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Bellator 180: Douglas Lima vs Lorenz Larkin Will Be A Striker’s Delight

Perhaps my most anticipated fight on this card, Douglas Lima versus Lorenz Larkin is a truly wonderful match up between two strikers with very different styles. We have the bare bones approach of Douglas Lima against the flashier yet effective strikes of Lorenz Larkin. While there are many other intriguing fights on this card, this could easily be the main event.

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In Douglas Lima’s most recent outing he scored a come from behind victory against former Bellator welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov. After a competitive first frame, Lima found himself on his back in the second round, yet he obviously never lost hope. Against Koreshkov we saw improvement in his ground game in order to get back to his feet in the first round, but seemed content to lay on his back in the second. Nevertheless, it was Lima’s game changing weapon that ultimately won him the belt, the left hook.

But like every season striker should understand, setting up your Sunday punch should be done in strategic fashion. First off, Lima should want to focus on utilizing his jab to both track the faster Larkin as well as set a pattern to fire off hard shots once he closes the distance. Lima should also look to use his second favorite weapon, the leg kick. His rear leg kick works wonders to punish the legs of an opponent and should do well here as Larkin is a fighter who tends to constantly be on his bicycle. To slow down Larkin’s movement this should be Lima’s main weapon. Once he slows down Larkin with kicks he should look to fire his left hook which could ruin Larkin’s debut in spectacular fashion. But the jab to the leg kick should be key.

In his first fight since leaving the UFC, Lorenz Larkin finds himself in an immediate title fight. It could be alarming to some, but when you consider the fact that Larkin was on a hot streak in the UFC, coupled with the fact that he’s an exciting striker, it’s easy to see why the Bellator execs pushed for this fight. Larkin fights in an extremely interesting and unexpected manner. You wouldn’t call his striking Muay Thai nor could you call it karate or kickboxing. He strikes with a flair all his own.

While already mapping out that Lima should use his jab and leg kick to win the day, Lorenz Larkin should be taking a somewhat similar approach. The only difference is that he has more tools to work with. He should utilize his low calf kick to the legs to set up his left hook right straight combination. But before unloading, he should use his well polish oblique kick and mix it in with his leg kick. The chamber he uses for both kicks are fairly similar and if utilized correctly will keep Lima guessing on what shot is coming next.

This will undoubtedly be one of the more exciting match ups of the night and will be an absolute strikers delight.

Who do you think walks away the Bellator welterweight champion?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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Bellator 180: Phil Davis Is Out For Revenge Against Ryan Bader

You know, it’s kinda funny. Initially I had mixed feelings on this bout as far as interest goes. But after watching the first fight between these two and seeing how evenly matched they were years back, curiosity has taken over and made this one a fight to watch. The first fight was pretty close with Phil Davis and Ryan Bader negating each others wrestling. It made for a mediocre kickboxing match with moments of clinch work and the occasion wrestling scramble. Being obsessed with patterns as of late, it’s curious to see which of these two have improved upon what worked in the first match.

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Phil Davis is the reigning Bellator light heavyweight champion which speaks volumes about the talent pool that the UFC garners. Nevertheless, Davis now faces a familiar high level foe in Ryan Bader. While he may have lost the first match, Phil Davis has the opportunity to right the ship in this bout. Davis did a great deal right in the first match, but he discovered the weaknesses in Bader’s armor a bit too late and was already fighting from a deficit. His kicking game was particularly impressive considering his high level wrestling ability. His back leg front kick and round kick to legs, body, and head were money.

What the champion will need to do in order to win this rematch is embrace his length. Phil Davis has extremely long arms and legs and should be putting them to work. Rather than constantly move forward searching for the takedown and trying to score with jabs, he should instead hold his ground, back off from Bader will pumping his jab, then pushing forward with a left hook or overhand right. Once he has Bader biting on that combination, a nice level change to a reactive takedown will do nicely to dump the challenger on his back. Barring a takedown in the middle of the mat, Davis should pin Bader against the cage and fire elbows and knees in abundance to sap the challengers energy follow up with a takedown attempt.

Ryan Bader is the most recent high level Bellator convert since ditching the UFC. While the talent pool may not be the best to prove he’s the greatest in the world, we have to remember that this is still a business. As such, Bader seems to have found a home he respects in Bellator. His first fight in is against a familiar face and style in Phil Davis. Where Davis is the wrestler with strong kicks, Bader is the wrestler with powerful punches. As such, Bader will want to do much of the same as he did in their first fight. Backing Davis up with a busy jab is the first order of business and is a tool that Bader needs to embrace once more.

While his wrestling is great, Bader should be using it simply to defend takedowns and threaten Davis. It’s clear that Davis is going to want to take this fight to the ground, it’s just in his nature. Ryan Bader on the other hand embraces the power in his hands, sometimes to his detriment. Bader should touch his way in this his hand combinations and finish with a kick only when he has a proper 45 degree angle. As said before, a faked takedown could also set up some devastating shots as Davis will already be in the mindset to try and wrestle. Elbows while in the clinch will also be devastating especially against someone looking to take the fight to the ground.

