Things I learned from this UFC...
Tito was very non committal in his fight...so I don't think even HE knew what his gameplan was. I realize he did try to clinch 2-3 times and he did throw an occasional strike, but if you watch him striking against Shamrock and shooting against Silva you can see him fully committing to a certain gameplan. Against Chuck he was legitimately afraid to do either. I guess that whole thing about Chuck owning him in training had a LOT of merit as Tito seemed intimidated.
Chuck looked VERY composed in this fight...much more so than against Couture, Overeem, and Jackson. I'm interested to see if he can rebound to the top again. He was throwing his shots a LOT sharper and straighter (sans the very end) than usual...remnicent of the Babalu fight. His wild swings at the end were great because he always seems to mix them with straight punches to sneak through someone's guard. Tito covered up well (so did Guy and Alistair) but chuck's shots snuck through.
Nick Diaz came in with a gameplan I thought was a bad idea, but if you think about it...it's similar to Couture/Liddell. Straight punches and a controlled attack seems to beat the 'jab and wild right' strategy. Admittedly the actual finish reminded me of Liddell/Belfort...but soemtimes firing a nice shot after you've been hit is a good idea.
Arlovski must've had one of the best connect %'s in MMA history against Cabbage. He hit him flush at least 50 times and I was beginning to wonder if he'd break his hand before flooring Cabbage. I don't think Cabbage hit him more than 2-3 times and it made for a pretty one sided beating. Anyone who thinks Arlovski would be outclassed by Sylvia is wrong. He might not beat him necessarily, but on Friday he proved that he's certainly on the same level.
Tiki is a tough guy who can hang with the better fighters in the world, but just finds a way to lose. Lytle's pretty amazing for a guy who seems to treat MMA as just a random passtime.
I don't want to see Mike Kyle again. The biting because "he was choking me!" was just wrong. At least try and claim you were fouled first or something to make it seem a LITTLE more justified. Props to Sims for showing up and he did look okay on the ground...but the man has got to be one of the most awkward stand-up fighters ever and his gastank seems to be REALLY small.
Oh yeah - almost forgot...I think Hermes won the fight against Yves, just like everyone else. It was close, but I think he was the aggressor the whole time. Yves never really hit him with anything and he went for at least 3 subs, multiple head kicks, scored several takedowns, and dictated the pace. Yves did well and was never in serious danger, but I don't think he won or really did anything to make anyone think he did.
your tito analysis is dead on. tito was afraid to commit to anything either striking wise or grappling. mentally he seemed the beaten fighter waiting for the inevitable. i dont think hell ever beat Lidell of rewatching that fight again yesterday. he didnt want to be in there, and had no gameplan much less the will to execute one.
Maybe Tito was *unsure* of his game plan because Ferocious Vargas has been *changing* his game plan?
Would you agree that when you are being taught a different fight strategy you become unsure if you've only been training it a short time?
Domingo,
You are absolutely right on Tito. I wrote in a
previous trend that just by his posture you could tell
he was mentally KTFO. For the first time you saw Tito
in a crouch, rather than his confident straight up
posture in which he punched and clinched for the
body lock.
You could tell he was very intimidated by Chuck's
punches and didn't seem interested in clinching
with Chuck. The one time he did seem to clinch, Chuck
tossed him aside.
It appeared that Tito wanted to get out of there as
soon as he could. Even at the end, it looked like he
wanted to bail the second Chuck connected with
anything. A game fighter would have shot, or at least
trid to tie up the other guy. Tito wasn't dazed, he
had his facalties and yet just stood there covering up
until one of Chuck's punches got through at which
point he quickly flopped with no intention of getting
up unless it was in Big John's portective arms.
tito had no heart in that fight
Domingo speak the truth