Is anyone else noticing how far this guy has come along in such a short time? His first fight ever was two and a half years ago. He's undefeated, the winner of TUF, and now he's quickly becoming a true Mixed Martial Artist.
In his fight versus Marrero, we saw Bader take risks with his evolving jiu jitsu game, by doing spinning armbars from top position. He destroyed his knee for the effort, but it was extremely technical move to attempt by a wrestler.
Last night he swung for the fences. He had Eric Shafer rocked two times in the fight badly, in what became purely a stand up war. I'm now impressed at how far his boxing has come along in such a short period of time. He used a stiff jab, hard right hands, and explosive lead hooks all night long. When Shafer began countering Bader with hard right hands, Bader realized his mistake, ducked his head to left, and countered with his own right. This early understanding of angles, head movement, adapting to a fight - they're all things that take most people a long time to learn. Bader's learning it remarkably quick.
We know he has power. We saw the slingshot from hell put Tom Lawlor in a snooze. He won other fights by TKOs and KOs... The guy seems the the total package. Great wrestling, knockout power, a risk taking jiu jitsu game, and the ability to adapt during a fight.
Think of how much better this guy will be in two and a half more years?
Bader is the real deal and looked to be in good form last night.
Bader did good, almost blew his load all in the first round too.
Great post. I will add heart, intelligence and nice GnP. My only question was where were the elbows? Maybe T will see this and give us his thoughts. If so, great job T. You are creating beasts!
blue63 - His standup looked mediocre at best
Well he isn't gonna become Evander Holyfield over night. Lets give the guy some credit here. Also don't ignore the fact that Bader has balls. He leaves himself vulnerable in standup exchanges, because he's looking to work counters/angles like a legitimate striker would. Sure he has his faults, but you can't knock the guy for fighting in the pocket. He's trying to learn with his fights. He isn't dancing around, running away, and throwing a few punches; he's throwing combinations, taking risks in the pocket, and also looking for the KO.
^^ well the fact that he's only been training for 2.5 years is a pretty good excuse...I can only imagine how much of a beast Bader's gonna be in October of 2010, with another year of training behind him.
And the TS right...Bader might still be a 'one-dimensional wrestler', but he's taking chances in his fights to try to use the new skills that he's been learning. Which is more than I can say for a LOT of competitors in the UFC.
I'd like to see Bader vs Bonnar
how did Red NOT get round 2?
Yeah I scored round two for Shafer. I thought Round 1 had a case as a 10-8 round, but I scored it 10-9