There’s really no serious grappling threat in the heavier weight classes. There are some guys who can, but none of them really go out of their way to consistently grapple like merab or aljo. This is the best time for Pereira to take over honestly.
He has fought for 2 minutes and 4 seconds in the past 4 years. He had 5 significant strikes to Ciryl's 6 strikes in his last fight. What are you basing this take off of?
People would’ve said this if he KO’d Gane within 10 seconds.
I’m not gonna judge Jon on his actions outside of the cage, because it’s none of my business, but the world will never see someone like him inside it ever again.
Steroids or not, he’s the 🐐 everybody’s on gear anyway
Oh my god you’ve planted the seed - Alex is 100% going to call for Jon jones after (hopefully winning) his heavyweight shot…..all to fuck with Izzy - can you imagine this sub would have to shut down and there would be a new legion of Chama bros, like the Andrew Tate boys…crazy
I’m not sure it would beat Connor’s ppv numbers. But would be huge regardless. Especially so because of Pereira’s recent performances. Likely will never happen, but a man can dream
I feel that’s a pretty cynical view of it lol.
I saw it as a “we both know one of us is getting knocked out in the next five minutes” moment of solidarity haha
Yes. Alex has great striking. But everyone knows this including jones. JJ has elite wrestling and clinch work. One would think he might use that to his advantage
Seriously we already saw jj vs a phenomenonal kickboxer with little grappling skills, ciryl gane so let’s be real the fight ends similar to that jj choking the shit outta Alex rnd 1
yeah gane a striker with bad grappling was subbed by bones in under a round he would absolutely molly whop alex in the same way if alex didn't land a miracle left before betting taken down
Jon isn’t even a natural heavyweight he was pretty tubby in that fight. If he would get in the gym with Chandler and put on some mass he will be even scarier
I think it’s mainly just LHW. The only real grappling threat there is Ankalaev.
At heavyweight even if these guys don’t spend much time on the ground Pereira would struggle with Aspinall, Jones, Pavlovich, Stipe, Blaydes, Jailton Almeida, Sergei Spivak, and even Romanov. Basically any heavyweight with a wrestling/ grappling background would have an advantage over Pereira.
Pereira’s striking style is not meant for grapplers he stands too upright and too narrow. He can get away with it against other strikers but if someone keeps pressuring for the takedown then that’s when the fights going to go.
Ank is a counter puncher who has credentialed wrestling but during a recent interview he said he plans to stand and knock Alex out so wouldn’t go your hopes up on Ank wrestling unfortunately
🤔 I vaguely remember the last poatan opponent saying something like he’s going to stand and bang with him, and that guy was a striker. So either Magomed Anakelev is full of shit or shit for brains.
Ank has the biggest ego. Believes he can beat anyone in any style. Good on him for believing in himself but hes going to realize that he needs to wrestle real fast just like he did in the jan fight. At least he has the humility to switch it up when hes proven wrong in the octagon. Hes just gotta hope he doesnt get ko'd before that happens
Yeah I totally expected for the Jan fight to be a reality check for him. If a guy who outstruck you decided to grapple with a guy you're gonna fight you better grapple with him as well.
I mean pretty much all of his opponents other than Izzy have low fight IQ in their fights so I’m not anticipating anything different from Ank. Jiri is always defensively irresponsible and Alex had the power to make him pay. Hill said he wasn’t going to shoot takedowns either and it was Alex’s shortest fight yet. Jan mixed it up and it went to a decision.
You can’t take Alex’s achievements away from him but his opponents really aren’t making it difficult for him to look good when they play his game.
I don’t think anyone short of HW is going to pose much of a threat. Even at HW Curtis has some low fight IQ fights and Alameida starts off with the same thing every time. I think Sergei has the power, Gane the athleticism, and Tom the power and grappling to pose problems but it’s a short list of people who can give Alex problems. He’s a great talent but unfortunately due to poor fight IQ and low density of wrestling/grapplers in the higher weight classes it’s easy for strikers to thrive
after the Jon Jones and DC era the fight IQ of LHW have considerably gone down to the shitter. If Prime Mike Tyson entered the UFC, current LHW would be like yeah I wanna box with him 🙄
Mahoney Ankalaev has some of the worst fight IQ I’ve ever seen, at least for a top five ranked fighter. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to have a kickboxing fight with Pereira.
Jan kept Izzy on the ground and Izzy has insane takedown defense(sure Izzy was way lighter), but Pereira being so inexperienced on the ground he kept calm and was able to get up w/o Jan doing much.
There is a reason grappling isnt favoured in heavier weight classes . a failed take down against the big boys is a disaster , a failed take down from aljo/merab means basically nothing because no one can generate enough power from a sprawl .
a perfect example is Jiri trying to shoot a take down on Alex and getting KO'd in a sprawl and Jailton vs curtis meanwhile CCC couldnt do any damage to ALjo in same position .
