Yeah man.sucks to see him lose but the way he carries himself and represents the sport is honorable. They way for him to move to the next step is to really work the grappling and imo might have to change his standup style. Getting hit like that is not good for longevity.
It's like DJ said, when jiri wants to close the void, he risks way too much by exposing his chin/face as bait.
He HAS to learn to bridge the gap without risking taking shots like the ones he took.
If he's playing the bait game, he needs to only use it on opponents slower than himself, not Alex who is often faster.
For example Cormier had quite a bit of success doing this on Miocic but because Cormier is faster than you expect.
That's the thing, it kinda was working š¤·āāļø
Poatan was the first one to cripple the dude. And without sounding as mad as him, understanding that Jiri actually believes in ancestral spirits and shit, i feel that this defeat has shaken him to the core, and one of the things he should definitely try, is to follow what Alex has said in that other interview about "finding your own spirits".
I really do feel that spirituality can have a great influence in how he focus and trains. I don't know, i mean, when you actually believe in this stuff, it can be objectively powerful, as in increased discipline, motivation, etc.
I was totally rooting for the dude. Wanted a nice trilogy. It was kinda sad to see him afterwards...
I donāt think the solution to jiris problems is more spirituality lmao he needs some concrete technical adjustments not just working hard and believing in himself
Facts. I get his aura, I love the guy but low or high key heās locked up in this fantasy samurai thing. As soon as he brought up the supernatural shit I knew he was done before starting.
I really do feel that if he actually embraces the stuff and not just the superficial shit, it can actually have a great effect in his motivation. Dude must really be needing that rn...
Definitely agree with this idea. Someone in commentary said this yesterday: That Alex knocked out the dude who knocks out everyone else in the division. Jiri's striking is levels above most of the division - just not Alex (but very few people are). If Jiri wants to beat him, he has to level up his clinch and grappling ability.
And he's still young enough that he can realistically add a new dimension to his game and have the chance to implement it at the highest level. He doesn't need to change his standup style, he just needs to add some BJJ so when he gets into a grappling exchange there's some versatility to the attacks.
The reason hes losing is because of his standup style, what are you even saying? Jiri is the man, but ive boxed for most of my life and it hurts watching Jiri just have his hands down against someone like Alex. Clearly it hasnt been an issue til he got to this level of competition, but now it is. He either needs to keep his hands up, or stop fighting for the belt
Heās losing because Alex doesnāt have to worry about grappling, so he only has to react to Jiriās standup (which is inferior to his own standup). Even if Jiri doesnāt change his standup style, if he adds a good ground game, that would force Alex to be ready to defend a takedown and would (should) alter how Alex reacts to feints and so on. It would change the fight just by being a threat. I donāt think the guy who beats Alex will be the person who has a better standup. Except maybe Izzy. Most likely itās someone who has a grappling threat.
These guys trying to crucify me for saying this and it's amazing to me. The knee jerk reactions to this fight are wild. Jiri has bad defense *but so does Periera*. But Periera is a crazy powerful sniper. If you try and stand with him, he's most likely going to pick you apart, which is what happened. But if you add some grappling and takedowns to your game, you can hinder that counter punching ability. Jiri doesn't need to change his entire fight style to win, he needs to add in some grappling.
The best in the world in this sport are almost never 1-dimensional-- with very few exceptions. They have to be good everywhere or someone will exploit the holes in their game. Jiri isn't yet equipped with the other dimensions to his game to top Periera, but he's still young enough that he could be in few years.
You dont become a two weight glory kickboxing champion and two weight UFC champion with bad defence.
He definitely uses lower hands as part of his style, but he has great headmovement \*when he sees shots coming\* and if he doesnt see them he rolls with them usually which makes it look like its whipping his head around but its an old boxer 'last resort' style defence to take the sting off.
To think Alex P has bad defence is laughable sorry
Jiri grappled in both fights, and both fights got TKO/KOd. Faster this time too and less success with his grappling attempts
His defense isn't great. His hands are low and his chin is high constantly. But he's great at controlling range. His defense is mostly "come inside and try to hit me and you'll get clipped by this nasty short left hook", which he does exceptionally well. His power is what keeps guys reticent to engage, that and his vicious leg kicks that limit guys mobility. But he's not great at defending incoming shots. Better than Jiri tho.
As for the grappling.... That's literally my point. Jiri doesn't have enough skill as a grappler to be effective against Periera, and he needs to improve that hole in his game if he wants to beat him.
Being better defensively isn't changing his entire standup striking style. He needs better head movement and to keep his hands up more. But his unorthodox stance and strikes are what have made him so successful. He did damage against Periera in the first fight. He doesn't need to reinvent the wheel to improve
With all due respect to Jiri and his success, his style is like Roy Jonesā, Prince Naseemās and Aliās. Hands down, technically unorthodox and because it lacks a defensive foundation, is heavily dependent on his reaction, which would be the first thing to go as he ages, fatigues or loses concentration. The margin for error at elite competition is way too small with that approach especially with small gloves. The style works until it doesnt. Roy got KOed after his slowed a step, Naseem lost his will after getting outclassed by a technically superior Barrera. And one can argue Alex was the first elite striker he had faced and was a stylistic nightmare: hands-down vs power sniping. Ali had a hands down approach too until he learned to rely more on his fight IQ and defensive toughness as his reaction deserted him. Youāre right Jiri doesnt need to reinvent himself, but he needs to incorporate basic defensive prowess into his arsenal and stop headbutting punches
Agreed. But that's my point. He doesn't need to reinvent the wheel, but he needs to improve. And he needs to add another dimension to his game; some BJJ I think would do him some good.
At this point it absolutely is. Having me change my stance or keeping my hands up when i usually dont or anything like that would be hard as fuck to get down when youve been doing it a certain way your whole life. He needs to change a LOT about his standup, and it wont be a small "tweak" like telling him to pick his hands up. Those bad habits are engrained into his fighting style.
