Kongo and Dan Lauzon

Bran · 10-16-2006, 01:22 PM

anyone else REALLY disappointed in Kongo's performance at UFC 64? he landed a few solid leg kicks, but had absolutely nothing to say to simple take downs. a month ago i was a little excited about this guy, but not anymore.

and dan lauzon, for being 18, taking the fight on 2 weeks notice, and having only 4 previous fights under his belt, impressed the hell out of me. he looked really good starting the fight and looked like he hurt fisher a few times, but in the end the lack of experience paired with gassing is what did him in. i have a lot of interest in the lauzon brothers.

tylerunemployed · 10-16-2006, 01:41 PM

yeah i wasnt impressed with kongo myself..i expected a knockout but he just couldnt stop his take downs and couldntd o anything offensivley on the ground..lauzon was impressive for only being 18 years old..having 4 fights..and taking it on 2 weeks knotice against spencer fisher

NinjaShogunRua · 10-16-2006, 01:43 PM

I didn't expect much from Kongo to begin with. He hasn't beaten anyone major. He got KO'd by Gilbert Yvel a couple of years ago, now he has a loss against a HS wrestling assistant coach. Now I'm just wondering, who can he beat?

Josephdumas · 10-16-2006, 02:04 PM

Unfortunatly for the UFC, there very desperate for heavyweight contenders. C. Kongo was a product and a hype job by the UFC. They made him sound like a real contender and they hoped he would knock out his opponent fast and furious on Saturday. That didn't happen and now the UFC can only hope someone can show signs of greatness between now and the time Sylvia runs out of people to fight. In my eyes, after Monson, it will be the winner of Vera and Mir and that it for contenders.

Cromm · 10-16-2006, 03:55 PM

IMO Kongo's BJJ has not adapted to mma rules. It is quite common for someone w/. classical gi instruction to use the guard to slow and isolate body parts it takes a bit longer, so you will see a tournament BJJ match take a minute or two thats for sure. I dont know what his training history is but obviosly he had some instruction. I think Kongo is young and not yet an adapted fighter. The other guy was a very strong wrestler, and used small strong movements to stay dominant. Kongo has a long way to go, but he is young. Dont pay so much attention to the hype, watch the fighter and evaluate the style and techniques yourself. Any promotor is going to have to endorse their fighter(I had a Rage in the Cage guy try and tell me theirs was the biggest org. in the World ha ha.) as the best in the world it generates attention)

liddell316 · 10-16-2006, 04:04 PM

Yeah, Kongo suddenly went from up and comer to total can.

Kewl144 · 10-16-2006, 04:08 PM

Kongo was fighting dirty by my count. He was throwing a lot of illegal elbows when he was on his back. According to the rules, "Striking downward using the point of the elbow." <--that's pretty much all he did from his back. On the other hand, his opponent looked like he had a concusion from falling on his head during a throw and seemed quite out of it during the post fight interview; especially the point where he says "that hurt, see that right there, i heard something cracking and moving and..."

bmore_aki · 10-16-2006, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBranMan

anyone else REALLY disappointed in Kongo's performance at UFC 64? he landed a few solid leg kicks, but had absolutely nothing to say to simple take downs. a month ago i was a little excited about this guy, but not anymore.

and dan lauzon, for being 18, taking the fight on 2 weeks notice, and having only 4 previous fights under his belt, impressed the hell out of me. he looked really good starting the fight and looked like he hurt fisher a few times, but in the end the lack of experience paired with gassing is what did him in. i have a lot of interest in the lauzon brothers.

I think you just about summed it up well here. Kongo got exposed for not having good takedown defense and didn't show much from his back. That being said, I still think he is a more talented striker than current UFC champ Tim Sylvia.
The flaws in Kongo's game were exposed but I do not believe Sylvia to be strong enough in takedowns to exploit his weakness.
It looks like Kongo is going to have to go back to the drawing board and improve his takedown defense quite a bit. A fight against a striker and another wrestler seem to be necessary to one prove he has improved his game and two to re-establish what he does best.
If he gets 3 or 4 fights in next year, I can easily see him fighting for the UFC heavyweight title. Yes, I know that doesn't say much about the HWY division but it is what it is.

On more positive note, the "Upgrade" ain't no joke. I really would like to see the Lauzon kid brought back and given adequate time to train and prepare for his opponent. What he doesn't have in experience he makes up for with raw talent and uncanny well-roundedness. Opponents need to be on the look out for a third brother from out that clan!