The only fighter that was able to use his wrestling to beat Johnson
in the last few years was Daniel Cormier. Daniel Cormier has Olympic
level wrestling, cardio for days and a relentless, grinding style that
is aided by one of the best chins in the Light Heavyweight division.
Ryan Bader is not on Daniel Cormier’s level as a striker, as a wrestler
or as a fighter and he’s going to find it very difficult to impose
himself on Johnson like Cormier did.
In order to take Anthony Johnson down, you need to enter his range
and Johnson punishes people for entering his range better than anybody
else in MMA. If you don’t complete a takedown and secure a dominant
position against Johnson quickly, he’ll fire back with fight ending
strikes.
Ryan Bader has shown throughout his career that he goes into a
defensive shell if he cannot take an opponent down and I believe that
this is exactly what’s going to happen in this fight. Bader also has a
big weakness in his game that plays right into one of Johnson’s most
dangerous weapons…
When Bader exits an exchange or takedown attempt, he moves out of his
opponent’s range with his chin up high. This leaves him wide open to
getting knocked out. If his opponent lands on him or applies pressure,
he also tends to forget to circle out of danger and gets trapped with
his back against the cage. This is another major weakness in his
skillset that leaves him wide open to getting knocked out. Johnson does a
great job of throwing hooks that come over the shoulders of his
opponent’s, so that they don’t see them coming. These hooks land with
knockout power and Bader will be very susceptible to these kinds of
strikes when he leaves exchanges with his chin up high and when he gets
pressured and trapped with his back against the cage. This small
weakness in Bader’s fighting style will leave him very vulnerable to
getting knocked out and it’s going to be difficult to correct because it
appears to be an instinctive behaviour.
Anthony Johnson’s cardio is one of his biggest weaknesses, but Bader
doesn’t apply enough pressure or work his opponent’s hard enough to test
it. For that reason, I believe that Johnson is a good bet in this
fight. I believe that Johnson will be able to use his strong wrestling
in reverse to keep this fight standing. From there, he should be able to
take the centre of the Octagon and apply constant pressure to Bader. I
believe Johnson will win this fight by KO or TKO in the first couple of
rounds or win a dominant decision if Bader chooses to stay on the
outside and fight defensively. Either way. I expect Johnson to win this
fight easily.
By Allsopp
To remove first post, remove entire topic.
The only fighter that was able to use his wrestling to beat Johnson
in the last few years was Daniel Cormier. Daniel Cormier has Olympic
level wrestling, cardio for days and a relentless, grinding style that
is aided by one of the best chins in the Light Heavyweight division.
Ryan Bader is not on Daniel Cormier’s level as a striker, as a wrestler
or as a fighter and he’s going to find it very difficult to impose
himself on Johnson like Cormier did.
In order to take Anthony Johnson down, you need to enter his range
and Johnson punishes people for entering his range better than anybody
else in MMA. If you don’t complete a takedown and secure a dominant
position against Johnson quickly, he’ll fire back with fight ending
strikes.
Ryan Bader has shown throughout his career that he goes into a
defensive shell if he cannot take an opponent down and I believe that
this is exactly what’s going to happen in this fight. Bader also has a
big weakness in his game that plays right into one of Johnson’s most
dangerous weapons…
When Bader exits an exchange or takedown attempt, he moves out of his
opponent’s range with his chin up high. This leaves him wide open to
getting knocked out. If his opponent lands on him or applies pressure,
he also tends to forget to circle out of danger and gets trapped with
his back against the cage. This is another major weakness in his
skillset that leaves him wide open to getting knocked out. Johnson does a
great job of throwing hooks that come over the shoulders of his
opponent’s, so that they don’t see them coming. These hooks land with
knockout power and Bader will be very susceptible to these kinds of
strikes when he leaves exchanges with his chin up high and when he gets
pressured and trapped with his back against the cage. This small
weakness in Bader’s fighting style will leave him very vulnerable to
getting knocked out and it’s going to be difficult to correct because it
appears to be an instinctive behaviour.
Anthony Johnson’s cardio is one of his biggest weaknesses, but Bader
doesn’t apply enough pressure or work his opponent’s hard enough to test
it. For that reason, I believe that Johnson is a good bet in this
fight. I believe that Johnson will be able to use his strong wrestling
in reverse to keep this fight standing. From there, he should be able to
take the centre of the Octagon and apply constant pressure to Bader. I
believe Johnson will win this fight by KO or TKO in the first couple of
rounds or win a dominant decision if Bader chooses to stay on the
outside and fight defensively. Either way. I expect Johnson to win this
fight easily.
Very detailed write up. Its nice to see this. My take is a bit different.
Bader will work more on his clinch game, his wrestling is fairly decent. I believe he is a College two time champ, still not on Cormier's level. He will attempt to push/hold Aj to the fence, on the ground apply pressure to tire out AJ. There is no reason for bader to want to stand up and box with Anthony Johnson when he has fresh legs in the first 2 rounds. Bader will attempt to win 2 rounds by wrestling and 3rd to 5th round he will have the cardio advantage to win on the feet and ground.
Baders wrestling background and training camp will rely on his wrestling and movement. He mix his punches and takedowns to catch AJ off guard, shoot and tie him against the cage. His entire camp will be based on these things. Bader will perform them well on that day.
Very detailed write up. Its nice to see this. My take is a bit different.
Bader will work more on his clinch game, his wrestling is fairly decent. I believe he is a College two time champ, still not on Cormier's level. He will attempt to push/hold Aj to the fence, on the ground apply pressure to tire out AJ. There is no reason for bader to want to stand up and box with Anthony Johnson when he has fresh legs in the first 2 rounds. Bader will attempt to win 2 rounds by wrestling and 3rd to 5th round he will have the cardio advantage to win on the feet and ground.
Baders wrestling background and training camp will rely on his wrestling and movement. He mix his punches and takedowns to catch AJ off guard, shoot and tie him against the cage. His entire camp will be based on these things. Bader will perform them well on that day.
While attending ASU, Bader was a three-time Pac-10 Champion winning titles in 2003, 2004, and 2006. He was also a two-time All-American, placing fourth in 2004 as a sophomore and seventh in 2006 as a senior.
Regardless of this stat, AJ during the Cormier fight had no answer to his wrestling. Doesnt matter if you are the best boxer when you are pinned against the cage. Bader may not have Cormier's level of wrestling, he does have much better wrestling than AJ.
While attending ASU, Bader was a three-time Pac-10 Champion winning titles in 2003, 2004, and 2006. He was also a two-time All-American, placing fourth in 2004 as a sophomore and seventh in 2006 as a senior.
Regardless of this stat, AJ during the Cormier fight had no answer to his wrestling. Doesnt matter if you are the best boxer when you are pinned against the cage. Bader may not have Cormier's level of wrestling, he does have much better wrestling than AJ.
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