His only losses since 2015 almost 10yrs are both to Alex. Wild, love Jiri. Hope he has a similar trajectory to Holloway or Whittaker. Demolish everyone wait till Alex gets dethroned.
Yes but the third Volk v Holloway fight was arguably the worst beating Max had ever taken. There's still time for Jiri, hopefully he polishes some things up and comes back better than ever.
Completely agree. LHW is a funny division. He’s always going to be in title contention and when Alex inevitably retires he can capture gold again.
Styles makes fights and Alex just has his number. That dude just happens to have a lot of people’s numbers lol.
I’d argue that if someone could swallow their pride and effectively wrestle with Alex, especially in the first couple rounds, could have a real shot at winning. Jiri has a good ground game he beat one of the most decorated LHW BJJ guys in UFC history. Also the guy who teaches Alex BJJ. Jan was the only one to try and he made it a close fight. Alex has really good takedown defense it seems, but how good is his submission defense?
Regardless Alex is one of the best to ever do it. So much so that he makes everyone question if wrestling is the best base. Alex is kinda proving it’s all fake, Derek Lewis debunked BJJ with “just stand up” then Poatan said “no need for takedown defense when you have put down offense”
“Sprawl? You mean left hook my friend?”
I’ll tell you who is undefeated this year is the fans. Holy shit this has been one crazy year. I’d love if my favorite fighters could stop fighting my other favorite fighters. I’m still confused about how I feel about the Justin vs Max fight. Idk how anyone could dislike Jiri or Poatan.
Tbf Jan was not at his best with the altitude, if that fight wasn't at height he wouldn't have gassed so badly. Not saying he'd have won but i think he'd have had more success given the exertion required for wrestling.
The bigger dudes don’t live and die on speed. It doesn’t look like it but a lot of the LHW-HW contenders are super technical (by MMA standards) that mixed with power, which is the last thing to go, allows them to have much longer careers at the top. I hope Jiri is able to win the title and hold it for a while. Jiri vs Reyes would be a fun fight. Assuming Reyes is back to his old form.
Edit: Changed my mind I would rather see Jiri vs Hill Or Jiri vs Roundtree exponentially more. It would be nice to see Hill be his petty normal self while Jiri stoically ignores him and then beats the shit out of him.
I know and it was a great fight until that moment. I’m sure Reyes wouldn’t hate some revenge for that spinning elbow from hell. Their styles are perfect for each other. Reyes is aggressive as is Jiri they both have weird striking styles and they both have a good ground game. Reyes looked really good in his last fight.
Roundtree vs Jiri would also be amazing as well. Or Hill vs Jiri would be entertaining. The most honorable and respectful person in the division against the biggest cry baby in the ufc. Which sucks because I liked hill at first
If he keeps his hands up even a little bit the fight is way more competitive, dude is fighting one of the best strikers in the world with his hands on his hips.
Naw man he’s perfecting fractured orbital defense. Lean down and in to the kick. Show him who’s boss. I’m pretty sure Jiri put out a video of him practicing getting hit in the face and called it defense training. I love the dude but he is wild.
That third fight was so hard to watch as a Max's fan. Volk was just so many levels above him. I dont really know if that was peak Volk or worst Max to ever show up, appart from his first UFC fight against Poirier obviusly.
Tell Max that. Maybe the 4th times the charm. I just thought about how wild it will be if Max wins the belt back he will likely have to have a 4th fight with Volk. Which I would love as a fan, but I couldn’t imagine losing to a dude 4 times. Even though I think you could argue he won the second fight by the slightest margin.
He is not.
Okay, light heavyweight is not that competitive, but this is Tony Ferguson type of a guy. This crazy style works till it doesn't. And it's getting worse with age and time, as you loose speed and aggregate the damage.
It's all fun memes with Jiri blocking punches with his head, but the damage is going to get you. Arguably it did already. Glover, Rakic, Reyes and Pereira hit harder than Gaethje. These are big lads.
I know his fun and I was rooting for him in the last fight, I really did. But this style of fighting is just plain stupid. I'd rather worry about Jiri's long term brain damage than his return to the top.
Sorry, guy is routinely rocked in the fight he wins. You can't have a long career fighting like that.
His style just will not work against Alex unless Alex makes a huge mistake and allows himself to get caught
Unless he is able to make drastic changes and improvements it’s not gonna happen especially with 2 losses
Alex has the composure and the skills with huge power to pick his shots and flatline Jiri before Jiri is able to force the kind of chaotic brawl that he excels in
So true, he fought the one guy on that warrior path just like him. Unlike Pereira that has to see Adesanya talking shit about it after every win he gets
I like Jiri, but this was a predictable outcome. A wild aggressive striker with poor defense and minimal head movement vs a technical kickboxing champ with great counters and absolute dynamite in his hands/feet. Outside of a fluke shot, Jiri will always get ko'd by Pereira.
He would need to go full berserker to have a chance I think. Switching to a defensive style now isn't going to work for him. He doesn't have the tools to fight defensively. Make it an unorthodox, chaotic brawl instead and just hope you catch him first.
That's the only way to go with someone like Alex. It's just his left hook is so dangerous and that could be thrown very easily off the clinch or in the pocket in a close exchange.
I could never really get my left hook working if that makes sense, like I could understand using in theory and throw it. But the way Alex uses his left hook is just I'm in awe every time and it's hard to say since I'm just such Izzy stan.
It would be one thing if he was fighting in southpaw, but he's KOing guys with his lead hand hook with almost nothing else. It's wild. He's not even like winding it up like Tyron Woodley would throw his big right hand or Hendo's H Bomb. He barely moves and the lights are off.
I know right, the way he throws his left hook and check lead hook is godlike and it looks like a lot of his power comes from the hips. I forgot which video I was watching but he leads in with his pinkie as well.
The man is a unit and has the right mix of everything.
Watch his hips when he throws a check left hook. Alex’s stance is so bladed that his hips/lower half is already torqued and ready to fire off a short left hook at 5x the speed, efficiency and power than everybody else. His lower half ends perpendicular by the time the shot is landing, creating a bigger wheelhouse
I love them both. Izzy’s win against Alex is one of my favourite fights ever. In fact their whole series has just been fun to witness. Proper high level striking. It’s great to see two masters go at each other.
