A Bangkok ready guide to Shamil Gaziev and body mechanics

 Shamil Gaziev served as a good litmus test to see which fans actually follow prospects and which ones just check their tapology records. With the whole “Dagestani takeover” narrative many fans were touting Shamil Gaziev as a potential future heavyweight champion. With a record full of first round and early second round finishes, it would seem like the predictions of future title contention were warranted. However, when most people actually watched his fight in his main event with Rozenstruik they realised that he was lacking in the technical side of the sport, but more importantly, his cardio was atrocious, eventually quitting on the stool due to exhaustion. While his performance at the ufc apex did not live up to the hype, his severe lack of cardio actually brought a lot of new fans in his support. Shamil Gaziev had become immortalised as a fighter fans could unanimously rally behind, his terrible gas tank and sloppy technique providing endless entertainment for viewers. 

Shamil Gaziev’s cardio isn’t just a source of entertainment, but also exaggerates his lack of correct body mechanics when fighting. When someone is athletic and explosive it often hides their questionable technique. While Cyril Gane is one of the best fighters at heavyweight, his quickness on his feet and ability to bounce back and forth often makes fans forget about his flaws. While Gane moves very well for a heavyweight, however he constantly crosses his feet. This led to the major underdog Tai Tuivasa knocking him down at ufc Paris when Gane was pushed up against the fence. With no space to leap back out of range Gane gets knocked off balance and dropped. Gaziev’s frequent tendency to gas out, robbing him of all his athleticism, highlights his inferior mechanics both in his striking and his grappling. But these failed mechanics must be studied, in order to know the right things to do.

While this article will criticise Gaziev a lot, it is important to give him credit for what he is able to do well. While the ufc heavyweight division is certainly lacking in talent you have to be able to do something correctly in order to make it to the top 15. Despite all the mechanics that he gets wrong, Gaziev has a pretty good right hand. He usually throws his right hand from his chest , meaning he is able to put a lot of power into it. While this leaves him very exposed from a defensive standpoint he is able to better utilise his body rotation, as his shoulders drop near his hips meaning he can transfer force through his legs to his hips and then his shoulder quicker. Gaziev was born with heavy hands but by keeping his hands at chest level he can throw a lot quicker, leading to an overall increase in power. The lowered hands also allows him to throw a right straight to the body with significantly less telegraph, meaning his opponent cannot just shell up to avoid the right hand to the head. This dilemma is bolstered by his ability to stop you circling off the cage with hooks. While his hooks are more of what Jack Dempsey describes as swings, the most impure form of punch, they work for what Gaziev is trying to achieve. By throwing his hooks with such a wide loop they can cover a lot of distance, being effective for their goal of cutting the opponent off as they circle off the fence. Dominick Cruz’s accusations of having pillow hands were largely due to his punching mechanics. The way he loops his shots made it easier to throw them while moving, as his unwillingness to plant his feet to throw meant that his looping shots were worth sacrificing power for range. Gaziev is not a bantamweight. No matter how bad your punching mechanics are, if you are a 265 lb man you can throw with the worst mechanics possible and it will still probably hurt someone. Ultimately this is a “bad” mechanic that Gaziev uses to his advantage.

Gaziev’s striking mechanics tend to negatively affect his defence as opposed to his offence. With his hands down it leaves his head open to punches. Normally when pressured Gaziev will jump back to create distance, stretching out any offensive action be it striking or grappling. However, against Rozenstruik Gaziev was gasping for air by early round two, meaning that his previous defence was no longer a viable option. As Rozenstruik was landing jab after jab it had made it clear that his low hands style was a double edged sword. While some fighters are known for keeping their hands “down”, they often use other ways of protecting themselves from strikes. Alex Pereira and Robert Whittaker both keep their lead hand low because it helps landing strikes from their left hand. However, they will make up for this by getting behind their left shoulder and placing the massive chunk of bone in front of their chin, creating an added layer of protection. Floyd Mayweather usually has his left hand rested across his body in his fights against orthodox opponents, confident in his ability to use the shoulder roll to protect himself. Gaziev keeps his body very square in order to throw the right hand, meaning that his shoulder is too far away to block his chin. He also lacks the head movement to make up for this, the closest thing he has done to a slip being to put his forehead into the line of fire. While this is better than just eating the punch, it is not a reliable way to consistently block shots, especially when your mouth is hanging open gasping for air. Eventually Rozenstruik’s constant jabbing forced Gaziev into breaking his usual hands on the chest stance and trying to parry the jabs, stifling his offence without the ability to punish Rozenstruik when he actually attempted to punch. 

Gaziev’s bad body mechanics shines brightest in his grappling. His shot mechanics brought on laughter from the ufc commentary booth, with Bisping and DC mocking his telegraphed attempts. This is because Gaziev refuses to do a proper level change when he goes for the takedown, instead bending at the hips and trying to grab a hold of the legs. The problem with this is that it directs your energy downwards towards the feet, while any good wrestler understands that in order to take out someone’s base you need to move up and into their hips, hence the importance of a level change. This is why the most high percentage defence in wrestling is the downblock, as it directs the force of the opposing grappler into the floor and away from the hips. When Gaziev bends at the waist his head goes below his hips, taking out all the power and drive of his own legs and relying on the strength of his arms to try and take out the base of his opponent. Gaziev has shown the ability to show decent shot mechanics, sadly just as a way to stall out Kiril Kornilov as he took a break against the fence to catch his breath. His hips were under his head and his shoulders had effectively pinned his adversary to the fence. Had he actively tried to get a takedown from that position he would have likely been able to get the double leg, meaning he could camp from half guard and get a well earned rest. Gaziev might be lacking in grappling knowledge but he has good hips to pin his opponent down. He will use half guard as a way to give himself some recovery time. The bicep post from half guard is a good way to counter your opponent’s ability to get up from the underhook and can be used to generate your own submission attempts, but Gaziev recognises it as a good stalling position, preventing action. When his opponent turtles to stand up, Shamil will effectively put his weight through his hips to ride, throwing punches as they try to get up. This would be an effective riding technique if Gaziev had any way of attacking his opponent’s bases as they try to stand up, instead refusing to control a wrist or throw in a hook. Gaziev shows potential in his grappling, but cannot improve until he is able to use his body mechanics better.

Shamil Gaziev is often the butt of many jokes, and while his cardio is definitely leaving more to be desired, he shows some promise in the success that he has been able to have, showing room for growth as a fighter if he rounds out his game. Gaziev illustrates the importance of knowing how to generate power effectively from the body, and how a little adjustment to the way you move or hold your stance can go a  very long way.

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