Wand was very uncharacteristically unaggressive and overly cautious than i've ever seen him when starting a fight. Couple of things I noted:
Wand didn't seem to want to committ to his strikes like he usually does was very tentative with them that is when he and Hunt where squaring off. Like when he fired off a shin kick and wasnt even stepping in to be sure he would land it, which he missed.
His hands always seem low which is usual for him. He tenses up with his thai posturing a lot which you'd think he'd be using his knee's legs when he does that since well when you tense up in that stance hard to fire his hands.. with speed. Didn't use any leg kicks/attacks at Hunt which I would think would of helped him to get inside or keep Hunt at bay if he fired more of them off during the match.
Needs to work on his take downs or should say his reactions to timing with his takedowns. Round 1 and 2 hurt him due to his inefficiency to being able to bring Hunt down, he either took some punishment coming in or Hunt was able to back pedal causing Wand to expend a lot of energy. Also was it me or did Wand also seemed to tire quickly. Maybe he didnt get enuff rest lately from all his activities that he is doing.
Wand being the striker predominately more so than a grappler yet who is good on the ground or has good training on the ground needs to work more on using his hips and leg positioning especially on top position to keep Hunt down. Grant it Hunt is larger and more powerful, just feel wand gave up to much space at times due to either wanting to try a strike or a submission but wasn't employing his hips or legs to create a bit of a stable base to be able to execute and yet still making much tougher on Hunt to escape.
The first punches that hit Wand from Hunt wasn't catching Wand flush and bit of a push when Wand fell and got back up immediately. The others that landed I think also took Wands energy reserves from him making him a bit punch drunk/tired but dont think he was as hurt as some folks are saying. He was stunned and weakened but I didn't think he was semi unconscious at all. Rocked yes.. but he never lost presence of what he was doing even when he went down to his back and assumed guard.
As for who won well both I think put on a tremendous show, giving the fans something to talk about. I'd say Hunt did maybe enuff dmg to sway it his way and made Wand play more of his game. A overtime round would of been a much better resolution or a Draw and a rematch being scheduled I'd rather seen.
Just a few thoughts, anyone else have any on the fight as far as from a perspective on Wand's game?
Well Hunt is definitely the factor that caused Wand's game to be different thats for sure, he's did well for himself. Looking at it from perspective on Wand what do you think he could of done or could improve on from what you saw?
Yep Hunt is a damn fine striker who is working into MMA nicely. However, other than Hunt making Wand play his game, any other thoughts as to what you think Wand could of tried or possibly work on when facing a opponent such as Hunt?
ehehe, well glad to entertain you Fletchmonster. Though after your first post in the Nog thread thought you might yet have something knowledgable to add guess you proved that not to be the case. Keep training bud.
Mark loves to trade blows, very exp., it's like comparing (Roy Jones going toe to toe with David Tua) weight makes a big difference in fighting when you have 70lbs advantage.
Pride SHOULD have a structured weight division, avoid all this confusion.( like SHOOTO)
I was thinking specifically about submissions. I saw one (1) legit sub attempt by Silva, a kimura which Hunt deftly rolled out of. I know Silva is a good striker, but Hunt is like twice his size, so going toe to toe just wasn't clear thinking on Silva's part. Wasn't the lesson of the first few UFCs that the smaller man can submit the bigger man if his bjj is good enough? I understand that Silva's a bb in bjj, so it's not like he doesn't have the skills.
It seems to me that Silva's battle plan is blitzkreig, shock-and-awe attacking. That works pretty well with people his own size, but with someone of Hunt's size and strength, he needed to adopt a more Royce-Gracie-style approach. I think he just failed to adapt his fighting style to the opponent. Don't get me wrong; I think Hunt's victory was totally legit. The punishment Hunt took didn't seem to hurt him, and the punishment he dished out did seem to hurt Silva. I just don't think Silva fought a smart fight.
"Looking at it from perspective on Wand what do you think he could of done or could improve on from what you saw?"
Honestly, probably not much. Considering Hunt's standup skills, power, and chin, I thought Vanderlei was surprisingly aggressive and willing to trade. The guy is fearless. But he really didn't have much of a chance to hurt Hunt standing, and Hunt hurt him several times.
This is one of those cases where a big weight disrepancy makes a huge difference. When it's Giant Silva who's got the weight advantage, 80lbs is nothing...but when you're talking about 2 SKILLED fighters, 80lbs is almost impossible for the lighter fighter to overcome. I think Silva did exceptionally well considering. Hunt is a very bad matchup for him because of his superb striking and chin and size. Most other heavies I think Silva stands a great chance against, it was just a bad matchup for him.
About the only other thing I can even say is what others have said, and that is that Silva's only real chance of stopping Hunt would be to sub him out. But he really didn't have much time to train specifically to fight Hunt, I'm sure he wasn't training to sub out Sakuraba. So I think he just did the best he could on short notice, and made one heck of a fight out of it.
Fletchmonster, its cool bro. I know you where just yanking my chain. Happens alot in the UG hehe.
Getting some good comments guys, many thanks. I just like to discuss some of the new fights really great to hear all the interesting comments hear other folks insights. Gonna have a forum might as well use it for some serious and thought provoking talks.