The Official MMA Thread: UFC FIGHT NIGHT IN RIYADH - ISRAEL ADESANYA VS. NASSOURDINE IMAVOV: RETURN OF THE KING OR RISE OF THE IMAVOV - 2/1 @ 9AM EST

[Vincent Van Goat]

Hated that game plan by T-City to stand and strike with KZ but credit to him for getting that W

He vastly improved his defense and wasn’t out there to brawl. He was quite intentional with his strikes and very patient

if anything I hated zombies gameplan loading up power shots instead of volume. He was very predictable

 

[atransta]

Then again...we had Rose winning against Andrade. And a wham bam slam thank you ma’am got Jessica the SW title. But I’m all about Valentina putting on a clinic against Andrade after 255.

And I'm def not slighting Jessica since o thought she was going to beat Rose in the 1st match but didnt think she was going to slam Rose. She also did really well in their rematch. It's just that valentina and nunes are the goats. Valentina won their 2nd match imo

 

[steevoo1]

This alt universe crazy

T City put a striking clinic on TKZ.. Lopez out boxed Loma... 2020 y'all!

 

[champcruthik]

Very clear "T-City" been in the lab with Rener. Honestly I thought KZ was the wrong fight to take after the Max beating and long layoff. Ortega's striking has improved leaps and bounds. His stand-up defense much, much better. Holloway was tagging him at will end of 2018.

That controlled aggression, Zombie was waiting to counter too much. R1 obvious 10-9 for "T-City." KZ looked much better in R2 as he started opening up and being more active with strikes, until Ortega's spinning elbow stunned him. Thus, another 10-9 for "T-City." Elbow likely changed momentum and complexion of the fight. Zombie didn't really mount a rally after R2. KZ didn't look comfortable after the head clash in R4. Kept pawing at his left eye, drawing attention to it.

Besides defense, there's two things I loved most from Ortega's stand-up tonight. Late in the fight, "T-City" constantly grabbed at Zombie's lead leg to make him remain conscious about the level change and takedown attempts (something I wanted Costa to do against Adesanya). The other being striking off the takedown attempt. I think Ortega truly surprised KZ with a clean shot (right hand?) when "T-City" drove Zombie back into the cage with a takedown attempt. It was either in R3 or R4 (I forget).

 

[steevoo1]

One of the biggest changes T City made to his team was getting Dr. Jason Park (Anderson Silva's coach) as his striking/strength and conditioning coach. Mans been putting in work at Chute box and it did wonders for him.

TKZ IG post says he doesn't remember anything after the 2nd. More than likely he was concussed from the elbow.

 

[whtascene]

Nice striking from Ortega will be interesting how he fares up against Volkanovski.

 

[jewseejay]

I musta watched a different fight than yall... for 145 lbs both of them were beyond slow. Technically Ortega was average. Particularly until the 4th when he started grabbing the leg. Zombie jus didnt show up, looked like a bellator or PFL guy. Why he didnt go back to the lead uppercut or throw knees, attempt a thai clinch beyond me. Amateurish. Maybe the nerves of the empty building. I also noticed his arms were fatiguing in the 2nd round. He dropped his gaurd to shake the blood out a ton starting super early.

I will bet against Ortega against anyone in the top of the division.

 

[newbs24]

The elbow by Ortega turned that fight... KZs head was scrambled big time and he couldn’t recover... Ortega at the very least showed a diff game plan but will need to protect his legs from Alex in their fight... I wouldn’t expect Brian to stand with him, probably try to bait him into a ground fight

 

[steevoo1]

Saying Ortega was average and Zombie didn't show is similar to people saying Costa didn't show up against Izzy. Ortega was setting traps up all night. From the leg kicks, using TDs to land his over hands or elbows, and initiating the clinch so he can land off the break then circle out. TKZ couldn't close distance and pocket fight like he wanted cause Ortega kept him guessing the whole time with variety and that jab constantly broke his rhythm.

Ortega for sure leveled up and showed some elite skill sets and defense. If he can manage distance against the champ, it'll definitely be a fun fight.

 

[thehealthinspector]

Im okay with a title shot for Ortega, but I thought he just looked fine, kz was pretty much a sitting duck and Ortega got whatever he wanted in the standup

 

[jewseejay]

False. Ortega was average because he was average. He still backs straight up with that garbage james toney half cage. Hes still slow. He still doesnt know what to do when getting walked down... etc etc etc.

He won, great for him. Zombie looked bad. Period. It wasnt because tactically he was doing intelligent things. When he landed the elbow tmzombie shut it all the way down. Seemed like he had one thing prepared... pressure until he fired then cou ter with those wild hooks and step in uppercut. He was affecting Ortegas legs but he had no plan for that and didnt recognize the openings that were presented.

Like I said, I'll bet the house on Volk if that's the fight... it will be ugly.

 

[thehealthinspector]

Kz was a sitting duck last night, people understand that volk is the opposite right? It's how he beat max

I didn't see anything last night that made me think volk is in trouble

 

[blackcease]

False. Ortega was average because he was average. He still backs straight up with that garbage james toney half cage. Hes still slow. He still doesnt know what to do when getting walked down... etc etc etc.

He won, great for him. Zombie looked bad. Period. It wasnt because tactically he was doing intelligent things. When he landed the elbow tmzombie shut it all the way down. Seemed like he had one thing prepared... pressure until he fired then cou ter with those wild hooks and step in uppercut. He was affecting Ortegas legs but he had no plan for that and didnt recognize the openings that were presented.

