Archive for July, 2016

After a good sparring session at Lockdown, where I took a few shots on the ground, I was left thinking who are the current GnP experts and I came up a little short.

Over the years there have been some very destructive ground and pound exponents, these fighters made it an art and used this effective system to win fights. Most of them are wrestlers who have great takedowns nasty top control and rely on position over submission. The first, who was known as the God Father of ground and pound is Mark Coleman as he was the first to use takedowns and top control to beat the hell out of someone. Before Mark Coleman the expected way to win a fight was a knock out standing up or, thanks to the Gracie’s, win via submission. Then Mark Coleman, who was a very strong wrestler, showed up and won the UFC 10 tournament where he beat all 3 opponents with Ground and Pound then from that day on Ground and Pound was a legitimate way to win fights.

Thanks to Mark Coleman Ground and Pound took off and was used by some very good fighters to create destruction. Matt Hughes dominated the welter weight division for years with the very simple formula, pick them up slam them and beat the hell out of them. Mark ‘The Smashing Machine’ Kerr was well known for his ground attack. Tito Ortiz was another recognised GnP artist. Uriah Faber had a great ground attack and was relentless with his great elbow attack on the ground. To see a seminar in GnP all you need to do is watch Fedor v Big Nog I, Fedor throws his punches a little different, but what made is attack so destructive was the fact that he threw everything he had in to the punch. Fedor did not seem to be concerned about losing position rather all he worried about was landing the punch. His mentality was great, ‘if I get any space then I am going to punch you in the face as hard and as often as I can’. Think about being on the receiving end of that, all you are doing is trying to stop him from throwing punches rather than escaping. If you have never experienced ground and pound then you might be thinking why not just escape? Well that is because there is someone on top of you trying to turn you head in to a little red puddle on the mat and protection becomes a lot more important then escaping.

These days there are no stand outs. That does not mean however that ground and pound is a dying art. Cain Velasquez has a great takedown and top control game, he also has great striking so does not rely on ground and pound to win. Being a heavyweight myself, the person I would least like on top of me is Brock Lesnar just with that strength and massive hands pounding in to your head does not seem like much fun.

What has happened is that everyone has got some damn good that against almost everyone at the top level you have to worry about their stand up, takedowns, submissions and ground and pound. With all these tools available they will use any of them to win against equally strong opponents. This means if you fight the same way it will not work these days, all the best fighters change their plan against other top fighters. GSP was a great example of this, he would use his wrestling to stand up against ground fighters and take down strikers. Ground and pound is still there and will always be on the high light reels, Gufstasson v Johnson for a recent example of nasty Ground and Pound, long may it continue as it watching vicious GnP is just so entertaining.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

The two fights that are on my mind are Aldo v McGreggor II and Brock Lesnar reportedly fighting the winner of Overeem v Miocic.

First of the big boys, Brock Lesnar is freak athlete he is an absolute specimen very big and very fast. Watching him fight Mark Hunt was impressive with the speed and power of his takedowns, he put the heavyweight division on notice after that performance. Then a few days later I read that he was going to face the winner of the heavyweight title fight between Overeem and Miocic. If the report is accurate is it crap that Lesnar can have four years away from fighting then come in and beat one person, although it was a very good fighter in Mark Hunt, then go straight in to a title shot. I realise that Lesnar is a massive PPV draw card and makes a lot of money for the UFC but I think if they went with another way that they would not lose a cent they might even make a couple a little more. What they should do is have Velasquez, who also looked great at UFC 200, fight Lesnar then Overeem v Miocic then the two winner’s face of at a later date. Yes I would like to see a 4 man heavyweight event in one night but that does not seem likely. The rematch between Lesnar and Velasquez makes sense as the last time they fought Lesnar lost the title, they have both come of long layoffs and neither of them deserves an immediate title shot. Also for both of them another fight would do wonders to get rid of ring rust, plus I would like to see them go at it, then I would be happy to see Miocic fight either Lesnar or Velasquez as I think they could be good fights. Yes Overeem might win, but the Miocic option seems a lot more appealing to me.

