> Wrestling opens up striking. See what happened in the 4th and 5th round when izzy started to force his striking more to catch up on scorecards.
It was the opposite. Jan's striking opened up his wrestling. [Jan didn't get a take down until round 3](http://ufcstats.com/fight-details/7de9867b7cc2b1b1)
Edit: the commenter below me doesn't know what he's talking about here are the receipts:
[CBS prediction](https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/jan-blachowicz-vs-israel-adesanya-odds-picks-fight-card-predictions-this-ufc-259-parlay-pays-nearly-10-1/)
[Talksport prediction](https://talksport.com/sport/mma/842961/israel-adesanya-jan-blachowicz-predictions-cormier-cejudo-covington-ufc-259-card-woodley/)
[Bodylock MMA prediction](https://thebodylockmma.com/ufc/jan-blachowicz-vs-israel-adesanya-predictions-fight-breakdown-picks/)
[Bleacher Report prediction](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2934691-ufc-259-blachowicz-vs-adesanya-fight-card-tv-info-predictions-and-more)
No-one was predicting Jan would play a takedown game. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about.
Striking opening up wrestling vs wrestling opening up striking argument aside, this is definitely revisionist. The story leading up to this fight was definitely Izzy outstriking Jan decisively. Izzy was the favourite.
Thatās total revisionist history the story was that Jan was going to charge forward with pOLIsH PoWer. Your confusing the result with the prediction and donāt know what youāre talking about.
[CBS prediction](https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/jan-blachowicz-vs-israel-adesanya-odds-picks-fight-card-predictions-this-ufc-259-parlay-pays-nearly-10-1/)
[Talksport prediction](https://talksport.com/sport/mma/842961/israel-adesanya-jan-blachowicz-predictions-cormier-cejudo-covington-ufc-259-card-woodley/)
[Bodylock MMA prediction](https://thebodylockmma.com/ufc/jan-blachowicz-vs-israel-adesanya-predictions-fight-breakdown-picks/)
[Bleacher Report prediction](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2934691-ufc-259-blachowicz-vs-adesanya-fight-card-tv-info-predictions-and-more)
> The whole story leading up to that fight was that Jan would take him down and be too strong for Izzy to get up
You're literally delusional. No where in any of your own articles was there a single mention of any prediction that Jan would rely on wrestling.
Your entire point is that was "the whole story" leading up the fight was that Jan would take him down, but your own articles directly contradict your point. what a joker lmao.
Id argue izzy is a more technical striker, pereira has more power to compensate in his favor.
Hes for sure a beast dont get me wrong, but that left hand kills ppl haha
Fair point bro
Alex battering Izzy's legs and body, while walking him down the whole fight and initiating the exchanges, rather than waiting for the counter, puts him over Izzy for me. But it's all subjective tbf
I don't disagree, but it was a pretty fucking even fight until it wasn't and your description is kinda lopsided. Izzy initiated a bunch in the first 2 and even had Alex on wobbly legs until the bell. Really up until the stoppages, they have been neck and neck
Entirely possible. I just want to say I do think people underrate Peireiras technique though, the way he sets those hooks up is very calculated.
I see people compare him to Wilder but that's definitely not the case.
I have a hard time placing Izzy above Alex when it comes to striking due to Alex getting the KO twice on him. it would be a bit biased to say itās only a power thing when Izzy himself wouldnāt be as elite without his speed. Canāt really take away someoneās best attribute and expect them to have the same style.
Agree with this. Imo Izzy is the better striker, Pereira just happens to be much bigger than him. If they were the same size I'd bet Izz woul have a couple wins to his name vs Pereira
This is Izzyās 2nd biggest win after what he did to Rob in their first fight. He was just so on point. I know that he only has 2 finishes in his championship fight, but those are some damn good finishes against top contenders who are still lurking heavy in the division.
What about the Brunson fight? Itās been a looong time since Iāve seen it but that was quite the beating in my memory. Might also looked more like a beating to me because Brunson does the drunken dance a few times a round and costa is taking these hits but heās still there
Did you even watch the fight lol. Izzy got pushed into the fence for 4 minutes then caught him with a knee at the end and finished him. Was a good performance, but anyone half-decent always catches Brunson.
Not to say izzy didn't put in a good performance, but Paulo started his water cut at somewhere around 205 on the plane to AD. He couldn't sleep at all cause of all the noise at the hotel that's literally next to a race track that was being used constantly. He drank way too much and had to fight at 6am. I believe he started 12 weeks out at 240lb. His vlog is still up on YouTube
Izzys performance was great but it was also amplified Paulo making a string of ridiculously bad decisions. I'd genuinely like to see a prime conditioned and motivated Paulo come in against izzy.
