I haven't really seen anyone mention the body shots Chuck started using in the third and I thought it was a great strategy for him. He threw a couple earlier on in the fight but towards the end he was dropping low and throwing that right body hook beautifully. Tito was obviously already hurt but I think that played a decent part in finishing him off.
Seems like he would have been trying that a little sooner with the stories of his body shot hurting Tito so bad in the past.
Opinions?
Body shots are something you "let" happen, not something you force. Chuck started throwing them as the oppurtunites started to present themselves. He definitely hurt him with them.
You usually cant start of with body shots whether its boxing, kickboxing, or MMA, you have to get a guy worried about his head first. Forcing a bdoy shot in boxing gets you smacked hard, and harder in MMA and kickboxing where kicks and knees are a factor.
STLNL2
What you say is true, but with Tito's lack of confidence in trading with Chuck (and no, he was not comfortable trading shots) and the crazy combos Chuck throws I think he could have put some big body shots in sooner. Chuck knew Tito couldn't KO him so it would have made sense for him to land to the body to open up the head more, rather than go for the head to open the body. Either way though it was a great showing on his part.
"but with Tito's lack of confidence in trading with Chuck"
That makes it alot harder to hit a guy on the body. Tito was in and out alot, out more than in. To chase a guy down and hit him on the body when he wont commit to coming forward is asking for trouble. Chuck did the right thing at the right time. Maybe he could have started using the Body shots earlier, but he whipped Tito's ass in rd 1, took Rd 2 off 'cause he looked to have blown up a bit and knee was probably hurting like hell. He got to the Body as soon as it was feasible IMHO.
Right on man, I'm not trying to negativly critisize Chuck's performance in any way it just seemed that he could have incorporated them sooner, but the results obviously speak for themselves. He obviously shouldn't chase him with body shots, but the way he kept Tito to the cage, if he would have thrown some combos I think he could have drawn Tito in more going to the body cause then, as you stated, Tito would have more of a chance to swing on Chuck, thus making him commit a little more. (Damn that sentance ran on a long time, LOL)
Anyways the main point of this thread was more meant to be that Chuck landed some nice ass body shots on Tito, as I was hoping he would, and I think that those were a big part in putting him down in the third.
The only reason Chuck started with those duck low bodyshots was to set up that haymaker that followed the second right to the body.
^ correct