Aldo v McGregor II, to me the first fight proved only one thing but was really disappointing. At UFC 200 I was very happy when Aldo won his fight impressively as that would set up a rematch with McGregor. The first fight showed that McGregor could get in to Aldo’s head and effect the way he fights. At the time McGregor was on a tear and riding a wave of confidence and since his trash talk is second to none McGregor seemed unstoppable. The constant barrage got in to Aldo’s head and caused him to fight more aggressively and he got caught and KO’d with the first punch of the fight. Where I say that it was disappointing is that it proved nothing in terms of fighting, a few seconds and one punch and over. You can’t call a punch lucky as by nature punches are thrown to land and do as much damage as possible, but the chance of throwing a punch that lands with that effect is minute at the best of times. What was needed between those two is a good fight. The set up to the second fight is a lot different, McGregor got beaten by Diaz and the hype wagon hit a serious speed bump. Aldo looked great in his last fight and looked like he had put that fight behind him. Whoever wins the rematch I only hope that it is a good fight and the fight matches the hype, or at least gets close.

These are two rematches that I would really like to see, yes I have my favourites and who I would like to win but mostly I would like to see two heavyweights, Lesnar and Velasquez have a good scrap. Also I would like to see Aldo and McGregor have a good battle especially when you have a very aggressive fighter against a very good counter fighter.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

Jon Jones was just ranked the #1 UFC of all time, in the top 200 UFC fighter list, after hearing some people talk about him and it is hard to argue that he is not the best fighter to step foot in to the cage. Turns out that no one needs to beat him as he is his own worst enemy after yet another incident with drugs.

First off I thought that Royce Gracie would be #1, on the UFC top 200 list, as he changed the way that people thought you could win a fight. As MMA has evolved people now need more than just BJJ to compete. However at the time of UFC 1 if you were smaller and less athletic than your opponent then winning a fight was going to be hard let alone wining off your back as that was deemed impossible, Royce changed that perception really quickly by ripping thorough UFC I and II.

That aside Jon Jones was out of the main event at UFC 200, the biggest event in UFC history, for failing a drug test which is just the latest stuff up on his list of stuff up’s. The list includes May 19 2012 he drove his car in to a pole while under the influence, Jan 16 2015 it was revealed that he failed a drug test prior to UFC 182, Then his worst April 27 2015 it was confirmed by police in Albuquerque, New Mexico that Jones was being sought in connection with a hit-and-run early the previous morning. Jones was alleged to have run a red light and crashed his rental car in a collision involving two other vehicles. Jones allegedly fled the scene of the crash on foot, leaving an injured pregnant woman behind in another vehicle. That evening Jones turned himself in. Then most recently July 8 2016 he tested positive to a banned substance, the violation was from an out of competition test, Jones faces a 2 year suspension if the doping violation is up held.

This is where I rant, Jon Jones deserves a life time ban not 2 years with a track record like that, to put it in perspective Nate Diaz was banned for 5 years after a failed drug test from UFC 183, for marijuana, as well as a $165,000 fine. Yes Jones is a big money winner for the UFC but how bad is he making the sport look, as he is at the pinnacle of the sport history dictates that he is judged harder than anyone else. A good example of this is Lance Armstrong, the most successful Tour De France rider, who got his 7 Tour De France wins striped due to doping. To put this in perspective 17 of the 19 people that stood on the podium with him in those 7 wins failed drug tests and no other TDF winner has ever had their title taken away even after failing drug tests (Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis for example). If the Nevada State Athletic commission decide on a 2 year ban for Jones then I think the UFC need to step in make an example that this is not acceptable in MMA and give him a ban for minimum of 5 years, I personally would like to see a life time ban as Jones for his terrible track record.

It seems that in Jon Jones’ UFC carer that the only person that can beat him is himself, his only loss on the his record is to Matt Hamill for illegal techniques, elbows called 12-6, then due to his bad decisions he was stripped of the UFC title and has now missed out on the main event of UFC 200 due to more bad decisions, and by bad decisions I mean drugs. Do the UFC really want a guy like that as the face of the sport, I would think not. The UFC has given Jones enough chances to rehabilitate but he has shown that time and time again he can’t stay away from drugs be they recreational or performance enhancing, therefore I believe Jon Jones time in the UFC should be over.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

Someone new walks through your doors and steps on the mat, they are physical and have some ability but no real technique and a massive ego. They want to fight now, you know they are not ready – what do you say?