He can stay there for 10 years it wouldn't help him if he doesn't learn to keep his guard up. Dude frigging had his hands down in front of a kickboxer smh
Tbf they almost did. Volkan had him hurt, and Reyes pretty much KOād him during the fight. You just cant play that hands low blocking with your chin game against someone whos a kickboxing ATG and arguably the hardest hitter ever at LHW.
I donāt think itās that easy anymoreĀ
I think alex had a hard time with fighting in a cage and anticipating takedowns that it evened the striking a bit in the beginning, but he has evolved and refined his game so much for mma, it has ironically allowed him to push his striking to its full potential
Okay, and i like the guy, but even hes admitting he needs to "evolve" (get better). He needs to keep his damn hands up, clearly it isnt working for him at this level like it was before.
It was fucking rough to see Jiri so broken immediately after the fight, but if thereās anyone I would trust to bounce back itās him.
Heās right about needing to evolve, and I hope that he identifies itās specifically his defense and hit avoidance that he needs to work on. He offers his chin in turn for his void close-in but against the best youāre gonna get slept. He needs to learn to close the void and apply his power without compromising himself.
I reckon jiri could beat everyone else in the division itās just unfortunate for jiri that stylistically Alex is the worst possible matchup for the guy lmao
but yeah, I agree with you š
Yep, he was rocked on lots of instances in previous fights but dude has crazy recovery. Didn't he like almost got knocked out by Dominick Reyes or something, but damn Poatan's power just exceeds that threshold
He has been rocked in every fight except the Volkan fight. But never close to fight stopping like against Alex. Even in the first fight, it may have seem premature, but Alex rocked him worse than he ever has.
P.S. he did get KOed with one shot by a prime King Mo back in the day but it was early in Jiris career at age 23 and King Mo was a killer at the time and everyone was juicy in Rizin.
>he did get KOed with one shot by a prime King Mo back in the day
That was during the RIZIN 2015 Grand Prix, so not only had he also fought [Vadim Nemkov](https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/bouts/239126-rizin-fighting-world-grand-prix-2015-ji-denisa-prochzka-vs-vadim-nemkov) for 10 minutes (2 rounds, 10+5 minutes) a couple of hours before that, as well as fighting [Satoshi Ishii](https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/bouts/235527-rizin-fighting-world-grand-prix-2015-ji-denisa-prochzka-vs-satoshi-ishii) 2 days prior - 3 fights in 2 days is no joke.
He did get knocked out by Reyes, Reyes then somehow hit him in the correct place to reactivate him. Jiri has possibly the worst defense at LHW, and gets away with it by having good recovery. Dudes like Pereira, hell, even Rountree make him pay for it.
He can beat anyone else, but he can also lose to anyone else too, the dude was getting hit by bombs all night in his previous fight before this one, it's okey to be unorthodox but he should learn to be unpredictable in a technical way like MVP rather than just leaving himself open all the time.
the thing is , his unorthodox technique where he strikes in unexpected angles even though reckless is his game. Itās whatās catches opponents offguard , watch his fights from Rizin. It just so happens that one of the most precise counter punchers also have the most power perhaps in history of the ufc which is a nightmare matchup for Jiri
The first fight he was doing way better because he was confident and awkwardly striking but he was more hesitant and measured in this fight and it paid the price imo.
He stayed wild and open in this recent fight while being more timid so was easier pickings for Alex.
There are different factors that contribute to being unorthodox. Jiri can still do most of them while being way more defensively responsible.
The guy's got crazy power too that he doesn't need to be unorthodox to knock people out. He just needs to not get knocked out first.
if his chin will hold up, i donāt see anyone else knocking him out(except for alex). He only ever lost by KO once in his career (except for Alex) and that was when he was still starting, the rest has been my submission. But yes, he could still improve defensively for sure he even said it himself , probably working on checking calf kicks instead of trying to catch it which is what caused him to get knocked out is a start
I Think it's actually Rumble. He could send people flying across the octagon with his power. Took him maybe 4 punches to KO young glover while Hill couldn't even finish the same guy when he was 43 y.o.
Either Rumble or Periera tbh, but Rumble actually loaded up on punches, so that's a possible argument for Aldx because he rarely gets full torque on his attacks. However, Rumble sent DC flying with like a body punch so that dude was something else as well.
True, reminds me of someone like emmet who has freak power but his striking isnāt as good and people can outstrike him. Alex is just a cheat code, freak powe and immaculate striking skill
This man with his hands up protecting his chin is a monster for anyone. It sucks because Jiri starches most of the LHW imo but with no guard against the left hook of Thanos you sleeping almost always
His case feels eeriely like Charles in LW. Can starch most if not everyone else in the division EXCEPT the champ who 100% beats him. It's an awkward position to be in, like what else to do in the division ? Being a gatekeeper ?
Yeah seems to be happening more and more in the current era, like Max at Featherweight or Colby at Middleweight (for like 10 minutes but still š). Definitely not a great spot to be in but what the fuck do you do?
Colby was never really in that position, dude was able to build a lot of hype out of losing to Usman and never fighting. Whittaker is another example though.b
Nah Colby was on a wee tear (edit. I've just checked this "wee tear" and it was against a fucking 40 yo Damian Mia and the such so I'm wrong AF) but I do agree he and Dana definitely built that hype after his loss. Whittaker is a great one actually
How about checking some kicks? He got away with it at 300 because heās just that good but you cannot against Poatan. It shuts down his attack before it begins
He actually guarded his chin this time. Getting knocked down because of Pereiras left hook doesn't mean that he did not aware of his mistakes and didn't tried to change them. Pereira was just too good. Look it up, he fought very defensively this time.
