Tag: Welterweight

Gunnar Nelson vs Stephen Thompson: The Differences In Their Karate

Fresh off his impressive victory over Alan Jouban at UFC Fight Night 107, everyone who’s anyone is speculating as to what Gunnar Nelson’s next move should be. Many are calling for him to face off against someone in the top ten of the welterweight division. But with so many fighters booked or on the sidelines, options have been fairly slim. But one intriguing suggestion has gotten people talking. It’s gotten me salivating in fact over the possibilities. That proposed match up would see Gunnar Nelson face off against fellow karate master and recent title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.

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Fresh off his impressive victory over Alan Jouban at UFC Fight Night 107, everyone who’s anyone is speculating as to what Gunnar Nelson’s next move should be. Many are calling for him to face off against someone in the top ten of the welterweight division. But with so many fighters booked or on the sidelines, options have been fairly slim. But one intriguing suggestion has gotten people talking. It’s gotten me salivating in fact over the possibilities. That proposed match up would see Gunnar Nelson face off against fellow karate master and recent title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.

That kind of matchmaking would simply be a thing of beauty. Both men have styles that make for intriguing match ups no matter who they’re facing off against. The bring an element of the unknown and the spectacular. While Nelson looks to finish the fight in any way he can, standing up or on the ground, Thompson’s game is focused on winning by points through accurate strikes or getting a big knock out. But with this match up already being proposed, I thought it would be fun to see how these two fighters differ in terms of their karate skills.

Karate A Doesn’t Equal Karate B

Likely the first thing that everyone thinks of with a match between these two is the fact that both men are karate stylists. Sure, they both have skills outside of karate, especially Nelson, but it’s a common factor that is hard to avoid. That being said, both men have very different styles of karate. All karate isn’t created equal. Each style of karate is different.

You have Shotokan and Goju-Ryu, more traditional styles that work on in and out movement and precision striking. Lyoto Machida’s karate is an offshoot of Shotokan and we all know how he tends to fight. Nelson is in the Goju-Ryu camp that shares that bouncing in and out, straight punching, blitzing style with Shotokan. Nelson will hang out on the outside, feinting and shifting in and out, all the while bouncing on his toes awaiting the perfect time to move in and strike with a big burst of energy.

Then you have Thompson’s kempo karate which mixes in elements freestyle karate and kickboxing. While you’ll notice that Thompson does have that similar in and out, bouncing style of footwork, you also notice that he switches between bouncing footwork and simply walking down his opponent. Stephen Thompson also likes to employ longer strings of combinations than what you would see out of a more traditional karateka. He throws hand combinations sometimes in threes and fours, all of them with variety. He’ll throw jabs, straights, hooks, and uppercuts, all techniques you’re unlikely to see used with more traditional styles of karate.

Drawbacks To Each Style

Both fighters certainly have their strengths, but they’re not without their weaknesses as well. Often times when Nelson blitzes in a takedown follows soon afterward. This can create a pattern for his opponents to play off, especially if they have good wrestling defense.

The Differences

Both Nelson and Thompson can be susceptible to low kicks because of their wider stances, though it seems that Thompson has developed a bit of an ability to avoid those kind of attacks.

Thompson also is susceptible to counters from an adequate boxer if he over commits on his own blitzes, but he usually does a great job at entering and exiting the pocket, usually shifting out to an angle when doing so.

Similarities

Stephen Thompson and Gunnar Nelson have shown proficiency in blitzing as mentioned before. They both have a ton dexterity in their hips and legs allowing them to perform a wide variety of kicks.

But while Gunnar will throw an occasional side kick from time to time, Thompson offers a wide variety of different techniques. Simply put, Thompson has more tools in his kicking toolkit.

All in all, a battle between these two would be a very intriguing contest on the feet, one in which we can see the variety in different karate styles and approaches. As for what strategies these two would want to employ against each other, let’s leave that for a fight breakdown shall we.

Whose striking style do you prefer?

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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UFC Fight Night 107: Will Gunnar Nelson Be Able To Strangle Alan Jouban?

UFC Fight Night 107 is a card that seems to be flying under the radar. I knew there were fights again this weekend but I have to admit even I had no clue who was fighting until I did a bit of investigation. To my surprise, it turns out that this card features some key nit events including the potential swan song of the always entertaining Brad Pickett as well as the main event which features Jimi Manuwa versus Corey Anderson. But if you’ve been following any of my articles closely then you know that I’m a bit of a traditional martial arts fanatic. That means a great deal of my focus has shifted to the co-main event featuring Muay Thai specialist Alan Jouban and karate and Brazilian jiujitsu master Gunnar Nelson.