I’m Monday morning quarterbacking here, but Jiri needed to learn and adapt from the first Pereira fight. The wild aggressive striker shit left him too open to Alex. Better defense and textbook perfect wrestling might have been a better gameplan.
They didn't though. It's so rare in the wild that it affects less than 1% of the population of killer whales and MOST of the time we see it in the wild is due to a traumatic injury such as colliding with a boat. Turns out you are the liar. Don't spread misinformation.
Alex keeps getting better & better by the fight. I don't even think anyone at 205 can beat him at this point. Feel like he'll stuff magomed's takedowns & knock him out if thats the next fight
Ankalaev will try to strike with him like a moron, I'm pretty sure of it
If we see takedown attempts, there are good chances it's going to be the desperate "I'm blacking out" kind
>I don't even think anyone at 205 can beat him at this point.
Jan has a solid chance imo. During their 1st fight he was doing well until he ran out of steam bcs of the elevation.
Ankalaev would have even better odds if he didnt insist on fighting in the standup. Like a moron.
I think he was just respecting Alex’s power so much it led to a lot of hesitation. It must be difficult knowing that a single misstep and you’ll be waking up 5-10 seconds later with a sore head and an octagon filled with officials.
Yeah, it's crazy getting smoked by the same shot you got hit with last fight, months go by and you learned nothing, got nuked at the end of the 1st and still refuse to put your guard up (even if its just one hand) just to get annihilated by a head kick not even 45 seconds later
I'm a Jiri enjoyer but that was pure fucking retardation
It is hard to criticize Jiri's fighting style. His style made him successful by KO 28/29 opponents, lost twice ( both to Alex) in 10 years, and won him the belt. Unfortunately, he is paper to Alex's scissors.
I just hope he keeps his style, and just tweaks it. I honestly don't want him to reinvent himself like Johnny Walker where he just looks lost on how to fight.
Johnny walker has an 84" reach and doesn't even throw a jab to manage distance but will back up and throw knees in the pocket
The dude is fucking ignoring his own freak genetics just to do stupid shit
If he does go down to middleweight and can do it healthily, his style will be a problem there.
On a related note, inject Jiri vs DDP right into my veins.
izzy arguably one of the best kickboxers in the higher weight classes got KO'd by the same move from alex decade apart . i dont think its a knowledge thing but that its just so hard to avoid the shot consistently
It was definitely Alex using the spirits and stuff. Jiri asked him to *please* have a clean fight, but clearly Pereira is a coward and did not fight Jiri respectfully and in a clean manner. If he didn't have the voodoo for these bitch like Judy, it woulda gone down way different.
^(I don't need to add a /s, do I?)
I think he couldn’t comprehend how stoic and much Alex believes in himself and it freaked him out. When they did the stare off, Jiri couldn’t even match Alex’s energy. He opened his mouth a few times and he was about to talk to himself and was slightly nodding his head like a “yeah I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work”. I knew that was it for him bc you could see he started coming off as freaked out/panicked. I don’t like saying scared bc they’re fighters but he def had some kind of doubt/anxiety during the stare off. Same how he reacted after the face off saying that he was trying to do something with his eyes or whatever. I think it all got into his head
Pereira actually adjusted a few things. That's why the first fight looked a lot more close. In fact, jiri won r1 and was winning r2. Until he got ko'd, of course
This time, he could do none of that.
Dudes fighting style is zero defense with his lead leg and head sticking right out there for Alex to chip him away with leg kicks and knock him out. Horrible strategy against Alex lol
Yeah Jiri Honestly fights like he's retarded, I've been saying this since he fought Glover who isn't known for being a striker. His unorthodox striking might work but it leaves him really really open.
Periera seemed to have him figured out this time. I thought Jamahal would be the guy to give Periera problems because he leaves less big openings than Jiri does but after I saw Periera put him down this was not surprising. I think Ankalaev offers a better challenge he's well rounded in a way that guys like Jiri Jamahal, and Izzy aren't.
As much as we gotta respect the performances Periera has put up striking keep in mind that the most capable grappler he fought was Blachowicz, who is barely a capable grappler at the end of the day
But the issue (not for me luckily) is that your boy Magomed won’t fight using wrestling. And the story of Jamahal “trying to beat a 2 weight glory kickboxing champion in his own game” will just be repeated (Ankalaev confirmed once again he won’t use wrestling so no bs on my part). And guess what. After Alex finishes him they’ll say it again. “he only gets favorable matchups”
There is something different that some of you guys don't seem to notice with Ank is that he will actually use wrestling. It's correct that he still is a striker.
Edit: the most capable grappler by far that Periera will have ever faced.
you literally cant even mention Alex, Izzy, or anyone they fought without someone weirdly obsessing over Izzy and writing fan fiction.
Its wild how many 15 yr olds there are that are overly obsessed & hyper emotional abt Izzy.
it reminds me of the seagulls from Finding Nemo
Israel cleaned out middleweight… horrible performance against Sean to be sure but we shouldn’t forget Israel’s 5 or 6 title defenses
Could see Israel sniping Jiri he leaves himself exposed far too often
Izzy is better at striking in a technical aspect than Alex is, but lacks the power. Its why he's been the only person even able to stand with Alex.
If Alex could exploit Jiris holes in his defense, Izzy would.
I can see Izzy destroying his legs like Rakic and catching him with a counter easily.. I favour Izzy in the matchup… Izzy beat Alex in their first match until he got tko’d in the fith and ko’d him in the second in their second match… people downplay how good of a striker he is especially with people who don’t have a squared high guard like jan or Sean, I think jiri is a perfect victim for Izzy and this Chama fandom has made people blind about it… and it has nothing to do with fanboying I could not give to shits about anyone I am a fan of the sport not of the practitioners and find it pathetic that people go all fanboys about these guys (just so people don’t start an Izzy vs Alex feud under this comment and make me cringe so hard my balls implode worse then Jiri did after that insane head kick)
I agree with everything you said. I think people really forget how dominant Izzy was for a 3-4 year stretch! But I think if he were to fight Alex at 205, he’d have no shot. I have no evidence to support that theory and could be very wrong. 🫡
He literally just dropped a video where he’s training with his hands up. Like just now training with his guard up. Can’t make this shit up. Idk how this dude got this far 😂
Lol bruh he has two losses in ten years. Both to Alex. He was murdering everyone else. He said himself he needs to evolve. You don't change something while it's working. He fought defensive against Alex this time. Tried to check kicks and got beat.