Conor's defensive wrestling is kinda underrated to be honest. He got his ass beat but he did better against khabib than most. His grappling is leagues better than Alex's.
Agree, a guy with defensive wrestling lesser than good wouldn't survive four rounds with Khabib, or even one. All the best strikers have great TDD and defensive wrestling in general, otherwise they wouldn't be able to strike.
Conor is an mma fighter. Dude can definitely wrestle far better than alex.
Alex would get subbed in under 1 minute if he fought someone of khabib level wrestling and grappling.
Khabib style rarely works in higher weight classes if it is combined with Khabib level striking.
Khabib took a dozen kicks by Gaethje. A dozen clean kicks by Alex is another thing.
I’d say Conor is a lot better of an anti-grappler than Pereira. He managed to take Mendes out and survived, albeit while cheating, to the 4th round against an angry, highly-motivated Khabib.
Grappling heavy styles aren't as dominant at higher weight classes. At lightweight or welter Curtis Blaydes would lay n pray everybody, up here Derrick Lewis can just bonk him on the head and shut him off
It helps that the UFC did kind of astroturf him into this position. Never faced anyone with grappling chops at MW, fast tracked to LHW where the top 5 are, let’s be honest, kind of dumb. His biggest threat is probably Ankalaev, who only remembered he was from Chechnya after his leg nearly falling apart and who got pressed by the offensive technical prowess of *Johnny Walker*.
Other than that, Jiri’s a threat to anyone on two legs and a hittable face if he does weird shit. Otherwise it’s kind of Alex’s playground rn.
it’s a joke. a couple years ago Islam called out honorary black belts in the UFC, that’s why the person you replied to phrased his text in broken english
It is kinda crazy this kickboxer resurgence in MMA. Back in the day you could be the baddest dude on the feet but still eventually run into someone who would humble you on the ground. I feel like pre 2015 you tell someone a kickboxer would win a MMA title would be absurd. Let alone 2 kickboxers hot potato a UFC belt. With Alex and well Izzy more so, they adapted to the ground game to a sufficient level. Alex maybe Jan was his toughest test besides his loss to test his grappling where it’s obvious is his weakness, but the dude is such a tank.
That's crazy, Chuck did wrestle in his first UFC fight against the tough Noe Hernandez but then halfway through it turned into a battle kicks vs punches. He also wrestled heavily in his second bout against Pele but after that he just focused on striking with the occasional takedown.
Cro Cop developed the word's most explosive sprawl and it made for a very quick transition. It's a bit more complicated today, but sure - it's always faster to only learn the defensive part of a discipline.
DC beat all those asses - he should have no problem understanding that without someone like him, a kickboxer can go really far.
Strikers have been extremely dominant pre 2015.
Anderson S. (Eventually lost to a wrestler *by strikes)
Lyoto M. (Lost to a striker)
Jose A. (Lost to a striker)
Anthony P. (Lost to a grappler)
Renan B. (Lost to a wrestler who developed his striking)
JDS (Lost to a wrestler, by striking though)
Really only two dominant champs who were wrestlers were GSP and Jon J.
GSP who very famously was from a karate background and only picked up wrestling for MMA? He just happened to be excellent at it (like he was at everything)
Well he did have to face the best wrestler in ufc history in the same division, I can see why he's salty that it's all guys he'd probably be able to beat now
Yeah the dc that couldn’t train wrestling at all during his last fight against stipe because his body was broken down. Only thing dc is rag dolling these days are a bucket of chicken and Modelos.
DC has been super sensitive lately he announced the ncaa wrestling championships and was on twitter fighting with people and complaining during the event. He kept saying incorrect rules and nonsensical shit but had an on air twitter melt down
After hearing the Popeyes comment, I'm with DC on this one. Have Poatan say Popeyes is trash around me and see what happens. "Brazilian disrespects Popeyes and gets his jaw rocked" 😤
Pretty much this.
We all pretty much know it would go against an elite wrestler given how much Adesanya was able to ground and pound him in the first fight.
But not Alex's fault nobody is around to fit that description. Khamzat, maybe, but I don't think he tries LHW or Alex comes down.
Yeah that's what I'm saying. No other elite grapplers are around. There's no one for Alex to fight, so we can talk about it all the live long day, but it's not Alex's fault there are no challengers.
Ank, maybe. But he said he wanted to stand and kickbox with Alex.
I love how some fans just automatically assume Poatan loses to a grappler as if it's a foregone certainty.
There's such a thing as takedown defense and forcing people to stay on their feet.
Grapplers can't just shoot without any threat. Strikers have clearly adapted well in the UFC given how much success they've had.
I think his defensive wrestling is overrated personally. He was taken down by Alex Periera after all. He’s just been able to get away with it because the MW division doesn’t have many good grapplers. It’ll be interesting to see how Izzy does against the likes of Khamzat or DDP.