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UFC Fight Night 107 is a card that seems to be flying under the radar. I knew there were fights again this weekend but I have to admit even I had no clue who was fighting until I did a bit of investigation. To my surprise, it turns out that this card features some key nit events including the potential swan song of the always entertaining Brad Pickett as well as the main event which features Jimi Manuwa versus Corey Anderson. But if you’ve been following any of my articles closely then you know that I’m a bit of a traditional martial arts fanatic. That means a great deal of my focus has shifted to the co-main event featuring Muay Thai specialist Alan Jouban and karate and Brazilian jiujitsu master Gunnar Nelson.

Alan Jouban opened a lot of eyes with his disciplined win over the slugging Mike Perry. He utilized some slick movement, hard left body kicks, sharp left straights, and an overall disciplined boxing game to shut down Perry even hurting the durable welterweight a number of times throughout the encounter. He faces a far more difficult challenge in this match as he faces off with the puzzle that is Nelson. What Jouban will need to do in order to be successful against Nelson is control the middle and short range. While at middle distance Jouban will need to keep busy, immediately firing with jabs as well as that left leg and body kick he’s fond of. Considering that Nelson likes to strike at long range and look for takedowns at short range, whoever establishes dominance at middle distance will likely win this match. If he is taken down, Jouban can’t be content to regain guard or patiently wait for opportunities. Nelson is calculated when he gets things to the ground. Scrambles will be important to getting back to his feet, but Jouban will have to be careful when doing so as Nelson is keen at getting back control and holding the position.

Gunnar Nelson on the other hand faces a similar problem in this matchup as he did when he faced Brandon Thatch. Controlling the middle distance is paramount for the karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert. He’ll have to bounce in and out of range and either force Jouban to throw and miss or move forward with too much aggression. It’s when Jouban decides to push forward that a blitzing counter should be awaiting him. Gunnar Nelson has a clear boxing deficiency and does struggle at times when facing opposition with superior hands at middle distance. That’s why it’s important that he turns this into a karate match on the feet. After a short combo burst he should get out of dodge ASAP. When he full commits and transition to his takedown game, he should look to mix things up, disengage to throw off Jouban then re-enter with another strike before pushing for a legit trip or double leg.

With two talented welterweights the sky’s the limit on how entertaining (or boring) this match can be. Who do you think gets the win?

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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UFC 209: Can Tyron Woodley Shut Down The Haters With A Crushing Win Over Stephen Thompson

They’ve already done the dance before, now as they set up to lock horns again, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson both appear to have a chip on their shoulder. UFC 209 will be the stage for one of these men to prove that they are the best in the world. While the first battle may not have been an exciting “Dragon Ball Z” brawl, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson had five rounds to figure each other out and will need five more to cement who will be the king of welterweights.

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They’ve already done the dance before, now as they set up to lock horns again, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson both appear to have a chip on their shoulder. UFC 209 will be the stage for one of these men to prove that they are the best in the world. While the first battle may not have been an exciting “Dragon Ball Z” brawl, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson had five rounds to figure each other out and will need five more to cement who will be the king of welterweights.

Let’s face it, whether you’re a fan of Tyron Woodley or not, you have to admit that he did the most damage during his championship fight at UFC 205. The big moments were owned by Woodley as he dominated top position in the opening round then had severely damaged Thompson in the fourth frame. But in between those two occasions, Woodley was on the losing end of a competitive kickboxing match with his foe. What Woodley will have to do different in this match is throw a bit more volume in spurts and avoid relying on his big right hand as he’s want to do. Leg kicks will serve him well in this match and going for double legs, successful or not, will be paramount to put doubt in Thompson’s head.

The absence of a wrestling game in the first match up allowed for ‘Wonderboy’ to land some steady offense in the second, third, and fifth round. Even the fourth round looked to be owned by Thompson until Woodley unleashed his devastating right hand. If Woodley wants to play off the cage as he did the last time, he should shoot for a double when Thompson gets too far forward, turn him towards the fence, then unleash offense when his foe is cornered.

On the other side of the equation, Stephen Thompson is going to want to change up a few things. First off, where he was unsuccessful in the last bout was his lack of volume. While Woodley is known for having a lower striking volume, Thompson usually throws punches and kicks in bunches. He failed to do so in his bout with Woodley at UFC 205, which led to moments of Woodley feeling comfortable with his back to the fence. If Thompson wants to take the belt he’ll have to play the aggressive counter striker role, preferably from the southpaw stance where he’ll likely see more success. He’ll need to pot shot Woodley constantly to get the champ to move forward into a counter.