Who do you think leaves the cage the light heavyweight champion?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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Bellator 180: James Gallagher vs Chinzo Machida

It’s getting to be something when the most anticipated mixed martial arts card of the week is a Bellator event. It’s saying even more when there is a UFC just the very next day. Times are changing indeed and while Bellator has put on fight cards before, the level of competition on Bellator 180 is truly impressive. While I won’t cover every single bout on the fight card, one of the more intriguing match ups pits Conor McGregor’s protege James Gallagher against veteran karate fighter and MMA convert Chinzo Machida.

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Bellator 180: James Gallagher vs Chinzo Machida

As far as overall style goes, James Gallagher is a grappler through and through. While he may try to fool some people into believing he’s the second coming of Conor McGregor, Gallagher has already shown that he striking may be competent, even fluid and sharp, but the ground is where his strengths lie. Now, that’s not to suggest that Gallagher can’t strike at all, but his striking is purely meat and potatoes with jab set ups into power shots.

In this fight he’s going to want to take things to the ground or at least threaten. While his striking is certainly competent on the feet, Gallagher would be foolish to take away his biggest strength which is his awesome Brazilian jiujitsu skills. Gallagher is good at maintaining the center which he’ll want to continue to do in this fight. He should keep a good karate bounce to really mask his movement, through feints, and most of all be unafraid to throw kicks. If he slips on a kick and brings Machida into his guard, opportunities to sweep and get on top will fall right into his lap. How he’ll have to initiate shot attempts when he gets Machida to the fence, using his bread and butter jab to get in good position to hit a double leg takedown.

Chinzo Machida may have had a late start in MMA yet he still appears to be very fresh. In terms of his form and approach, there aren’t a great deal of high level karate fighters who have the kind of experience in timing and distancing that Machida has. Unlike his brother Lyoto who is far more focused on countering, Chinzo Machida is more aggressive in his attack. That doesn’t mean he attacks constantly, but likes to play the aggressive counter fighter, attacking his opponent which forces them to counter moving them right into Machida’s own counter. Machida should also look to kick from the southpaw stance in this fight. Gallagher keeps his hands extremely high so a fake left straight into a left body kick could fold Gallagher in half.

It’s obvious that Gallagher will want to take Machida down at some point just as it’s obvious that Chinzo will want to keep the fight standing. In order to stay upright Machida will have to be constant moving target. Gallagher will want to pressure him against the fence, control center, and enter into range behind his jab as well as leg kicks. Machida is comfortable fighting on the outside but taking the center from time to time is highly advised as well as throwing a ton of feints to freeze the younger man. With Gallagher properly frozen a fake jab/front hand parry can set up a great cross or uppercut.

It’s an interesting fight as we’ll get to see two men who like to strike using traditional arts, but at the end of the day this is still clearly a striker versus grappler match up. Who you got?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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UFC Fight Night Singnapore: Justin Scoggins vs Yuta Sasaki Will Be An Absolutely Wild Scrap

Been away for a bit and with the limited time I do have, I’ve decided to breakdown a fight that I’m really looking forward to. No disrespect to the other fighters on the card, but by now anyone who has been following my writing knows by now that I’m a full on karate nerd. Rather than try to hide this fact I’m being up front now that my most anticipated fights on the card are centered around a certain karate expert, Justin Scoggins. He draws the scrappy and unpredictable Yuta Sasaki in his return to flyweight.

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Let’s face it, Yuta Sasaki like most other flyweights isn’t getting a fair shake. That has nothing to do with his performances inside the octagon however. He’s been exciting in his outings and looked impressive in his bout against Wilson Reis at UFC 208. He utilized distance to get off some solid shots on Reis, including a nice jab and stinging right hand that caught his fellow flyweight off guard.

What Sasaki is going to need to do in order to win this fight is turn the striking exchanges into a scrap. He’ll have to mix in keeping the faster Scoggins at bay with his length while at the same time throwing multiple strikes once in the pocket. But striking shouldn’t be his only means of victory in this bout. When Sasaki looks to take things to the ground he gets greedy and is unrelenting. He should use any clinching opportunities to latch onto Scoggins and take the fight to the ground.

Justin Scoggins has been referred to as the smaller vets of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson on many occasions, which is fair. After all, they were both trained by the same man. In Justin Scoggins we can see the kind of potential that could easily turn him into a top contender at flyweight. Like Thompson, Scoggins employs more of a striking based attack, utilizing constant movement and angles to get the job done. But he also utilizes a strong wrestling game that helps him get away with some flashier strikes.

Where Scoggins has gotten in trouble in the past is his decision making abilities. He often times shoots when he should strike and in his last bout against Pedro Munhoz he decided to throw potentially one kick too many against a man looking to grapple. But all of that is in the past and this fight is likely to highlight why Justin Scoggins was so highly touted in the beginning of his UFC career. If he wants to beat Sasaki then moving in and out of range and cutting to a forty-five degree angle will be paramount. Neutralizing Sasaki’s reach advantage is also going to be of the utmost importance. For that, he’ll want to use his long range side kick as well as his blitz which he can use to get off centerline and attack from a new angle. His wide range of kicks will also help him to keep Sasaki at bay and even have him run into something devastating.