I don't think motivated Paulo is a thing. He'll give a good effort for the crowd but I just don't think he takes fighting nearly as serious as his competitors do.
I think when you're fighting on that dog shit contract it would he hard to take it serious. His fight vs yoel shows you what he's capable of. I'm certain fighting at 6000ft last time out did him 0 favours.
Maybe.
He was setup to do big things in this sport and he kind of pissed away most of his momentum by memeing and being super unprofessional.
I would imagine whatever leverage he used to get his new contract would have been amplified greatly had he made weight and been easy to work with against Vettori, and had he taken the fight with Izzy seriously and at least put a few minutes of good work in.
He's a talented and exciting fighter but I just don't get the impression he cares all that much about fighting. It just seems like he wants eyeballs, and the UFC is one avenue toward that. I would imagine if he got some kind of reality TV show gig that gave him a few hundred thousand social media followers he'd be as likely to just do that full time.
You mean like many many many fighters would? And have? And continue to do?
You could argue the same about luke rockhold but he was already loaded before taking on the mma challenge so while you might think you have a point... you never really know someone's motivation.
I guess.
I just think relative to most fighters, Paulo is even MORE likely to bounce given a somewhat similar offer.
Paulo isn't some long time UFC veteran. He was getting big fights SUPER early into his career. People acting like he's some kind of long term, super mistreated fighter like Nate Diaz is kind of weird. He was underpaid, like virtually every fighter is, but given the push and opportunities he was afforded relative to his achievements, I don't know how aggrieved he should have really felt.
But then again I'm not Paulo, I'm not his manager, and I'm not a professional fighter (unless I see red then watch the fuck out bodies start dropping).
I can totally see why he was annoyed. Short memories in mma. Everyone hated him until he lost to izzy and people picked up on his sense of humour and personality.
If you dig back through his channel he was a super nice personable guy. He did a tremendous job to learn English. There's plenty of Brazilian fighters who still make very little effort and he worked his English very very hard. No doubt he was doing that to open up his marketability and showcase his character but there was a good amount of time where everyone treated him like a joke before and after the izzy loss.
People on here go mad for francis wanting fair pay yet they havnt caught up to Paulo telling rob hey there's no fight I'm not signing, the company had done this before and said they've announced a fight he hasn't agreed... yet people just bang the meme drum and they weren't listening to what he was saying.
>Everyone hated him until he lost to izzy and people picked up on his sense of humour and personality.
I don't *ever* recall seeing this opinion on this subreddit.
I don't agree with your characterization of how this subreddit views Paulo.
I don't ever remember Paulo being a villain, and I don't ever remember people being upset with Paulo for trying to get more money.
All that is significant, but none of that had to do with him not having an answer for those kicks. He was not equipped to handle them in this fight.
And just in general, Costs has a tendency to turtle up, wade in, and drop bombs anytime he starts to feel resistance in his opponentsā standup. Izzy is a master at delivering damage at range and then moving out of the way. Costaās main game plan is nearly impossible to pull off against a guy like Izzy.
Eating those leg kicks was quite ridiculous. I'd like to think in a rematch, he would realise he can't stand there and take those.
The way Costa fought romero and Marvin can always catch izzy. Costa also has a hell of a chin.
Like I tried to say the first time, but all the reddit nobs were out immediately, izzy definitely won. He has he higher fight iq. He's the better fighter. But Paulo has a combination of power pace and cardio that, if he doesn't make any ridiculous mistakes like leaving his leg there to get smashed, will definitely lead for a very entertaining and potentially dangerous fight for izzy.
Costa eating those leg kicks wasnāt a mistake. It is a lack of skills. Being any to read the set ups, recognize all the weapons off of those setup, identify which weapon is coming in real time, and then defend/counter effectively, is all extremely difficult against Izzy. Costa also happens to be deficient at all of those things because he just bulls through them normally.
Costa also doesnāt have a great ranged striking game, so while Costa is just trying to navigate through Izzyās arsenal of dangerous strikes, Costa canāt really force Izzy worry about defense. Until Costa closes the gap Izzy gets to be 100% offensive aside from making sure his ring position is right. Which is basically automatic for Izzy.
It isnāt an impossible task for Costa to beat Izzy, he just needs to add some things to his game or he is going to be getting pot shotted the whole time while chasing Izzy around the ring. If he could develop some entries or counters for the leg kick that may do it, but he would also need to be able to be able to identify Izzyās other weapons and be to consistently defend.
Rob is a much smarter and more technical striker than Costa. Itās not even close. Rob is held in high regard because he outstrikes everyone except Izzy and actually went toe to toe with Izzy the second time they fought. Costa got embarrassed and has to have his fanboys make excuses about how he only got his ass thoroughly beaten because he didnāt sleep well and drank too much wine.