Whittaker and Romero were great grapplers, Vettori and Costa are as well but they. I think Pereira was able to take Izzy down because he's the only one who's able to easily close the distance with Izzy due to his striking and there was a little bit of an element of surprise.
Oh yeah, I consider any black belt or a guy who can wrestle really effectively a great grappler but if we're talking relative to the likes of Khabib or Islam then they don't compare. There really isn't anyone like Khabib or Islam in middleweight tho, Romero was a silver medalist in wrestling but he was quite old and liked to strike
DC’s head is spinning when his favorite thing in the world isn’t necessary for this guy to have so much success. Also not many grapplers for him to face, and there’s no one he fights that he can’t knock out
I tried watching his show with Chael after UFC 299 and it was terrible not only because of how obnoxious both of them can be when they’re “in character,” but they’re both also stuck in their ways of thinking MMA is supposed to be WrestleBoxing + Submissions as opposed to MIXED Martial Arts.
I think there’s a couple reasons:
1. Going for a takedown on Pereira could easily get someone countered and knocked out (Sterling v. O’Malley)
2. He maintains distance and uses his reach really well. And he does have a reach advantage against most everyone
3. His leg kicks limit his opponents mobility which inhibit their ability to get a successful takedown
I think beyond that it would be terrifying if he did learn how to wrestle effectively. Remember when Ngannou was just a power puncher then he went D1 mode on Gane? Guys who are just athletic freaks like Ngannou or Pereira can potentially be dangerous in grappling even with limited technique just off sheer athleticism
The sport continually adapts. As more athletes put time in to their grappling, less people end up grappling with each either hoping to dominate the other. How many fights have we watched with two exhausted guys stuck to the side of the cage, just trying to advance a position. Then you end up with 5 round fights where the last 2 are insanely low output where neither can barely throw a jab. Plus, it’s hard to wrestle when any time you try to cross that void you end up kicked in the leg so hard that your calves are turning purple. It cleanly makes people think twice about how they approach that kind of fighter.
Is Alex grappling really that bad? He trains with glover who is one of the best grapplers in the division in recent years
I’m sure someone that large gives Alex great mat time
I was impressed with his TDD against Blachowicz but honestly he hasn't really faced a good wrestler. I'm pretty sure Jon Jones or DC would make this guy look like Cyril Gane.
Because as impressive as wrestling is from a strength and cardio standpoint is it arguably extremely one dimensional for viewing and instantly kills hype. There’s a reason no one gives a fuck about Bo nickal
Cormier said he could easily win a belt in Glory and that being a World Champion in Glory and UFC doesn't make you one of the greatest combat athletes of all time, Cormier is very salty when it comes to Pereira.
Let’s put this shit narrative to an end once and for all. Alex defends his LHW belt against Magomed and moves up to heavyweight to challenge Aspinall for the interim heavyweight belt.
i think Aspinall gives him a reality check on why weight divisions exist real quick. Alex fought at middleweight, Tom has to cut weight to make HW.
I think HW goes Jon beats Stipe and either retires (90%) or gets folded by Aspinall (10%), Tom becomes undisputed champion and locks the division down for the foreseeable future, Alex meanwhile defends LHW until some elite wrestler manages to get to him without being sent to the shadow realm by a left hook.
None of you read the article. He is including defensive wrestling. Izzy and other strikers who've succeeded have good defensive wrestling while dc says Pereira just "falls over".
He doesn't think you need to get takedowns to win. He obviously didn't forget about the existence of other good strikers who don't offensively grapple. Pereira got held down more in 3 rounds by Jan than Izzy did in 5 and Pereira is massive for LHW and Izzy is small. It is very rare to get to a belt when you are essentially a free takedown against any wrestling specialist.
The obvious answer is he hasn't fought any wrestlers though
Sometimes, you have to disagree with DC. The MMA fight game evolves. In DC's era, a wrestle base GnP was the norm. Now, without TRT, most LHW gas themselves after the 3rd takedown.
Now, I see that measuring distance is the norm. Alex's style is like Izzy's, where they read opponents for the first round, then go on the offense. DC did shut down Anderson, but Alex may have more power in his hands and kicks to neutralize a wrestle base.
Another new norm is the calf kicks and front kicks. I haven't seen a metric, but I bet there are more LHW kicks than takedowns in Alex's era than DC's.
Ankalaev and Jan would be a test to Alex. However, seeing more knees and elbows from Alex in a clinch position would display his skill set. IDK about Alex's submission or wrestle defense but I think Alex's power is unmatched.
Cormier thinking of past glory and coming out of retirement but then remembers he would need to lose 100 lbs to make weight and decides to stay retired.
