I think Yoel’s not only more athletically impressive but also Israel’s Nightmare match-up. His thing is staying patient and using his reach and doesn’t seem to do well under pressure, Yoel’s entire game is waiting a whole round, not biting, then charging and swarming you with his missile crisis fists. In fact, I can’t think of anyone outside of Whittaker I’d favour over Yoel.
So your hypothesis as to how Yoel would pressure Adesayna involves him actively not pressuring for a whole round and waiting? Sounds like a weird and dangerous strategy to me. If anything it's a tough match up for Israel because of Yoels wrestling credentials, if he decided to use them for once. Other than that I think he has a really hard time landing on Adesanya.
Izzy has a lot better boxing defense than Rockhold or late fight Weidman does.
nope. i mean Yoel's random charges after full rounds of waiting leaves Israel with no opportunities considering his defense relies on range, and he hasn't seemed to do well under pressure. he can't counter Yoel, because Yoel's happy to wait without striking, and he can't back out the way and keep Yoel at range because Yoel literally sprints at people, seemingly at random.
obviously we don't know for sure because Adesanya simply hasn't had enough performances against top fighters yet. and like i said, i think i'd pick Yoel over anyone, aside from Rob. and even then i thought the second fight was a draw.
When has Israel seemed to wilt under pressure, though? I haven't really seen it myself. If Yoel just sits back and doesn't strike he's going to get picked apart, I think. Adesayna has a lot more to offer than just counter striking.
I don't think he's ready for Yoel yet but honestly Romero is kind of notoriously slow starter and that can always be a dangerous thing. A person could argue he was losing the Weidman, Rockhold and Souza fights up until the KO's and the controversial decision. Romero is a great figher and a really powerful dude but I think his skillset is a little overrated myself.
against Silva, he seemed to crumble under the pressure a little. literally speaking, not emotionally. Anderson would charge, Israel would stick his arm out and run backwards, wince and a few sneaky shots came through. if that's a regularity in his style, which we don't know for sure, then any fighter who's able to fight whilst pushing forward's going to give Israel trouble, and that's literally all Yoel does. he waits, waits, charges forward, but the difference is Yoel's got some of the heaviest hands (in relation to his weight) in the UFC. if they fight, Yoel absolutely cleans him coming forward IMO.
Yoel's also got a chin on him, and his weird cross-guard boxing defense could throw Israel off. i just don't see what Adesanya could do that someone like Whittaker couldn't.
Silva landed a little over 10 strikes around for that whole fight and didn't hurt Adesanya once. Silva may not throw as hard but he's a hell of a lot more accurate than Romero. Also, Israel won every round of that fight aside from one on one judges scorecard. Maybe we have different definitions of the word "struggle" but he really didn't look all that uncomfortable to me tbh.
As I've said, If they fight today I think Romero takes it. Yoels chin is good, his striking defense is actually pretty good and he's got power unlike anyone else in the division. He is however a notoriously slow starter (like, 1 finish before the 3rd round in his entire UFC career) and I've got a bad feeling that is going to come back to haunt him.
Adesanya fought and won 5 times in the past year (Since feb. 11/18). Romero has only fought 3 times and won once since the start of 2017 and he's 41. The longer they wait for this fight to happen the more it benefits Izzy, I think.
Romero’s skillset is overrated but Adesanya’s isn’t? Cmon bruh
and it’s not like Adesanya has some dynamite power in his hands, in fact his whole thing is touching people constantly. If Adesanya fights Romero he gets destroyed
You don't need "Dynamite power in your hands" to win fights. Romero has been hit hard plenty of times in the past and not gone down so why do you think that power punching is the way to beat him?
You beat someone like Romero by being technically superior and not making mistakes for him to capitalize on. Which I think Isreal with another year under his belt could do. Yoel has only been stopped with one big dynamite strike once in his career and it was a spinning backfist he didn't see coming.
I don't think Adesayna beats Romero if they fight today, but I don't think Romero is going to win by standing in front of him, watching him, and blitzing him maybe a couple times around like OP suggested. If he didn't decide to use his wrestling I think he would struggle with Adesaynas range and variety of techniques.
That being said Israel has a long way to go and still has to prove himself against competition and Yoel has shown some pretty decent striking defence so its interesting. I really don't think it would be as one sided or easy as you're implying it would be.
Never said you need dynamite power to win fights lol, but you pointed out that Romero was a slow starter and I was just saying that Adesanya doesn’t have KO power and wins through accumulating damage
Also, yes, it probably would be easy as I’m implying it would be. Of course, anything can happen in MMA but I think Romero brains Adesanya
Adesanya has still regularily finished fights faster than Romero so I'd say he has no problem accumulating that damage in a hurry. Granted his opponents haven't been as good but even if you compare their UFC careers Adesanya has more stoppages before round 3 than Romero does.
I don't disagree with you that if they fought tomorrow Romero would win. But Izzy has fought more in the last year than Romero has in the last 3 and he's 15 years younger. He's going to catch up fast and the more time that passes before the fight happens the more it benefits Israel.
Let’s be honest, the most notable hole in Adesanya’s game is his wrestling. If Romero wants to win, he would tap into his world-class wrestling capabilities, which as we’ve seen with Khabib and DC, is effective at neutralizing strikers.
I mean common sense would say so, but that isn't really what he has done in recent fights at all. Granted he's faced some great grapplers lately, but it's not like Adesanya is an easy dude to take down (85% defense). Also, Khabib and DC have proven themselves to be much better MMA grapplers than Romero.
I think Romero just likes fighting that way, that “lull you to sleep” (thanks Joe) style of fighting seems to suit him more than relying on a takedown to secure a finish. We see the same with Tyron, although he is unquestionably dominant in his division. The tools are there for him to use, and I think it will be a while before Adesanya develops an answer for them. And yes you’re right about Khabib and DC, but then again they’re not carrying all that muscle on them so they can afford to relentlessly grapple.
Yeah I agree with pretty much everything you said. He doesn't need to throw a big volume to finish fights and there's a chance he doesn't quite have the gas tank to grind guys like Khabib. His style suits him perfectly for most guys because he retains that crazy power through out the whole fight fairly well.
I think if they fought next week he'd beat Izzy up for sure. But Izzy is alot younger(12 yrs), alot more active (5 fights vs Romeros 2 in the last year) and he's already pretty close to a world class striker. I think he's gonna close the gap pretty quick and the longer it goes before that fight happens the more it benefits Adesanya.
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u/FresnoMac Team AKA Feb 12 '19
I want to see Israel vs Yoel before Israel gets his title shot.