I swear man the recency bias with these reddit people is crazy. without poatan in the picture, he is the boogeyman, every single one of his fights ended with a finish except one, he only has one decision. even poatan doesn't have that finish percentage. imagine having to fight a guy like this lmao. people will remember who jiri is when he fights the next guy lol
Fact of the matter is, he got smashed in the head pretty badly in the last fight and I dont think this was a long wnough turnaround to be competitive.
Alex has his number, bit we’ve seen this time and time again. If you get dropped bad, you probably need at LEAST 9 months, preferably 12 to build back your confidence and your chin.
And fighting the guy that just knocked you out is a ssssssuper bad move.
Im gonna start betting against anyone who tries this every single time.
Turns out, what izzys doing is actually a high iq move. Sean beat the shit out of him. No head injury, but confidence just gone. So stop. Take a break. Relax.
He got in his own head in the buildup of this or Alex just figure him out on the feet. Cause jiri was out landing Alex to the head majorly in the first fight. But this time it was like Alex knew exactly what was coming and jiri looked completely lost.
Jiri seemed a little off in my opinion. but hey Poatan seems as legit as they come right now. excited to see what’s going to happen next for both of them
I think a move to MW (if he can do that cut) is the next move for Jiri. Plenty of good matchups for him there, and I don’t think he’s going to see a LHW title while Pereira is champ. That matchup is just way too shitty for him.
Jiri fights with his hands down and his chin up. His style is so weird and he gets hit all the time. You can’t get yourself hit when fighting Alex. Jiri has headbutted jabs before. I wanted to be surprised but I kinda knew that his style didn’t match up well with alex
Honestly my opinion is Perreria had the man mind fucked before the fight even began. Jiri walking out with whatever plant material he had on him to ward off spirits was enough to let me know. This is a man who rarely has tasted defeat and in his head he was unstoppable with hard work and sharp focus. Then he met that left hook and had to justify his loss in his head. For some reason he fixated on some Juju shit on why he lost giving him an out in his head. Once a fighter has an out mentally the fight is over before it starts a lot of the time.
I fucking love Jiri because my Dad and extended family are from the Czech Republic and it’s hard to not jump on a national bandwagon with an individual like Jiri. I just hope he gets his shit figured out and blows thru his next few opponents because that was depressing to watch as a Prochazka fan.
Did anyone really think Jiri would win flopping and flailing in the cage against a technical kickboxer in Pereira? This is as much a tailor-made matchup there has ever been and noone seems to have noticed
The best thing about Jiri is it's going to be a FOTN contender, or performance bonus (for him and/or opponent). He's not there to grind out a decision win.
His style is very effective against most people, nearly everyone. It's too wild and unpredictable and he'll catch you. A multi-titled kickboxing champion is not most people however, and it's a really bad tactic vs him.
Jiri does this thing where he comes in awkwardly, then throws a haymaker while ducking his head down and to the side. The very first time he did it, Alex caught his head with a jab. At that point it was obvious Alex had him figured out, and just kept turning up the heat. I love Jiri though, and I expect he will come out like a man possessed in his next fight.
We saw his arguably winning the first fight before the KO. I think the mental struggle of knowing he could be finished inhibited him letting his hands go and imposing his gameplan.
Alex is the better fighter, but Jiri wasn’t really himself in there either
I’ve never understood the hype behind Jiri if I’m being honest. Now let’s all preface this with yes he would 100% certainly kick my ass.. now that’s out of the way.
I’ve never actually been impressed by any of his fights. He usually looks like a bobble head who’s on the verge of being KO’d and lands a significant strike to end the fight. Is he cool, yes. Is is “Samurai” gimmick bad ass. Yes. Is he a top talent like everyone’s making out to be, don’t think so. Top 10 yes but not championship calibre.
Yeah this sub overrated Jiri because he has a top knot and recites stoic platitudes as if he practices them in the mirror. Striking is all he has and he's basically average at that. He became champion because Jon cleared out the LHW division, allowing all the would-be top 10 gatekeepers their time to shine. Now that Poatan has moved up, with his S-tier striking, and no real well rounded fighter to speak of, he's just gonna sit comfy until someone decides to actually wrestle him
It was never gonna be. Jiri fans are delusional. He will NEVER be able to beat Poatan with his reckless style. Poatan is actually good at fighting and very technical.
jiri had nothing for alex in this fight
weasle was right, jiris style is a lot more effective when you haven’t seen it before, which is why he had more success in their first fight
The sad thing is anyone thought this would be a competitive fight
Pure hopium
I was shocked he got a rematch after looking very mediocre against rakic.
Alex is a horrendous matchup for him. He takes no defense measures and isn’t able to just grit out or be tough enough to eat Alex’s shots. Simple as that.
He made one error in the first fight, he dove in head first without any setup when he had Alex backed up... the one time he didn't feint to draw out a counter from Alex, and paid for it.
The problem is his style and habits are such that at one point or another in his fights, he's bound to make the same tactical error, and he's aware of it. So he overcorrects in the second fight, focusing too much on the leg kicks and abandoning his own offensive threats. Tricky balance to maintain for him, and he clearly hasn't figured it out yet.
Who does he train with?
He is right he does need to evolve to his next level.
The issue is he was the same as the last fight in almost every way besides wanting a win more.
Bro can still get miles better, I believe he can do his version of turning super saiyan , don't get me wrong he is a master of beautiful destruction and I'm not saying he needs to use textbook style techniques.