The flyweights deserve love and this fight will showcase exactly why with speed, footwork, and awesome exchanges and transitions. Do yourself a favor and tune into this one.

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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Demetrious Johnson Speaks His Mind About Treatment By The UFC. Was It The Wrong Move?

Demetrious Johnson is officially the man in my book. While many fans may be discrediting him, stating that he’s some kind of coward for refusing to fight bantamweight contender TJ Dillashaw for the flyweight title, it’s hard not to see the champion’s points. It’s easy to sit there and point the finger, especially when you don’t have to do the fighting, but Demetrious Johnson airing out the laundry, namely his treatment by the UFC, is something every fighter and fan deserves to hear.

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Full Statement courtesy of MMAFighting.com.

So what the hell am I talking about? Well, recently Demetrious Johnson has decided to issue a statement in regards to his treatment by the UFC. The statement was extremely intricate and well detailed and alleges that the UFC, specifically Dana White and Sean Shelby, have engaged in bullying tactics not just now, but throughout his UFC tenure.

Whether you believe him or not, Demetirous Johnson has been a company man through and through. He rarely if ever complained about anything doing his employment with the biggest promotion in the world, so for him to break his silence now speaks volumes.

Recently TJ Dillashaw spoke on the fact that Johnson would not accept the fight, that he was somehow scared or foolish for refusing to fight the former bantamweight champion, but let’s consider what the flyweight champion truly said. Johnson simply wanted guarantees that he was going to be compensated for his fight if TJ Dillashaw misses weight at his first attempt to cut down to flyweight. Johnson as the flyweight champion, a man who defended that belt ten times now, is within his rights to make a few demands that frankly aren’t that overboard. Nevertheless, fans will throw the word cowardly around simply because they won’t be able to see a fight that they find intriguing. I have one thing to say to the keyboard warriors.

Shut your mouth.

Demetrious Johnson being scared to fight TJ Dillashaw is as likely as Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather, and Manny Pacquiao engaging in a triple threat boxing match. Maybe Dillashaw should consider facing another flyweight to prove his mettle in the division. Maybe Johnson deserves to call his shot as the current longest reigning champion in the UFC. We shouldn’t demonize a man for speaking his mind because that’s exactly what has made McGregor the household name that he is today. Demetrious Johnson should be true to himself and we should be revering his willingness to speak out rather than try to silence him with illogical claims of cowardice.

What do you think of Demetrious Johnson going off on the UFC?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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Fallout: Max Holloway And The Beauty of Solid Basics

Well, that escalated quickly now didn’t it. In one of the most anticipated fights of the year, Max Holloway once again showcased his superior ability to perform under the bright lights and in hostile territory no less. But the road to victory was by no means a cake walk for the Hawaiian fighter. Former featherweight champion Jose Aldo gave Max Holloway all he could handle before succumbing to ground and pound in the third round. Let’s get a glimpse at some of the big takeaways from UFC 212 and the fantastic main event that shook up the featherweight division.

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The biggest issue for Jose Aldo in this fight was getting in on the inside and landing meaningful strikes on the interim champion. He started out strong and his speed was blinding in the opening frame. He kept a busy front hand to keep Holloway at bay as Aldo can throw his fair share of fast jabs to catch his opponents off guard.

It was Aldo’s left hook, right straight combination that stunned Holloway in the first followed by a nice flying knee.

It was a beautiful display of Aldo’s speed, power, and precision. But after taking a moment to consider what that kind of explosion took out of Aldo’s gas tank, you have to wonder if he was pushing himself too hard too fast in hopes of getting a big win in front of the hometown crowd.

By the end of the first we saw Holloway loosen up a bit and open up with a spinning back kick to Aldo’s body.

As I mentioned in my breakdown, as soon as Max Holloway decided to start going first, his offense started to become more effective. Holloway is great at counter fighting as well as being the aggressor. In a fight with a faster competitor with sharp counter punching skills, staying busy with in and out jabs, feinting, and being the aggressor is all needed. Max Holloway started using these tools in the second round which started to throw off Jose Aldo’s rhythm. Max Holloway began to turn the tide by moving forward, shifting back when Aldo committed, then countering back before the former champ could recover defensively.

That doesn’t mean Aldo wasn’t still in the game as his counters were still looking sharp.

By the time the third round came around, Max Holloway was fully in his rhythm and started to throw more volume. Rather than load up on power shots, as Aldo was tending to do, Holloway was content to just simply touch the champion with potshots.

In the end, it was the basic jab-cross that got the job done, but it was the rhythm change the separated the first and second combinations that made the shots so devastating.

Holloway throws the jab-cross that just touches Aldo, but rather than move all the way out after the combination he avoids the left hook counter and follows up with a counter one-two that ultimately signaled the end of Jose Aldo’s reign as champion.

It’ll be interesting to see who the UFC matches Max Holloway up with next. My guess is that it will be a little known New Jersey native. You know, the former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

What did you think of the performance of Max Holloway?

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