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A breakdown of Paddy Pimblett vs Justin Gaethje

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UFC 234 is headlined by the interim lightweight title bout between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett. Gaethje is no stranger to title fights and has been a staple in the lightweight division for almost a decade. He has touched interim gold before, yet has failed on every opportunity to win undisputed. With Ilia Topuria and Arman Tsarukyan out of the mix, Gaethje has found himself one last shot at winning gold, in what seems a very winnable fight against English up-and-comer Paddy Pimblett. Paddy “the baddy” Pimblett is in a completely different circumstance. Loved (and sometimes hated) for his brash personality, Pimblett has made numerous technical improvements since entering the UFC that have allowed him to work his way into a title fight, despite what doubters may have said about his early performances. Ultimately, it is an interesting matchup between two very wild fighters, which is likely to go down as a banger. Every fight starts on the feet, which many fans have decided is Gaethj...
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A guide to Regian Eersel's killer knees

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The knee is a barbaric strike, banned from most striking disciplines and one of the many reasons why politicians such as John McCain tried as hard as they could to keep the sport of mixed martial arts illegal. The unified rules of MMA have forbidden its use against grounded opponents, not due to any excessive danger (you can still elbow somebody’s face into the canvas) but due to the sheer shock of the spectacle. The knee is a high-risk, high-reward weapon, offering the potential for a lot of applied force while putting the user on one leg deep into punching range. Regian Eersel has utilised this to devastating effect, terrorising the ONE lightweight division in both kickboxing and Muay Thai. While Eersel is an excellent kickboxer in his own right, it is his kneeing game that forms the backbone of his game. The high guard is the classic catch-all defence in kickboxing. When applied with the proper mechanics, it is extremely difficult to penetrate, the large gloves providing a barrier t...
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A guide to the Robert Whittaker blitz

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  The existence of Israel Adesanya has robbed Robert Whittaker of middleweight goat legacy. Despite losing to “Stylebender” Whittaker has soundly beaten every contender he’s faced from 2014 to 2023, still putting on astounding performances against high-level fighters since starting to decline. Not only has he got so many high-level wins, but all of them have come impressively, running circles around many up-and-coming middleweights. Whittaker’s success can be attributed to his blitzing footwork. The game of “The Reaper” revolves around bouncing in from an extended distance, throwing a few punches, and getting out without taking damage. Whittaker is not the first to come up with this idea of fighting from range, but is unique in his ability to maintain aggression, constantly darting in to do a punch while successfully retreating out of striking distance before the opponent can fire back.  The mechanics of Whittaker’s blitz are based on his stance. Whittaker stands with quite a ...
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A guide to Dustin Poirier's Hillbilly boxing

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  Many great strikers have graced the lower weight classes of mixed martial arts, but few have a style quite as unique as Poirier. Blessed with a seemingly God given desire to scrap and cursed with a debilitating hip injury, Poirier has developed an incredibly unique style, easily recognisable even as a silhouette. His readiness to brawl has given him a sizable fanbase but it is his technical innovations that have carried him to the peak of the sport. Poirier’s boxing is what he is notorious for. The Louisiana native has heat in his hands and he’s not afraid to throw down. While his hooks make up a large part of his game, his straight punches are the backbone of his striking. Poirier’s most underrated punch is probably his jab. He will use it on the front foot. He will use it on the back foot. He will use it at the start of a combination and he will use it at the end. Poirier’s limited hip mobility makes it difficult for him to enter the pocket, but the jab is the perfect way to be...
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