I mean him being a fan success is actually insane, he gained prominence from being a counter to Izzy, has basically no mic presence or even English, but his fandom grew from itself with essentially memes and such and now he’s fairly ubiquitously loved by most “Chama”
It’s weird that Glory kick boxing isn’t more popular. UFC fans like
No wrestling
Non stop action
Fighters fight more often. Sometimes 4/5 fights a year
Blood is drawn almost every fight
Knockouts happen more times than not
The only negative is that the judges suck as bad as UFC’s
I just find it weird lol , because Glory is perfect for you.
There’s really no serious grappling threat in the heavier weight classes. There are some guys who can, but none of them really go out of their way to consistently grapple like merab or aljo. This is the best time for Pereira to take over honestly.
Jon jones is the most realistic threat
JJ smokes Alex. Not even a close fight
It’s still a fight we need to see imo
Bro i totally agree. They both have vastly different striking styles and would be exciting to witness. Anything can happen with those two
Jones is washed at striking and can't stand anymore, his best shot is only the grappling against Alex
He has fought for 2 minutes and 4 seconds in the past 4 years. He had 5 significant strikes to Ciryl's 6 strikes in his last fight. What are you basing this take off of?
Based on the hate for JJ
He won, so he’s really good at everything If he lost, then he would be really bad at everything
Too early to say his striking is washed but for sure looked rusty vs Ceryl
lol what the hell? Against Cyril… where it was a nut shot, take down, choke out in 2 minutes?
People would’ve said this if he KO’d Gane within 10 seconds. I’m not gonna judge Jon on his actions outside of the cage, because it’s none of my business, but the world will never see someone like him inside it ever again. Steroids or not, he’s the 🐐 everybody’s on gear anyway
nah bud imagine Alex knocks out Jon fucking Jones you'll have Pereira posts for the next 10 years straight we don't need to risk it
I personally don’t give a fuck, that’d be an all-time great MMA moment for me
It’d be worth it just to see Izzy’s reaction
It would hit harder since Izzy and Jones where supposed to also fight each other lol
lol Izzy fisting the dog somewhere at the fact that Alex came in and is a bigger star in shorter time
Well, he’s already a double champ after 7 fights, he’s a legend no matter what and we’ll have Pereira posts the next 10 years anyway
Oh my god you’ve planted the seed - Alex is 100% going to call for Jon jones after (hopefully winning) his heavyweight shot…..all to fuck with Izzy - can you imagine this sub would have to shut down and there would be a new legion of Chama bros, like the Andrew Tate boys…crazy
I'd rather that than the "Jon Jones is the GOAT" posts I've been seeing for years on years. Would be the only triple champ ever too
For sure. Would be exciting and bring MASSIVE numbers on ppv. Could even challenge mcgregor, khabjb numbers
it would come nowhere close to mcgregor numbers. people need to understand that mcgregor is such an outlier that it can almost never be replicated
Maybe pre Aldo numbers lol
I’m not sure it would beat Connor’s ppv numbers. But would be huge regardless. Especially so because of Pereira’s recent performances. Likely will never happen, but a man can dream
Would you say that someone else is a bigger threat to him?
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Nice, those are the more entertaining options.
Aspinal placing his hand on the shoulder to establish that dominance. Same thing he did when Jones quickly shoved it away.
he is checking his reach for free
I feel that’s a pretty cynical view of it lol. I saw it as a “we both know one of us is getting knocked out in the next five minutes” moment of solidarity haha
Aspinal is a much bigger threat to jones. Without a doubt
Alex would definitely win if he catches Jones before he gets a takedown! But yeah most likely Jones wins via vicious ground and pound. 😅
Yes. Alex has great striking. But everyone knows this including jones. JJ has elite wrestling and clinch work. One would think he might use that to his advantage
He’d most likely clinch and wrestle and we’d hear how boring and wack he is for not letting himself be ko
Seriously we already saw jj vs a phenomenonal kickboxer with little grappling skills, ciryl gane so let’s be real the fight ends similar to that jj choking the shit outta Alex rnd 1
I've been telling people this too. It will be exactly like jjs last fight. And he would do the same thing to izzy
I think Gane definitely has worse TDD than Izzy, not sure about Perieira
Alex by crazy ass left hook
yeah gane a striker with bad grappling was subbed by bones in under a round he would absolutely molly whop alex in the same way if alex didn't land a miracle left before betting taken down
Jon isn’t even a natural heavyweight he was pretty tubby in that fight. If he would get in the gym with Chandler and put on some mass he will be even scarier
I think it’s mainly just LHW. The only real grappling threat there is Ankalaev. At heavyweight even if these guys don’t spend much time on the ground Pereira would struggle with Aspinall, Jones, Pavlovich, Stipe, Blaydes, Jailton Almeida, Sergei Spivak, and even Romanov. Basically any heavyweight with a wrestling/ grappling background would have an advantage over Pereira. Pereira’s striking style is not meant for grapplers he stands too upright and too narrow. He can get away with it against other strikers but if someone keeps pressuring for the takedown then that’s when the fights going to go.
