Archive for June, 2017

This year we have already been blessed with a great boxing match, Joshua v Klitchscho. Where it was the old lion vs the young lion, both men got off the canvas and there was a great comeback for a finish in final rounds. Boxing has been on the down slide for as there has been lacking an exciting champion and it needed a shot of adrenaline, to me that could be Anthony Joshua to inject the excitement back it the sport. However what I do not think is good for boxing, or fight sports in general, is the Mayweather v McGregor fight. This is just an absolute farce and outside of the money I can’t see the upside for fight sports.

Let’s put the Mayweather v McGregor fight, or circus, in to perspective. On the 16th September 2017 there is, in my opinion, one of the most intriguing fights in years GGG v Canelo. GGG or Gennady Golovkin (37W 0L 33KO’s) is one of the best boxers of all time, he has one of those stupid amateur records with 345W 5L and is undefeated as a professional. His opponent Saul Alvarez (59W 1L 1NC 34KO’s) is also amazing, he doesn’t have the amateur record of GGG because he turned pro at 15 and that is why he has had over 60 pro fights and the tender age of 26. Canelo’s only loss has come from Floyd Mayweather, which is no real shame when you fight the best when you are only 23. What makes this fight so interesting is that two top fighters and going against each other and that does not happen as often as you would think. This is one of those fights where you can sit down and come up with a reason why each of them can win, then counter that argument and continue to go back and forth in your head. GGG does not do anything flash and makes boxing look easy, he takes away his opponents job walks them down then destroys them with over hand right left hook to the head and left hook to the body. When you watch him you can’t quite figure how is so effective with such a simple style, but he is and it is a thing of beauty. He is one of my favourite fighters to watch as he just so damn good. Canelo is extremely technical, he doesn’t really do anything wrong, his hands are up he punches hard with both hands, so he is hard to hit and then when he lands it does a lot of damage.

If you compare a fight of two truly great fighters to the circus, on the 26th August 2017, that is Floyd Mayweather (49W – 0L) who is one of the best fighters in history and arguably the best defensive fighter of all time against Conor McGregor (0W – 0L) is a MMA fighter that has a very good left straight. What frustrates me is that more people will watch the circus than are really good boxing fight, then as a flow on effect the fighters in the circus will also get paid more. I am planning to pay to watch both, which bugs me somewhat, but the GGG v Canelo is a lot more interesting to me.

So who will win, in the boxing match I am going for GGG because these guys are very close with skill and ability he seems to have a more dominant style and haven’t ever really seen him backed up, where as we have seen Canelo loose. In saying that both fighters can land a big shots and change the course of the fight, not an easy fight for either of them.
For the so called ‘boxing’ match between a big mouth and a retired fighter seems to have got everyone talking, which shows how things have changed. The chance of McGregor winning is very remote, most people have said that all he needs to do is land his left hand and it is over. Where that argument falls down is that Mayweather fought 7 southpaws and did not hit the canvas or get any standing 8 counts, then to top it off he fought the best south paw in history, Manny Pacquio, who missed 85% of the punches he threw at Mayweather. So if one of the best and fastest punchers in history can’t hit Mayweather how the hell is McGreggor going to land a shot. People use McGreggor’s MMA history and gauge on his striking prowess, which is also unfounded when you have level changes and kicks to disguise your punches it makes it a little easier to disguise your punches, which gives them a greater chance of landing. Now all McGregor has is his right and left hand and that will make it very difficult for him to land anything.

If we put this in to a Rugby context people are choosing to watch the Warriors play the 2010 All Blacks in rugby, yes it is kind of interesting but wouldn’t you rather watch the 2017 AB’s play the Lions and watch a potentially a great contest and see all the skills on display??

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

Who are the scariest people on the UFC roster right now I do not mean the best fighters in the UFC I just mean the ones that you would least like to spar against. Here is my list of ‘hell no’ I don’t want to spar them.

The list is in no particular order and is based on what I believe it would be like to spar against these people.

Khabib Nurmagomedov, 24-0. Khabib is one the most dominant fighters the UFC has seen. There has been plenty of great fighters in the UFC so why would I put this relative new comer on the list. Keep in mind that he fights at 70kg so we are not talking about big guy here, however with his style of fighting it doesn’t matter. He has a background in wrestling and judo and has landed some of the most spectacular take downs in UFC history. So this is how I think sparring against him would go, he is not much of a striker so I can imagine he would strike for a bit until he got a little frustrated and then he would go for a takedown, you might be able to defend the first attempt but he would flow from attack to attack and would get you down, most likely in a big dramatic and with a rather painful landing. Once you are on the mat your soul belongs to him, his smothering top control means every movement you make is met by control and punishment. If he decides to add in some ground and pound he will tie up an arm and punch you until he either gets bored or decides to change position. Once Khabib takes you down then for us mere mortals then are two ways that you are getting up one is the end of the round, and this is most likely you one and only useful escape which is to either tap out or start crying from taking a beating. There is nothing worse than sparring someone who does not give you enough room to breathe and then punishes you every time you try and move with tighter and tighter control with side order of GnP it would not be fun. As Khabib is one of the best ever (maybe the best) at this style that is why sparing against him would be a very scary prospect.