He just needs a different approach to make his style more affective rather than trying to use his chin as a lure whilst his body isn't in position to dodge effectively
Saddest thing is Jiri being ranked #2. He looks like an absolute amateur in the cage tbh. Someone watching UFC first time must be thinking "really!?" THAT is the second best fighter in the world!?'v
The comments are kinda disappointing, many people thought Jiri could beat him and Alex was barely a favorite according to the betting odds but now everyone "knew it was coming" and stuff.
If he's committed and really wants to be better then this could be his Gaethje moment. He acknowledged he needs to evolve or stop fighting and I don't see him being done fighting.
i knew it was going to be a washout and not closer like the first fight..ever since jiri's fight with glover i havent been impressed with him.
i know glover is a beast but hes old and beat up and still that fight was pretty damn close, if jiri didnt submit him in round 5 i think it might have gone either way.
I'm not sad. I like Jiri, but his loose style means he has a near zero chance of beating a sniper like AP. The saddest part is he could become a real competitor if he changed things up. Hoping he will.
All the MW are too green compared to Alex. He might just have joined UFC, but he has been a top level competitor in kickboxing for literally years and years.
He needs to change his style against Alex. He’s never going to out-kickbox him. Best thing he could have done is tried to wrestle him or get him in the clinch the entire time.
Bro this weight class is so weak compared to wanderiel silva tito chuck shogun rashad rampage lyoto dan henderson osp gustoffson apparently reyes against jones randy couture dc And jon jones tbh this weight class might be the deepest in history cuz most of these have been champs so hardest to win was welterweight gsp kamaru when dj was champ when anderson silva and when jon jones was champ and maybe khabib would be the well volk i think those were the toughest ever but i cant think of a deeper weight class at one point than light heavy cuz chuck then silva timeframe yes silva but i mean 05-12 time frame was what put them on the map so those weight classes were the draw then jones the 145 with conor then khabib etc
I really dont think it will be competitive for anyone who cant properly threaten him with takedowns or grappling. Is there anyone who can actually stand with that dude?
I dont know why people thought putting a world champion kickboxer with a deceptively dangerous style in with a hands down mma fighter would be competitive. Im not saying jiri didnt stand a chance because he always does but on average alex would come out on top of that fight far more often than not. I mean its no secret that taking alex to the mat is the best way to beating him. Clinch work and wrestling and take him into deep water with a long boring fight and test his gas tank i think is the best bet to a win over alex
No shame losing to Alex as the guy is a beast - Alex’s leg kicks were key in the last fight and whenever Jiri got him on the ground he was having some success.
Sometimes you just run into someone better. At least it was a person he can respect like Alex and not some meathead talking shit about him.
His only losses since 2015 almost 10yrs are both to Alex. Wild, love Jiri. Hope he has a similar trajectory to Holloway or Whittaker. Demolish everyone wait till Alex gets dethroned.
But both Holloway and Whittaker made their second fight competitive, and both arguably won...
Yes but the third Volk v Holloway fight was arguably the worst beating Max had ever taken. There's still time for Jiri, hopefully he polishes some things up and comes back better than ever.
Jiri will be around when Alex retires. There’s absolutely still time.
Completely agree. LHW is a funny division. He’s always going to be in title contention and when Alex inevitably retires he can capture gold again. Styles makes fights and Alex just has his number. That dude just happens to have a lot of people’s numbers lol.
His left hook is a Rolodex
I’d argue that if someone could swallow their pride and effectively wrestle with Alex, especially in the first couple rounds, could have a real shot at winning. Jiri has a good ground game he beat one of the most decorated LHW BJJ guys in UFC history. Also the guy who teaches Alex BJJ. Jan was the only one to try and he made it a close fight. Alex has really good takedown defense it seems, but how good is his submission defense? Regardless Alex is one of the best to ever do it. So much so that he makes everyone question if wrestling is the best base. Alex is kinda proving it’s all fake, Derek Lewis debunked BJJ with “just stand up” then Poatan said “no need for takedown defense when you have put down offense” “Sprawl? You mean left hook my friend?” I’ll tell you who is undefeated this year is the fans. Holy shit this has been one crazy year. I’d love if my favorite fighters could stop fighting my other favorite fighters. I’m still confused about how I feel about the Justin vs Max fight. Idk how anyone could dislike Jiri or Poatan.
I sorta fell out of interest in MMA the last year or so because I was just so super busy but Alex alone has brought me back. Every fight is must see.
Tbf Jan was not at his best with the altitude, if that fight wasn't at height he wouldn't have gassed so badly. Not saying he'd have won but i think he'd have had more success given the exertion required for wrestling.
Justin v Max might be the best fight I’ve actually watched in real time.
Well everyone is fighting him where he’s the best at, except Jan and that is still his closest fight to this day.
The bigger dudes don’t live and die on speed. It doesn’t look like it but a lot of the LHW-HW contenders are super technical (by MMA standards) that mixed with power, which is the last thing to go, allows them to have much longer careers at the top. I hope Jiri is able to win the title and hold it for a while. Jiri vs Reyes would be a fun fight. Assuming Reyes is back to his old form. Edit: Changed my mind I would rather see Jiri vs Hill Or Jiri vs Roundtree exponentially more. It would be nice to see Hill be his petty normal self while Jiri stoically ignores him and then beats the shit out of him.
Jiri already ko’d Reyes, viciously too.
I know and it was a great fight until that moment. I’m sure Reyes wouldn’t hate some revenge for that spinning elbow from hell. Their styles are perfect for each other. Reyes is aggressive as is Jiri they both have weird striking styles and they both have a good ground game. Reyes looked really good in his last fight. Roundtree vs Jiri would also be amazing as well. Or Hill vs Jiri would be entertaining. The most honorable and respectful person in the division against the biggest cry baby in the ufc. Which sucks because I liked hill at first
Hill vs Jiri is the fight to make, or Jiri vs Jan for king of Europe would be a banger fight.
At lest if Jiri knocks Hill out he might shut up or go back to being slightly cool. I doubt the latter
Yeah I retract that statement. I want to see Jiri vs Hill or Roundtree way more than that rematch. I just needed to look at the rankings again.