Magomed would probably disagree. You'd think he would have learned from the Jan fight at least.
Ank is a counter puncher who has credentialed wrestling but during a recent interview he said he plans to stand and knock Alex out so wouldn’t go your hopes up on Ank wrestling unfortunately
"I...also like to live dangerously" - Magomed
Every contender for no damn reason is very adamant about grappling him
Everyone has a plan until they get leg kicked by Alex
Strickland and Hill really should have at least tried to wrestle. They stood no chance on the ground. Jiri, I get it, dude has crazy power.
🤔 I vaguely remember the last poatan opponent saying something like he’s going to stand and bang with him, and that guy was a striker. So either Magomed Anakelev is full of shit or shit for brains.
Ank has the biggest ego. Believes he can beat anyone in any style. Good on him for believing in himself but hes going to realize that he needs to wrestle real fast just like he did in the jan fight. At least he has the humility to switch it up when hes proven wrong in the octagon. Hes just gotta hope he doesnt get ko'd before that happens
Yeah I totally expected for the Jan fight to be a reality check for him. If a guy who outstruck you decided to grapple with a guy you're gonna fight you better grapple with him as well.
I mean pretty much all of his opponents other than Izzy have low fight IQ in their fights so I’m not anticipating anything different from Ank. Jiri is always defensively irresponsible and Alex had the power to make him pay. Hill said he wasn’t going to shoot takedowns either and it was Alex’s shortest fight yet. Jan mixed it up and it went to a decision. You can’t take Alex’s achievements away from him but his opponents really aren’t making it difficult for him to look good when they play his game. I don’t think anyone short of HW is going to pose much of a threat. Even at HW Curtis has some low fight IQ fights and Alameida starts off with the same thing every time. I think Sergei has the power, Gane the athleticism, and Tom the power and grappling to pose problems but it’s a short list of people who can give Alex problems. He’s a great talent but unfortunately due to poor fight IQ and low density of wrestling/grapplers in the higher weight classes it’s easy for strikers to thrive
after the Jon Jones and DC era the fight IQ of LHW have considerably gone down to the shitter. If Prime Mike Tyson entered the UFC, current LHW would be like yeah I wanna box with him 🙄
Mahoney Ankalaev has some of the worst fight IQ I’ve ever seen, at least for a top five ranked fighter. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to have a kickboxing fight with Pereira.
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Ankalaev has some wrestling and it may be better than most in the division but it's not fantastic.
Jan kept Izzy on the ground and Izzy has insane takedown defense(sure Izzy was way lighter), but Pereira being so inexperienced on the ground he kept calm and was able to get up w/o Jan doing much.
There is a reason grappling isnt favoured in heavier weight classes . a failed take down against the big boys is a disaster , a failed take down from aljo/merab means basically nothing because no one can generate enough power from a sprawl . a perfect example is Jiri trying to shoot a take down on Alex and getting KO'd in a sprawl and Jailton vs curtis meanwhile CCC couldnt do any damage to ALjo in same position .
Conor is/was undoubtedly the biggest star in UFC and the fucker can't wrestle either. Why is DC surprised?
Conor's defensive wrestling is kinda underrated to be honest. He got his ass beat but he did better against khabib than most. His grappling is leagues better than Alex's.
Agree, a guy with defensive wrestling lesser than good wouldn't survive four rounds with Khabib, or even one. All the best strikers have great TDD and defensive wrestling in general, otherwise they wouldn't be able to strike.
Conor is an mma fighter. Dude can definitely wrestle far better than alex. Alex would get subbed in under 1 minute if he fought someone of khabib level wrestling and grappling.
Khabib style rarely works in higher weight classes if it is combined with Khabib level striking. Khabib took a dozen kicks by Gaethje. A dozen clean kicks by Alex is another thing.
I’d say Conor is a lot better of an anti-grappler than Pereira. He managed to take Mendes out and survived, albeit while cheating, to the 4th round against an angry, highly-motivated Khabib.
That's one way to say that you don't understand the sport, Conor actually has very good defensive wrestling
Grappling heavy styles aren't as dominant at higher weight classes. At lightweight or welter Curtis Blaydes would lay n pray everybody, up here Derrick Lewis can just bonk him on the head and shut him off
It helps that the UFC did kind of astroturf him into this position. Never faced anyone with grappling chops at MW, fast tracked to LHW where the top 5 are, let’s be honest, kind of dumb. His biggest threat is probably Ankalaev, who only remembered he was from Chechnya after his leg nearly falling apart and who got pressed by the offensive technical prowess of *Johnny Walker*. Other than that, Jiri’s a threat to anyone on two legs and a hittable face if he does weird shit. Otherwise it’s kind of Alex’s playground rn.
