Bangkok Breakdowns

Benoit Saint Denis is one of the most interesting cases in combat sports, having a meteoric rise in the sport, getting into the ufc after less than four years of training mma. A large factor to BSD’’s success in the sport can be attributed to “having that dawg in him”. His sheer determination and athleticism make up for a lot of what he lacks in technically, attributes that he developed most likely as a French special forces operator. While it is easy to call him an athleticism merchant, it is important to analyse what skills he has been able to develop in his short time in the sport, and how it has carried him to where he is today. While Benoit’s tendency to block punches with his face draws a lot of criticism, his offensive technique is something that deserves to be studied. Benoit benefits greatly from the open stance matchup. Roughly ninety percent of the population are right handed, and considering that the vast majority of people follow the general striking rule that you keep you...

  A million dollars is life changing money, money that is scarcely seen in bjj competitor’s purses. You can win an IBJJF world championship and still be down $150 just on entry fees. With 10k just to show up Craig Jones has given his athletes a great opportunity to showcase grappling to the general public. Be it hobbyist practitioners looking to get into watching the sport or mma fans dipping their toe into the sport, the fact that the event is free to watch (unlike the egregious flograppling sign up price) means that anyone is able to watch the biggest and baddest competitors on the planet scrap it out for the possibility of a million dollar prize. With so many competitors it can be difficult to keep track of who is competing and who to watch, so I am writing this article as a guide for would be watchers to give them an idea of the stars, what they will be looking to do, and how they match up with each other. For this momentous event in grappling history I present to you a complet...

  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.  S...

  The ufc is incredibly inconsistent on its criteria for getting a contract. Some fighters will have to battle through a gauntlet of regional opponents just for a chance to fight for a contract on the contender series, while others will just get a call because they happen to be in the area when they need to fill in for a fight. When it comes to hard done prospects there are few examples more prolific than Jordan Vucenic. Jordan “the epidemic” Vucenic has been at the top of the stacked cage warriors featherweight division since 2019. He has beaten a multitude of ufc calibre fighters just for a chance to secure the ufc contract, but due to a loss to an equally hot prospect in Paul Hughes he was abandoned by the ufc. Now, after picking up another impressive win streak of all finishes, the ufc have decided to finally give Vucenic his shot, under the caveat that he makes the near suicidal decision to fight up a weight class one week after his previous fight against the ever dangerous Gu...

Ufc 304 is a card stacked with talent. While English athletes and fans have been royally screwed over by the 3am main card start time, the fairly recent surge in mma talent will make up for an unfortunate schedule. The co main event is the unofficial fight for the people’s undisputed heavyweight champion. While Jon Jones, who has exactly one win since the COVID 19 pandemic began against a fighter allergic to wrestling, has a “legacy fight” against a 41 year old part time firefighter who hasn’t fought anyone on the current ufc roster, the real athletes have to pick up the slack. The current interim heavyweight champion looks to do this, fighting a very dangerous opponent in Curtis Blaydes, a fighter who has ruled the top 5 for years, unfortunately never being able to get an opportunity at ufc gold. While many fans have the fight pegged as a classic Aspinall steamroll, it would be foolish to doubt Blaydes’s chances at the upset. Aspinall has made a splash in the heavyweight division, hol...

Alex Pereira is an interesting case in combat sports because he’s managed to seamlessly convert his skills from kickboxing over to mma. While other big time kickboxers struggled with the transition, potentially due to a reliance on 4oz gloves, Pereira’s style of striking flourished. While many criticised him early on in his career for being “just a boxer”, he would develop his game over the course of winning multiple world championships.  The hands One of the reasons for the many boxerphobic remarks hurled towards Pereira is his reliance on the left hook. His stance is based around the left hook and his hands are by his shoulder’s ready at any moment to swing his brick-like hands right into the face of the opponent. Pereira will march you down, and then launch himself forwards, putting all of his weight and body rotation into his left hand. Instead of swinging wide (Adesanya) Pereira usually keeps the arc of his punch as tight as possible, utilising what Jack Dempsey describes as a...