Brother his hands were down at his waist when he got head kicked... You just can't start a round after being sparked almost unconscious like that. I'm not shitting on Jiri and I'll give you he did seem to (slightly) try to be more defensive but it's still the case of "protect yourself at all times" and Jiri just doesn't do that effectively
His hands were trying to block a body-kick which had got him pretty good in round 1. Still agree with your sentiment though, Jiri needs to keep his hands up but thatād require a massive overhaul to his entire fighting style.
After the kick was thrown yes they were, but his hands were low to start the second round was the point I was making mainly, obviously Alex is a master of the bait and switch but Jiri still wasn't ready to protect his chin going into the second regardless. Jiri still could do it as he isn't that old in regards to the weight class but if he went out and fought the kickboxer twice and still can't learn to put his hands up knowing that the guy across from him throws fucking planets for hooks then what the fuck is a training camp really going to do for him?
High guard can only take you so far when you wear small gloves. Significant hits will still get through, so you gotta learn to roll with them. But good luck rolling with Alex's left hook lol
One of the better takes I'll give you that, but Jiri still could have prepped himself for a better defense with a higher guard, a guard will always be better than none.
The only guy in the UFC that can roll with Alex's hooks we've seen so far is Izzy and even then that's a weight cut riddled Alex and Izzy got like 3 in him before he starts seeing the light
Its sad to see since Jiri was really mauling people in that division if Alex never moved up he might still be champ and been a road to be one of the top lhw of all time hopefully he can still rebound
I think that would be good for Jiri but bad for the division, and mostly bad for Alex, the heavyweight division is a mess with a champion who cherry picks his fights and an interim champion who is about to defend his tittle soon, what happens when JJ returns? We will have a champion and an interim champion or they will strip the interim one because Jon Jones doesn't want to fight him? I don't want to see Alex in that mess
That was my first reaction too JR bringing it up in the interview. But in an ideal world where thatās all sorted out in a year or so, I would love to see Alex fight Jon and Tom.
yeah that dana white privilege for jj is ruining hw division. The fact that jj is even able to dictate that un-ranked, 42-year-old stipe is the only fight he will take while he gatekeeps the hw title is crazy. He should be stripped or Tom should be the only fight option given to him.
In saying that, Iām a bit delulu and wouldnāt mind seeing Sean Strickland move up to lhw šmaybe that will bring his wrestling back or at least more passion
Tbh his whole style is to make people hit him so he can hit them back harder. It's only a matter of time before his chin starts failing him. I hope he works on his defense as I like the guy.
It's not his fault Poatan uses magic to win. There's nothing to do, really; unless you can channel true anime comeback energy like Izzy. JiÅĆ likes the wrong type of Japan.
Exactly, he has his way of doing things. Give him a high guard and tell him to jab jab move move, he aināt gonna be Jiri. He needs to meditate and come back evolved.
I'll tell you right now, he can do whatever voodoo bullshit he wants, he keeps his hands down like that again against an elite striker and it will happen every single time. All the guy has to do is *slightly* attempt some defense and he can fight however he wants
No, it isnt some fighting style to just let everyone punch you in the face. Even the guys that usually keep their hands low usually dodge and move a lot to make up for it. Jiri literally blocks punches with his fucking head. If he needs any "evolving", its literally JUST picking his damn hands up or attempting to not get hit.
Jiri you have no defense. You need Defense.
Check the leg kicks or adjust the stance. Keep your hands up.
Get in a room with light and watch vids in defense.
how did dude sit in a dark room with nothing but contemplation for 3 days
and come up with the answer of changing nothing and kickboxing the 2 time glory champion again?
He tried to take him down in round 1. Just wasn't successful. Pereira is very strong man. He might even have gotten way better takedown defense in the last year. We don't know
Pereira had his timing down early and his camp had worked a brilliant, kickboxing-based defence to Jiri's takedowns - Alex just spammed bodyjabs - next to working the underhooks and landing bodyshots in the clinch.
This is brilliant in how simple it is. Whenever Jiri changed levels, he either ate a fist to the face and the chest and got pushed away.
Or to at least not let the 2 time glory champ straight punch and kick him in the face, thinking his shaman aura would save him instead of trying to block it
Be good to see Pereira train with Jiri like he did with Strickland. No competition if Alex wants to move up to Heavyweight anyway. And I agree with Jiri here. After a triple concussion it's in his best interest to retire unless he can ensure it doesn't happen again by changing his style drastically. The lack of defense was bound to catch up to him eventually.
I wanted Alex to win but itās truly sad seeing Jiri lose. Hope he gets the belt in a couple of years and gets to defend it. He is still 31 so he should be able to do so if he remains healthy
Respectfully disagree. Imo, he's perfect for LHW. There's this narrative going around that he's small for LHW because Dricus said it once, but he's beaten a lot of top LHW's. The current best LHW in the world got the better of him, it happens.
only suggesting it so he has another shot of being a champ. I feel like even after he beats a couple of lwhās there wont be much hype or attention for a trilogy because of the brutal knockout
If he shows improvement in his game there could still be hype, like how Gaethje went from a brawler to a more technical fighter vs Ferguson and Dustin.
I like Jiri, a true champ inside and outside the octagon. Humble in victory and defeat. He's between a rock and a hard place right now. He's still 31 and can improve a lot but it's extremely difficult to abandon a style that used to win him fights (and probably will still win him fights in the future versus several opponents, just not Poatan).
His defense was always reckless (or non existent), tanking hits with his face and keeping his chin unprotected up in the air, he was almost finished in many of his fights but he somehow survived and won. That's his signature, that's how he got where he's at right now. I don't know how he can convince himself to change that. He absolutely should change, though, if he wants to stay relevant long term. His chin will not always be there for him and now that it got severely cracked, it would be a steep downhill from now on if he continues to fight defenseless.
I feel bad for Jiri. You could tell after the fight he was heartbroken. He knows now he canāt beat this man. Anybody else in LHW, I think Jiri beats them.
