Bo Could Beat Izzy

[brackis1]

the fence does negate some traditional wrestling experience and izzy has pretty good tdd. I think izzy keeps him at bay, hurts him on the way in everytime and wins a decision by a wide margin

One thing I do think could happen is that in 1-2 years Bo will have much better cage comfort, while Izzy will probably start wearing down and being a little less elusive.

 

[BigDramaShow26]

Izzy chews up wrestlers and spits them out at 185. Btw Jan had to feint and keep Izzy guessing with his striking before he timed those double legs.

 

[mmajacked4]

See Askren vs Masvidal

Come on bro. Askren was a great wrestler but his over all MMA game and athleticism is not on the same level. Even when Askren was fighting can before Bellator and the fights he had in Bellator/ One, he was grinding out decisions… Bo F’s people up

 

[mmajacked4]

He's about the worst stylistic match-up for izzy. I think bo is champ within 2 years. I really do.

I agree. I’m not a bandwagon guy, and I’m not a massive fan of Bo, but the eye test doesn’t lie, as uncle Chael always says. He’s that good

 

[WildShrimper]

Izzy chews up wrestlers and spits them out at 185. Btw Jan had to feint and keep Izzy guessing with his striking before he timed those double legs.

Yeah Jan worked a lot for those, only got the takedowns in the championship rounds and was also way bigger than Izzy. IIRC Izzy actually weighed in under 205 for that fight, didn't cut at all.

 

[mmajacked4]

He would get beaten by anyone in the top 15. I don't think you quite understand how this sport works. Just cause the guy has strong background in wrestling, doesn't mean he's coming into mma and will start beating top 15 fighters. It takes time to develop a mma game to beat fighters of that level. Fight experience takes time vs fighters of a lower level. Bo has a great base, but needs more experience vs guys his level and fighters that are unranked. We've seen guys that have a strong background like him start beating ranked opponents, but that's about 8-9 fights in and that takes 2-3 years.

The thought of him beating Izzy right now is among the dumbest things I've heard.

MW by no means is a low point. If you look at the 10-15 fighters, it's actually pretty strong. Muniz is very dangerous and would sub him inside one round, Gastelum is a high level fighter and would easily beat Bo, Imanov is a dangerous guy coming of two very solid wins, Tavares is very experienced. And the weakest guy you mentioned in Du Plessis who's by no means a slouch, the man was beating much better fighters than Bo in KSW 4 years ago. He would lose to all of them.

I get what you are saying. I’ve been a fan long enough, and I’ve been training long enough to get it. I’ve seen top level wrestlers fail. Some people are different… Daniel Cormier for example beat Jeff Monson, Big Foot Silva, and Josh Barnett in his second year of MMA. Some guys are anomalies. I personally think Bo is an anomaly

 

[Morning Star]

Haven't seen enough tbh. Izzy hasn't faced any high level wrestlers outside of Yoel who doesn't really use his wrestling. We've seen him taken down by guys not on Bo's level. But who knows how Bo is gonna react to getting hit, how much damage he can take, his striking defense, his own offense. Too many unknowns. He looks damn good for a 2-0 fighter though.

 

[electricfuneral]

One thing I do think could happen is that in 1-2 years Bo will have much better cage comfort, while Izzy will probably start wearing down and being a little less elusive.

true. Izzy's reflexes will slow

 

[JKS]

Cool, let’s point out the anomaly… now how many GSP’s are there?

Ruth competes at WW where the entire division is a grapplers shark tank to contrast look at Johnny Elben at MW in Bellator. MW is devoid of wrestling talent which is why Bo has a favorable path in MMA.

I think Bo is just as unproven on the feet as Izzy is on the mat. He let Jan easily ride him and mount him.

I don’t think you’re putting enough stock on Bo… maybe you don’t follow collegiate wrestling.

Jan had a 30 lb weight advantage and was able to get the TD's cause he set them up with his boxing, Jan was the bigger man and had the hands and power to set it up. Bo would get chewed up standing, he doesn't have the size or the striking.

One can't think of a one dimensional approach here and say Izzy is unproven on the mat as Bo is standing. There is a huge difference in level of fighting and performance when it comes to MMA. Bo should be mentioned in the same sentence right now.

I don't follow College wrestling, but I know enough about MMA to say that it's way to early for Bo to be mentioned even vs top 15 MWs, never mind Izzy.

The guy needs fights, he needs another 5 solid MMA fights before we can even open that discussion.

 

[JKS]

I get what you are saying. I’ve been a fan long enough, and I’ve been training long enough to get it. I’ve seen top level wrestlers fail. Some people are different… Daniel Cormier for example beat Jeff Monson, Big Foot Silva, and Josh Barnett in his second year of MMA. Some guys are anomalies. I personally think Bo is an anomaly

Well, Cormier fought Monson and those guys after 2 years of MMA and he had 7 fights in there before. Weidman is another example, he was champ after 10 fights.

You don't know what you're gonna get with prospects like that. We've seen fighters come in from various grappling disciplines and dominate right away, some fail and everything in between. Until these guys fight we just don't know. And same goes for striking, Perreira is a potential champ within 8 fights.

I am not saying that Bo needs 15+ fights, I am just saying lets see how he does in his next 5. That's usually the benchmark for superb talents and guys that were elite in a discipline that come into MMA. Guys like Cormier, Cain, Weidman, Khamzat, Jones, all made their mark around their 7-10th fight.

I just think that claiming he beats Izzy now, is just too much of a reach.

 

[brackis1]

I don't follow College wrestling, but I know enough about MMA to say that it's way to early for Bo to be mentioned even vs top 15 MWs, never mind Izzy.

