Freddie Roach interview on MMA/Fighters (Fedor, Penn, Silva, etc...)

[Liquidrob]

Good interview from Freddie Roach, watch it

http://blog.hdnetfights.com/post/444217166/krucks-korner-freddie-roach

Some quotes

- I would like to work with him (Fedor). His balance isn't that good. He's flat footed a lot. He's heavy.....easy to box if you use in and out, side to side motion.

He can be out boxed but the thing is he's such a good puncher you got to be careful with that and he of course is a Sambo guy and he does have a good ground game also, he is one of the most complete fighters out there

- Penn is an awesome boxer

- AndersonSilva only gives 30-40% in sparring, and when he saw him on TV it was like a different fighter

- Wants to work GSP

- Says its harder to go from boxing to MMA

- Thinks AA would have the best transition to boxing in MMA

- Says Pacquiao would be the best transition to MMA because he's super quick and can side step the take down, and also has Muay Thai experience

 

[Steel Mamba]

Good interview from Freddie Roach, watch it

http://blog.hdnetfights.com/post/444217166/krucks-korner-freddie-roach

Some quotes

- I would like to work with him (Fedor). His balance isn't that good. He's flat footed a lot. He's heavy.....easy to box if you use in and out, side to side motion.

As I've been saying Fedor is not a great striker, he does have some fuckin unbelievable power tho.

 

[Liquidrob]

As I've been saying Fedor is not a great striker, he does have some fuckin unbelievable power tho.

I thought you would like that part, the problem is the one guy who had the chance to do it ended up looking like he seen a ghost

 

[trojan49er]

Fedor doesnt have great technical striking, thats been proven a couple of times. Nothing really new about that, but, like has been said, he has 1 punch KO power, hits as hard if not harder than anyone else in the business, making it relatively unwise to try and strike with him unless you have a granite jaw. Arlovski is plenty of evidence for this, outboxed him for the majority of the fight but got caught. Thats one of the reasons I would argue the best way to beat Fedor is to put him on his back. His ground game off his back isnt nearly what his top game is. He is very hard to hold down and that somewhat negates that relative weakness. I say relative weakness because there isnt an aspect of his game that is bad, its just not quite as good as the rest of his game.

 

[Liquidrob]

Fedor doesnt have great technical striking, thats been proven a couple of times. Nothing really new about that, but, like has been said, he has 1 punch KO power, hits as hard if not harder than anyone else in the business, making it relatively unwise to try and strike with him unless you have a granite jaw. Arlovski is plenty of evidence for this, outboxed him for the majority of the fight but got caught.

The thing is, what people dont understand, in MMA more so than boxing, you can still be a 'great' striker without being very technical, people get caught up in the word 'technical' striker and think those are the only guys who are considered great strikers

Fedor has 2 things that make him a great MMA striker, power and timing, this is even more of an assest in the HW division where big punches happen more

Fedor's striking is more reliant on his intangibles than his technical skills, throw in 4 ounce gloves and its a wrap

Also, proper technique is also subjective, the way Fedor throws punches lends to his style more than a tradtional boxing punches, he throws punches with full body weight an momentum behind them, if he lands or misses he can move into the clinch/takedown easier

 

[trojan49er]

I wasnt saying hes not a great striker, anything but. I was just saying that from a technical standpoint he's not as sound as some and someone who is a great technician in the standup game can outbox him.

I'll definitely give you how his style helps get the clinch and go for the takedown, I hadnt really thought of that, but now that you mention it, I can see how that works in his game, especially as his clinch wrestling and takedowns are top notch

 

[Liquidrob]

I wasnt disagreeing with you, just going off that point, I dont think anyone thinks Fedor is a great technical striker

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

As I've been saying Fedor is not a great striker, he does have some fuckin unbelievable power tho.

I wasnt disagreeing with you, just going off that point, I dont think anyone thinks Fedor is a great technical striker

Why does it matter? He's got the heaviest hands anyone has ever seen, and knocks everyone out that he faces.

-Vladamir Guerrero has an awful swing and is "technically" unsound, but who cares when the guy is a .300+ career hitter who was one of the best hitters of his generation.

-Dan Marino had bad mechanics and lousy footwork, but is one of the greatest passers of all time. Joey Harrington was universally praised for having perfect mechanics.

-Chris Mullin & Shawn Marion both had horrible shooting form that would make a juniior high school coach cringe. One is going to the HOF and the other was an All Star.

To say Fedor isnt a great striker is beyond ridiculous, and it's like saying Guerrero isnt a great hitter, Marino isnt a great passer, and Mullin isnt a great shooter.

 

[Liquidrob]

Why does it matter? He's got the heaviest hands anyone has ever seen, and knocks everyone out that he faces.

lol, it doesnt, didnt you read my post before that?

Fedor is a great MMA striker, just not considered a great 'technical' striker in the classic sense, whatever that means

and for the record, there isnt many great 'technical' strikers in MMA, but most people look at it through boxing googles which kind of skews things, there just isnt enough hours in a training day to be as good as a pro boxer when you fight MMA, it just doesnt work like that

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

lol, it doesnt, didnt you read my post before that?