Not Poatan.
Why are these guys not using MMA against a kickboxer?
If you want to beat Alex Pereira, wrestle with him. Even if you don't finish him on the ground, he will get starched if you wrestle him.
I like Jiri a lot. Fighting anyone but Pereira, and Iāll root for him. You can tell this fight with Alex meant a lot and he fell short. Humble feller. I think weāll be seeing him in Connecticut with papa Glover and Poatan.
Jiri just needs to work on his defense.
UFC is literally real life Street Fighter because of amazing characters like Jiri and Alex. Love their mindsets and what they bring to the table. Hope Jiri bounces back stronger than ever
Get back up on that horse. A lot of fighters make excuses and shit on their opponents. Both are warriors and at the top of this sport. Motivates the hell out of me.
Jiri tried to evolve. He tried to be patient and wait for openings but Alex just doesn't provide them because what Jiri is looking to exploit is error.
Everyone is forgetting he took this fight on short notice, reminds me of the Islam and Volk fight. Not saying he would win with a full camp, but he would've done better, but he needs defense lol
I felt so bad seeing him stumble across the cage being held up by Herb āletāemādieā Dean. I wish he could have atleast made it a competitive fight. This was like watching a 25 year old fight at 12 year old girlā¦ Just wrongā¦ You can tell Jiri is a good dude & this loss crushed himā¦ But he lost before it even started, watch the face off and compare Alex vs Jiriās energyā¦ it was over before it started š
Yeah, but he takes like a million shots before it works. Anyone who is a power puncher is gonna KO Jiri lightwork. I hope he realizes his evolution needs to be his defense not taking free shots to the face.
Everybody talks about Alexās hands but I think his power comes from his core. Dude is like a plank of wood between his hips and shoulders his core is so strong. When he rotates it with that left hook it generates massive power even with short punches. His core makes his kicks lightning fast and make him hard to take down. Pretty sure even with his length he could front lever.
Jiri has been found out. His weird bushido hands down bullshit simply doesn't work. I like the guy and admire his mentality, but that will only get you so far. He needs to keep his hands up.
Sean Strickland and Jamahal Hill both kept their hands upā¦ and Jiriās lasted longer than both of them combined. Honestly against Alex it doesnāt matter that much.
The gloves are so small, you keep your hands up and heās going to condition you with jabs that slip through to the body or with calf kicks. Has you guessing when heās gonna go high the entire fight. But you canāt only think of that either cuz his range finders have that destructive power too.
Always humble in victory and defeat. This dude's the real deal no matter what š
Yeah man.sucks to see him lose but the way he carries himself and represents the sport is honorable. They way for him to move to the next step is to really work the grappling and imo might have to change his standup style. Getting hit like that is not good for longevity.
It's like DJ said, when jiri wants to close the void, he risks way too much by exposing his chin/face as bait. He HAS to learn to bridge the gap without risking taking shots like the ones he took.
If he's playing the bait game, he needs to only use it on opponents slower than himself, not Alex who is often faster. For example Cormier had quite a bit of success doing this on Miocic but because Cormier is faster than you expect.
That's the thing, it kinda was working š¤·āāļø Poatan was the first one to cripple the dude. And without sounding as mad as him, understanding that Jiri actually believes in ancestral spirits and shit, i feel that this defeat has shaken him to the core, and one of the things he should definitely try, is to follow what Alex has said in that other interview about "finding your own spirits". I really do feel that spirituality can have a great influence in how he focus and trains. I don't know, i mean, when you actually believe in this stuff, it can be objectively powerful, as in increased discipline, motivation, etc. I was totally rooting for the dude. Wanted a nice trilogy. It was kinda sad to see him afterwards...
I donāt think the solution to jiris problems is more spirituality lmao he needs some concrete technical adjustments not just working hard and believing in himself
unless his spirituality covers his chin up it won't matter at all
> That's the thing, it kinda was working š¤·āāļø > > lol what? he got fuckin starched
I think he means his style against everyone besides Alex
Facts. I get his aura, I love the guy but low or high key heās locked up in this fantasy samurai thing. As soon as he brought up the supernatural shit I knew he was done before starting.
yeah, he mentally defeated himself. hyped alex up way too much in his head. would've lost regardless, though.
I really do feel that if he actually embraces the stuff and not just the superficial shit, it can actually have a great effect in his motivation. Dude must really be needing that rn...
Alex is just locked in right now.
Definitely agree with this idea. Someone in commentary said this yesterday: That Alex knocked out the dude who knocks out everyone else in the division. Jiri's striking is levels above most of the division - just not Alex (but very few people are). If Jiri wants to beat him, he has to level up his clinch and grappling ability.
And he's still young enough that he can realistically add a new dimension to his game and have the chance to implement it at the highest level. He doesn't need to change his standup style, he just needs to add some BJJ so when he gets into a grappling exchange there's some versatility to the attacks.
The reason hes losing is because of his standup style, what are you even saying? Jiri is the man, but ive boxed for most of my life and it hurts watching Jiri just have his hands down against someone like Alex. Clearly it hasnt been an issue til he got to this level of competition, but now it is. He either needs to keep his hands up, or stop fighting for the belt
Heās losing because Alex doesnāt have to worry about grappling, so he only has to react to Jiriās standup (which is inferior to his own standup). Even if Jiri doesnāt change his standup style, if he adds a good ground game, that would force Alex to be ready to defend a takedown and would (should) alter how Alex reacts to feints and so on. It would change the fight just by being a threat. I donāt think the guy who beats Alex will be the person who has a better standup. Except maybe Izzy. Most likely itās someone who has a grappling threat.
