No one talking about Costa's ground game

[froggyluv]

Agree Costas ground game better than expected. Moreso that Luke could throw so many high and spinny kicks after just literally being in the exhausted pose of keeled over, hands on knees . Also his left straight was on point. Always hated Rockhold but that kid had heart last night.

 

[G10]

I don't think Costa looked as good as Luke looked like shit in his grappling compared to his prime.
Looked like Luke didn't want to be there was forcing himself to attack periodically. Kinda kicking him while he's down, but he should have called it one(4) fights sooner

This. Rockhold is in his late 30s and came off a three year layoff. I have zero doubt that the Rockhold from 2015 would’ve finished Costa inside two rounds.

 

[rudy4pl]

Izzy taught him a thing or two about grappling.

 

[Sincere Guy]

I am.

Actually, Costa is much better on the ground than in striking. It was unnoticed until today.

https://forums.sherdog.com/posts/169021866/

 

[Nickmerc]

Oh yeah I don't know what I'm watching, tell me what I'm watching you newb, I probably forgot more about martial arts than you will ever know.

Why because you post on sherdog you fuckin fool lmao.. u saw something good out of costa last night? Everyone saw him not be able to put away or really do much to a guy who literally was standing with his hands on his knees.. oh he passed his guard wow what a fuckin grappling exhibition.. calling me noob lmao you don’t know Shit about this sport talking about costa who gassed in 3 min fighting against a guy who gassed in 2

 

[BowserJr]

I know the cool thing to do today is for once praise Luke Rockhold for toughing it out to the final bell, and I admit I gained some respect for him in that fight for staying in there and making it crazy even though he had every reason to fold and quit.

That said let's not pretend this was some back n forth war or close fight in any way, I mean Costa for the most part steamrolled him wherever the fight went, and although he took a few good shots here and there, it was a pretty dominant win overall.

I feel a big difference was his grappling, in the early rounds they spent some time on the ground and it was all Costa. I heard so much hyperbole about Luke's ground game from big mouth DC and Luke himself of course, but Costa looked like the superior grappler to me.

I know everyone wants to talk about Luke, but Costa is a pretty well rounded fighter in pretty much all aspects. I know we can't forget him shitting the bed against Izzy, but damn he will be a really tough fight for anyone else imo.

Costa showed solid grappling. He probably does t have strong enough takedowns for Izzy but if it does go there I think he could beat Izzy

Let's be real though the Big difference was the stamina. Young Luke destroys Costa once it hits the ground like it did in round 2 or end of round 3

Prime Luke absolutely killed guys there with the quickness. Only 2 guys that survived that were prime Jacare and Kennedy who are great grapplers too.

 

[The_Renaissance]

He was really good.

Rockhold is an insanely good grappler but he's a hammer. Never been the nail. This fight proved it. Once he was the nail he had no answer for it. He looked desperate and scared. Costa isn't incredible down there but he's big, strong and knows BJJ. That was enough for luke.

 

[Xoleth]

He has good ground game, but his striking defense is bad.
Luke hurt him with some good punches and kicks.
He will lose against Whittaker, Pereira or Adesanya, even if he comes in shape and non-drunk.

 

[djacobox372]

Costa's TDD looked phenomenal against Romero. I do wonder however, if Luke's cardio held up and/or it wasn't in Utah, I wonder how fight could have gone.

Luke was getting dominated and mounted in the first couple minutes of the fight. How can one claim that is due to cardio?

 

[Jackonfire]

Imagine still thinking Costa is some sort of top fighter after last night. Y'all got mad at me last week when I pointed out how overrated he was. You guys told me he was going to kill Rockhold. Head clean off in the 1st round <Lmaoo>

 

[Mammothman]

Rockhold cardio was always suspect, he gassed hard against Weidman.

The guy is very explosive, big and thick, so is not surprised his cardio might be suspect, he also is a finisher so he isn't very use to decisions.

 

[Koro_11]

Imagine still thinking Costa is some sort of top fighter after last night. Y'all got mad at me last week when I pointed out how overrated he was. You guys told me he was going to kill Rockhold. Head clean off in the 1st round <Lmaoo>

I mean, he pretty much dominated him worse than anyone has in the past.

Luke has been caught before, but who else has beat him from bell to bell the way Costa just did, standing AND on the ground.

What more do you want?

 

[MRT]

Costa is not the superior grappler.

He hurt Luke early, almost certainly breaking his nose in the 1st. While both guys were gassing, Luke's breathing was clearly compromised and just made him gas faster. No way in hell does Luke lose that near mount position towards the end under normal circumstances.

While exciting from a drama perspective, the fight and result did nothing to suggest Costa is a real threat to the top of the division, IMHO. He was still getting hit with decent shots from a near-broken and gassed Luke. Izzy humiliates him again if Costa manages to string together some wins to get another shot.

 

[kalabula]

Ya he looked good. That being said, Luke was barely alive after about 60 seconds. I’ve never seen an elite fighter has so hard so quickly.

 

[Koro_11]

Ya he looked good. That being said, Luke was barely alive after about 60 seconds. I’ve never seen an elite fighter has so hard so quickly.

Because he got gassed out by Costas superior grappling.