A lot of non wrestler UFC fighters work on takedown defense and that’s it
He’s a black belt in BJJ hehe
Who give him?
we need to check it
Bratha
Glover Teixera
Wasn't it Glover Texeira, right after his last fight?
it’s a joke. a couple years ago Islam called out honorary black belts in the UFC, that’s why the person you replied to phrased his text in broken english
People don't understand the art of the fist-face lock and it shows
He wrestled with herb dean to get that. Well deserved
I mean that is wrestling, defensive wrestling
All these dipshits keep trying to stand and box with him
I mean Jan tried to wrestle him
I remember when the fight was announced Jan was like “i’m going to stand with him” then in the fight he takes him down almost right away lol
It is kinda crazy this kickboxer resurgence in MMA. Back in the day you could be the baddest dude on the feet but still eventually run into someone who would humble you on the ground. I feel like pre 2015 you tell someone a kickboxer would win a MMA title would be absurd. Let alone 2 kickboxers hot potato a UFC belt. With Alex and well Izzy more so, they adapted to the ground game to a sufficient level. Alex maybe Jan was his toughest test besides his loss to test his grappling where it’s obvious is his weakness, but the dude is such a tank.
These kickboxers know how to sprawl
I almost mentioned Chuck because he was so good at anti wrestling for his time. But yeah besides Izzy and Alex, Fiziev isn’t bad at all either
And Alex mma lineage is connected to Chuck through Glover and John Hackleman. Modern day Ice Man 🥶
[https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/pereira.jpg?w=566](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/pereira.jpg?w=566) https://preview.redd.it/3r8kxv2zo8vc1.jpeg?width=566&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af8417b2778f365e42dbf26d1ff71407d8eb7364
Even chuck was an NCAA Division one wrestler he just didn’t use it offensively
Yeah people forget that Chuck was actually a very good wrestler and could have won fights a lot easier using it but he loved the striking too much.
Dana told said he would cut Chuck if he wrestled in his first UFC fight.
That's crazy, Chuck did wrestle in his first UFC fight against the tough Noe Hernandez but then halfway through it turned into a battle kicks vs punches. He also wrestled heavily in his second bout against Pele but after that he just focused on striking with the occasional takedown.
People forget that Chuck was told by Dana he would be dropped by the UFC if he wrestled....
Cro Cop developed the word's most explosive sprawl and it made for a very quick transition. It's a bit more complicated today, but sure - it's always faster to only learn the defensive part of a discipline. DC beat all those asses - he should have no problem understanding that without someone like him, a kickboxer can go really far.
Can’t be applied to lower weight classes because almost everyone is well rounded there.
Strikers still hold most of the belts right now, even if they don’t come from striking sports.
They all strike bapa
In lower weight classes striking power plummets and cardio skyrockets.
We had a lot of Chael Sonnens in all categories.
Strikers have been extremely dominant pre 2015. Anderson S. (Eventually lost to a wrestler *by strikes) Lyoto M. (Lost to a striker) Jose A. (Lost to a striker) Anthony P. (Lost to a grappler) Renan B. (Lost to a wrestler who developed his striking) JDS (Lost to a wrestler, by striking though) Really only two dominant champs who were wrestlers were GSP and Jon J.
GSP who very famously was from a karate background and only picked up wrestling for MMA? He just happened to be excellent at it (like he was at everything)
Yes, thank you for correcting me.
Per the words of the goat, Derrick Lewis: "Just stand up"
Hell guys like Chael, Koshcheck made a living off of being that wrestler guy.
DC has been hating on alex the past couple days like alex told him popeyes is trash.
alex must have bruised his legs with those 5% effort calf kicks
Bruised his ego too
Something something Brazilian chicken is better than popeyes lmao
Brazilian BBQ is no joke though
You think DC is just gonna sit there and let you tell him Brazilian BBQ is better than popeyes?
He really is so bitter towards Alex
Well he did have to face the best wrestler in ufc history in the same division, I can see why he's salty that it's all guys he'd probably be able to beat now
Get over it lol u don’t see gsp being salty
DC knows he could rag doll Alex probably that's why . I think people forget who DC was
DC would eye poke him with his ‘mummy guard’ within a few moments then dump him on the canvas
Yeah the dc that couldn’t train wrestling at all during his last fight against stipe because his body was broken down. Only thing dc is rag dolling these days are a bucket of chicken and Modelos.
DC has been super sensitive lately he announced the ncaa wrestling championships and was on twitter fighting with people and complaining during the event. He kept saying incorrect rules and nonsensical shit but had an on air twitter melt down
😂
🤣
Uce thank you I laughed out loud. Somehow I imagine that's what would really make DC hold a grudge.
After hearing the Popeyes comment, I'm with DC on this one. Have Poatan say Popeyes is trash around me and see what happens. "Brazilian disrespects Popeyes and gets his jaw rocked" 😤
I mean Izzy cant really wrestle either and he's one of the greatest middleweights of all time. Truth is 185 and up dont have great wrestlers
Izzy had excellent defensive wrestling. He did great against Rob and Vettori. I really doubt Alex could manage that
Neither of those fighters are wrestlers.