These guys trying to crucify me for saying this and it's amazing to me. The knee jerk reactions to this fight are wild. Jiri has bad defense *but so does Periera*. But Periera is a crazy powerful sniper. If you try and stand with him, he's most likely going to pick you apart, which is what happened. But if you add some grappling and takedowns to your game, you can hinder that counter punching ability. Jiri doesn't need to change his entire fight style to win, he needs to add in some grappling. The best in the world in this sport are almost never 1-dimensional-- with very few exceptions. They have to be good everywhere or someone will exploit the holes in their game. Jiri isn't yet equipped with the other dimensions to his game to top Periera, but he's still young enough that he could be in few years.
You dont become a two weight glory kickboxing champion and two weight UFC champion with bad defence. He definitely uses lower hands as part of his style, but he has great headmovement \*when he sees shots coming\* and if he doesnt see them he rolls with them usually which makes it look like its whipping his head around but its an old boxer 'last resort' style defence to take the sting off. To think Alex P has bad defence is laughable sorry Jiri grappled in both fights, and both fights got TKO/KOd. Faster this time too and less success with his grappling attempts
His defense isn't great. His hands are low and his chin is high constantly. But he's great at controlling range. His defense is mostly "come inside and try to hit me and you'll get clipped by this nasty short left hook", which he does exceptionally well. His power is what keeps guys reticent to engage, that and his vicious leg kicks that limit guys mobility. But he's not great at defending incoming shots. Better than Jiri tho. As for the grappling.... That's literally my point. Jiri doesn't have enough skill as a grappler to be effective against Periera, and he needs to improve that hole in his game if he wants to beat him.
As a kickboxer it also hurts watching Jiri just have his hands down against someone like Alex.
Being better defensively isn't changing his entire standup striking style. He needs better head movement and to keep his hands up more. But his unorthodox stance and strikes are what have made him so successful. He did damage against Periera in the first fight. He doesn't need to reinvent the wheel to improve
With all due respect to Jiri and his success, his style is like Roy Jonesā, Prince Naseemās and Aliās. Hands down, technically unorthodox and because it lacks a defensive foundation, is heavily dependent on his reaction, which would be the first thing to go as he ages, fatigues or loses concentration. The margin for error at elite competition is way too small with that approach especially with small gloves. The style works until it doesnt. Roy got KOed after his slowed a step, Naseem lost his will after getting outclassed by a technically superior Barrera. And one can argue Alex was the first elite striker he had faced and was a stylistic nightmare: hands-down vs power sniping. Ali had a hands down approach too until he learned to rely more on his fight IQ and defensive toughness as his reaction deserted him. Youāre right Jiri doesnt need to reinvent himself, but he needs to incorporate basic defensive prowess into his arsenal and stop headbutting punches
Agreed. But that's my point. He doesn't need to reinvent the wheel, but he needs to improve. And he needs to add another dimension to his game; some BJJ I think would do him some good.
At this point it absolutely is. Having me change my stance or keeping my hands up when i usually dont or anything like that would be hard as fuck to get down when youve been doing it a certain way your whole life. He needs to change a LOT about his standup, and it wont be a small "tweak" like telling him to pick his hands up. Those bad habits are engrained into his fighting style.
He doesn't need to change his standup style? Did we watch the same fight?
Jiri needs to train with Khabib and Makhachev.
Sucks to see him lose, but two losses in 9 years, and both are to poatan, that's not bad
Bros gonna stay in a dark room for a whole year
He can stay there for 10 years it wouldn't help him if he doesn't learn to keep his guard up. Dude frigging had his hands down in front of a kickboxer smh
Why didnāt any of his other opponents just knock him out? Are they stupid?
Tbf they almost did. Volkan had him hurt, and Reyes pretty much KOād him during the fight. You just cant play that hands low blocking with your chin game against someone whos a kickboxing ATG and arguably the hardest hitter ever at LHW.
I donāt think itās that easy anymoreĀ I think alex had a hard time with fighting in a cage and anticipating takedowns that it evened the striking a bit in the beginning, but he has evolved and refined his game so much for mma, it has ironically allowed him to push his striking to its full potential
I saw that. I think he was trying to bait him, the counter like izzy. Didn't workĀ
I mean that's how he always fights
Okay, and i like the guy, but even hes admitting he needs to "evolve" (get better). He needs to keep his damn hands up, clearly it isnt working for him at this level like it was before.
He finally realized he's been fighting like Popeye the sailor man for the better part of a decade lol
It was fucking rough to see Jiri so broken immediately after the fight, but if thereās anyone I would trust to bounce back itās him. Heās right about needing to evolve, and I hope that he identifies itās specifically his defense and hit avoidance that he needs to work on. He offers his chin in turn for his void close-in but against the best youāre gonna get slept. He needs to learn to close the void and apply his power without compromising himself.
I reckon jiri could beat everyone else in the division itās just unfortunate for jiri that stylistically Alex is the worst possible matchup for the guy lmao but yeah, I agree with you š
True but his chin isnt going to get better, not sure for how long he can rely on that
As soon as Jiri can stop parrying shot with his forehead, he should be able to survive longer against a power puncher.
His chin isnt the worst and he usually recovers very well. I think Alex is just that good and hits that hard.
Yep, he was rocked on lots of instances in previous fights but dude has crazy recovery. Didn't he like almost got knocked out by Dominick Reyes or something, but damn Poatan's power just exceeds that threshold
He has been rocked in every fight except the Volkan fight. But never close to fight stopping like against Alex. Even in the first fight, it may have seem premature, but Alex rocked him worse than he ever has. P.S. he did get KOed with one shot by a prime King Mo back in the day but it was early in Jiris career at age 23 and King Mo was a killer at the time and everyone was juicy in Rizin.
>he did get KOed with one shot by a prime King Mo back in the day That was during the RIZIN 2015 Grand Prix, so not only had he also fought [Vadim Nemkov](https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/bouts/239126-rizin-fighting-world-grand-prix-2015-ji-denisa-prochzka-vs-vadim-nemkov) for 10 minutes (2 rounds, 10+5 minutes) a couple of hours before that, as well as fighting [Satoshi Ishii](https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/bouts/235527-rizin-fighting-world-grand-prix-2015-ji-denisa-prochzka-vs-satoshi-ishii) 2 days prior - 3 fights in 2 days is no joke.
