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[Malice]

If you could reach into the brain of a fighter and fix one thing...

What are some things that really make you wonder: "why haven't they picked this up?", as it would improve their abilities, showmanship and record immensely:

1) I wish all wrestlers would learn to pass the guard and at least one good submission.
How many times do we have to watch rabbit punches from inside the guard, when an arm is hanging out there for an armbar? pass pass pass...

2) I wish all non wrestlers would learn 1 good escape or reversal from bottom.
How many times do we have to watch someone get laid on and get hit from guard?

3) I wish Spencer Fisher would learn to stuff takedowns.
Dude just learn to sprawl at least.

[2mcgrath]

kongo comes to mind here,he needs a ground game really bad

there are others that could use ground game to

[Ramma]

Nice thread, repped.


I am going to do specific fighters if that is okay.


1. Cro Cop, I know he is a stand up fighter with great TDD, but he needs to learn how to get off the ground better and learn to strike while moving backwards. Cro Cop has a lot of trouble getting off the ground once you have him there. And although it isn't fool proof, Cro Cop can have trouble striking while being pressured.

2. Karo needs to either: strengthen his strikes to gain KO power or increase his submission abilities. Karo almost always goes to decision and even though I don't mind 3 round or 5 round fights, it would be nice to see Karo finishing some people again. Personally, I think he should just improve his ground game. We need more technical guys on the ground.

3. Chuck Liddell needs to more to his arsenal.. Chuck is already 1 dimensional fighter, but he has thrown away any and all kicks and knees. IMO, Chuck will never truly get back to his old self if he doesn't bring it back

4. Rich Franklin, I know this is an obvious one, but.. clinch defense.. in a whole year of time to prepare for it.. Rich Franklin's clinch defense hasn't change a bit. No offense, because I don't like to fighter bash (especially on ability), but I thought Franklin's second loss was more embarassing than his first to Anderson.. because it showed that he learned nothing..

5. Frank Trigg - Rear Naked Choke Defense

6. One Generalization - Wrestlers need to work on submissions (I agree completely Rock). Riding out a decision is rarely a treat (it can be, but it is rare). Dropping elbows and throwing ineffective shots to the body can go... bring on the submissions


That's just off the top of my head.

[Noob]

** 1. Leg kicks. Motherfucking leg kicks. Leg kicks.


Look at the Chris Lytle vs. Thiago Alves fight. That fight was all Lytle until Alves pulled his leg kicks out of the bag. Lytle could barely stand by the end.

Look at Pedro Rizzo, he's about the only other person I can think of that has ever had good leg kicks. Crocop had good kicks in general, but not great leg kicks. Come on people, kick some shit.





** 2. Pass the guard.


You're not Fedor, so stop trying. Only Fedor can kill and maul from inside the guard, you can't. No, not even you Tito.






** 3. Let's learn some open guard.

I know it's hard to use the guard effectively in MMA at the highest levels, but holy shit. When was the last person we saw with a truly effective guard in MMA? Nog, Aoki, Penn, that's your list. You can argue for more, but no matter how you slice it it's going to be short.

In MMA, life is always better on top, but that doesn't mean that the guard can't be a really offensive weapon if you train to make it one. I'm tired of seeing people fight for underhooks/overhooks from guard and stalling for a standup, or conversely trying to rush a submission and throwing up an ugly-ass triangle or armbar that looks like a white belt having a convulsion on their first day of BJJ lessons.

[Malice]

Originally Posted by Ramma

1. Cro Cop, I know he is a stand up fighter with great TDD, but he needs to learn how to get off the ground better and learn to strike while moving backwards. Cro Cop has a lot of trouble getting off the ground once you have him there. And although it isn't fool proof, Cro Cop can have trouble striking while being pressured.

2. Karo needs to either: strengthen his strikes to gain KO power or increase his submission abilities. Karo almost always goes to decision and even though I don't mind 3 round or 5 round fights, it would be nice to see Karo finishing some people again. Personally, I think he should just improve his ground game. We need more technical guys on the ground.

.

I love these first 2. I wonder if Cro Cop isn't very mental, because he evaded a lot of damage from guard vs Fedor.

Karo...I totally agree with you, he obviously does not have KO power, I think he needs to work on some submissions, because his fights are getting progressively stale.

[Malice]

** 1. Leg kicks. Motherfucking leg kicks. Leg kicks.

No doubt...this is so overlooked.

Also might I add, if you are going to use a Leg kick...learn to aggressively snap and withdraw the kick to avoid a grab and takedown. I see way too many fighters try a leg kick and do it like they are pushing a doorstop in, SNAP that thing.

[NixHex]

Lack of leg kicks, and lack of passing the guard are also things i've noticed fighters need to pick up. Look how effective the leg kick can be in the Jardine v Liddell fight, and any Rizzo win.

I wanna see more standing elbows in the clinch... this can be a brutal weapon, and elbows always have a way of surprising people when the fighters are pummeling for position.

[Lindypmp]

Knees to the body while in side mount. For some reason, it seemed much more common in Pride than in the UFC.

[Malice]

1 other thing I would like to see done more often:

Come out aggressively, stop the 3 min "feeling out" process in the 1st round, let's get this shit going.

[rivethead]

This is the best created thread I've seen in weeks--and by created, I mean not cutting and pasting an article someone else wrote, but actually thinking about MMA and coming up with something original. Nice work, Rockx.

I'd like to see better striking D in general. There are a lot of fighters who can't slip a punch to save their lives. I actually think it's more vogue to eat a shot to set up a counter than it is to slip it clean as part of the reaction.


There are also a few things I'd like to see change in general...Focusing on the UFC in particular, in addition to adjusting fighter's salaries, I think they should offer a 10K "finishing bonus" to any fighter who either [T]KOs or subs an opponent, beyond any FOTN bonuses. I'd couple that with the yellow cards from PRIDE, with subsequent fines for slothfests.

Outside of the ring, I'd like fighters to have some understanding of the impact of their interviews/statements. If a fighter talks up a fight [burgers/wheelchair] comes to mind, and then completely fail to deliver on said beatdown, they shouldn't be talking smack for their next fight. I really despise "professional" wrestling, so it's probably just a bias against that kind of love me/hate me-but-watch-me bullshit. I think it doesn't do anything to make a fight better, and it cheapens the sport in general. I think the fight should be dramatic in and of itself, I don't think smacktalk does anything but delegitimize it.

But that's probably just me, I know a lot of guys who love that shit. If I do have to watch that shit, I think it would be great to see an interveiwer call out people who talk all the time, and fail to deliver. It would be nice to witness brain activity before the mouth opens.

rh