I see nothing but 2 completely opposite points of view on this upcoming fight,either holly gonna smash with counters, or cyborg gonna sleep this bitch and she won’t wakeup for days,there Is no in between with this fight lol,no "well you know really anyone can take this fight,I’ll respect both the winner and the loser,but the real winners are the fans for getting this fight (which is true no matter how gay it sounds,this fight is dope af).
So watching the Tonya vs cyborg fight on my dvr,and took away a few things after seeing it again and figured I would post about it,I tried to be unbiased and take away pros and cons for cyborg,if you think I should do this with holly as well let me know…
Pros-cyborg was extremely patient in this fight,there was many times (even with the opening strikes) where she could have rushed in when she staggered Tonya and tried to get the finish but she just hung back and picked her shots.
-she had a game plan and followed it very closley. She knew tonya is very tough and likleyw would be harder to put out then her previous opponents.the game plan,to me at least, looked like it was to pepper her all over the body with 50% power to weaken Tonya and then once it was clear she was breaking down heavy to go for the finish. She was throwing jab to low kick to the lead leg over and over,then also jab,body hook to overhand or head kick.
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she has had noticeable Improvements since training with Jason parillo,and in the fight it showed big time,her striking was a lot more accurate and she knew the difference of when to throw softer shots and when to turn it up,and then bring the power lower again,also noticed that her foot work looked great in this fight,she was setting traps and cutting off exits for tonya,constantly backing her up by using her footwork and not just pushing forward like she used to do,bully movement basically.
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her clinch is arguably her best skill set,next to her striking and power, but her clinch defense was on point as well,tonya was trying to use the clinch to open up opportunities for big strikes but cyborg was shutting her down very fast after being tied up and also reverse dominate positions.
-going to the body and legs a lot more in this fight,and the shots were clean,not rushed.
-her grappling defense was looking really good, tonya got 2 takedowns,poaaibly 3? and each time cyborg was able to use tonyas momentum against her and get right back up.
-her work against the cage was excellent,not allowing tonya to escape while not getting tunnel vision like she used to,before she would get her opponents to the cage and then just start unloading,in this fight she would get her back to the cage and would throw combos but when she would see tonya start to try and get out to the left or right,she would reset her feet and block tonya exit.
Now for the cons,just so I’m not being biased,as a cyborg fan of course I want her to beat holly, admittedly there were not more than a couple things Tonya was able to do good against cyborg so I will throw in things I’ve seen in the past 5 cyborg fights as well.
Cons- it only happened 2 times,but when Tonya backed cyborg up cris looked very uncomfortable and moved straight back and also when she did start to exit to the side she did it very sloppy, both a big no no against high level striker like holm…
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tonya was able to land some crisp jabs on cyborg because cyborg always is willing to take 2 shots to land one, but this time tonya was able to get off a few solid jabs without cris being able to walk thru and counter.which brings me to my next point…
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a few times in this fight and previous fghts,cyborg backed up straight with her CHIN UP, she’s gotten better at head movement,but still leaves her Chin up a lot of times in a fight. Holly can def. Capitalize on this
-cris is very strong in the clinch,also very good technique in the clinch,but she also leaves openings for trip takedown when she’s trying to open her opponents up for strikes,I know holly won’t be looking for take downs but I’m just pointing that out.
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when cyborg throws kicks sometimes she telegraphs for a split second before,not always,but occasionally she shifts her weight to the foot shes about to use and lifts her heel,then sets it bsck down and then a second later throws the kick she did this a few times against evinger and she caught the kicks. Holly will def. See those telegraphed kicks and counter with a hard shot.
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and finally cyborg leaves her left side exposed when throwing her overhand,more so than normal, there is always gonna be a pretty sizeable open spot when someone throws an overhand,particularly yhe uppercut is a devistating counter to an overhand,but half the time cyborg leaves herself over exposed during and after throwing it,she let’s her hand drop all the way to her waist before bringing it back up,also her jab,occasionally she will drop her other hand a little to low,about halfway down her neck,which could be HUGE trouble if cris does these two things and holly makes a read on it and starts timing it for a big counter.
I know that is an incredible amount to read but if you did read it please let me know what you think,if u don’t read it cause its to long well then I can’t blame you I guess lol. If you guys can think of anything else holly can expose on cyborg(actual tendencies or holes in her game,not your opinion or things that are not proven yet,like her cardio…we have not been able to see either way if her cardio can hold up or not) then write them in the replys,also if you know of any tendencies holly does that cyborg can use against her put those in your reply to,and like I said if it seems like people like this breakdown I’ll do one on holly as well. Thanks fr reading and merry Christmas to everyone!!