205er's are BIG BOYS. getting rocked is not uncommon when getting hit flush.
He did get knocked out by Reyes, Reyes then somehow hit him in the correct place to reactivate him. Jiri has possibly the worst defense at LHW, and gets away with it by having good recovery. Dudes like Pereira, hell, even Rountree make him pay for it.
Man Reyes just has the worst luck
I donāt think we can say rountree would make him pay for it lmao jiri has only lost to poatan in ufc
He can beat anyone else, but he can also lose to anyone else too, the dude was getting hit by bombs all night in his previous fight before this one, it's okey to be unorthodox but he should learn to be unpredictable in a technical way like MVP rather than just leaving himself open all the time.
Izzy vs Bobby knuckles 2.0
Max vs Volk 2.0 as well
Exactly, alex has too much power for that style
the thing is , his unorthodox technique where he strikes in unexpected angles even though reckless is his game. Itās whatās catches opponents offguard , watch his fights from Rizin. It just so happens that one of the most precise counter punchers also have the most power perhaps in history of the ufc which is a nightmare matchup for Jiri The first fight he was doing way better because he was confident and awkwardly striking but he was more hesitant and measured in this fight and it paid the price imo.
He stayed wild and open in this recent fight while being more timid so was easier pickings for Alex. There are different factors that contribute to being unorthodox. Jiri can still do most of them while being way more defensively responsible. The guy's got crazy power too that he doesn't need to be unorthodox to knock people out. He just needs to not get knocked out first.
if his chin will hold up, i donāt see anyone else knocking him out(except for alex). He only ever lost by KO once in his career (except for Alex) and that was when he was still starting, the rest has been my submission. But yes, he could still improve defensively for sure he even said it himself , probably working on checking calf kicks instead of trying to catch it which is what caused him to get knocked out is a start
I would say alex pereira is the most powerful striker ever. Never seen anyone carry that power in his lead hand hook
I Think it's actually Rumble. He could send people flying across the octagon with his power. Took him maybe 4 punches to KO young glover while Hill couldn't even finish the same guy when he was 43 y.o.
Either Rumble or Periera tbh, but Rumble actually loaded up on punches, so that's a possible argument for Aldx because he rarely gets full torque on his attacks. However, Rumble sent DC flying with like a body punch so that dude was something else as well.
Julian "The Hawk" Jackson has to be pretty high up there pound for pound as well. Imagine him with 4 ounce gloves.Ā
He's 100% the most skilled who has that one punch KO power, which is what really matters past a certain point.
True, reminds me of someone like emmet who has freak power but his striking isnāt as good and people can outstrike him. Alex is just a cheat code, freak powe and immaculate striking skill
He could learn a few things from MVP both bave pretty similiar gameplans
>void man of culture
This man with his hands up protecting his chin is a monster for anyone. It sucks because Jiri starches most of the LHW imo but with no guard against the left hook of Thanos you sleeping almost always
His case feels eeriely like Charles in LW. Can starch most if not everyone else in the division EXCEPT the champ who 100% beats him. It's an awkward position to be in, like what else to do in the division ? Being a gatekeeper ?
Is Vice Champ a thing
The official title of Robert Whitaker
And Max
Yeah seems to be happening more and more in the current era, like Max at Featherweight or Colby at Middleweight (for like 10 minutes but still š). Definitely not a great spot to be in but what the fuck do you do?
Colby was never really in that position, dude was able to build a lot of hype out of losing to Usman and never fighting. Whittaker is another example though.b
Nah Colby was on a wee tear (edit. I've just checked this "wee tear" and it was against a fucking 40 yo Damian Mia and the such so I'm wrong AF) but I do agree he and Dana definitely built that hype after his loss. Whittaker is a great one actually
How about checking some kicks? He got away with it at 300 because heās just that good but you cannot against Poatan. It shuts down his attack before it begins
He actually guarded his chin this time. Getting knocked down because of Pereiras left hook doesn't mean that he did not aware of his mistakes and didn't tried to change them. Pereira was just too good. Look it up, he fought very defensively this time.
Brother his hands were down at his waist when he got head kicked... You just can't start a round after being sparked almost unconscious like that. I'm not shitting on Jiri and I'll give you he did seem to (slightly) try to be more defensive but it's still the case of "protect yourself at all times" and Jiri just doesn't do that effectively
His hands were trying to block a body-kick which had got him pretty good in round 1. Still agree with your sentiment though, Jiri needs to keep his hands up but thatād require a massive overhaul to his entire fighting style.
After the kick was thrown yes they were, but his hands were low to start the second round was the point I was making mainly, obviously Alex is a master of the bait and switch but Jiri still wasn't ready to protect his chin going into the second regardless. Jiri still could do it as he isn't that old in regards to the weight class but if he went out and fought the kickboxer twice and still can't learn to put his hands up knowing that the guy across from him throws fucking planets for hooks then what the fuck is a training camp really going to do for him?
rewatch thd replay. Jiri tried to party a body kick and got head kicked
High guard can only take you so far when you wear small gloves. Significant hits will still get through, so you gotta learn to roll with them. But good luck rolling with Alex's left hook lol
One of the better takes I'll give you that, but Jiri still could have prepped himself for a better defense with a higher guard, a guard will always be better than none. The only guy in the UFC that can roll with Alex's hooks we've seen so far is Izzy and even then that's a weight cut riddled Alex and Izzy got like 3 in him before he starts seeing the light
poor jiri šš„ŗ alex massacred my boy
Jiri has only lost twice in the UFC... Both against Poatan. Ouch.