Or we get Jiri vs Jan & Hill vs Roundtree; winner of both matches face each other off.
If he keeps his hands up even a little bit the fight is way more competitive, dude is fighting one of the best strikers in the world with his hands on his hips.
Naw man he’s perfecting fractured orbital defense. Lean down and in to the kick. Show him who’s boss. I’m pretty sure Jiri put out a video of him practicing getting hit in the face and called it defense training. I love the dude but he is wild.
Need to remember that this fight was on 2 weeks notice. Look at volk islam 2 on short notice man got his head kicked off too.
That third fight was so hard to watch as a Max's fan. Volk was just so many levels above him. I dont really know if that was peak Volk or worst Max to ever show up, appart from his first UFC fight against Poirier obviusly.
How did the third fight go again?
Whittaker won??? against izzy
Yeah but 3rd time's the charm so LOSERS
Lol, I saw a meme of Izzy after the most recent Pereira fight that said, "Let this be known: Nobody beats Israel Adesanya 4 times in a row."
Tell Max that. Maybe the 4th times the charm. I just thought about how wild it will be if Max wins the belt back he will likely have to have a 4th fight with Volk. Which I would love as a fan, but I couldn’t imagine losing to a dude 4 times. Even though I think you could argue he won the second fight by the slightest margin.
He is not. Okay, light heavyweight is not that competitive, but this is Tony Ferguson type of a guy. This crazy style works till it doesn't. And it's getting worse with age and time, as you loose speed and aggregate the damage. It's all fun memes with Jiri blocking punches with his head, but the damage is going to get you. Arguably it did already. Glover, Rakic, Reyes and Pereira hit harder than Gaethje. These are big lads. I know his fun and I was rooting for him in the last fight, I really did. But this style of fighting is just plain stupid. I'd rather worry about Jiri's long term brain damage than his return to the top. Sorry, guy is routinely rocked in the fight he wins. You can't have a long career fighting like that.
Holy shit, 2015 was almost 10 years ago. Wtf
His style just will not work against Alex unless Alex makes a huge mistake and allows himself to get caught Unless he is able to make drastic changes and improvements it’s not gonna happen especially with 2 losses Alex has the composure and the skills with huge power to pick his shots and flatline Jiri before Jiri is able to force the kind of chaotic brawl that he excels in
So true, he fought the one guy on that warrior path just like him. Unlike Pereira that has to see Adesanya talking shit about it after every win he gets
I just wish we saw more of a war, he looked outclassed sad as it is to say.
Or someone that humps downed opponents
I like Jiri, but this was a predictable outcome. A wild aggressive striker with poor defense and minimal head movement vs a technical kickboxing champ with great counters and absolute dynamite in his hands/feet. Outside of a fluke shot, Jiri will always get ko'd by Pereira.
He would need to go full berserker to have a chance I think. Switching to a defensive style now isn't going to work for him. He doesn't have the tools to fight defensively. Make it an unorthodox, chaotic brawl instead and just hope you catch him first.
That's the only way to go with someone like Alex. It's just his left hook is so dangerous and that could be thrown very easily off the clinch or in the pocket in a close exchange. I could never really get my left hook working if that makes sense, like I could understand using in theory and throw it. But the way Alex uses his left hook is just I'm in awe every time and it's hard to say since I'm just such Izzy stan.
It would be one thing if he was fighting in southpaw, but he's KOing guys with his lead hand hook with almost nothing else. It's wild. He's not even like winding it up like Tyron Woodley would throw his big right hand or Hendo's H Bomb. He barely moves and the lights are off.
I know right, the way he throws his left hook and check lead hook is godlike and it looks like a lot of his power comes from the hips. I forgot which video I was watching but he leads in with his pinkie as well. The man is a unit and has the right mix of everything.
Watch his hips when he throws a check left hook. Alex’s stance is so bladed that his hips/lower half is already torqued and ready to fire off a short left hook at 5x the speed, efficiency and power than everybody else. His lower half ends perpendicular by the time the shot is landing, creating a bigger wheelhouse
I love them both. Izzy’s win against Alex is one of my favourite fights ever. In fact their whole series has just been fun to witness. Proper high level striking. It’s great to see two masters go at each other.
Full berserker plays to Alex’s strengths, he’d counter punch him into orbit.
He just needs to see red bro!! That red is just his blood leaking over his eyes as he gets pummeled again though lol
Jiri was wary the whole fight, he was looking for openings and even when he entered he got punished badly.
> A wild aggressive striker with poor defense and minimal head movement His head movement isn't "minimal" If anything, he relies far too much on it
I’m Monday morning quarterbacking here, but Jiri needed to learn and adapt from the first Pereira fight. The wild aggressive striker shit left him too open to Alex. Better defense and textbook perfect wrestling might have been a better gameplan.
This reminds me of when you see captive orcas and their fins are slumped over.
Orcas in the wild have that too, free willy lied to you.
Are we sure the wild Orcas haven't been headkicked by Poatan?
People forget man.
You can never rule that out
They didn't though. It's so rare in the wild that it affects less than 1% of the population of killer whales and MOST of the time we see it in the wild is due to a traumatic injury such as colliding with a boat. Turns out you are the liar. Don't spread misinformation.
Alex keeps getting better & better by the fight. I don't even think anyone at 205 can beat him at this point. Feel like he'll stuff magomed's takedowns & knock him out if thats the next fight
I still believe there are good wrestlers out there that could take him down and beat him on the ground. It just has not happened yet.
Walker one shot
Ankalaev will try to strike with him like a moron, I'm pretty sure of it If we see takedown attempts, there are good chances it's going to be the desperate "I'm blacking out" kind
If he does, his legs will never recover. You saw what Jan did to his legs. Imagine Alex 💀
>I don't even think anyone at 205 can beat him at this point. Jan has a solid chance imo. During their 1st fight he was doing well until he ran out of steam bcs of the elevation. Ankalaev would have even better odds if he didnt insist on fighting in the standup. Like a moron.
The saddest part was he broke his hair.
My guy looks like a Street Fighter 2 losing screen
fuck I hate how accurate this is.
Go home and be a family man!