It was more a response to Steel Mamba, who flat out said he wasnt a great striker. I added your quote for the "he's not a great technical striker part.

My overall point, is the technical part is irrelevent when he knocks out everyone he faces...just like mechanics are irrelevent to Marino, and form is irrelevent to Mullin.

 

[Liquidrob]

It was more a response to Steel Mamba, who flat out said he wasnt a great striker. I added your quote for the "he's not a great technical striker part.

My overall point, is the technical part is irrelevent when he knocks out everyone he faces...just like mechanics are irrelevent to Marino, and form is irrelevent to Mullin.

agreed, people need to understand when you look at and compare sports like Boxing, Kickboxing and MMA that when more rules are added it changes the technical side of the sport

MMA has the least amount of rules, than Kickboxing and finally Boxing, because Boxing has more rules it becomes more 'technical' when just looking at the striking department, so thats where these comments come from

Same in the grappling department when comparing sports

MMA less amount of rules, than you have ADCC or No-gi sub grappling followed by BJJ in a Gi, BJJ in a Gi is considered the more technical form of grappling because more rules than MMA and just focusses on the ground aspect of fighting

 

[Liquidrob]

just to keep ranting, no doubt in my mind that Roach thought AA would smoke Fedor standing because he doesnt understand what happens in MMA, even the striking side, he probably thought it was a 5 round fight and AA would coast to a win after watching tape on Fedor, seeing him flat footed, 'bad balance' when punching

In boxing you can hide standing, you have options with the rules, journeymen last the entire fight against top pros all the time, its the nature of the sport, Winky Wright putting both arms up in front will get you KO'd with little gloves, PBF shell defense will get you taken down or kicked in the legs, etc...

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Why does it matter? He's got the heaviest hands anyone has ever seen, and knocks everyone out that he faces.

-Vladamir Guerrero has an awful swing and is "technically" unsound, but who cares when the guy is a .300+ career hitter who was one of the best hitters of his generation.

-Dan Marino had bad mechanics and lousy footwork, but is one of the greatest passers of all time. Joey Harrington was universally praised for having perfect mechanics.

-Chris Mullin & Shawn Marion both had horrible shooting form that would make a juniior high school coach cringe. One is going to the HOF and the other was an All Star.

To say Fedor isnt a great striker is beyond ridiculous, and it's like saying Guerrero isnt a great hitter, Marino isnt a great passer, and Mullin isnt a great shooter.

A great set of points in argument I will one day steal.:dealwithit:

In boxing you can hide standing, you have options with the rules, journeymen last the entire fight against top pros all the time, its the nature of the sport, Winky Wright putting both arms up in front will get you KO'd with little gloves, PBF shell defense will get you taken down or kicked in the legs, etc...

Its weird. Specific to the Jab.

I heard one boxing trainer ((maybe it was roach not sure)) talk about how MMA guys dont know how to throw a decent jab , and how underused it is in MMA.

Bas Rutten on IMMA said he learned to bypass the Jab in favor of hooks , saying he was willing to take a few jabs to get off a clean hook or range for clinch. Insinuating Jabs were almost a waste in MMA.

Guys like Wandy , Liddell , Hendo ,Fedor knock people into orbit without anything close to a technically great jab.

But guys like Bisping , Bj Penn ,Vitor , And1 all use jabs heavily with great success.

When you consider the Jab the most common , and usually first taught strike in any combat sport seems like a very interesting sticking point.

 

[Liquidrob]

Its weird. Specific to the Jab.

I heard one boxing trainer ((maybe it was roach not sure)) talk about how MMA guys dont know how to throw a decent jab , and how underused it is in MMA.

Bas Rutten on IMMA said he learned to bypass the Jab in favor of hooks , saying he was willing to take a few jabs to get off a clean hook or range for clinch. Insinuating Jabs were almost a waste in MMA.

Guys like Wandy , Liddell , Hendo ,Fedor knock people into orbit without anything close to a technically great jab.

But guys like Bisping , Bj Penn ,Vitor , And1 all use jabs heavily with great success.

When you consider the Jab the most common , and usually first taught strike in any combat sport seems like a very interesting sticking point.

Bas comes from a dutch kickboxing background where they focus more on power, I dont know if he still does, but Bas never calls it a jab, he would always say a left straight or a right straight for a south paw because he thinks a jab should be thrown with power

he makes good points because of the rules of the sport, in boxing you usually have 12 rounds compared to 3 or 5 in MMA, even kickboxing has less rounds, so in boxing you can establish the jab, or work the jab over a longer time, but in MMA guys are throwing bombs with 4 ounce gloves, so if you are not very skilled in the jab, boxing with head movement, understanding distance you will get cracked and probably dropped, you have less time to damge someone in MMA or Kickboxing, so fighters tend to throw more powerful shots

most MMA strikers dont box with head movement either, plus when you have to worry about a leg kicks, clinching, takedowns, etc...its not the same distance and timing as boxing

thats why at this point most MMA stand up fights look like bad kickboxing or tough man contests because they know the basics of how to punch, but the hardest thing to learn is defense and when you throw in all the other things you need defend against it makes it even harder

 

[RosettaStoned]

He's pretty accurate too, just to toss that in there.