Yoel Romero 14 -1, Yoel is an Olympic wrestler who won the 1999 world champs and a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. If my knowledge is correct he has beaten 3 Olympic Gold Medallists including Cael Sanderson. To put this in perspective Cael Sanderson is America’s most successful College wrestler he is the only wrestler to go through college undefeated (151-0). If you have ever wrestled you will understand how cray that record is. In Cael’s post college career Yoel defeated him twice, think about that for a second. Cael does not lose and Yoel beat him twice. This should give you an indication of his talent. I know that there are plenty of good wrestlers in the UFC so what makes Yoel so scary compared to the others? Here is your answer, take Daniel Cormier for example who is also an Olympic Wrestler and won a Bronze at the World Champs which also makes him a unreal with his wrestling. I get the impression that if you sparred against DC he would take you down and beat you for sure, but as he is such a clever fighter I can’t see him using any extra strength than needed to take you down, in short you would be more or less safe against him. Now with Yoel, going by the way he fights, has two speeds. One is slow and just moving around with no real effort, then the other is the most explosive and powerful movement that you will ever see from a 85kg man. Even against the top level competition when he does a takedown he seems surprised how hard he takes them down. As in his fight against Lyoto Machida, a simple foot sweep with an opposite side under hook put Lyoto at right angles with the ground roughly 3ft high, which is unreal. Then against Chris Weidman, who had never been taken in the UFC, he did a double leg and drove him 15ft across the cage. In sparring against Yoel there is a good chance he would put you in to orbit when he went for a take down, then to add insult to injury, he wouldn’t mean to or said in another way he thought you would be better. If he threw a ‘quick’ punch at you with his speed and power you would starve to death rolling after it landed. I am sure he is a great guy and is gentle by nature, but he has a nuclear generator in the nucleus of his muscle cells and it seems that Homer Simpson is at the control panel. When he goes at 60 – 70% that would destroy most normal people and I can only imagine how tentative you would be sparing him waiting for the inevitable lighting fast attack which will leave you on your back, from a strike or more likely a take down, staring at the ceiling thinking what just happened.

Chris ‘Cyborg’ Santos 17 -1 -1(NC), Firstly I truly believe that Cybrg is one of the scariest people male or female in the UFC. Cyborg has one loss on her record, she lost he first fight via knee bar in 2005 she has not lost since. It is not her record that makes her scary it is how she dominates her competition and makes it look like they should not even by in the same division with the gap in talent and physicality. Cyborg is known for he aggressive striking but she has also won world BJJ titles in the purple belt division. That is a big concern as she doesn’t usually need her grappling skill to win fights as she just punches their face off. Cyborg’s intensity is one of her big weapons she has an aura of complete confidence and destruction. I can imagine being on the same mat as her and then she taps your glove to signify you are sparring next, then your blood pressure would increase to level similar to trying to push a golf ball through a hose and your pulse would need the rev counter from your car to count the beats per minute. Then the round would start and those heavy hands start thumping on your guard and the power of the punches feel like a 90kg guy not a 70kg lady. You go in to survival mode and the harder you go the more she plants her feet and matches everything you have then goes to level you will be not be able to handle. To save from knocking you out she takes you to the ground dominates you, taps you out and lucky for you it all starts again as the round is not over. After sparring she would take your lunch money, give you a wedgie and you would say thank you before running away to the corner to lick your wounds.

Cain Velasquez 14 -2, Cain is quite simply the most dangerous guy in the UFC. He has had injury problems which has slowed him down. When he is not injured he is hands down the most dangerous heavy weight the UFC has seen. His striking is top shelf with great timing and his counter punching is just evil. Then he has his wrestling and ground and pound. He has the power of a heavyweight and the movement of a middle weight. To put it bluntly I find it unfair when someone is a bit ‘loose’ around the midsection and then is really fit, fast and strong. He is so focused that I can’t imagine him giving you an easy round, he would give you 100% to get the best out of the session. Your brain would be going like a hamster on a wheel trying to deal with his striking, then the level change happens and you are going for a ride, because you are so out of your depth with the striking you can’t even see the takedown coming. Every time you moved you have a 105kg lump keeping you in a bad position. He would make you look like a baby and he would do it effortlessly, I can see him being polite and respectful afterwards and he might even give you your organs back in a vacuum sealed bag so you can keep training after the operation.
To me these are the scariest people in the UFC, it is hard to define what puts people on this list and keeps others off. There are some very talented fighters that would not be as scary to spar against, Damian Mia is on the nice list he is a very tough guy and would tie you up in knots but that is to be expected against the best grappler in the UFC. Stipe Miocic would beat the snot out of you but doesn’t seem like a scary dude. However Wanderlei Silva nearly made the list even though his best days are behind him and he doesn’t fight for the UFC. I don’t quite know what the measure of scary is, and what makes someone who has crazy skill and tough as nails not scary. It mayb is their image or their mind set. All I know is that everyone on the list would be scary as hell to spar against.

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