Go home and be a family man
[удалено]
I think he was just respecting Alex’s power so much it led to a lot of hesitation. It must be difficult knowing that a single misstep and you’ll be waking up 5-10 seconds later with a sore head and an octagon filled with officials.
Yeah, it's crazy getting smoked by the same shot you got hit with last fight, months go by and you learned nothing, got nuked at the end of the 1st and still refuse to put your guard up (even if its just one hand) just to get annihilated by a head kick not even 45 seconds later I'm a Jiri enjoyer but that was pure fucking retardation
It is hard to criticize Jiri's fighting style. His style made him successful by KO 28/29 opponents, lost twice ( both to Alex) in 10 years, and won him the belt. Unfortunately, he is paper to Alex's scissors. I just hope he keeps his style, and just tweaks it. I honestly don't want him to reinvent himself like Johnny Walker where he just looks lost on how to fight.
Johnny walker has an 84" reach and doesn't even throw a jab to manage distance but will back up and throw knees in the pocket The dude is fucking ignoring his own freak genetics just to do stupid shit
If he does go down to middleweight and can do it healthily, his style will be a problem there. On a related note, inject Jiri vs DDP right into my veins.
With how poorly defensively he is, cutting more weight will get him chinned by Dricus or Izzy
Some people are just better than you. There is nothing you can learn that will change that.
It's OK to lose to alex. It's insane he still chose to bolt forward with his hands down. Twice
Everyone knows samurai code says to block all attacks with your head
izzy arguably one of the best kickboxers in the higher weight classes got KO'd by the same move from alex decade apart . i dont think its a knowledge thing but that its just so hard to avoid the shot consistently
Jiri literally lunged in at the last second for no reason. He lost the round there was no reason to do that whatsoever.
It was definitely Alex using the spirits and stuff. Jiri asked him to *please* have a clean fight, but clearly Pereira is a coward and did not fight Jiri respectfully and in a clean manner. If he didn't have the voodoo for these bitch like Judy, it woulda gone down way different. ^(I don't need to add a /s, do I?)
wow i wonder why he had such little confidence fighting someone on short notice who KO'd hiim when he had a full training camp
I think he couldn’t comprehend how stoic and much Alex believes in himself and it freaked him out. When they did the stare off, Jiri couldn’t even match Alex’s energy. He opened his mouth a few times and he was about to talk to himself and was slightly nodding his head like a “yeah I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work”. I knew that was it for him bc you could see he started coming off as freaked out/panicked. I don’t like saying scared bc they’re fighters but he def had some kind of doubt/anxiety during the stare off. Same how he reacted after the face off saying that he was trying to do something with his eyes or whatever. I think it all got into his head
Its almost like 2 weeks isnt enough time to make technical and tactical adjustments
In the words of khabib. “You always have to train and keep in shape. UFC can call anytime.”
How many short notice fights did Khabib take? How many times did Khabib nearly die trying to make weight?
They each had the same amount of time to prepare
One didn't have to change anything lol
Pereira actually adjusted a few things. That's why the first fight looked a lot more close. In fact, jiri won r1 and was winning r2. Until he got ko'd, of course This time, he could do none of that.
and were ready for 305 before for perth, they were already prepping some
Dudes fighting style is zero defense with his lead leg and head sticking right out there for Alex to chip him away with leg kicks and knock him out. Horrible strategy against Alex lol
Yeah Jiri Honestly fights like he's retarded, I've been saying this since he fought Glover who isn't known for being a striker. His unorthodox striking might work but it leaves him really really open.
Glover was definitely known for being a striker, he had a lot of finishes in his career.
Glover had pretty good boxing. Some of the best at LHW.
Not shocking at all Alex is a nightmare matchup for Jiri who has 0 striking defense
Periera seemed to have him figured out this time. I thought Jamahal would be the guy to give Periera problems because he leaves less big openings than Jiri does but after I saw Periera put him down this was not surprising. I think Ankalaev offers a better challenge he's well rounded in a way that guys like Jiri Jamahal, and Izzy aren't. As much as we gotta respect the performances Periera has put up striking keep in mind that the most capable grappler he fought was Blachowicz, who is barely a capable grappler at the end of the day
But the issue (not for me luckily) is that your boy Magomed won’t fight using wrestling. And the story of Jamahal “trying to beat a 2 weight glory kickboxing champion in his own game” will just be repeated (Ankalaev confirmed once again he won’t use wrestling so no bs on my part). And guess what. After Alex finishes him they’ll say it again. “he only gets favorable matchups”
There is something different that some of you guys don't seem to notice with Ank is that he will actually use wrestling. It's correct that he still is a striker. Edit: the most capable grappler by far that Periera will have ever faced.
The best thing about this is that jiri is going to beat Adensaya lol
Feel like Israel exposes the same defensive weaknesses that Alex did
Jiri already said he won't fight Adesanya when he talked about going to middleweight. They're friends and have the same manager.
Oh c'mon brah f that shit, we need Jiri vs Adesanya
Jiri and Izzy are friends? When did he say he wouldn't fight Izzy?
Jiri is moving to middleweight???
y’all are obsessed with Israel to a very strange degree
you literally cant even mention Alex, Izzy, or anyone they fought without someone weirdly obsessing over Izzy and writing fan fiction. Its wild how many 15 yr olds there are that are overly obsessed & hyper emotional abt Izzy. it reminds me of the seagulls from Finding Nemo
This would be a very different comment on any other subreddit lol
Literally rent-free, Pereira fans are some of the worst
guy who acts like a japanese doing anime weeb sheet vs a guy who LIVES the japanese samurai code. Id go with the latter.
Just once they gotta let Jiri go into the cage with his sword against Jon Jones.
Israel cleaned out middleweight… horrible performance against Sean to be sure but we shouldn’t forget Israel’s 5 or 6 title defenses Could see Israel sniping Jiri he leaves himself exposed far too often
Izzy is better at striking in a technical aspect than Alex is, but lacks the power. Its why he's been the only person even able to stand with Alex. If Alex could exploit Jiris holes in his defense, Izzy would.
