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UFC on Fox 20: Holm vs. Shevchenko (7/23/2016) - Chicago, IL (United Center)


Elsalvajeloco

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2 hours ago, AxB said:

It's odd, Holm is supposed to be this great striker (and she's out of Jackson/ Wink, a great camp), but she really ran out of ideas in this fight, and stuck with a tactic that clearly wasn't working (and was showing no indication of ever working). You'd think someone would have realised she was well down on the scorecards and needed to go all out for a KO, but she plodded late, when exploding was her only chance.

Or is Shevchenko just the female Demetrious Johnson and nobody realised before?

I think one of the many problems was that Holm was looking for a finish too early. I believe Holly was deceived by that early success after knocking Shevchenko down in round 1. However, if you watch that round, Shevchenko was going back and forth with Holm and that KD was one of the only times Shevchenko was off balance. The next three round, Holm was looking to catch her off balance but Shevchenko made the necessary adjustments to where that wouldn't happen again. By the fifth and final rounds, there wasn't a whole lot Holm could do save from doing some stuff she had never been asked to do in her career. Keep in mind, Holm isn't really a knockout striker. Don't let the time on AXS fool you into believing that. As the fight was unfolding, Holm's strikes were falling shorter and shorter. She couldn't really walk her down because that check right hook was going to keep her honest. When your strikes come slower and more deliberate, it's easier for the opponent to step out of the way and time you.

If you look at the final betting odds right before the fight started, I think a lot of people were understanding how this fight could play out. If you look at what I said before the fight, this result shouldn't really surprise you. I don't think it's where some people are making out to where Holm wasn't good or that Rousey win was a fluke. This is the first time she fought someone who had similar or comparable credentials in striking, if not way better. If you watched the Road to the Octagon, you would have saw that Shevchenko and her sister have been doing the striking disciplines since they were little kids and had championships out of the wazoo. This isn't something they do part-time. In addition, Valentina has two or three wins over Joanna in kickboxing. As I said, there isn't really anyone Holly Holm faced that had credentials like that. Juliana Werner was like a "Brazilian national muay thai champion" or w/e, but if you saw that fight, you know that's a complete joke. If someone told me Jose Aldo or Edson Barboza were multiple time Brazilian national muay thai champions, I would certainly believe you even if I didn't know the first thing about muay thai or kickboxing in general. Either Werner was the only person competing in her weight class or she was fighting three year olds every fight out. It was ridiculous how one sided that fight was.

This Shevchenko fight for Holm was really a reality check. Gunnar Nelson is a sensational grappler. Just because Demian Maia dominated him doesn't mean that Nelson is not that. However, in a straight up grappling match, Maia would straight murder him just because that's where you really understand how good Maia is at submission grappling. One day, Nelson could come in and murk Maia in a MMA rematch but it doesn't change where they stand in terms of grappling. That's how I feel about Shevchenko and Holm in terms of kickboxing. My hesitation was that Shevchenko would be a bit undersized, but I had no doubts in her ability. At 125, Shevchenko would be menace just because she wouldn't be at that size disadvantage and she has been able to show pretty good strength against bigger women. Holm could beat plenty of other women at 135, and she already has for the most part. Holm ran into someone who was way better at striking than her and was well-rounded enough to execute a great strategy. 

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3 hours ago, Shawn411 said:

I wonder how many viewers did the main event get?

Looks like it was the top rated program in all of television for the night. I am sure Fox is happy about that considering it was the opposite last week for PBC.

I think we can put a fork in that rumor from earlier this year that Fox might give away UFC dates to PBC. 

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