DC seems to have anticipation problems on his right hand side.

[jjdowns]

Both Jones and Stipe got DC by going to the body and then going to the head and then going back to the body on right hand side.

Jones threw kicks to DC’s body in the right, then went high to the head and it was done from there.

Stipe was going high to the head and then digging lefts into DC’s right side of his body. DC was done soon after.

It seems that DC can’t figure out how to block on his right and anticipate the high low combinations to his right.

 

[Klaavical]

Insightful

 

[TheLastEmperorReurns]

Javier Mendez kept screaming at him to keep his hands/guard up from round 3 onwards.

Yells the same thing at Khabib.

It’s a fundamental concept in striking but my theory is that wrestlers just aren’t ingrained to keep their hands up once they’re tired no matter how good they get at striking.

 

[Cylence]

Kill the body and the head will die.

Honestly, I just think DC takes body shots worse than a lot of guys. Plus, he has absolutely no poker face for it and winces when taking a good one. Stipe found something that worked, and built off of it.

 

[frederick]

Both Jones and Stipe got DC by going to the body and then going to the head and then going back to the body on right hand side.

Jones threw kicks to DC’s body in the right, then went high to the head and it was done from there.

Stipe was going high to the head and then digging lefts into DC’s right side of his body. DC was done soon after.

It seems that DC can’t figure out how to block on his right and anticipate the high low combinations to his right.

You have to go to the body against DC, because he's always reaching out grabbing your wrists and parrying your punches. He also has good head movement. His body is always exposed and he doesn't move his torso (or feet) as much as he moves his head.

 

[Wadtucket]

May have something to do with Cormier being a morbidly obese blob and being an enormous target

 

[Sweater of AV]

 

[Cylence]

Javier Mendez kept screaming at him to keep his hands/guard up from round 3 onwards.

Yells the same thing at Khabib.

It’s a fundamental concept in striking but my theory is that wrestlers just aren’t ingrained to keep their hands up once they’re tired no matter how good they get at striking.

Off topic, but I always had this theory that Cain was the favorite at AKA because of this. His ability to follow instructions was awesome and I think they loved it. When they told him to do something, rest assured it was going to be done.

I remember once during the Kongo fight, in between rounds, Dave Camarillo said to Cain that he wanted Kongo flat. Mendez says "You heard that, right? What'd your coach say? And Cain just yells "HE WANTS 'EM FLAT." Then he proceeded to go out and dump Kongo on his head and beat him senseless for five minutes.

 

[Iron Nick]

Kill the body and the head will die.

Honestly, I just think DC takes body shots worse than a lot of guys. Plus, he has absolutely no poker face for it and winces when taking a good one. Stipe found something that worked, and built off of it.

While body shots are very effective against DC, i wouldn't say it's got something to do with his ability to absorb them, but with the fact that he leaves his body open. Those hooks to the body by Stipe could've made some other fighters crumbling into fetal position instantly i think, as they were both hard and accurate.

 

[kuf]

I remember once during the Kongo fight, in between rounds, Dave Camarillo said to Cain that he wanted Kongo flat. Mendez says "You heard that, right? What'd your coach say? And Cain just yells "HE WANTS 'EM FLAT." Then he proceeded to go out and dump Kongo on his head and beat him senseless for five minutes.

I love it when I stumble upon random fight trivia.

 

[Cylence]

While body shots are very effective against DC, i wouldn't say it's got something to do with his ability to absorb them, but with the fact that he leaves his body open. Those hooks to the body by Stipe could've made some other fighters crumbling into fetal position instantly i think, as they were both hard and accurate.

It's not only leaving it open, but the fact that he doesn't develop counters for the bodywork. When Jones was priming DC for that headkick with body kicks, never once did he offer back a counter to make Jones think "oh shit, maybe use that more sparingly, that hurt." Same thing with Stipe digging that left hook to the body.

It's kind of a combination of things. While I believe he absorbs them somewhat worse than most other top level professionals, leaving it so exposed, not offering back a serious counter, and not having a poker face when getting hit with one is just bad news khabib bears.

 

[Iron Nick]

It's not only leaving it open, but the fact that he doesn't develop counters for the bodywork. When Jones was priming DC for that headkick with body kicks, never once did he offer back a counter to make Jones think "oh shit, maybe use that more sparingly, that hurt." Same thing with Stipe digging that left hook to the body.

It's kind of a combination of things. While I believe he absorbs them somewhat worse than most other top level professionals, leaving it so exposed, not offering back a serious counter, and not having a poker face when getting hit with one is just bad news khabib bears.

Hmm.. i think your right with most of what you said and what you've said about the counters is a very good point actually, but i honestly think that if those body shots from Stipe landed on other fighters in the division they wouldn't be able to take them much better.. idk, maybe they weren't as hard as i remember, but when watching the fight i honestly thought that Cormier ate them pretty well..

 

[Cylence]

Hmm.. i think your right with most of what you said and what you've said about the counters is a very good point actually, but i honestly think that if those body shots from Stipe landed on other fighters in the division they wouldn't be able to take them much better.. idk, maybe they weren't as hard as i remember, but when watching the fight i honestly thought that Cormier ate them pretty well..

Nah, he did. And some of them were really nice and dug in there, especially the last one.

I don't know, it's hard to prove my point because we don't see many sustained attacks to the body in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, and the ones that we do probably support your point more than mine, like Overeem/Lesnar or Fedor/Fujita.

 

[MakeSherdogGreatAgain]

Jones got Cormier thinking he was throwing to the body and kicked him in the head. He was blocking downstairs but the kick came upstairs. Jones tricked him.

Stipe was throwing some fucking heat. Those were beautiful body shots. I don't know if I've ever seen anybody else in mma throw a left hook to the body like that. Really good technique. I was impressed with his form. You generally only see that kind of body punching in boxing.

That said, I would love to see anybody else eat that many of those body shots and stay on their feet. I also don't think they would've worked earlier in the fight while DC was fresh.

 

[Iron Nick]

Nah, he did. And some of them were really nice and dug in there, especially the last one.

I don't know, it's hard to prove my point because we don't see many sustained attacks to the body in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, and the ones that we do probably support your point more than mine, like Overeem/Lesnar or Fedor/Fujita.

Just re-watched the body shots Cormier ate and man.. the last one was definitely textbook:

Agree with you about the lack of sustained body attacks in those divisions, hell, i've got the feeling that going to the body is still not that common in the other weight-classes as well, despite being proven over and over again to be so effective!
EDIT: DC wasn't really knocked out despite those bombs to the face after the body shots and repeated blows when he was against the fence either...that's gotta be some GOAT-chin?!

 

[Orni]

Liver shots are so underused in mma. Solar plexus too but mostly liver shots.

 

[DavidThornby]

He also has this weird dip. Jones exploited it and I remember Jones saying he had tendencies. Stipe and his team had a great strategy going into the fight.

 

[TheLastEmperorReurns]

Off topic, but I always had this theory that Cain was the favorite at AKA because of this. His ability to follow instructions was awesome and I think they loved it. When they told him to do something, rest assured it was going to be done.

I remember once during the Kongo fight, in between rounds, Dave Camarillo said to Cain that he wanted Kongo flat. Mendez says "You heard that, right? What'd your coach say? And Cain just yells "HE WANTS 'EM FLAT." Then he proceeded to go out and dump Kongo on his head and beat him senseless for five minutes.

Some of the most talented people at anything are dull/painfully-average who happen to be really humble and good at listening to instructions.

I don't think that GSP is dull or average in any way but he's an amazing listener.