Izzy has finished Alex, Kelvin (who's been dropped by literally no one else), and Costa. He has plenty of power.
I can see Izzy destroying his legs like Rakic and catching him with a counter easily.. I favour Izzy in the matchup… Izzy beat Alex in their first match until he got tko’d in the fith and ko’d him in the second in their second match… people downplay how good of a striker he is especially with people who don’t have a squared high guard like jan or Sean, I think jiri is a perfect victim for Izzy and this Chama fandom has made people blind about it… and it has nothing to do with fanboying I could not give to shits about anyone I am a fan of the sport not of the practitioners and find it pathetic that people go all fanboys about these guys (just so people don’t start an Izzy vs Alex feud under this comment and make me cringe so hard my balls implode worse then Jiri did after that insane head kick)
I agree with everything you said. I think people really forget how dominant Izzy was for a 3-4 year stretch! But I think if he were to fight Alex at 205, he’d have no shot. I have no evidence to support that theory and could be very wrong. 🫡
Hot take: Jiri has a low fight IQ ..
i mean he literally blocks punches with his head
He literally just dropped a video where he’s training with his hands up. Like just now training with his guard up. Can’t make this shit up. Idk how this dude got this far 😂
It's a hill he dies upon
Maybe Jiri has the wrong people around him, love the guy but he shows little evolution.
Lol bruh he has two losses in ten years. Both to Alex. He was murdering everyone else. He said himself he needs to evolve. You don't change something while it's working. He fought defensive against Alex this time. Tried to check kicks and got beat.
I swear man the recency bias with these reddit people is crazy. without poatan in the picture, he is the boogeyman, every single one of his fights ended with a finish except one, he only has one decision. even poatan doesn't have that finish percentage. imagine having to fight a guy like this lmao. people will remember who jiri is when he fights the next guy lol
His styles not bad. Pereira is just his kryptonite. He walks through many other top LHWs.
I’m telling y’all, he psyched himself out with all that witchcraft mumbo jumbo leading up to the fight. He was beat before he even entered the cage.
Fact of the matter is, he got smashed in the head pretty badly in the last fight and I dont think this was a long wnough turnaround to be competitive. Alex has his number, bit we’ve seen this time and time again. If you get dropped bad, you probably need at LEAST 9 months, preferably 12 to build back your confidence and your chin. And fighting the guy that just knocked you out is a ssssssuper bad move. Im gonna start betting against anyone who tries this every single time. Turns out, what izzys doing is actually a high iq move. Sean beat the shit out of him. No head injury, but confidence just gone. So stop. Take a break. Relax.
Jiri needs to stop training alone in the forest and get into a proper gym/camp.
He got in his own head in the buildup of this or Alex just figure him out on the feet. Cause jiri was out landing Alex to the head majorly in the first fight. But this time it was like Alex knew exactly what was coming and jiri looked completely lost.
Jiri seemed a little off in my opinion. but hey Poatan seems as legit as they come right now. excited to see what’s going to happen next for both of them
I think a move to MW (if he can do that cut) is the next move for Jiri. Plenty of good matchups for him there, and I don’t think he’s going to see a LHW title while Pereira is champ. That matchup is just way too shitty for him.
Jiri fights with his hands down and his chin up. His style is so weird and he gets hit all the time. You can’t get yourself hit when fighting Alex. Jiri has headbutted jabs before. I wanted to be surprised but I kinda knew that his style didn’t match up well with alex
Honestly my opinion is Perreria had the man mind fucked before the fight even began. Jiri walking out with whatever plant material he had on him to ward off spirits was enough to let me know. This is a man who rarely has tasted defeat and in his head he was unstoppable with hard work and sharp focus. Then he met that left hook and had to justify his loss in his head. For some reason he fixated on some Juju shit on why he lost giving him an out in his head. Once a fighter has an out mentally the fight is over before it starts a lot of the time. I fucking love Jiri because my Dad and extended family are from the Czech Republic and it’s hard to not jump on a national bandwagon with an individual like Jiri. I just hope he gets his shit figured out and blows thru his next few opponents because that was depressing to watch as a Prochazka fan.
I never really thought it would be after the first fight
Did anyone really think Jiri would win flopping and flailing in the cage against a technical kickboxer in Pereira? This is as much a tailor-made matchup there has ever been and noone seems to have noticed
The best thing about Jiri is it's going to be a FOTN contender, or performance bonus (for him and/or opponent). He's not there to grind out a decision win. His style is very effective against most people, nearly everyone. It's too wild and unpredictable and he'll catch you. A multi-titled kickboxing champion is not most people however, and it's a really bad tactic vs him.
Pereira is so dangerous he cant fight in his style, its way to reckless. Recipe for getting KOed
Jiri does this thing where he comes in awkwardly, then throws a haymaker while ducking his head down and to the side. The very first time he did it, Alex caught his head with a jab. At that point it was obvious Alex had him figured out, and just kept turning up the heat. I love Jiri though, and I expect he will come out like a man possessed in his next fight.
We saw his arguably winning the first fight before the KO. I think the mental struggle of knowing he could be finished inhibited him letting his hands go and imposing his gameplan. Alex is the better fighter, but Jiri wasn’t really himself in there either
Not surprising if we are being honest. Jiri is fun but dude is Johnny Walker with a slightly better chin. Dude still has no defense.
I’ve never understood the hype behind Jiri if I’m being honest. Now let’s all preface this with yes he would 100% certainly kick my ass.. now that’s out of the way. I’ve never actually been impressed by any of his fights. He usually looks like a bobble head who’s on the verge of being KO’d and lands a significant strike to end the fight. Is he cool, yes. Is is “Samurai” gimmick bad ass. Yes. Is he a top talent like everyone’s making out to be, don’t think so. Top 10 yes but not championship calibre.
