Aside from those cool knees he landed years ago against Erickson & Kerr I haven't been impressed much by Heath's striking development. How many years has he been living in Holland training w/ Golden Glory? Watching him get hit by that big blob Gan McGee (ok, I know Gan took fight on short notice) who was moving in friggin' slow motion was just sad. What the hell has he been doing all this time? Don't get me wrong I like Heath but if I wasn't aware of where he trains I would NEVER suspect he has spent YEARS living in Holland training w/ one of the supposed best trainers there.
It's a little confusing isn't it.
you can walk down the streets in Amsterdam and just about run into world class kickboxers, yet Heath doesn't seem to be evolving that part of his game at all... Even regressing?
the evolution of mma is passing by herring. there are now just better, well-rounded fighters than him, but i'm still watch him beat any tomato can
Isn't his trainer Ramon Dekkers stepfather?
it does look like his stand up has regressed alittle. But im still a fan
Heath has some bad habbits he's gotten into. He looks
down when he punches. And when he shoots takedowns he
reaches out with his arms so when someone sprawls on
him, he can't back out...he just falls of his face.
He needs to work on improving his technique.
Just becasue a guy trains kickboxing doesn't mean he's going to be good at it. Just becasue you train with good fihgters doesn't make you a good fighter. etc... I see this logic all the time. That becasue a guy trains this or that he should all of a sudden be Mo Smith or something. It's not that easy. It takes years to get good at anything and some people will never be good at certain things no matter how long they train. Just becasue you go to the batting cages doesn't mean you can hit off Randy Johnson etc...
Maybe time to leave Amsterdam and go train elsewhere.
His stand up looked better then gans although thats not saying much at all.
Heath has some decent kicks, his punches have never been his strong point though.
I actually thought his stand up looked better then it had.
He needs to come back to the states and start training with Miletich,Team Oyama,Team Quest or somebody.
I don't think his standup is gonna get any better and that he has put alot of stock in it and uses it as his main arsenal.
Dosen't he have a lack of real good wrestlers/jiu jitsu guys to train with also?
"Hey, the man only lost to Fedor, Mino, and Cro Cop. to me he's Number #4 in the world. Think about it."
Sylvia, Rizzo, Ricco don't exist?
hes kinda like a goodrige, gatekeeper for pride. i think hes best at sub escapes. most other stuff hes pretty sloppy at
Heath at Team Quest, now that could be a scary prospect. I wish Heath would return to his roots of wrestling and knees on the ground. Being around all those strikers could be diverting him from his strengths.
He looked o.k. until he got the mouse. Then it was downhill. Did he take his contacts out?
IMHO his standup has gotten better. His guard is solid, his round kick (Thai kick) is sharp . . . he does look down when he throws the overhand right but so does Liddell.
One of his major problems is that he works all of his weapons in isolation. Gan threw more combinations than Heath did. Heath hit harder, he kicked harder, his strikes were generally more effective but he never took advantage of any opportunity after the initial strikes of each exchange. He needs to link his strikes together.
His biggest 2 problems are that he has zero head movement and he only moves straight forward. Its like putting a huge target on your face and demanding that your opponent run his fist into your face. The man needs to move!
Heath should fuckin train with CHUTE BOXE. Silva, Ninja, Shogun will def. help his standup.
wel it loked like he beat vitor, but special rules gave vitor the descision
Actually this is one of the few fights where he has been the smaller guy! So he had to fight a little bit different, I have never been to impressed with his boxing or hands skills, he usually used the Thai kick pretty well to the outside of the thigh but that was it! His punches actually looked a little sharper and straighter than in his previous fights, except for the fact that he kept his head down! I am impressed with a lot of the Golden Glory Team's kickboxing, but they don't seem to work their "boxing" as good as some other gyms!
AkiraY: #4 in the world. Not even close! Not to mention you forgot about SIX of the guys that beat him
Heath is a good fighter, borderline top 10 but he will never be the best b/c his striking isn't that great and his submissions aren't that great. His 2 big wins over the Big Cat & Kerr were kind of flukey. And his win over Igor could have been a draw or gone the other way just as easily