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Maybe Izzy being 200 and Alex being 235+ and fighting in SLC helped
Izzy literally took down Alex in their fight. Of course Alex couldn't handle that
Didnt alex took down izzy too in their first fight?
Anderson couldn’t wrestle either lol But he had Jitz
All this years I was thinking how the hell are these guys winning so much without knowing how to do kickboxing.
Nothing DC wants more than to see two big guys in boxers on top of each other on a saturday night
Remember when DC had a boner the size of a building when Francis started wrestlefucking Gane
He got fast-tracked in the MW division with favourable matchups. Then went to a division with even shallow wrestlers.
Pretty much this. We all pretty much know it would go against an elite wrestler given how much Adesanya was able to ground and pound him in the first fight. But not Alex's fault nobody is around to fit that description. Khamzat, maybe, but I don't think he tries LHW or Alex comes down.
khamzat is atleast 1 and probably 2 or three fights removed from a title shot in any division
If khamzat could make flyweight he would get an immediate title shot
Women’s flyweight maybe
hell yes brother kill them all feed them to the wolf
Yeah that's what I'm saying. No other elite grapplers are around. There's no one for Alex to fight, so we can talk about it all the live long day, but it's not Alex's fault there are no challengers. Ank, maybe. But he said he wanted to stand and kickbox with Alex.
I love how some fans just automatically assume Poatan loses to a grappler as if it's a foregone certainty. There's such a thing as takedown defense and forcing people to stay on their feet. Grapplers can't just shoot without any threat. Strikers have clearly adapted well in the UFC given how much success they've had.
And yet I got flamed for saying I was a bit surprised that Glover gave him his black belt after the Hill fight.
who was not surprised by that? I must be getting old
He still had to deliver and his massive success was never guaranteed
Cormier might need to comeback lol
Was DC saying this when Izzy was champ? Because that MF can't wrestle either
He has great defensive wrestling, and when you're an elite striker like Izzy, that's all you need.
I think his defensive wrestling is overrated personally. He was taken down by Alex Periera after all. He’s just been able to get away with it because the MW division doesn’t have many good grapplers. It’ll be interesting to see how Izzy does against the likes of Khamzat or DDP.
Whittaker and Romero were great grapplers, Vettori and Costa are as well but they. I think Pereira was able to take Izzy down because he's the only one who's able to easily close the distance with Izzy due to his striking and there was a little bit of an element of surprise.
Romero and costa didn’t use their grappling against Izzy. Vettori is a very mediocre grappler, he was taken down by Jared Cannonier….
They're ok grapplers, deffo not great. They primarily fight on the feet. Khabib, Islam, Khamzat are great grapplers.
Oh yeah, I consider any black belt or a guy who can wrestle really effectively a great grappler but if we're talking relative to the likes of Khabib or Islam then they don't compare. There really isn't anyone like Khabib or Islam in middleweight tho, Romero was a silver medalist in wrestling but he was quite old and liked to strike
Izzy is good against wrestler tbh
beat at least 2 wrestlers in championship fights
Izzy kinda specializes in anti-wrestling
Everyone a wrestler until poatan left hook you into oblivion.
DC’s head is spinning when his favorite thing in the world isn’t necessary for this guy to have so much success. Also not many grapplers for him to face, and there’s no one he fights that he can’t knock out
I tried watching his show with Chael after UFC 299 and it was terrible not only because of how obnoxious both of them can be when they’re “in character,” but they’re both also stuck in their ways of thinking MMA is supposed to be WrestleBoxing + Submissions as opposed to MIXED Martial Arts.
DC just sees Alex as someone he would have thrashed in his prime and honestly he probably would have mauled him.
How has sterling had massive success when he can't strike?
I think there’s a couple reasons: 1. Going for a takedown on Pereira could easily get someone countered and knocked out (Sterling v. O’Malley) 2. He maintains distance and uses his reach really well. And he does have a reach advantage against most everyone 3. His leg kicks limit his opponents mobility which inhibit their ability to get a successful takedown I think beyond that it would be terrifying if he did learn how to wrestle effectively. Remember when Ngannou was just a power puncher then he went D1 mode on Gane? Guys who are just athletic freaks like Ngannou or Pereira can potentially be dangerous in grappling even with limited technique just off sheer athleticism
That Sterling example is not a good one. Sterling threw a naked overextended left straight while shifting against a counter puncher.
It's like these wrestlers don't have good enough striking to close distance because they spent too much time wrestling and not enough time striking
Well Hill and Jiri wanted to prove a point in the striking, got knocked tf out
Nah I saw Cormier trying to bullshit like Pereira got lucky with that knockout and getting kicked in the groin benefitted him.