Here is the battle, do you look after that person and make them understand that they need a few more months of training then they can fight. Or do you give them what they want and get them a fight and let them find out the hard way. As a trainer I have no problem if people lose, but I will not send one of my fighters in unprepared. Everyone who steps in the cage has got a hole in their game that they need to avoid and every opponent has a strength that you need to deal with. That battle as a trainer, which is the fun part, is giving your fighter the plan to take the opponents strength away from them and get the win. If you do not have the prep time for a new fighter are you just sending the lamb to the slaughter?

As a trainer the most important thing is the trust between trainer and fighter, the fighter needs to trust that everything you are doing as a trainer is to make them better. There are some hard decisions that need to be made as sometimes you need to protect the fighter from themselves as fighters can say yes to fights without thinking through. Then at the time of the fight the trainer again needs to protect the fighter from themselves, because a real fighter just keeps going until either the ref or corner stops them. So in the fight the fighter is taking a hiding and will not give up sometimes the trainer has to throw to towel to protect their fighter. Take Valesquez vs Dos Santos II and III, in those fights Dos Santos took an absolute hiding for 50 minutes of his life. The trainer should see that in round 3 he is just taking too much punishment and call the fight, especially in the second fight do you really want to put your fighter through that again. Also after his career is over how will those beatings affect his quality of life.

In short I would not chuck a new fighter in a fight without preparation. There is no hesitation in putting someone with a few fights behind them in a fight on short notice but not a newbie. As trainer I need to know that the fighter has had a good prep and I need to know that I have done everything I can to get them ready for the fight anything short of that is a failure and I could not walk with a fighter to the cage with that over my head.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

Recently there has been the top 200 Fighters in the UFC on TV. I was happy to see the great Kazushi Sakuraba on the list, as he fought in Pride not for UFC. Then within a few seconds I was in shock as Conor McGregor was ranked higher at 37. If you know your MMA history then you will know that these two are not in the same league.

Sakuraba’s most memorable fights were in Pride, since UFC (Zuffa) brought Pride he has been included in the UFC rankings. How he became a legend is by beating 4 people with the last name of Gracie at a time when they were unbeatable. Sakuraba was a former pro wrestler who got in to MMA, he had great cardio and a fantastic mind for fighting as he always managed to stay relaxed during fights. To put his achievement is perspective at the time (1999 – 2000) the Gracie’s were the top name in submission fighting and next to unbeatable in MMA. Then Sakuraba who was unknown at the time went up against Royler Gracie and won via kimura (arm lock), so not only did he win he managed to beat one of the famed Gracie’s at their own game. Next was Royce Gracie and won via TKO (corner stoppage). Then Renzo Gracie was another victim to the kimura, Renzo had too much honour / Pride to tap and got his arm broken, and finally was Ryan Gracie who lost via decision. He made the unbeatable Gracie’s beatable, which at the time seemed impossible and earned the nickname ‘The Gracie Hunter’.

Conor McGregor on the other hand is great at trash talking but his actual fighting is nothing that the sport has not seen. He has not transformed striking in anyway. However what he has done is change the way that people build up fights and made it more like boxing, with all the trash talk. Now people believe that you have to ‘talk’ to get the big fights, one of the worst examples was the attempted trash talk by Ben Rothwell after one of his fights. Conor has made a lot of money for the UFC with his talk and brought new fans in to the sport as well as having all of Ireland behind him. However at the end of the day he has only had 8 fights in the UFC with 7 wins and 1 loss. His fighting ability does not put him in the to 50, or even the top 100.

I am not sure who is doing the voting for the rankings but the hype seems to have swayed the voting for McGregor even after he got knocked down with punches then tapped out in his last fight. The guy just has not done enough to be among some of the legends of the sport, yes he is talented but being the unquestioned best trash talker in the sport does not make you a legend, just good at talking. Time will tell what Conor McGregor legacy will be, a big mouth or great fighter with great trash talk, either way he has not done enough to ranked ahead of the great Kazushi Sakuraba.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/