Like I said, I'll bet the house on Volk if that's the fight... it will be ugly.

I don’t think Volk has enough volume or one shot power to take Ortega out. He’s probably a better striker than Ortega, but the submissions of Ortega are an added danger. I think it’s a great matchup for the moment, wouldn’t count Ortega out at all.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

This is exactly the type of performance I needed to see out of him. If he would have went out there and brawled like he had been in his recent fights I would have given him little chance to beat Volk. I don't see how you can look at his approach, performance and game planning and not give him high praise let alone call him average

He went in there to essentially point fight but also had bad intentions. Credit to Korean Zombie for his exquisite TDD which he always possessed but I feel like Ortega is ready to take that next step, he actually cares about not getting hit which was his biggest achilles heel. Volk will have a challenge on his hands especially if it can go to the mat

"How good did he look? Ortega landed 127 significant strikes against Jung, the most in a fight in his UFC career. His previous high was 110 significant strikes landed in his loss to Holloway. In addition, Ortega landed a personal-best 59% of his significant strikes (127 of 212). Heading into this fight, Ortega had an average significant strikes accuracy of 33%. Those two stats tell the story: He was dominant and on point."

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

 

[steevoo1]

This is exactly the type of performance I needed to see out of him. If he would have went out there and brawled like he had been in his recent fights I would have given him little chance to beat Volk. I don't see how you can look at his approach, performance and game planning and not give him high praise let alone call him average

He went in there to essentially point fight but also had bad intentions. Credit to Korean Zombie for his exquisite TDD which he always possessed but I feel like Ortega is ready to take that next step, he actually cares about not getting hit which was his biggest achilles heel. Volk will have a challenge on his hands especially if it can go to the mat

"How good did he look? Ortega landed 127 significant strikes against Jung, the most in a fight in his UFC career. His previous high was 110 significant strikes landed in his loss to Holloway. In addition, Ortega landed a personal-best 59% of his significant strikes (127 of 212). Heading into this fight, Ortega had an average significant strikes accuracy of 33%. Those two stats tell the story: He was dominant and on point."

Luke and Jimmy Smith probably gave the best take on Ortega which is that he's actually thinking through the fight and adjusting to his opponent on the fly. Ortega even said that fighting in Southpaw wasnt part of the game plan at all. When he got in their the jab was money from it so he decided to just keep in Southpaw til they adjusted.


Like I said before, Id still have Volkanovski favored in that fight. But he ain't walking thru TCity man.

And if we're going to compare the leg kicks from the Max fight with Volkanovski. What helped max with the leg kicks in the 2nd fight is basically what Ortega did last night lol. And max arguably won that fight.

 

[shogun]

I dunno, unless max has lost a step I still see him messing up ortega but not as much as last time. Against volko, if he lands one of those elbows then he can win. See it mostly being a who will score more points in 5 rounds of a lot of volume striking.

 

[spiderjericho]

I dunno. T City from yesterday plus the tapes from the two Volkanowski fights. I think it would be a much different fight and possible outcome with Max.

It’s like CCC fighting DJ. He changed to that weird karate stance/style and applied a game plan to mitigate DJ’s strengths and out point him.

 

[thehealthinspector]

Really? Were going to use yesterday's fight and max-volk to call it a different fight?

Guess a little bit helps to not get absolutely destroyed again

I swear too many people care more about "box scores" and what they hear/read instead of what their eyes see

 

[atransta]

Max won the rematch vs volk and should be the champ imo

 

[spiderjericho]

Really? Were going to use yesterday's fight and max-volk to call it a different fight?

Guess a little bit helps to not get absolutely destroyed again

I swear too many people care more about "box scores" and what they hear/read instead of what their eyes see

Brian imposed his will on KZ. His striking improved. He didn’t have to use his Gracie certified BJJ again a legitimate counter striker and top FW contender.

Max may or may not have lost his last fight. But regardless of the outcome, Alex adjusted in the middle to later rounds. We also saw in the first fight that pressure, leg kicks and ultimately allowed Alex to impose his will on Max.

We act like this isn’t a game. We act like no one can improve. Or can’t raise their game.

 

[thehealthinspector]

Brian imposed his will on KZ. His striking improved. He didn’t have to use his Gracie certified BJJ again a legitimate counter striker and top FW contender.

Max may or may not have lost his last fight. But regardless of the outcome, Alex adjusted in the middle to later rounds. We also saw in the first fight that pressure, leg kicks and ultimately allowed Alex to impose his will on Max.

We act like this isn’t a game. We act like no one can improve. Or can’t raise their game.

some of us just see the game differently

how hard is it to impose your will on someone thats moving forward and not throwing? people need to rewatch the fight, kz was passive even before that spinning elbow, even if he was more passive afterwards, it didnt change anything

some of yall need to rewatch ortega-max, max destroyed him, not conor-aldo destroy, i mean like actually destroyed

jewseejay dropped a lot of truth, ortega may not be average but hes definitely slow, max is way faster and had a hard time hitting volk

 

[mr z]

Max beats Ortega agin easily imo. The idea behind Volk/Ortega fight being good is that Ortega’s bjj threat adds a different dynamic to the fight...especially if Ortega uses his improved striking. Styles make fights....

I also am really hoping Ortega beats Volk so my guy Max can get his belt back

 

[spiderjericho]

Or T City runs it back and revenges his L.