Tical21":ayn7vw5x said:
I've been telling anybody who would listen for years that a good boxer whoops a MMA "striker" 10 times out of 10.
I think that is far too sweeping and general of a statement to be true and doesn't really reflect what happened in this fight for a number of reasons.
First, Rousey is not a striker. Striking is and always has been the weakest part of her game. Most of her wins are by submission, specifically, by arm bar. She generally takes her opponents down and over powers them on the ground.
Second, calling Holm a "good boxer" is a pretty drastic understatement.
For the record, before bolting for MMA, Holm was the IBA, WBC, WBF, WBAN, IFBA, WIBA, and NABF welterweight champion of the world and had a pro record of 32-2-3 in the boxing world.
She is in the discussion for greatest female welterweight of all time.
Third, while boxing is obviously her strength, she has been training in other disciplines for years now. She is no longer just a boxer, she is an MMA fighter.
Holm uses a variety of kicking techniques, often targeting the body with a fast side kick, pushing back a rush with a low oblique kick, and attacking the head with a left high kick
The knock out blow was a left high kick. Can't do that in boxing.
I think it's fair to say that a good boxer whoops an MMA striker the vast majority of the time
in a boxing match. However, IMO, a good MMA striker whoops a good boxer the vast majority of the time
in an MMA match.
Remember James Toney? I think with a record of 72-6-3, two no-contests, we can agree that he was a good boxer.
The next time a professional boxer with no mixed martial arts experience considers stepping into the Octagon, he should take a look at what happened Saturday to James Toney at UFC 118.
In the months leading up to the fight, Toney spoke repeatedly of being able to fight from his back. He told anyone who'd listen that he would knock Couture out, standing or on the ground.
"You will see how James Toney boxes. You will see that James Toney hits hard," Toney told ESPN.com recently. "You will see why James Toney hardly ever gets hit.
"As far as takedowns come, I welcome them. If he tries to take me down, it's going to be a short night for him. A very short night."
It was, but not the way Toney envisioned.
No boxer can walk into MMA without spending significant time learning at least one other fight discipline. Toney learned this lesson the hard way -- by having his lights put out.
http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/new ... id=5507475
Last thing I want to say regarding this fight specifically, that was one of the worst strategies I have ever seen in an MMA fight and the exact opposite of what Rousey should have done. I can't imagine what led her to believe that standing and striking with Holm would be anything but bad for her. That is playing to Holms greatest strength and her greatest weakness. Rousey has improved her striking, but she is still severely outclassed by Holm in that category. She and her trainers should have known this and game planned for it. Instead, it looked like the plan was to just go out there and bang with Holm. She, and her trainers, absolutely set her up for failure in this fight. It was ridiculous.