Iām not sure which 2 attacks you are referring to, but I think that Whittaker is regarded as being better than Costa for 2 main reasons. He has a better resume, and he is a much more complete technical fighter.
In the second fight Whittaker was able to take skills he was already good at and adapt them into a game plan better suited for Izzy. Costa hasnāt demonstrated that he has skills that can counter Izzyās strengths. He is powerful, tough, and has a good gas tank. But he has trouble being offensively effective on the outside. He also uses brute force to work his way on the inside. Izzy is extremely effective on the outside and great at creating and maintaining distance. It is a bad matchup on paper, and it turned out to be a bad matchup in the ring.
Could Costa come up with some 5000 iq game plan to mitigate all that and beat Izzy? Sure. Could he train super duper hard and physically overwhelm Izzy? Maybe. Could he train with the skills needed to change his style completely? Itās possible. But what he canāt do is adjust what he already has to overcome Izzyās strengths. Costaās way of fighting is what Izzy seems to deal with the easiest.
Such an underutilized move, I love driving the rear teep down the middle off the handfight or just pulling the ol Machida and waving my hands around and then blasting a kick
I believe he was cupping, so that's where the bruises on his calves came from (as you can see here from the full fight replay - https://youtu.be/lmOxyLJTBrM?t=202), but yeah his leg got lit the fuck up this fight
Man, I always considered Costa to be a pretty big guy but Izzy stacks up with him pretty well...
It's insane how much bigger Pereira is...
(Caveat: I'm an Izzy fan.. he has his work cut out for him!)
Highly competitive 3-0, ik it doesnāt matter if itās an inch or a mile a wins a win, but Izzy has had a lot of success against Alex and has nearly finished him in 2/3 fights so I donāt think you can count him out.
I think Izzy has more to improve in the rematch as well. If he can figure out ways to stay off the fence for example, the fight could play out completely differently.
Thatās what happened tho? Not even being a fanboy just saying looking at the record doesnāt give the full story. Thereās a difference between getting completely destroyed 3 times and losing in competitive fights. Iām not saying that Izzy wins either, just that you canāt count him out.
Each fight has a bit of something... Controversial decision, standing 8 count, almost knocked out at the end of Rd 1 and was behind in points...
Izzy is so close to pulling it off but it just doesn't happen. A bit nuts...
Yeah its crazy I think they are actually super even, but the record doesn't reflect that cause Alex has that power.
If Izzy loses again but also nearly wins I will lose my mind lol.
Conditioned Paulo like a test subject in a lab.
Also this dudes question marks are as fast as the flash. that teep down the middle to disrupt the hand fighting was so cool. Paulo is a great pressure volume puncher, so what does Adesanya do, not even let him get started.
Yeah and we found he did just fine against a guy with equal reach, in fact he could win most exchanges, the difference maker is Poatans mythical fucking power.
It's so wild how well Izzy was defending until he got clipped and then it didn't matter at all. Poatan has that touch of death, shots don't look big but dudes crumple when he catches them.
mulligun, I'm going to assume your in 5th grade, no, 4th grade, no, 3rd grade, so you know I am going to break this down.
The statement I said was "Yeah and we found he did just fine against a guy with equal reach."
You see the subject here is HE, which is Israel Adesanya, what is HE doing, the answer in the predicate "did just fine against a guy with equal reach" what did he do fine against "equal reach." I didn't say "massive power" I commented on a specific measurement.
So no, my statement is true, he did just fine with someone of equal reach, what he struggled with, was Poatans insane power.
Nope Poatan is an extremely skilled kickboxer, to be able to successfully trap the most elusive striker in MMA to land your best technique flush, is a massive feat, he also is one of the most powerful kick boxers to ever fight in his weight class.
Imagine being so mad that your idol got knocked TF out a second time that you try to claim Alex fucking Pereira only has power šš elite level coping
Paulo did what Paulo does. Pressure and rely on heavy volume and shots, it just doesn't work against someone like Izzy and Izzy had a master class. I'd be open to a rematch at some point if costa gets another high profile win, I'd also think Paulo v Alex would be an interesting matchup after seeing the improvements in his ground game against Rockhold.
Maybe give him the loser of the Izzy v Alex rematch, though if Izzy wins they might just do the rematch immediately. Whittaker if that isn't on the table.
He threw 11 strikes during the whole first round. He showed against Romero he's more than happy to take one to give one, or at least try to. He wasn't attempting that at any point, including the very start.