Then you're clearly misreading the point: that Izzy is the most prone to being beat by Bo's one great skill of top fighters, not that Bo is beating all the Top15 right now.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Alex KO’s Izzy, then Bo sends Izzy to bellator?

 

[Willek]

I get what he’s doing though. Giving him one more fight in the contender series for experience.

min not the guy who jumps on bandwagons and is unreasonable with fights and fighters. I’ve been a fan since 2006, and been training (mainly BJJ) since 2008.

I actually think he would win

You sound like a casual tbh.

 

[Kumason]

Not long ago there were Rodolfo Vieira would easily submit Izzy threads left and right, then the bjj phenom gasses and gets subbed by Anthony Fluffy Hernandez of all f'ing people. I wrestled for over 10 years so i'm always on that wrestler bandwagon but we have a seen a million times that just because someone stylistically seems like they'd be a problem it doesn't mean they would be. It's like a the grass is always greener on the other side type theory/ignorance. Gegard Musasi leaves the UFC then a million people say he'd kill everyone in the UFC. A 2009 account... it's like jesus, do you even watch mma?

These threads are a dime a dozen and always stupid and if you're that confident while having been an mma fan for a long time then it makes me question a few things about you. This is a small step up from "this a level athlete basketball player would be champ after 6 weeks of training" ..

You sound like a casual tbh.

Dude, his name is mmajacked4 lol

 

[morrisondafalln]

Great white hype. Got dam. Notice how paddy. Ian and soon this guy are given cans to crush every month. Cause they aint it.

 

[jsbx45]

I still don't understand why people think Izzy's TDD is not top tier at 185. He can dictate and control distance through his size and reach which allows him to see takedown attempts incoming while being incredibly strong. He uses leverage, timing, strength and cage awareness to stop takedown threats. This is proven.

In theory you would think Bo could based off of his resume alone, but collegiate wrestling credentials don't always translate to MMA and it's been proven countless times, so automatically assuming it would happen is almost naive.

OP seems like wishful thinking more than reality. Possibly in the future, but it seems highly unlikely as things stand.

Experience matters and despite collegiate accolades, plenty of guys have failed to capture a UFC title - Askren, Munoz, Phil Davis, Koscheck just to name a few.

Have to agree. Way too much hype for a guy who's spent a minute and a half in the cage under Pro MMA rules. Time will tell. Hopefully he has better striking than Askren...

 

[DLX]

Izzy would smoke him.

As good as his pedigree is, usually it takes a few fights are so before these NCAA guys wrestling FULLY translates to MMA. I think he has the potential to be champ, but lets see what he looks like after 7 or 8 fights before we start pitting him against the elites of the division.

 

[jsbx45]

To be fair Bo is more accomplished than Ed Ruth, Randleman or Koscheck as a wrestler. They all have similar collegiate accomplishments but the U23 gold medal is huge and the caliber of guys he beat in his short freestyle career is more impressive than his 3 D1 titles.

Bo has been training down at ATT since 2020, it's hard to say where he's at right now with his all around game because he's at that stage where he's smashing nobodies and gaining experience, once he fights some real tests and/or meets adversity we'll get a better idea. But making the move to ATT at 24 and focusing on his MMA career once losing in the Olympic trials to the future Gold Medalist Taylor was a really smart choice. It's clear he's been focusing alot on his striking and his comprehensive grappling since he's had 3 No gi matches vs BJJ black belts already too, one being vs Gordon Ryan.

I'm excited for us to have a prospect of this pedigree, it's rare they get in young enough, fully commit and make the right decisions but it looks like Bo is ticking all the boxes.

Nice take. Hope he can make some real money.

 

[brackis1]

Have to agree. Way too much hype for a guy who's spent a minute and a half in the cage under Pro MMA rules. Time will tell. Hopefully he has better striking than Askren...

I mean he proved that clearly in his first fight. Askren has some of the worst striking in A-Tier MMA leagues EVER, and still had a massively successful MMA career.
Did Askren ever land a good standing punch in MMA
Nickal landed a 3 punch combo for a clean KO already. Is the guy he fought a total can? Sure. But compared to Askren it's still more decent striking than a dude who was top 10 for a decade had.

Just need to see how his chin is to judge if he could upset a top guy going forward.


not to mention 1-punch (not clean KO but close) as an Ammy.

 

[brackis1]

Not long ago there were Rodolfo Vieira would easily submit Izzy threads left and right, then the bjj phenom gasses and gets subbed by Anthony Fluffy Hernandez of all f'ing people. I wrestled for over 10 years so i'm always on that wrestler bandwagon but we have a seen a million times that just because someone stylistically seems like they'd be a problem it doesn't mean they would be. It's like a the grass is always greener on the other side type theory/ignorance. Gegard Musasi leaves the UFC then a million people say he'd kill everyone in the UFC. A 2009 account... it's like jesus, do you even watch mma?

These threads are a dime a dozen and always stupid and if you're that confident while having been an mma fan for a long time then it makes me question a few things about you. This is a small step up from "this a level athlete basketball player would be champ after 6 weeks of training" ..

Dude, his name is mmajacked4 lol

lmao comparing Rodolfo and Bo's game is absolutely idiotic.
One has zero takedown game, can't throw a punch, and is overmuscled.
One has the best takedowns in the world, can throw a punch, and has freestyle wrestling cardio presumably.

Rodolfo gets obliterated by Izzy.
Nickal could in theory threaten with well-timed takedowns off feints or countering a kick. And/or somehow trying to grind/gas Izzy against the cage if he can outcardio him.
I doubt he could actually sub or TKO izzy, and prolly loses. But there is at least a conceptual path to victory going forward as Bo develops and Izzy gets into his late 30s.