Since people have been talking about the state of the modern UFC, I wanted to look at some stats for each division and see what I could learn.
We'll look first at the divisions overall and then focus on the ranked fighters.
[THREAD]
The number of fighters in a division is a good metric for predicting how competitive that division will be.
HW and LHW stand out as tiny divisions, with about half the fighters in those divisions getting a ranking.
Flyweight has been rebuilding but needs work and WBW is dying.
Aug 29, 2024 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Sumo wrestler Terutsuyoshi is going to MMA apparently.
At 5'7 and ~260lbs, he was one of the smaller guys in the top division (highest rank M3) and had to rely on a lot of different tricks and techniques.
Here he is hitting a beautiful koshinage (hip throw)
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Some clips of him training MMA
2/5
May 17, 2024 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
Thread of Ura's winning techniques (kimarite) but they get increasingly rare.
He is currently the sole leader in the Natsu basho with a 6-0 record.
First, Katasukashi (under shoulder swing down): 7.78% of Ura's wins (0.95% overall rate for all rikishi).
🧵1/9
Tottari (arm bar throw): 5.09% of Ura's wins (0.19% overall rate)
Once going 2 on 1 he can use his own shoulder as a fulcrum on the arm as he pivots out to throw opponents down.
2/9
Feb 5, 2024 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Finally cleansing my palette from the recent bad MMA with some boxing.
Here's a thread of Teofimo Lopez showing some cool technical things that boxers do:
First, countering the southpaw while their trying to hop to the outside angle.
1/11 🧵
Active defense with the cross-arm guard
2/11
Sep 28, 2023 • 23 tweets • 7 min read
I was getting a little burned out so I decided to revisit some of my old posts to remember the awesome stuff that has happened in combat sports this year.
Starting with the highest point for me: Crawford's complete dismantling of Spence:
This thread looks at the dynamic skills the 21 year old phenom displayed while fighting in the blue cage.
Starting first with his famously powerful low kicks, which became his preferred weapon at range.
🧵1/7
His takedown defense was nearly impenetrable, a skill that would service him well throughout his entire career.
Feeding opponents the single and then limp-legging out was his preferred method of defense.
🧵2/7
May 4, 2023 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
Thread about grand sumo wrestlers who have tried MMA:
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Akebono
Highest rank in sumo: Yokozuna
MMA record: 0-4
After a long career in sumo (including 9 missed tournaments due to injury) he only turned to MMA due to financial difficulties.
His sumo style was leveraging his size to push opponents out, so wasn’t suited for MMA.
2/10
Apr 21, 2023 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
Chiyonofuji
Sumo's 58th Yokozuna who won 31 top division titles and 807 career top division wins during his long 10 year reign at the top.
This is a thread detailing the strategies and techniques that made him one of the greatest rikishi of all time.
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To understand an rikishi, you have to start with the tachi-ai (the initial charge).
Chiyonofuji was a grappler, meaning he immediately looked for grips on his opponent's mawashi (belt).
The outside left grip was an important one, and we'll see why later.
2/11
Oct 23, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
A thread on the biggest shots in Petr Yan vs Sean O'Malley:
O'Malley starts off playing with the hand fight from orthodox, but pulls his hand back and feints a jab, but Yan doesn't bite.
Sean goes to southpaw, feints again but follows through with a gigantic shifting left.
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From the closed stance, Yan engages the lead hand fight. Without much resistance from Sean, Yan is able to slyly shift into orthodox and cover Sean's rear hand as well before popping him with a jab to set up his own massive shifting overhand left.
2/5
Aug 23, 2022 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
Usman vs Edwards 2 🧵
Many expected a boring fight but we got a fascinating display of skill across every phase.
Usman returned to the strategy that won him the first fight and his title and while Leon showed improvements, it seemed like it wasn't going to be enough...
1/9
Leon's greatest success came with his kicks, which Usman poorly defended. Unfortunately, lack of urgency to get off the cage often stifled his kicks.
Whenever he had space, he was landing hard to the legs and body, gradually building to the thunderous fight-ending shot.
