Need to rewatch that fight then. Typically Yoel does not push the pace. But 284 strikes in a 3 round fight from Yoel is an insane pace.
It's on YouTube. I watched it again last week. I should probably watch it again tbh. Yoel just doesn't throw much with precision IMO. He loops everything and puts power in like 1 out of 20 punches. If he hits you with something then he just tries to finish you with a flurry. Then he's gassed. IIRC he was good through 3 and then it was moving away/being weird with his hands down.
Watching it again now, both Costa and Yoel slowed down a lot in the middle of the 2nd. Both started throwing light shots to try and get inside to load up. Yoel had some success with the jab, Costa had to get inside/close the gap to dig in body shots. Yoel was eating his punches by the end of the round. A lot of Yoel's shots are light front kicks, oblique kicks and looping left hands. Seems like both were actually pretty solid through 2.5 rounds. Yoel actually turned it up and looked fresher the last half of the 3rd round. Costa was just hanging on. I guess it's also different knowing you've only got to fight 3 rounds vs 5. But One Man Wolfpack I'd say you're right. Gas tank is better than I gave him credit for.
Unrelated, but I really don't like how Yoel has fought the last 4-5 times out. He basically fights like he's the belt holder and the challenger needs to clearly beat him to win on score cards. Idk why he thinks judges appreciate his tongue out, hands down, run away antics. His fight vs Paulo was extremely close but he was pretty much acting like he had it locked from fairly early on. I also think its hard to say Costa is much, if at all, better than him which also leans into my strong attraction to Israel tomorrow. I already have a reyes/adesanya parlay locked in. Would love costa money to come in and make it easier for me to go big on Adesanya straight up.
i just can’t stand dudes with lack of self awareness dude is coming off a record setting (the bad kind) output for a fight but comes out acting like he fucked up yoel
Adesanya is living off of that knockout of Whitaker. He looked like shit vs Romero, looked like shit vs Silva, and won a close decision vs a washed Gastelum. Rewatched Costa/Romero last night and I’m not sure what Izzy could do to hurt him. He ate Romero’s best stuff. Don’t think Izzy will be able to handle the onslaught Costa will bring tonight. And I think he’s looked scared every time they’ve been face to face.
Costa will be trying to kill him. Adesanya is an excellent counter striker but I see Costa just eating everything he throws and finishing him. Maybe in the first.
Idk what that means. Paulo costa has one victory vs an elite fighter, a narrow decision vs Yoel Romero, a guy that the other top fighters in the division also squeezed out narrow victories against. Adesanya has knocked out over the hill fighters too. I feel like it’s coming off like I hate costa or something. Love the dude, he’s a great fighter. But how many times do we look at the knockouts up and comers get against mediocre fighters then get surprised when they can’t do the same vs top of the line competition?
I don’t think the Romero fight was all that close. The Gastelum fight weighs heavy for me when analyzing tonight.
The thing that worries me about Adesanya is that he has been KO’d before, in kickboxing, most recently by a Brazilian in 2017.
Wife and kid flew out of town Thursday, so I’ve had so much time to analyze these fights. When I get home I’ll post my write up, but these picks will be sharp as fuck tonight. But Costa will be headlining my picks for sure.
I said yesterday I was pulling for Adesanya but since reading Okamoto’s story about Costa, it’s hard to not pull for him. very poor, still lives with his mother and just trains all day every day.
gastelum wasn’t washed at that point if anything that was he was at his peak and coming off of a great run of fights he fought a very good fight
Show me this great run of fights. Kennedy? Hendricks? Bisping? Split decision over Jacare? It’s smoke and mirrors man, and that guy took Izzy to the limit. Check out all the decision wins for Izzy. That man is not a killer. Costa is a different kind of dude.
Quick picks: Ibragimov by decision (nobody knows anything about the guy he's fighting) Espino in the 1st round. Knight by KO. Young vs Klein is tough. The line has consistently moved towards Klein, but everything else points to Young. Best thing I can say is this probably doesn't go the distance. Matthews by decision (no bet) Da Silva by decision (no bet) Tukhugov by decision (no bet) No thoughts on Eubanks/Vieriera Royval in an upset Reyes (probably by decision) Costa by KO (maybe 1st round) Tough night for City Kickboxing.
Ibragimov should be drawing unemployment soon. This was a can fight for him, and he still looked like shit. Marques has wins over guys with records of 6-12, 0-20, 5-4-1, 0-7, 15-36 -- and the guy hadn't fought in 2 years.
Sporturge.net You should be able to navigate to the page Plenty to choose from, I always go low res as they never get shut down
The start of that 3rd round was just sad. His flabby body leaning forward as if he was setting a trap and wasn't gassed