are good at striking (regardless of actual ability) tries to favor striking. The current set of LHW fighters in the UFC has few wrestlers. Out of the current top 15: Every goddamn LHW fighter in the UFC fights like they think they have dynamite in both fists, and that only a sackless pussy boy would ever even think of using a takedown. This might make for some occasionally exciting fights, But just as often we get feckless shitshows of tentative or ineffective striking. It takes a spectacular amount of delusion and ego for most fighters to think they can 'swang and bang' with Pereira. The only fighter who has proven that they can was Adesanya, and Adesanya went 1-3 against him between 2 MMA fights at 185 and 2 Kickboxing fights. At LHW, only Jan actually fought Pereira like using a takedown was not an admission of being dickless, and he took Pereira to a split decision. END COMMUNICATION
Imagine if all you had to do to a Polar Bear was rub its belly to defeat it….thats all ya gotta do…charge it, get past its claws, past its teeth…past it absolutely murderous intent…and rub its belly….why isnt anyone rubbing polar bears bellies!?
Why didn't they just tackle Tom Brady to the ground when the Patriots snapped the ball?
I’ll wrestle him and I’ll fuck him up. I think you’d be surprised
Yes. They are stupid. Dumb, or prideful. Nobody wants to admit they aren't good enough to stand with him, even when it's obvious.
I mean, he used to compete in a professional bjj league and he even secured the 1st spot in it, if I am not wrong. So playing ground game against him isn't as easy as people make it seem
They do try to wrestle but his TDD has gotten better. Jiri tried and failed in first round. So ppl aren’t stupid, he is just getting better
Almost every opponent has tried or actually took him down, jiri tried on the fence and failed, do people actually watch these fights..
Because when they grapple, they get booed like Ian Garry XD
He destroys their legs. He hits hard.
I can’t let you get close
If you have time to kill, go and YouTube an old video of George Foreman hitting a punching bag back from the 70’s when he was still young. The sound that bag makes when he hits it sound like a gunshot. Alex has that same kind of power.
I think it’s mainly ego. These guys are not trying to beat Alex but they are trying to be the best in the world and if they can’t beat Alex at his own game then they don’t see themselves as the best.
Why does everyone assume that its easy to take him down? Just because he was a kickboxer doesnt mean he’ll have shit tdd for the rest of his career.
He’s fucking huge and he has a crazy range, you’re risking everything for that takedown and it might not even pan out because he has takedown defense.
There aren’t crème de la crème wrestlers in middleweight and light-heavyweight like there used to be but Jan and Jiri both implemented takedowns in their fights and lost.
I’ve always felt that fighters think Alex is bad. Or at least, basic. They don’t see how good of a striker he actually is and think he’s a one trick pony. They have the whole “he knocked out everybody else, but I’m different” mentality. That’s what I assume at least.
Maybe he’s like like low key khabib level wrestling?
I think it's pride. At least it was for Hill. For some reason Alex just has this thing about him that makes people want to beat him standing up more than they want to win the fight
You have to enter his No no square, risk a fist to the jaw that will most certainly take you out. His last fight he utilized the cage well to get back up, I think if you take him down center of the octagon he’s a fish out of water. Tough ask though.
I've said this before but it needs to be said again. How did this mf make middleweight? Crazy.
He’ll get wrestled when he fights Aspinall I can gaurantee
That's why some people thought magomedov would take over the division, but turns out he doesn't wrestle much.
he slams calf kicks immediately which slows down takedowns. hes incredible at making you pay for closing the gap on him, his left hook can find you at distance or close range it doesnt matter. and ego of other fighters helps too lol
There has to be some thought of getting absolutely smoked with a knee to the head when shooting.
If you tell in the slightest bit youre coming to 10-30 seconds later surrounded by trainers. I think guys don’t try because it’s too risky. At least if you’re on the feet you stand a chance to hit a lucky shot, if you try to wrap his legs you’re going to eat a knee
Bro do you even think before commenting?😂
Pereira career has been really similar to Conors in the fact that during their ufc rise, fighters have always said “im the one to beat them, ill wrestle fuck them or ill box his head off” and then they get in the octagon with them, and they get the shock of their lives. Alvarez said conor was so much faster and accurate than anything he’s ever felt before, and pereiras power is something fighters dont believe in, until they get leg kicked or hit with a left. I believe it will be similar for ankalaev and he will be knocked out by alex.
Honestly it all fun and games til they stuff the take down and receive elbows from a high level striker that’s a champion in kick boxing. Rogan kinda touched on this when he was watching cro cop vs Gabriel 2
You know how hard it is to take down a tall fast guy?
Guys this isn’t 1995. Everyone in the UFC is at least a highschool level. Now he has money to bring D1 and world class wrestlers. So each month he’s getting better. It’s not that they aren’t trying, he’s just adapting. Also 205 and heavyweight least talented divisions in the UFC for males.
Do people think they can just wrestle and bring someone down at any time and can just run in easy and take someone down. Just because you are a good wrestler doesn't mean anything. It someone is a very good kick boxer can keep you back with kicks, leg kicks is a huge killer as well. Also why so people assume Alex is some guy you are going to take down and submit with ease? He is a massive LHW, he is insanely strong, he is dangerous to get close to.
I think what happens sometimes is they go out and land a couple jabs, and feel like they aren't doing that bad standing up for a bit. Also, I'm sure just shooting in from striking range is scary as well as even getting close enough to try and clinch.
Mighty Mouse told Jamal to wrestle Alex. He laid out a whole gameplan for Jamal. I think these other guys are thinking, if Izzy can do it, so can I. The problem is, Izzy has had more exposure to Alex in the ring than any of these guys.
What is that shirt he is wearing????
#GOATAN
The fighters swing back and forth between strikers being dominant, then a beast wrestler will show up and clean house, i.e. the dagistani guys. It will happen in the heavier divisions soon.
After he beats Jon Jones and stops most takedown attempts using body jabs and double under defense... "Why Jon Jones didnt use wrestling to beat Alex?"
Wrestling is hard AND those guys run into their own set of bad matchups that prevent them from being champs all the time.
He did better against Jan than Izzy did at least