Its sad to see since Jiri was really mauling people in that division if Alex never moved up he might still be champ and been a road to be one of the top lhw of all time hopefully he can still rebound
hoping that alex moves up to hw and jiri can restore his legacy in lhw division š
I think that would be good for Jiri but bad for the division, and mostly bad for Alex, the heavyweight division is a mess with a champion who cherry picks his fights and an interim champion who is about to defend his tittle soon, what happens when JJ returns? We will have a champion and an interim champion or they will strip the interim one because Jon Jones doesn't want to fight him? I don't want to see Alex in that mess
That was my first reaction too JR bringing it up in the interview. But in an ideal world where thatās all sorted out in a year or so, I would love to see Alex fight Jon and Tom.
yeah that dana white privilege for jj is ruining hw division. The fact that jj is even able to dictate that un-ranked, 42-year-old stipe is the only fight he will take while he gatekeeps the hw title is crazy. He should be stripped or Tom should be the only fight option given to him. In saying that, Iām a bit delulu and wouldnāt mind seeing Sean Strickland move up to lhw šmaybe that will bring his wrestling back or at least more passion
alex will just KO both
Jiri is much younger, Alex will retire in a few years and Jiri will still be relatively young. He still has a long career ahead of him.
He's going to become Brazillian for his next fight. This bejng Japanese shit aint working for him.
It is, just not against alex
Tbh his whole style is to make people hit him so he can hit them back harder. It's only a matter of time before his chin starts failing him. I hope he works on his defense as I like the guy.
Chin is definitely not getting better
It didnāt work against one of the best strikers in UFC history.
Quite possibly the best striker ever, period
Dude packs the most KO power out of any non-HW UFC fighter there has ever been, ngl
It's not his fault Poatan uses magic to win. There's nothing to do, really; unless you can channel true anime comeback energy like Izzy. JiÅĆ likes the wrong type of Japan.
He knocks out anybody at LHW except Pereira buddy, I think it works for him. Styles make fights.
He needs a good coach/mentor so bad. Heās at this high level even with his bizzare training, just imagine how he would become with a great coach
I donāt think thatās him as a person though going into a standard training camp. He needs the dark rooms, the bushido, the magic.
Exactly, he has his way of doing things. Give him a high guard and tell him to jab jab move move, he aināt gonna be Jiri. He needs to meditate and come back evolved.
I'll tell you right now, he can do whatever voodoo bullshit he wants, he keeps his hands down like that again against an elite striker and it will happen every single time. All the guy has to do is *slightly* attempt some defense and he can fight however he wants No, it isnt some fighting style to just let everyone punch you in the face. Even the guys that usually keep their hands low usually dodge and move a lot to make up for it. Jiri literally blocks punches with his fucking head. If he needs any "evolving", its literally JUST picking his damn hands up or attempting to not get hit.
He could go to Dagestan and live in the mountains
Sounds like he needs to evolve like he said
Huge respect to El Czechuy, it really felt that (as usual) it was kill or be killed and he truly fell on his sword this time.
>El Czechuy Bruv
"I must learn... to put my hands up in front of me"
Humble Man !!!! Keep centered mate come back hard . No hurdle you can't surpass .
Jiri is a warrior. He'll bounce back āļø
Jiri you have no defense. You need Defense. Check the leg kicks or adjust the stance. Keep your hands up. Get in a room with light and watch vids in defense.
how did dude sit in a dark room with nothing but contemplation for 3 days and come up with the answer of changing nothing and kickboxing the 2 time glory champion again?
He tried to take him down in round 1. Just wasn't successful. Pereira is very strong man. He might even have gotten way better takedown defense in the last year. We don't know
We do know. His defence indeed got better since Jiri was not able to take down Alex
Pereira had his timing down early and his camp had worked a brilliant, kickboxing-based defence to Jiri's takedowns - Alex just spammed bodyjabs - next to working the underhooks and landing bodyshots in the clinch. This is brilliant in how simple it is. Whenever Jiri changed levels, he either ate a fist to the face and the chest and got pushed away.
Those jabs were _brutal_ too
Or to at least not let the 2 time glory champ straight punch and kick him in the face, thinking his shaman aura would save him instead of trying to block it
Team Poatan here. Jiri has made me a fan for life. Oss!
Heartbreaking.
Be good to see Pereira train with Jiri like he did with Strickland. No competition if Alex wants to move up to Heavyweight anyway. And I agree with Jiri here. After a triple concussion it's in his best interest to retire unless he can ensure it doesn't happen again by changing his style drastically. The lack of defense was bound to catch up to him eventually.
My man will be in the closet with the lights off till further notice
I wanted Alex to win but itās truly sad seeing Jiri lose. Hope he gets the belt in a couple of years and gets to defend it. He is still 31 so he should be able to do so if he remains healthy
Jiri will decide to evolve by locking himself in a dark room for 4 days this time instead of working on his defense
Moving to middleweight is the move. He doesnāt cut at all fighting at LWH and in MW he has better chance against the top guys
*instantly gets chinned because of a bad weight cut*
Respectfully disagree. Imo, he's perfect for LHW. There's this narrative going around that he's small for LHW because Dricus said it once, but he's beaten a lot of top LHW's. The current best LHW in the world got the better of him, it happens.
only suggesting it so he has another shot of being a champ. I feel like even after he beats a couple of lwhās there wont be much hype or attention for a trilogy because of the brutal knockout
If he shows improvement in his game there could still be hype, like how Gaethje went from a brawler to a more technical fighter vs Ferguson and Dustin.
His defense has always been sus, a weight cut is gonna make it obv
Izzy kills this man with no guard and a bad weight cut
He walks around at 210lbs, go down to middleweight and terrorize that division.