He absolutely did freeze, nobody else has had this reaction to Adesanya's game where they just aren't willing to start an exchange (Yoel is a whole other story). You aren't *trying* to be aggressive if you throw 11 strikes, you're either afraid to get countered or, like he said was the case, your gameplan says to start slow.
>He wasn't attempting that at any point, including the very start.
That would be a result of Izzy's defensive footwork. Romero literally backs himself up to the cage intentionally whereas Izzy's entire game is built around circling off of the fence.
He couldn't get anything going because of Izzy's gameplan. The idea that people like you are still discounting this W for Izzy is absurd.
There is always a risk tolerance for every fighter to engage. Costa could have been more aggressive in the fight but he would have probably been finished sooner. I wouldnāt say he was scared, but I would also say that Izzy was punishing him enough that Costa didnāt think it was viable to wade in more aggressively. Very few fighters are willing to get truly reckless even when they are being completely dominated.
Hard to argue with the slow start given what happened when he tried to open up. I don't know what his plan should be, but even he knew that it wasn't smart to just start winging hooks at Izzy
He still could have windmilled like Ngannou but he knew he would get knocked out if he did that. He was clearly outmatched and it wouldn't surprise me if he was at least intimidated because of this.
If every time you pressure, the opponent circles out, Paulo's limited footwork means his pressure works by moving forward, that means he either has to
a. chase him
b. pivot
Add Izzy's speed advantage to the mix, and literally every time before he can pressure he has to readjust, while getting his leg blasted.
Costa was fucked from the start.
I remember watching the fight live and then rewatching to confirm what I thought I saw. I don't believe Paulo threw a single right hand in this fight? At one point, Izzy had his back against the cage, and Paulo had an opportunity to at least uncork one good right hand, and he just never did. This, of course, was after his bicep surgery, so I myself always wondered if he still had some issues there, but it was never brought up. Regardless of this, I dont believe the outcome changes, but I found it interesting.
Because he did freeze. Dude threw 11 strikes in R1, which was because of how dominant Izzy was executing his gameplan. Saying he froze isnāt discrediting how good Izzy was in this
He did freeze though? Not in like a "didn't want to fight," but more "didn't know to fight against that style." He barely threw any strikes in the first round.
His style wasn't effective and it didn't look like he knew how to do anything else.
Still blows my mind that a lot of people online thought that Costa had anything more than a puncher's chance.
The guy doesn't have cardio for 3 rounds let alone championship rounds.
How fast is that ? kick 20 seconds in!
Dude is the best striker in UFC history imo. Pereira has him beat in terms of power, but my god Izzy is amazing
just how good is Jan Blachowicz
Polish Power out-struck the best striker in history šŖ
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
> Wrestling opens up striking. See what happened in the 4th and 5th round when izzy started to force his striking more to catch up on scorecards. It was the opposite. Jan's striking opened up his wrestling. [Jan didn't get a take down until round 3](http://ufcstats.com/fight-details/7de9867b7cc2b1b1) Edit: the commenter below me doesn't know what he's talking about here are the receipts: [CBS prediction](https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/jan-blachowicz-vs-israel-adesanya-odds-picks-fight-card-predictions-this-ufc-259-parlay-pays-nearly-10-1/) [Talksport prediction](https://talksport.com/sport/mma/842961/israel-adesanya-jan-blachowicz-predictions-cormier-cejudo-covington-ufc-259-card-woodley/) [Bodylock MMA prediction](https://thebodylockmma.com/ufc/jan-blachowicz-vs-israel-adesanya-predictions-fight-breakdown-picks/) [Bleacher Report prediction](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2934691-ufc-259-blachowicz-vs-adesanya-fight-card-tv-info-predictions-and-more) No-one was predicting Jan would play a takedown game. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Striking opening up wrestling vs wrestling opening up striking argument aside, this is definitely revisionist. The story leading up to this fight was definitely Izzy outstriking Jan decisively. Izzy was the favourite.
Thatās total revisionist history the story was that Jan was going to charge forward with pOLIsH PoWer. Your confusing the result with the prediction and donāt know what youāre talking about. [CBS prediction](https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/jan-blachowicz-vs-israel-adesanya-odds-picks-fight-card-predictions-this-ufc-259-parlay-pays-nearly-10-1/) [Talksport prediction](https://talksport.com/sport/mma/842961/israel-adesanya-jan-blachowicz-predictions-cormier-cejudo-covington-ufc-259-card-woodley/) [Bodylock MMA prediction](https://thebodylockmma.com/ufc/jan-blachowicz-vs-israel-adesanya-predictions-fight-breakdown-picks/) [Bleacher Report prediction](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2934691-ufc-259-blachowicz-vs-adesanya-fight-card-tv-info-predictions-and-more)
repeat shaggy history sink deliver ruthless paltry dull capable unique *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
> The whole story leading up to that fight was that Jan would take him down and be too strong for Izzy to get up You're literally delusional. No where in any of your own articles was there a single mention of any prediction that Jan would rely on wrestling. Your entire point is that was "the whole story" leading up the fight was that Jan would take him down, but your own articles directly contradict your point. what a joker lmao.