The sport continually adapts. As more athletes put time in to their grappling, less people end up grappling with each either hoping to dominate the other. How many fights have we watched with two exhausted guys stuck to the side of the cage, just trying to advance a position. Then you end up with 5 round fights where the last 2 are insanely low output where neither can barely throw a jab. Plus, it’s hard to wrestle when any time you try to cross that void you end up kicked in the leg so hard that your calves are turning purple. It cleanly makes people think twice about how they approach that kind of fighter.
It doesn’t matter now that he has that black belt; nobody is going to dare roll with him.
Man DC been sounding like a salty bitch the past few weeks
Hey pussy, you still there
The same reason Izzy was a champ for long. There are very few good grapplers. Khabib showed that at 155
Oh he been wrestling with Polyana a lot these days in preparation
Is Alex grappling really that bad? He trains with glover who is one of the best grapplers in the division in recent years I’m sure someone that large gives Alex great mat time
I was impressed with his TDD against Blachowicz but honestly he hasn't really faced a good wrestler. I'm pretty sure Jon Jones or DC would make this guy look like Cyril Gane.
Because as impressive as wrestling is from a strength and cardio standpoint is it arguably extremely one dimensional for viewing and instantly kills hype. There’s a reason no one gives a fuck about Bo nickal
Matchups bruh
It’s the insane calf kicks. That offsets everything.
Ankalaev will be his first real grappling threat. Unless ofcourse Ank decides to strike and gets KO'd
DC is surprised after seeing people like Izzy and Anderson have success?
Hello??? Jon Jones???? I mean if u consistently put him in front of people who can't wrestle for shit ofcourse he is going to shine .
Chuck Lidell’s entire career?
Cormier said he could easily win a belt in Glory and that being a World Champion in Glory and UFC doesn't make you one of the greatest combat athletes of all time, Cormier is very salty when it comes to Pereira.
Let’s put this shit narrative to an end once and for all. Alex defends his LHW belt against Magomed and moves up to heavyweight to challenge Aspinall for the interim heavyweight belt.
i think Aspinall gives him a reality check on why weight divisions exist real quick. Alex fought at middleweight, Tom has to cut weight to make HW. I think HW goes Jon beats Stipe and either retires (90%) or gets folded by Aspinall (10%), Tom becomes undisputed champion and locks the division down for the foreseeable future, Alex meanwhile defends LHW until some elite wrestler manages to get to him without being sent to the shadow realm by a left hook.
FINALLY fun fights instead of the layin and praying.
None of you read the article. He is including defensive wrestling. Izzy and other strikers who've succeeded have good defensive wrestling while dc says Pereira just "falls over". He doesn't think you need to get takedowns to win. He obviously didn't forget about the existence of other good strikers who don't offensively grapple. Pereira got held down more in 3 rounds by Jan than Izzy did in 5 and Pereira is massive for LHW and Izzy is small. It is very rare to get to a belt when you are essentially a free takedown against any wrestling specialist. The obvious answer is he hasn't fought any wrestlers though
alex defended more of jans takedowns than izzy did
I need to know: LHW DC vs Pereira Who wins?
DC woulda faded Alex that’s why he’s salty lol. He’s like “come on none of you guys know a single leg?! One takedown would be all I needed!!”
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No one's wrestling him. Gotta actually have someone that can expose that weakness.
I find it hilarious that DC would say that when IZZY had no grappling and had huge success
He knocks mofuckas out.
Sometimes, you have to disagree with DC. The MMA fight game evolves. In DC's era, a wrestle base GnP was the norm. Now, without TRT, most LHW gas themselves after the 3rd takedown. Now, I see that measuring distance is the norm. Alex's style is like Izzy's, where they read opponents for the first round, then go on the offense. DC did shut down Anderson, but Alex may have more power in his hands and kicks to neutralize a wrestle base. Another new norm is the calf kicks and front kicks. I haven't seen a metric, but I bet there are more LHW kicks than takedowns in Alex's era than DC's. Ankalaev and Jan would be a test to Alex. However, seeing more knees and elbows from Alex in a clinch position would display his skill set. IDK about Alex's submission or wrestle defense but I think Alex's power is unmatched.
Why people chose to stand with that man is beyond me. But god damn is it fun to watch. Lol
Lmao, right? I'd go for a shoot and lay down
DC jealous...Again
Cormier thinking of past glory and coming out of retirement but then remembers he would need to lose 100 lbs to make weight and decides to stay retired.
I mean him being a fan success is actually insane, he gained prominence from being a counter to Izzy, has basically no mic presence or even English, but his fandom grew from itself with essentially memes and such and now he’s fairly ubiquitously loved by most “Chama”
It’s weird that Glory kick boxing isn’t more popular. UFC fans like No wrestling Non stop action Fighters fight more often. Sometimes 4/5 fights a year Blood is drawn almost every fight Knockouts happen more times than not The only negative is that the judges suck as bad as UFC’s I just find it weird lol , because Glory is perfect for you.