You guys are aware that Holly Holm is an MMA fighter though right? I mean she won by head kick KO. Didn't know they allowed that in boxing. This was MMA fighter Vs MMA fighter. Holm has tremendous boxing as a result of her past, but the skills she uses now are predominantly her MMA learned ones. Her kicking game, takedown defence, defending against Ronda's hips when they tied up. James Toney was a boxer Vs MMA fighter. Unfortunately, I still think it's bull**** that he was given a guy like Couture. Rampage Jackson would have been a cracking opponent. Plus if you boxing guys want a little bit more, Tim Sylvia Vs Ray Mercer should be your focus. I also find it weird that you guys are using female fighters to illustrate this point.
Don't be biased. I don't like MMA that much but Randy was ancient and was past his prime. Randy also lost a lot. Toney's boxing style is terrible for MMA. Randy would have beaten most boxers because he would go for the win, not caring about proving anything to anyone. But I do think a great boxer with some MMA training COULD be a force.
The majority of Holly's stengths are obviously from her boxing background. Distance control, footwork, head movement/slipping, stepping in, countering. But she's not a boxer anymore....that was an mma fighter last night. Avoided the hip toss in the clinch, avoided a set up for an arm drag/throw, escaped an arm bar set up, broke Rondas ankles Allen Iverson style when she avoided the press to the cage for a possible shoot....against a fighter who was a world class judoka. A pure boxer does none of that. She did show how good her hands are when she commits to throwing with intent in an mma setting. Ronda looked sloppy and amateurish.....yeah edmund, she can box! Lmao. Top amateurs beat rousey in boxing. Anyone with a pulse knew that though.
Finished with a kick but the punch that preceded it was what did her in, also the straight lefts from the start. Boxing was clearly the core style but it was an MMA performance.
It looked to me that Rousey came to box Holm....beat he at her own game and secure a knockout victory. Rhonda was walking right into those straight left hands while Holly kept circling. Holly fought her fight and Rousey went right along with the game plan.
MMA grappling-based fighters shouldn't make the mistake of trying to box boxers. Looks like Holm used boxing as a strong core style and built around it. Nice.
Great percormance by Holm. I'm a boxing fan and dip into MMA occasionally. Great to see a world class boxer fight in the UFC whilst not completely shot. Boxers still need to have quick feet if they are going to step into the octagon. Toney, Mercer and McCall were statues when they attempted MMA and even if they were in their primes they still didn't have a boxing style that would be good for top level MMA. From a boxing stand point, Holm done the basics. She didn't have to get out of first gear to beat Rousey as Rousey's boxing is awful; to upright, guard to low, fighting in straight lines, no lateral movement, being stationary in front of Holm, not attempting to get her lead foot outside of Holm's, no head movement, no meaningful feints, throwing to far out, over reaching and losing balance, no boxing IQ and having the inteelect and ability to do something different when plan A wasn't working. I can't remember the stats, but Holm's percentage of shots landed was staggering. Ronda made the mistake quite a lot of MMA fighters do; they believe that standing in front of your opponent with no upper body movement, no thought to what your feet are doing and throwing a 1-2 constitutes boxing. That is not how professional boxers fight. That is how doormen fight drunks outside of a bar. However, to say this was a boxer beating a MMA fighter is stupid. If Holm wasn't able to defend against Ronda's takedown attempts and get up of the mat when taken down then she would have been made to tap out in round 1. Her kicks were also impressive. Everyone will go on about the KO kick, which, whilst nice and spectacular, was just the finishing touch from a performance of great defensive footwork (from shots and attempted takedowns), fantastic control of distance, well timed accurate straight lefts, and a variety of well timed and placed kicks. What past boxing v MMA fights have shown is that if a boxer is arrogant enough to think that his old, past it backside can step into the octagon with nothing other than boxing skills then he is going to get humiliated. Even a P4P boxer in their prime, whilst fearing a bit better, would still be tapped out pretty easily. However, what Holm shown is that if you take a world class boxer and they are smart and humble enough to admit that they need to enter MMA whilst still relatively young and they need more dimensions to their game then they can certainly fare very well in MMA and may even be a force to be reckoned with.
A world class boxer would have a much easier transition into MMA, then a MMA fighter would coming into boxing.
Just Toney was shot, overweight and way past his prime. Tim Sylvia was only 33 and Mercer was 48 and kncoked his out in 8 secs.
Yeah, it's irrefutable. Boxing RULES over this pseudo-sport. Now maybe the ignorant punks who make a up the fanbase of this **** will wake up and become boxing fans!!!:happy:happy:happy