Yeah this sub overrated Jiri because he has a top knot and recites stoic platitudes as if he practices them in the mirror. Striking is all he has and he's basically average at that. He became champion because Jon cleared out the LHW division, allowing all the would-be top 10 gatekeepers their time to shine. Now that Poatan has moved up, with his S-tier striking, and no real well rounded fighter to speak of, he's just gonna sit comfy until someone decides to actually wrestle him
No camp really, huge disadvantage for Jiri. No way you beat Alex at striking unless you’re name is Izzy
He’ll learn from this and come back stronger he’s a warrior and tough as fuck
It was weird. Tbh I expected it, Jiri is like a real life button masher. But there was still something a bit uncomfortable about the beat down, lol
The funniest thing is his little antenna is broken 😂
Yep, that whole card stunk. Not a good fight in the bunch
It was never gonna be. Jiri fans are delusional. He will NEVER be able to beat Poatan with his reckless style. Poatan is actually good at fighting and very technical.
Street fighter continue screen lookin ahh
Come grapple me bro!?
Poatan is just a nightmare matchup for Jiri
Magic should not be allowed in MMA
jiri had nothing for alex in this fight weasle was right, jiris style is a lot more effective when you haven’t seen it before, which is why he had more success in their first fight
The saddest thing was looking at Jiri a broken man afterwards.
He’s done. His psyche is washed.
The sad thing is anyone thought this would be a competitive fight Pure hopium I was shocked he got a rematch after looking very mediocre against rakic.
He beat him so bad he broke his hair.
I thought he was winning the first fight. The second fight, he was scared shitless before he ever made it to the ring.
I can't help but laugh every time I see his limp ponytail
I thought the saddest part was when he was brutally knocked out
Turns out, the spirits were *not* on his side
He needs to take notes from eco-reem. When Alistair Overeem he point fighted his way to victory
Alex is a horrendous matchup for him. He takes no defense measures and isn’t able to just grit out or be tough enough to eat Alex’s shots. Simple as that.
He made one error in the first fight, he dove in head first without any setup when he had Alex backed up... the one time he didn't feint to draw out a counter from Alex, and paid for it. The problem is his style and habits are such that at one point or another in his fights, he's bound to make the same tactical error, and he's aware of it. So he overcorrects in the second fight, focusing too much on the leg kicks and abandoning his own offensive threats. Tricky balance to maintain for him, and he clearly hasn't figured it out yet.
Who does he train with? He is right he does need to evolve to his next level. The issue is he was the same as the last fight in almost every way besides wanting a win more. Bro can still get miles better, I believe he can do his version of turning super saiyan , don't get me wrong he is a master of beautiful destruction and I'm not saying he needs to use textbook style techniques. He just needs a different approach to make his style more affective rather than trying to use his chin as a lure whilst his body isn't in position to dodge effectively
Jiri has still been a champ. He can hold his head very high
Saddest thing is Jiri being ranked #2. He looks like an absolute amateur in the cage tbh. Someone watching UFC first time must be thinking "really!?" THAT is the second best fighter in the world!?'v
I don't think Jiri is gonna see his title until Alex either retires or moves up. He met his kryptonite
Poatan broke his hair strands with that switch kick.
Jiri realizing he hit his peak and will be gatekeeping until Poatan moves up to HW.
The comments are kinda disappointing, many people thought Jiri could beat him and Alex was barely a favorite according to the betting odds but now everyone "knew it was coming" and stuff.
Its all about matchups and styles. Same for Max Holloway and other great fighters.
Was a really tough watch. Even as a big Poatan fan it was hard to enjoy the moment. Gotta be devastating for Jiri and tough to find a path forward.
Alex made the better adjustments
If he's committed and really wants to be better then this could be his Gaethje moment. He acknowledged he needs to evolve or stop fighting and I don't see him being done fighting.
Even his hair was broken.
I was absolutely shocked at the betting lines. I never bet more than $5-$10 at a time but put over $100 on against Jiri
Surprised everybody had such high hopes. I bet that it would go just like the first fight… lo and behold, it went the exact same.
His fight IQ is just too low to beat a guy like AP, theres a handful of guys like this out there and he is part of that group
i knew it was going to be a washout and not closer like the first fight..ever since jiri's fight with glover i havent been impressed with him. i know glover is a beast but hes old and beat up and still that fight was pretty damn close, if jiri didnt submit him in round 5 i think it might have gone either way.
Can’t say we didn’t know that would happen
I'm not sad. I like Jiri, but his loose style means he has a near zero chance of beating a sniper like AP. The saddest part is he could become a real competitor if he changed things up. Hoping he will.
Sometimes you focus on fairytales and forget to train stand up technique:/
All the MW are too green compared to Alex. He might just have joined UFC, but he has been a top level competitor in kickboxing for literally years and years.
He needs to change his style against Alex. He’s never going to out-kickbox him. Best thing he could have done is tried to wrestle him or get him in the clinch the entire time.
Bro this weight class is so weak compared to wanderiel silva tito chuck shogun rashad rampage lyoto dan henderson osp gustoffson apparently reyes against jones randy couture dc And jon jones tbh this weight class might be the deepest in history cuz most of these have been champs so hardest to win was welterweight gsp kamaru when dj was champ when anderson silva and when jon jones was champ and maybe khabib would be the well volk i think those were the toughest ever but i cant think of a deeper weight class at one point than light heavy cuz chuck then silva timeframe yes silva but i mean 05-12 time frame was what put them on the map so those weight classes were the draw then jones the 145 with conor then khabib etc
I really dont think it will be competitive for anyone who cant properly threaten him with takedowns or grappling. Is there anyone who can actually stand with that dude?
I dont know why people thought putting a world champion kickboxer with a deceptively dangerous style in with a hands down mma fighter would be competitive. Im not saying jiri didnt stand a chance because he always does but on average alex would come out on top of that fight far more often than not. I mean its no secret that taking alex to the mat is the best way to beating him. Clinch work and wrestling and take him into deep water with a long boring fight and test his gas tank i think is the best bet to a win over alex
Sometimes no matter how great you are someone is always better. Jiri would all right that title will come
No shame losing to Alex as the guy is a beast - Alex’s leg kicks were key in the last fight and whenever Jiri got him on the ground he was having some success.
Finally op has some sense
Izzy to jiri: i know what that feels man. Maybe the 4th time you’ll get em
Jiri is the better fighter. Perriera is just on a roll right now.