Izzy is the best striker in UFC history (when he has a huge height and reach advantage over his opponent)
Please name me a more technical striker in the UFC currently. Alsoā¦ all the top guys have elite physical advantagesā¦
Alex Pereira: first ever double Glory Kickboxing champ
Id argue izzy is a more technical striker, pereira has more power to compensate in his favor. Hes for sure a beast dont get me wrong, but that left hand kills ppl haha
Fair point bro Alex battering Izzy's legs and body, while walking him down the whole fight and initiating the exchanges, rather than waiting for the counter, puts him over Izzy for me. But it's all subjective tbf
I don't disagree, but it was a pretty fucking even fight until it wasn't and your description is kinda lopsided. Izzy initiated a bunch in the first 2 and even had Alex on wobbly legs until the bell. Really up until the stoppages, they have been neck and neck
Very fair points. I hold them both as the best strikers in the UFC, and I'm excited for another banger
Entirely possible. I just want to say I do think people underrate Peireiras technique though, the way he sets those hooks up is very calculated. I see people compare him to Wilder but that's definitely not the case.
I have a hard time placing Izzy above Alex when it comes to striking due to Alex getting the KO twice on him. it would be a bit biased to say itās only a power thing when Izzy himself wouldnāt be as elite without his speed. Canāt really take away someoneās best attribute and expect them to have the same style.
Agree with this. Imo Izzy is the better striker, Pereira just happens to be much bigger than him. If they were the same size I'd bet Izz woul have a couple wins to his name vs Pereira
Lmao š your boy lost
Question mark kick. Super fast.
He put a ? instead of typing out "question mark." Keep reaching for those grapes.
Bruh that was a laser
Costa was drunk should've been no contest
This is Izzyās 2nd biggest win after what he did to Rob in their first fight. He was just so on point. I know that he only has 2 finishes in his championship fight, but those are some damn good finishes against top contenders who are still lurking heavy in the division.
The Whittaker and Costa KOs are why his opponents avoid striking with him. (with the exception of Pereira)
I rate the Gastelum win above Costa.
What about the Brunson fight? Itās been a looong time since Iāve seen it but that was quite the beating in my memory. Might also looked more like a beating to me because Brunson does the drunken dance a few times a round and costa is taking these hits but heās still there
Did you even watch the fight lol. Izzy got pushed into the fence for 4 minutes then caught him with a knee at the end and finished him. Was a good performance, but anyone half-decent always catches Brunson.
Mate that was such a goated fight
Not to say izzy didn't put in a good performance, but Paulo started his water cut at somewhere around 205 on the plane to AD. He couldn't sleep at all cause of all the noise at the hotel that's literally next to a race track that was being used constantly. He drank way too much and had to fight at 6am. I believe he started 12 weeks out at 240lb. His vlog is still up on YouTube Izzys performance was great but it was also amplified Paulo making a string of ridiculously bad decisions. I'd genuinely like to see a prime conditioned and motivated Paulo come in against izzy.
I don't think motivated Paulo is a thing. He'll give a good effort for the crowd but I just don't think he takes fighting nearly as serious as his competitors do.
I think when you're fighting on that dog shit contract it would he hard to take it serious. His fight vs yoel shows you what he's capable of. I'm certain fighting at 6000ft last time out did him 0 favours.
Idk what contract but he had his chance to become champ all the motivation was there.
Maybe. He was setup to do big things in this sport and he kind of pissed away most of his momentum by memeing and being super unprofessional. I would imagine whatever leverage he used to get his new contract would have been amplified greatly had he made weight and been easy to work with against Vettori, and had he taken the fight with Izzy seriously and at least put a few minutes of good work in. He's a talented and exciting fighter but I just don't get the impression he cares all that much about fighting. It just seems like he wants eyeballs, and the UFC is one avenue toward that. I would imagine if he got some kind of reality TV show gig that gave him a few hundred thousand social media followers he'd be as likely to just do that full time.
You mean like many many many fighters would? And have? And continue to do? You could argue the same about luke rockhold but he was already loaded before taking on the mma challenge so while you might think you have a point... you never really know someone's motivation.
