I'd be fine with it if you could actually do it, I'm not afraid of growth, but I'm not going to go back and forth with you on nonsense like Gane hasn't had favorable matchups because he fought Jon Jones for the championship.
You know I'm not calling Jones an easy matchup for Gane but you present it like I do.
I'd rather you made real points but you do you.
It's terrible matchmaking Almeida should be fighting Gane.That's the right match up to make. We get to see if Jailton is actually a legit contender or pretender.
Great matchup, I can't recall ever seeing Blaydes on his back, any examples of him in guard?
Thanks for the detailed breakdown Sherbro.Do you have any concerns about Curtis's durability these days? can Almeida get his 1st UFC striking finish vs Blaydes? I hope his durability isn't shot.Breakdown from an old thread where I sorta touched on this in the spoiler tag.
Curtis's low TDD stat is deceptive. I went back and watched all of Blaydes' old fights and the official stats are outright wrong; for instance they didn't credit him with a takedown he stuffed and and awarded one guy with a phantom TD against him that just legitimately never happened during the fight. Furthermore, pretty much every time he did get taken down he immediately scrambled back to his feet. He has like 33 seconds of combined bottom time across his entire UFC career. That is fourth lowest total bottom time and third lowest bottom time percentage on the Heavyweight roster. The only fight where anyone has had any real success grappling offensively against Blaydes was the Cody East bout and Curtis ultimately won the wrestling exchanges down the stretch; the fight ended with East desperately shooting on Blaydes, getting stuffed, and Curtis finishing him with hellbows to the dome from the sprawl. East didn't have a great UFC stint, but he was a New Mexico state wrestling champ and Jackson-Wink product.
A green Curtis showed zero fear of Oleinik's guard -- and that was a much less shopworn version of the Boa Constrictor who was still managing to pick up regular wins inside the promotion. Curtis took him down multiple times and effortlessly stuffed Aleksei's own takedown & submission attempts. He shucked off a triangle, a headlock/guillotine, and an armbar. At one point he thwarted Oleinik's sub (think it was the armbar, but may have been a triangle) and then sliced through his guard into side control to begin landing GnP. Curtis also defended a guillotine against Overeem -- the same guy who has like eight wins via guillotine across his career and subbed all of his opponents with that same choke to win the ADCC European Trials back in the day. Volkov attempted a kimura and guillotine against Blaydes in their fight as well IIRC.
Is Almeida more dangerous than any of these guys on the mat? Absolutely. But I still sort of like Curtis here. He hasn't given me any significant reason to doubt his defensive grappling though I do fear his overall grappling skill set has atrophied over the years due to his training methodology and EFT's influence. This, along with his consistent lapses in fight IQ, have me very concerned.
That being said, every time Blaydes gets booked against a guy with a dangerous ground game he does the same thing: he goes down to Austin, TX to put in work at B Team Jiu-Jitsu with Nicky Rod. Nicky Rod is legitimately one of the best no-gi submission grapplers on the planet right now and is also an ideal training partner to simulate Jailton's style: similar physical build, absolute freak athlete, stud collegiate wrestler with good lower-body entries, and excellent back-takes.
Despite being a big fan of Jailton and having immensely enjoyed witnessing his ascension, I don't like what I've seen from him if he can't force the fight to the mat and keep it there. His striking is crude; I call it "car crash stand-up". He relies on his raw athleticism, the threat of the takedown, and loading up on everything with a bit of off-beat herky-jerky timing to have any sort of success. You see this from other guys like Brunson, Dricus to an extent, etc. It can work and serve as a means to an end, but IMO a lot of people are hoping that he's secretly some boxing/Muay Thai prodigy when there's really no substantive reason to believe that's the case. In fact, I'd argue that the writing on the wall (his DWCS appearance where he ate a couple of clean shots at range, getting cracked by Shamil in the opening exchange, etc.) suggests the opposite if anything. I feel like Curtis would piece him up given the chance to keep it standing... we'll see if he gets that chance.
Considering Rozenstruik was able to stuff Jailton's initial shot and Shamil was able to scramble back to his feet multiple times... I think Curtis has plenty of spots where he can shine through here, but it's an exceedingly dangerous fight for him, too. Because let's be clear, this ain't Old Man Aleksei across the Octagon from him. He needs to fight and train smart. I'll ride with my boy Blaydes as I almost always do, though.
Exactly what I was looking for, cheers SaftonBreakdown from an old thread where I sorta touched on this in the spoiler tag.