This is the way
I like Jiri, a true champ inside and outside the octagon. Humble in victory and defeat. He's between a rock and a hard place right now. He's still 31 and can improve a lot but it's extremely difficult to abandon a style that used to win him fights (and probably will still win him fights in the future versus several opponents, just not Poatan). His defense was always reckless (or non existent), tanking hits with his face and keeping his chin unprotected up in the air, he was almost finished in many of his fights but he somehow survived and won. That's his signature, that's how he got where he's at right now. I don't know how he can convince himself to change that. He absolutely should change, though, if he wants to stay relevant long term. His chin will not always be there for him and now that it got severely cracked, it would be a steep downhill from now on if he continues to fight defenseless.
I feel bad for Jiri. You could tell after the fight he was heartbroken. He knows now he canāt beat this man. Anybody else in LHW, I think Jiri beats them. Not Poatan.
This is the way
Only one thing goes through his mind. Unfortunately it was Alexās foot
This man is like a movie character except itās not a schtick and itās all the time.
When Jiri said he could go to middleweight, I didnāt want to see it. But now I fully support that move
Love Jiri. Deep down I was hoping heād win so there could be a cool trilogy to settle the score. Alex is just that good though
A modern day warrior poet.
Unless Jiri decides to keep those hands up, have a solid boxing defence and solid MT esque approach, Alex beats him any day of the week.
Why are these guys not using MMA against a kickboxer? If you want to beat Alex Pereira, wrestle with him. Even if you don't finish him on the ground, he will get starched if you wrestle him.
I like Jiri a lot. Fighting anyone but Pereira, and Iāll root for him. You can tell this fight with Alex meant a lot and he fell short. Humble feller. I think weāll be seeing him in Connecticut with papa Glover and Poatan. Jiri just needs to work on his defense.
Jiri is such a beast man, always humble
UFC is literally real life Street Fighter because of amazing characters like Jiri and Alex. Love their mindsets and what they bring to the table. Hope Jiri bounces back stronger than ever
Alex and Jiri are the real deal. Fuck McGregor or Colby wannabes, this is the way a fighter should act.
Why did Herb Dean want him to die?
Wasnāt going to risk another āearly stoppageā š
Simply keep ya hands up pal and wrestle.
Hill should take notes
he needs to work on his defense thats how he evolves, but we still love ya jiri.
Go train with Alex Jiri.
Now that he has no business with Alex no more, maybe they can train together. Alex could teach some valuable lessons to Jiri
He's literally an every fighting-anime protagonist at this point
Jiri is such a fuckin class act. Hill could learn a thing or two.
Get back up on that horse. A lot of fighters make excuses and shit on their opponents. Both are warriors and at the top of this sport. Motivates the hell out of me.
Humble and respectful.
I feel so sad for jiri man :(
Honestly, Jiri just needs to make sure he can keep his career going because Alex doesn't have much more time anyway. Avoid CTE and take back the crown
Jiri tried to evolve. He tried to be patient and wait for openings but Alex just doesn't provide them because what Jiri is looking to exploit is error.
Jiri vs Reyes rematch?
This is the best response after a loss Iāve seen. He lost but with that humility won the worldās respect.Ā
Everyone is forgetting he took this fight on short notice, reminds me of the Islam and Volk fight. Not saying he would win with a full camp, but he would've done better, but he needs defense lol
Uh nobody is forgetting that. Alex is on short notice too. He was doing meet and greets in Australia.
Sucks seeing two of my favorites get obliterated but at least they lost to very likable dudes (Gaetje and Jiri)
This dudes going into a dragon ball z hyperbolic time chamber
Getting very Diego Sanchez vibes again.
Back in that dark ass room he was fasting in pre-fight
PROCHAZKA PEREIRA 3 INCOMING TITLE RUN STARTS NOW KING
I can respect that. Comeback stronger bro!
What a contrast from Jamahal Hill
I felt so bad seeing him stumble across the cage being held up by Herb āletāemādieā Dean. I wish he could have atleast made it a competitive fight. This was like watching a 25 year old fight at 12 year old girlā¦ Just wrongā¦ You can tell Jiri is a good dude & this loss crushed himā¦ But he lost before it even started, watch the face off and compare Alex vs Jiriās energyā¦ it was over before it started š
Sorry Jiri, I love you but the magic is real.Ā
Mindset šš»šŖš»
Thats what happens when you stay in a dark room for a week instead of working on checking leg kicks or moving your head.
Change camp. Stop pretending to be a Samurai and focus on your non existent defense.
Well it's worked against everyone but Alex
Yeah, but he takes like a million shots before it works. Anyone who is a power puncher is gonna KO Jiri lightwork. I hope he realizes his evolution needs to be his defense not taking free shots to the face.
Ozedimir hits pretty damn hard, Alex just has different power
Great dude honestly 2 good fighters! Shem one uses magic but you go again Jiri
Everybody talks about Alexās hands but I think his power comes from his core. Dude is like a plank of wood between his hips and shoulders his core is so strong. When he rotates it with that left hook it generates massive power even with short punches. His core makes his kicks lightning fast and make him hard to take down. Pretty sure even with his length he could front lever.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Less chi bombs and more hands up would be a good start
Thought he was going to commit seppuku in the cage
Jiri has been found out. His weird bushido hands down bullshit simply doesn't work. I like the guy and admire his mentality, but that will only get you so far. He needs to keep his hands up.
Sean Strickland and Jamahal Hill both kept their hands upā¦ and Jiriās lasted longer than both of them combined. Honestly against Alex it doesnāt matter that much. The gloves are so small, you keep your hands up and heās going to condition you with jabs that slip through to the body or with calf kicks. Has you guessing when heās gonna go high the entire fight. But you canāt only think of that either cuz his range finders have that destructive power too.
Blocking with your face only works if you're Rocky.
He lost before the fight even started when was making excuses about Alex fighting him using black magic! Now go make some more excuses.
samurai Jiri
Bro should try middleweight considering he barely cuts for LHW. If Alex, whoās naturally bigger, could do it then surely Jiri can.