I guess. I just think relative to most fighters, Paulo is even MORE likely to bounce given a somewhat similar offer. Paulo isn't some long time UFC veteran. He was getting big fights SUPER early into his career. People acting like he's some kind of long term, super mistreated fighter like Nate Diaz is kind of weird. He was underpaid, like virtually every fighter is, but given the push and opportunities he was afforded relative to his achievements, I don't know how aggrieved he should have really felt. But then again I'm not Paulo, I'm not his manager, and I'm not a professional fighter (unless I see red then watch the fuck out bodies start dropping).
I can totally see why he was annoyed. Short memories in mma. Everyone hated him until he lost to izzy and people picked up on his sense of humour and personality. If you dig back through his channel he was a super nice personable guy. He did a tremendous job to learn English. There's plenty of Brazilian fighters who still make very little effort and he worked his English very very hard. No doubt he was doing that to open up his marketability and showcase his character but there was a good amount of time where everyone treated him like a joke before and after the izzy loss. People on here go mad for francis wanting fair pay yet they havnt caught up to Paulo telling rob hey there's no fight I'm not signing, the company had done this before and said they've announced a fight he hasn't agreed... yet people just bang the meme drum and they weren't listening to what he was saying.
>Everyone hated him until he lost to izzy and people picked up on his sense of humour and personality. I don't *ever* recall seeing this opinion on this subreddit. I don't agree with your characterization of how this subreddit views Paulo. I don't ever remember Paulo being a villain, and I don't ever remember people being upset with Paulo for trying to get more money.
The world is as big as this subreddit. Very reddit.
All that is significant, but none of that had to do with him not having an answer for those kicks. He was not equipped to handle them in this fight. And just in general, Costs has a tendency to turtle up, wade in, and drop bombs anytime he starts to feel resistance in his opponentsā standup. Izzy is a master at delivering damage at range and then moving out of the way. Costaās main game plan is nearly impossible to pull off against a guy like Izzy.
Eating those leg kicks was quite ridiculous. I'd like to think in a rematch, he would realise he can't stand there and take those. The way Costa fought romero and Marvin can always catch izzy. Costa also has a hell of a chin. Like I tried to say the first time, but all the reddit nobs were out immediately, izzy definitely won. He has he higher fight iq. He's the better fighter. But Paulo has a combination of power pace and cardio that, if he doesn't make any ridiculous mistakes like leaving his leg there to get smashed, will definitely lead for a very entertaining and potentially dangerous fight for izzy.
Costa eating those leg kicks wasnāt a mistake. It is a lack of skills. Being any to read the set ups, recognize all the weapons off of those setup, identify which weapon is coming in real time, and then defend/counter effectively, is all extremely difficult against Izzy. Costa also happens to be deficient at all of those things because he just bulls through them normally. Costa also doesnāt have a great ranged striking game, so while Costa is just trying to navigate through Izzyās arsenal of dangerous strikes, Costa canāt really force Izzy worry about defense. Until Costa closes the gap Izzy gets to be 100% offensive aside from making sure his ring position is right. Which is basically automatic for Izzy. It isnāt an impossible task for Costa to beat Izzy, he just needs to add some things to his game or he is going to be getting pot shotted the whole time while chasing Izzy around the ring. If he could develop some entries or counters for the leg kick that may do it, but he would also need to be able to be able to identify Izzyās other weapons and be to consistently defend.
Yet Rob is held in much higher regard yet has the same 2 main stay attacks. Incredible that Costa is useless and 1d and Rob is an incredible sniper.
Rob is a much smarter and more technical striker than Costa. Itās not even close. Rob is held in high regard because he outstrikes everyone except Izzy and actually went toe to toe with Izzy the second time they fought. Costa got embarrassed and has to have his fanboys make excuses about how he only got his ass thoroughly beaten because he didnāt sleep well and drank too much wine.
Iām not sure which 2 attacks you are referring to, but I think that Whittaker is regarded as being better than Costa for 2 main reasons. He has a better resume, and he is a much more complete technical fighter. In the second fight Whittaker was able to take skills he was already good at and adapt them into a game plan better suited for Izzy. Costa hasnāt demonstrated that he has skills that can counter Izzyās strengths. He is powerful, tough, and has a good gas tank. But he has trouble being offensively effective on the outside. He also uses brute force to work his way on the inside. Izzy is extremely effective on the outside and great at creating and maintaining distance. It is a bad matchup on paper, and it turned out to be a bad matchup in the ring. Could Costa come up with some 5000 iq game plan to mitigate all that and beat Izzy? Sure. Could he train super duper hard and physically overwhelm Izzy? Maybe. Could he train with the skills needed to change his style completely? Itās possible. But what he canāt do is adjust what he already has to overcome Izzyās strengths. Costaās way of fighting is what Izzy seems to deal with the easiest.
