Discipulus
Black Belt
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2011
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That's what I mean. He was undeniably one of the best strikers of his time in MMA. I don't think would have fared very well against his contemporaries in the kickboxing world. Prime Bas might still be able to hang with modern MMA fighters in the heavyweight division though, based on his power and tenacity alone.
Bas was a fan of the 50-50 set ups, i.e. "am I going to hit you high or low?" And he controlled the ring pretty damn well. But I don't think he had the finesse, especially in terms of defense, needed to call him a great technician. His defense was all in using his hands to defend himself, something it's clear he derived from Kyokushin (you can see this in the way he advocates using the forearms, elbows, and ridges of the hands to defend against punches and kicks, as well as the way he parries kicks with his hands). I'd say that this was certainly better than simply sticking your hands against your head and hoping that your opponent is too stupid or too unskilled to find the obvious openings, ala Stefan Struve. But it's hardly as effective as the kind of defense that Machida and Anderson use. Bas' method forces him to defend, then counter. Machida and Anderson are all about the anticipation and the simultaneous counter. All about the sen, baby.
Bas was a fan of the 50-50 set ups, i.e. "am I going to hit you high or low?" And he controlled the ring pretty damn well. But I don't think he had the finesse, especially in terms of defense, needed to call him a great technician. His defense was all in using his hands to defend himself, something it's clear he derived from Kyokushin (you can see this in the way he advocates using the forearms, elbows, and ridges of the hands to defend against punches and kicks, as well as the way he parries kicks with his hands). I'd say that this was certainly better than simply sticking your hands against your head and hoping that your opponent is too stupid or too unskilled to find the obvious openings, ala Stefan Struve. But it's hardly as effective as the kind of defense that Machida and Anderson use. Bas' method forces him to defend, then counter. Machida and Anderson are all about the anticipation and the simultaneous counter. All about the sen, baby.