Curtis's low TDD stat is deceptive. I went back and watched all of Blaydes' old fights and the official stats are outright wrong; for instance they didn't credit him with a takedown he stuffed and and awarded one guy with a phantom TD against him that just legitimately never happened during the fight. Furthermore, pretty much every time he did get taken down he immediately scrambled back to his feet. He has like 33 seconds of combined bottom time across his entire UFC career. That is fourth lowest total bottom time and third lowest bottom time percentage on the Heavyweight roster. The only fight where anyone has had any real success grappling offensively against Blaydes was the Cody East bout and Curtis ultimately won the wrestling exchanges down the stretch; the fight ended with East desperately shooting on Blaydes, getting stuffed, and Curtis finishing him with hellbows to the dome from the sprawl. East didn't have a great UFC stint, but he was a New Mexico state wrestling champ and Jackson-Wink product.
A green Curtis showed zero fear of Oleinik's guard -- and that was a much less shopworn version of the Boa Constrictor who was still managing to pick up regular wins inside the promotion. Curtis took him down multiple times and effortlessly stuffed Aleksei's own takedown & submission attempts. He shucked off a triangle, a headlock/guillotine, and an armbar. At one point he thwarted Oleinik's sub (think it was the armbar, but may have been a triangle) and then sliced through his guard into side control to begin landing GnP. Curtis also defended a guillotine against Overeem -- the same guy who has like eight wins via guillotine across his career and subbed all of his opponents with that same choke to win the ADCC European Trials back in the day. Volkov attempted a kimura and guillotine against Blaydes in their fight as well IIRC.
Is Almeida more dangerous than any of these guys on the mat? Absolutely. But I still sort of like Curtis here. He hasn't given me any significant reason to doubt his defensive grappling though I do fear his overall grappling skill set has atrophied over the years due to his training methodology and EFT's influence. This, along with his consistent lapses in fight IQ, have me very concerned.
That being said, every time Blaydes gets booked against a guy with a dangerous ground game he does the same thing: he goes down to Austin, TX to put in work at B Team Jiu-Jitsu with Nicky Rod. Nicky Rod is legitimately one of the best no-gi submission grapplers on the planet right now and is also an ideal training partner to simulate Jailton's style: similar physical build, absolute freak athlete, stud collegiate wrestler with good lower-body entries, and excellent back-takes.
Despite being a big fan of Jailton and having immensely enjoyed witnessing his ascension, I don't like what I've seen from him if he can't force the fight to the mat and keep it there. His striking is crude; I call it "car crash stand-up". He relies on his raw athleticism, the threat of the takedown, and loading up on everything with a bit of off-beat herky-jerky timing to have any sort of success. You see this from other guys like Brunson, Dricus to an extent, etc. It can work and serve as a means to an end, but IMO a lot of people are hoping that he's secretly some boxing/Muay Thai prodigy when there's really no substantive reason to believe that's the case. In fact, I'd argue that the writing on the wall (his DWCS appearance where he ate a couple of clean shots at range, getting cracked by Shamil in the opening exchange, etc.) suggests the opposite if anything. I feel like Curtis would piece him up given the chance to keep it standing... we'll see if he gets that chance.
Considering Rozenstruik was able to stuff Jailton's initial shot and Shamil was able to scramble back to his feet multiple times... I think Curtis has plenty of spots where he can shine through here, but it's an exceedingly dangerous fight for him, too. Because let's be clear, this ain't Old Man Aleksei across the Octagon from him. He needs to fight and train smart. I'll ride with my boy Blaydes as I almost always do, though.
How could I not be offended by the disparaging words of such a genius?Your entire argument is that the UFC don't want Blaydes to be champ because Francis and Jones and tough fights, or something.
Sorry, but you're a 'tard. No offence.
Lol why? He dominated the dude that sent Blaydes to the shadow realm.this is the fight that was supposed to happen. but after seeing how Almeida performed against Lewis, i think Blaydes overwhelms him for a TKO or a UD.
Thanks for the detailed breakdown Sherbro.Do you have any concerns about Curtis's durability these days? can Almeida get his 1st UFC striking finish vs Blaydes? I hope his durability isn't shot.
MMA math doesnt always work. Lewis timed a great shot to put Blaydes out but Blaydes was winning up until that point. Lewis also looked calm as a cucumber vs Almeida, the whole time. Almeida had little to no urgency.Lol why? He dominated the dude that sent Blaydes to the shadow realm.
Almeida should be fighting Gane but UFC won't allow it.
Gane.
tbf Gane openly refuses to fight guys who can wrestle like Blaydes and Jailton, and only fought Jones because it was for a title. Probably thought he had a chance too since Jones had no success wrestling against one leg Santos and Reyes 3 years prior.Terrible matchmaking.
The UFC trying to protect French meal ticket Gane from dominant grapplers at all cost.
Terrible matchmaking.
The UFC trying to protect French meal ticket Gane from dominant grapplers at all cost.
If Almeida actually fought against Lewis, he would be fighting Gane instead 100%, but he put on a dogshit performance and gets stuck with probably his worst stylistic matchup in the division outside of Jones and Aspinall.UFC is protecting Gane...