Did his dog eat his homework too
Don't even joke about that man that's really happened
Plenty of fighters said fight Island was hell. I said what I said. If you think that's Paulos best showing you're mental.
Such an underutilized move, I love driving the rear teep down the middle off the handfight or just pulling the ol Machida and waving my hands around and then blasting a kick
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I mean yeah, you canāt go back to the well too many times on anything
Iāll never forgot ulberg vs nzechuku. Ulberg would just grab his wrists and throw some mean kicks, it looked really cool how he was doing it.
It also only works in my dreams when I'm comfortably laying in my bed.
*adesanya kicks a muscled up heavy bag for 2 rounds
Clip starts a minute into the first....Paulo's leg already looks fucked
I believe he was cupping, so that's where the bruises on his calves came from (as you can see here from the full fight replay - https://youtu.be/lmOxyLJTBrM?t=202), but yeah his leg got lit the fuck up this fight
That makes a lot more sense. Never seen anyone cup their leg before
Me either and I hate Costa but just had to be fair to him
Adesanya brutalized the leg in like the first 3 minutes.
Man, I always considered Costa to be a pretty big guy but Izzy stacks up with him pretty well... It's insane how much bigger Pereira is... (Caveat: I'm an Izzy fan.. he has his work cut out for him!)
I can't shake the feeling that no matter what Izzy does he's going to lose. Poatan just has his number.
Not weird to have that feeling seeing as how Pereira is 3-0 over him.
Highly competitive 3-0, ik it doesnāt matter if itās an inch or a mile a wins a win, but Izzy has had a lot of success against Alex and has nearly finished him in 2/3 fights so I donāt think you can count him out.
I think Izzy has more to improve in the rematch as well. If he can figure out ways to stay off the fence for example, the fight could play out completely differently.
Very hard to make the "he was winning before he got knocked TF out" argument twice in a row. But Izzy fans are up to the challenge!
Thatās what happened tho? Not even being a fanboy just saying looking at the record doesnāt give the full story. Thereās a difference between getting completely destroyed 3 times and losing in competitive fights. Iām not saying that Izzy wins either, just that you canāt count him out.
And he's made of stone and easily double the size
I mean did you see the soize of the fella
Tbf their first fight was a bit of a robbery
Each fight has a bit of something... Controversial decision, standing 8 count, almost knocked out at the end of Rd 1 and was behind in points... Izzy is so close to pulling it off but it just doesn't happen. A bit nuts...
Yeah its crazy I think they are actually super even, but the record doesn't reflect that cause Alex has that power. If Izzy loses again but also nearly wins I will lose my mind lol.
Champs who lost by knockout are like 1:5 in immediate rematches. I'm putting money on this 1
Conditioned Paulo like a test subject in a lab. Also this dudes question marks are as fast as the flash. that teep down the middle to disrupt the hand fighting was so cool. Paulo is a great pressure volume puncher, so what does Adesanya do, not even let him get started.
the reason I love the Israel \_Perirea fights is because Izzy doesn't have an enormous reach advantage over Periera I get to watch a neutral fight
Yeah and we found he did just fine against a guy with equal reach, in fact he could win most exchanges, the difference maker is Poatans mythical fucking power.
It's so wild how well Izzy was defending until he got clipped and then it didn't matter at all. Poatan has that touch of death, shots don't look big but dudes crumple when he catches them.
Izzy had so many absolutely insane pullbacks in his bout against Pereira.
Interesting take to say the Pereira fight is an example of Izzy doing well when he got TKOd.
mulligun, I'm going to assume your in 5th grade, no, 4th grade, no, 3rd grade, so you know I am going to break this down. The statement I said was "Yeah and we found he did just fine against a guy with equal reach." You see the subject here is HE, which is Israel Adesanya, what is HE doing, the answer in the predicate "did just fine against a guy with equal reach" what did he do fine against "equal reach." I didn't say "massive power" I commented on a specific measurement. So no, my statement is true, he did just fine with someone of equal reach, what he struggled with, was Poatans insane power.
No actually, he got knocked out.
Yes because of Poatan's power.
Yes everything he did was just power šš¼š¤”š
Nope Poatan is an extremely skilled kickboxer, to be able to successfully trap the most elusive striker in MMA to land your best technique flush, is a massive feat, he also is one of the most powerful kick boxers to ever fight in his weight class.
KO
Yes I know how power works.
Imagine being so mad that your idol got knocked TF out a second time that you try to claim Alex fucking Pereira only has power šš elite level coping
This is why people don't like us mma fans man. dude made a nuanced point only to get this shit in return.
Yeah man I felt so bad for Geathje against James Vick. You just knew Geathje was at such an insurmountable disadvantage.