If he lays back and throws one shot at a time he may be able to get things done, but he’ll want to use his side kick to keep Woodley honest. Having his leg caught in the first round of their first fight had Thompson gun shy as far as his kicking game was concerned. He needs to channel that inner Hwoarang (Tekken reference and if you don’t get it then look that up ASAP) and unleash his kicks masking them with punches before hand. This is basic knowledge, but these are the kind of attacks he’ll need to keep in mind in order to get Woodley frustrated enough to dart forward. Once that happens, a side step into a counter left straight could seal the deal. But he’ll need those kicks to really give Woodley a different look.

via GIPHY

Ultimately this fight will be about who has the more effective aggression as both men laid back far too often in their first battle. Look for Stephen Thompson to bait Tyron Woodley into another kickboxing match while the champion looks to throw more strikes and add his wrestling even more into the equation.

Who do you think leaves the cage champion, Tyron Woodley or Stephen Thompson?

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: Risk Versus Reward For Shevchenko And Cerrone In Denver

Conor McGregor talked a metric ton of trash over the weekend which is pretty interesting stuff to dissect. But while all his talk may be interesting there are still some interesting topics to tackle as far as this past weekend’s fights are concerned. The main and co-main event of UFC Denver saw a pretty dominating victory and an unforeseen upset cap off a night of fairly entertaining fights. Valentina Shevchenko and Jorge Masvidal left the event in considerably higher standings than when they first arrived in Colorado.

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Conor McGregor talked a metric ton of trash over the weekend which is pretty interesting stuff to dissect. But while all his talk may be interesting there are still some interesting topics to tackle as far as this past weekend’s fights are concerned. The main and co-main event of UFC Denver saw a pretty dominating victory and an unforeseen upset cap off a night of fairly entertaining fights. Valentina Shevchenko and Jorge Masvidal left the event in considerably higher standings than when they first arrived in Colorado.

For Shevchenko’s part she proved that she’s a slow starter no longer. Her judo black belt came in handy when she took Julianna Pena to the ground in the first round with relative ease. She dominated top position of a majority of the opening five minutes until a Pena armbar submission threatened to put all that hard work to waste. Even though it appeared tight, by the closing seconds it was obvious that Shevchenko had escaped danger even before the bell rang to end the round. Where it seemed like Shevchenko was playing a dangerous game by remaining in the clinch with Julianna Pena, the reality is that the “Venezuelan Vixen” was in fact biting off more than she could chew. Even after getting the fight to the ground where she wanted it, Pena couldn’t land any significant offense while Shevchenko remained patient in hunting for the fight ending armbar she slapped on her opponent seemingly out of nowhere. While many agreed that Shevchenko needed to win the fight on the feet in order to secure victory, the truth of the matter is that Valentina has been hiding some tricks up her sleeves and proved that even a risky situation can indeed pay dividends.

For Donald Cerrone that proved to be less than true.

After an impressive finish of Matt Brown at December’s UFC 206, there appeared to be nothing but upside for “Cowboy” Cerrone. But it appeared that his propensity to fight anyone at any place at any time got the better of him as he faced off with Jorge Masvidal. Cerrone won most of the first round which shouldn’t be ignored. But winning most of a round means nothing if you’re almost flatlined by the end of it. Masvidal executed a flawless game plan. The kicks of Cerrone have always been a dangerous weapon, but going to the well too often can leave it dry. Cerrone threw one too many kicks and Masvidal exploded forward with well timed right hand counters over the top. Cerrone has never been the best boxer in the game and Masvidal has always shown a propensity to light guys up with his hands. Kicking was definitely the best option for Cerrone, but the lack of variety gave Masvidal some easy reads as the fight wore on.

The knock out in the second round was a bit disheartening to watch simply because of the fact that Cerrone lost in front of his hometown fans. But this is the hurt business as they say and no matter how you look at it the game is always risk versus reward. Cerrone fighting so often may have been to his detriment. Though he performs better when he’s on a roll, the fact of the matter is that there are always diminishing returns as far as this game goes and taking a sabbatical from time to time can evolve a person’s game, even a man Cerrone. For now he has to go back to the drawing board while Jorge Masvidal announces himself as a person of interest in the welterweight division.

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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Jorge Masvidal Has A Chip On His Shoulder And He’s Looking To Prove Exactly Why

If you’re a harcore MMA fan, chances are you like Jorge Masvidal. He’s one of those sadistic fighters that not only like to hit, but get hit. If you knock him down, he’s right back in your face, if you take him to the brink, he’s thirsty for more – the man loves to scrap. Unfortunately for these “every man” fighters, this business involves more that just heart. Dropping two close fights via split decision and never really breaking into the creme de’ la creme of the UFC, it seems Masvidal is back with a chip on his shoulder and he says Donald Cerrone is part of the problem.

