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Email i sent mike sloan re: the ufn (specifically his comment towards leben) long
You are one of the few people who has made the point i have been
making for years, alot of mma guys do not fully respect striking;
plain and simple most mma guys focus on one element of striking off
and it shows, they look fine when they oppen up and an opp covers up
or backs up in a straight line. But let that same opp give them
feints, circle, move in and out or show good head/upperbody movement
and these dudes become walking punching bags (see evans v whitehead or
hogar or imes); it's as if they have no idea how to cut off the cage
instead of chase, use a jab to setup a strike or punch in combination
so they don't get eaten up w/counters or punch in combinations instaed
of flurry so their opp can't just cover up and wait for them to stop
punching.
>
> So many mma guys learn the ground, off/def, takedown, guard,
submission, submission def, transitions, etc; but when it comes to
standup they rely on their natural handspeed or power or
condition/aggression. Example quarry v sell- sell saw quarry was slow
and somewhat awkward, an sell knew he had a good chin, quicker hands
and no prob letting his hands go; so he rushed in and was exchanging
w/quarry landing more often cus of his hand speed and mobility. BUT
then he walks right into a counter shot cus his chin is hanging out
and he was so focused on getting off offensively he did not bring his
hands back and got dropped, an had a ref stoppage ( that would not
have happened had he kept his punches snapping and coming back or came
in at an angle or kept his chin in...he made all three mistakes)
>
> Leben i like him tough hard hitting, smart, confident, well
prepared and fairly well round; he has won jd's, submission and ko.
But his standup is *ss, that is how kenflo lasted; his shots are not
short or sharp, they are wide and clubbing. He knocked florian around,
but did not put him out cus a) he did not have proper dist and
smothered his shots b) he kept cuffing c) he could not corner kenny
(kenny had decent footwork) meaning he kept landing while his feet
moved...which results in power taken off.
>
> I think leben felt his saving grace would be his
toughness/chin/power/aggression; unlike alot of fans i understand
leben's style and it's reminiscent of the leass athletic / gifted
boxers/fighters. He out toughs you he applies steady pressure to make
wear u down mentally (cus u have to stay on ur p's and q"s
def/off/strategically or get caught w/ a haymaker or clinched up and
mauled or gnped) and physically cus u have to keep moving, keep
striking to even slow him down or score points cus he won't stop
coming, an working in clinches or on the ground, cus he can throw or
sub if given the openign. Leben does this because most strikers aren't
used to someone walking through their shots, they expect a guy to ctep
off and counter or cover up and fire back or slip/etc. Leben just
walks through which affects u mentally and strategically, cus most
strikers are not prepared or used to someone walking though their
shots and firing back. Leben knows the best chance to land is when the
other guy is punching cus he gives opening by using off, if u punch
w/someoen you can and will land, an leben knows if it comes down to
who can take it longer..he will usually win that battle. That is what
got cote, it's what stopped rivera (leben took one to give one),
swick who was laying a beating til he got caught and radach. Leben
knows he can't outclass/outslick anyone, but he can outfight them,
outgut them, out tough them; the prob comes when the guy is that damn
good tech and has that kind of physical ability. Those guys will
always give a guy like chris a loss or a beating; just like guys like
trinidad/delahoya always give guys like mayorga or molina the same
thing. Leben can and will beat alot of guys w/his style, simply cus
most are not physically strong/exp/fast enough to keep him off and
secondly, hardly any have the technique to really take adv of his
weaknesses; an finally w/exception of rich/anderson, none has the
combination of the two which is necessary to put down a gamer like
leben. Loiseau fights in spots and has good but not great power or
standup def or ground def, kendall grove lacks the power and overall
ability to stop leben the same way, swick has speed/exp and sharp
shots; but he has no chin (and is a volume puncher, he overwhelms u
w/flurries, he catches u..u back up and he overwhelms u). Leben is a
bit cavemannish w/his standup; but he has a good understanding of the
game, just poor tech execution; he still has enough heart and physical
ability to hold his own standing (esp power/chin) and he has good
enough wrestling/grappling to finish if not gnp to a dec.
>
> I hope all mma types take this to heart striking is just as detail
oriented as grappling; you might be able to have some success using
ability and mediocre skills, but when u face a guy w/real skills u get
exposed... check goulet v ludwig (one punch ko) barnett v rizzo (
don't let his workrate and strikes landed fool u...rizzo had him the
whole time picking off/rolling w/shots and then countering him before
blasting him out) tito v chuck ( yeah that cover up forearm/upperbody
twist works on heavy handed wrestlers/grapplers; but not on a
competent standup guy, who punches stiff/sharp and through ur guard.
(also tito learn def and work ur standup more so ur not so SCARED to
get hit, anyone can cover up a guy who really dev his standup can pick
shots off/ slips or step of and counter..tito has yet to do even one)
Yoshida v cro cop-learn to check a leg kick and countless others...
>
> thanks a your time
>
Mike responded and was both polite and respectful towards me and my views; maybe cus i agreed w/him, but i like to think that it is because he respects people who respect him and don't just attack or criticize him in regards to his opinion and conclusions he came to as a result of his observations.
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