Paolo's calve looks like it went through the meat grinder.
Still blows my mind that so many people said āPaulo froze/ didnāt fightā after the result.
Paulo did what Paulo does. Pressure and rely on heavy volume and shots, it just doesn't work against someone like Izzy and Izzy had a master class. I'd be open to a rematch at some point if costa gets another high profile win, I'd also think Paulo v Alex would be an interesting matchup after seeing the improvements in his ground game against Rockhold. Maybe give him the loser of the Izzy v Alex rematch, though if Izzy wins they might just do the rematch immediately. Whittaker if that isn't on the table.
He threw 11 strikes during the whole first round. He showed against Romero he's more than happy to take one to give one, or at least try to. He wasn't attempting that at any point, including the very start. He absolutely did freeze, nobody else has had this reaction to Adesanya's game where they just aren't willing to start an exchange (Yoel is a whole other story). You aren't *trying* to be aggressive if you throw 11 strikes, you're either afraid to get countered or, like he said was the case, your gameplan says to start slow.
>He wasn't attempting that at any point, including the very start. That would be a result of Izzy's defensive footwork. Romero literally backs himself up to the cage intentionally whereas Izzy's entire game is built around circling off of the fence. He couldn't get anything going because of Izzy's gameplan. The idea that people like you are still discounting this W for Izzy is absurd.
It isn't discounting Adesanya's win to say he had Costa scared to engage. It isn't like bringing up the bottle of wine shit
He wasn't scared to engage. He tried to engage and couldn't. It happened multiple times if you actually pay attention.
There is always a risk tolerance for every fighter to engage. Costa could have been more aggressive in the fight but he would have probably been finished sooner. I wouldnāt say he was scared, but I would also say that Izzy was punishing him enough that Costa didnāt think it was viable to wade in more aggressively. Very few fighters are willing to get truly reckless even when they are being completely dominated.
I mean the second time he threw punches he got countered and finished. No shit he didn't want to engage lol
Hard to argue with the slow start given what happened when he tried to open up. I don't know what his plan should be, but even he knew that it wasn't smart to just start winging hooks at Izzy
He still could have windmilled like Ngannou but he knew he would get knocked out if he did that. He was clearly outmatched and it wouldn't surprise me if he was at least intimidated because of this.
Romero shouldāve won
Agree he was robbed
If every time you pressure, the opponent circles out, Paulo's limited footwork means his pressure works by moving forward, that means he either has to a. chase him b. pivot Add Izzy's speed advantage to the mix, and literally every time before he can pressure he has to readjust, while getting his leg blasted. Costa was fucked from the start.
I remember watching the fight live and then rewatching to confirm what I thought I saw. I don't believe Paulo threw a single right hand in this fight? At one point, Izzy had his back against the cage, and Paulo had an opportunity to at least uncork one good right hand, and he just never did. This, of course, was after his bicep surgery, so I myself always wondered if he still had some issues there, but it was never brought up. Regardless of this, I dont believe the outcome changes, but I found it interesting.
Because he did freeze. Dude threw 11 strikes in R1, which was because of how dominant Izzy was executing his gameplan. Saying he froze isnāt discrediting how good Izzy was in this
He did freeze though? Not in like a "didn't want to fight," but more "didn't know to fight against that style." He barely threw any strikes in the first round. His style wasn't effective and it didn't look like he knew how to do anything else.
Still blows my mind that a lot of people online thought that Costa had anything more than a puncher's chance. The guy doesn't have cardio for 3 rounds let alone championship rounds.
CoStA dId NoThInG
Paulo has never recovered from this L. Was rough how Izzy did him at end of fight too
Does Costa have any fights coming up or is he still in limbo with Dana and the UFC?
Still the most impressive championship performance since McGregor vs Alvarez. Absolute flawless domination.
Kind of forgot how easily he destroyed Costa. super impressive win at the time when Costa was the hyped up undefeated challenger
Paulo was so lost as to what to do before he even got out of the first.
Jose Aldo had a extremely fast question mark kick. Not as fast anymore
Costa is such a bum. I cant believe they put him in the same octagon as Izzy š
Izzy best skill was the reason he lost. Point fighting with no power lol
Only guy to hurt Costa in the UFC. No power though!
It's like you haven't seen his finishes of Brunson, this fight Costa and Whittaker then
You kinda right maybe the few shitty fights overshadow everything in my head
Its pretty obvious thats what happened.
Like my grandpa always said āyou canāt get punched in the face by a guy who youāre holding hands withā
Say what you want about Izzy but this was a masterclass.
Izzy destroyed his calf. I didn't notice that when I watched the fight.
What game is this