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Underdog

If you’re a harcore MMA fan, chances are you like Jorge Masvidal. He’s one of those sadistic fighters that not only like to hit, but get hit. If you knock him down, he’s right back in your face, if you take him to the brink, he’s thirsty for more – the man loves to scrap. Unfortunately for these “every man” fighters, this business involves more that just heart. Dropping two close fights via split decision and never really breaking into the creme de’ la creme of the UFC, it seems Masvidal is back with a chip on his shoulder and he says Donald Cerrone is part of the problem.

If you didn’t know, Masvidal and Cerrone are set to clash this saturday as the co-main event of the Shevchenko vs. Pena card at UFC, Denver. While both fighters have the “fight first, title later” mindset, Cerrone has definitely had more of a smooth ride and Masvidal feels part of that cushy lifestyle was made off of his back.

“I’ve had signed bout agreements to fight another top-ranked opponent – it’s happened to me four times – but out of the four, two of them he was the reason why I didn’t get to fight those ranked opponents,”

“Whether he knew or not, somebody’s got to pay with interest for what was done with me, and it’s going to be ‘Cowboy”.   -Jorge Masvidal

The two fighter’s he’s referring to are Bobby Greene at UFC 178 and most recently Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 205.

To be fair his bad luck started long before Cerrone, dropping two controversial split decisions to Al Iaquinta and former lightweight champion Ben Henderson. But perhaps it’s not bad luck, perhaps it’s the underdog attitude that got him here that is now proving self sabotaging. Self described as one of the meanest fighters to ever step into an ATT gym, it seems Masvidal’s underdog attitude started long before there was an octagon – back in the mean streets of Miami Florida.

“I was like 7 or 8 when I found out and I realized there was something about me that was a little bit different to everybody else,” Masvidal said. ”I remember walking home from school with my bike and these kids try to take my bike from me, I think was like 9 or 8-years-old and these dudes were in like their teenage years like 13 or 14. They tried to take my bike, but guess what happened? I went home with my bike.

“I wasn’t even training at the time. It was just the environment laced with my meanness. I can tell you nobody was going to say s*it to me man.”

While you’ve got to respect the attitude that got you here, at a certain point you’re going to have to evolve. Masvidal has all the skills, toughness, and work ethic it takes to be a world champion, he just has to fix wants in between his ears. His fight with media darling Donald Cerrone is the perfect opportunity for Masvidal to turn himself from an underdog to a top dog. Will he capitalize?

Hit us up in the comments section below!

 Lionel Harris-Spence is a writer, filmmaker, and functioning alcoholic. You can catch him screaming obscenities at flat screens on fight night.

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Fallout: Paul Daley, Brennan Ward, And Flying Knees Of Destruction

C-note

Bellator 170 was filled with some interesting fights. Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen fought an old man match so clunky people thought it was fixed, Hisaki Kato vs. Ralek Gracie played “let’s not actually fight each other” for 3 rds, and Emmanuel Sanchez managed to throw two illegal knees to a downed opponent and still come out on with a victory. However, one thing that was pretty straightforward was Paul “Semtex” Daley’s 1st round flying knee K.O. of Brennan Ward, and even more straightforward is the picture of the result.

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C-note

Bellator 170 was filled with some interesting fights. Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen fought an old man match so clunky people thought it was fixed, Hisaki Kato vs. Ralek Gracie played “let’s not actually fight each other” for 3 rds, and Emmanuel Sanchez managed to throw two illegal knees to a downed opponent and still come out on with a victory. However, one thing that was pretty straightforward was Paul “Semtex” Daley’s 1st round flying knee K.O. of Brennan Ward, and even more straightforward is the picture of the result.

Daley who has won 6 out of his last 7 fights, only losing to current Bellator welterweight champ Douglas Lima, says the win was bittersweet as he looked over the cage post celebration only to see Ward’s girlfriend crying. It was a pretty vicious knockout which many are already predicting will be up there for K.O. of the year.

After the victory, Daley sent a heartfelt welcome to Rory “The Red King” MacDonald by challenging him to his first match in Bellator. Rory quickly replied with a 20 second of video of Hangover comedian Zack Galifianakis laughing his little heart out.

Rory is coming off two back to back losses against Robbie Lawler and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson with the UFC. While Daley definitely has K.O. power in every limb of his body, Rory definitely has one of the most developed skill set in all of MMA and is used to making power punchers look basic.

MacDonald is waiting to completely heal from repeated nose injuries sustained over his fighting career. No date for a debut has been set.
Lionel Harris-Spence is a writer, filmmaker, and functioning alcoholic. You can catch him screaming obscenities at flat screens on fight night.

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