I think he should get the title shot because it’s a fresh matchup for Merab and IMO Corey is the second best fighter in the division. Yes even though he lost to Umar I still think he’s better, and operates at a higher level than even O’ Malley.
What the UFC should have done instead of giving it to SOM was give it to Yan instead (former champ with 2 straight wins), and give Sandhagen a fight with SOM (they’ve never fought), with the winner of that fighting the winner of Merab-Yan. Yes I realize Merab beat Yan but that was two years ago and I think the fight looks different now.
I’m not sure how Merab deals with the style of Sandhagen. His footwork and variety alone is enough to make it difficult for Merab to close distance. The problem is if he gets close, Merab is probably taking him down. Figgy took him down fairly easily and although Corey got up, that doesn’t bode well for a fight against Merab. But this is the best Sandhagen has ever looked and I trust his preparation for Merab would be as good as ever.
I was too until I saw Figgy wanting to play 50/50 guard. I have never seen him do that before and it went about as well as everyone else not named Ryan Hall has done it in recent years.
Me too. I think the only fighter that is better than Sandhagen at 135 is Merab.
But if he has an answer for the takedowns, I’d love to see Corey get the belt and defend it a few times. Right now he’s in Kenny Florian territory except he has lost the title eliminators, and hasn’t made it to a title shot yet.
I generally agree that Nickal isn’t where he needs to be if he wants to be a champion, but I’ve never seen anything impressive from him aside from wrestling and an overhand right. I don’t pay attention to the hype or what he’s saying, I just judge him based on his performances. Based on what I’ve seen his development has been slow and muddy. So I guess what I’m saying is I never held him to the standard that most people seem to hold him to, so I’m not super disappointed or surprised to see what happened in there. RDR was a massive step up and I’m surprised he was a favorite going in. His biggest win is a VERY lackluster decision over Paul Craig. At this point, until he puts a shit ton of striking and sparring work in, he’s a poor man’s Chad Mendes.
I think you’re being generous, he shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as Chad Mendes. Bo doesn’t even have a jab and his only strength is supposedly wrestling, but he was scared to grapple Paul Craig and was out grappled by RDR. So I don’t see any real upside for him. The only reason anyone cares is because of the hype and push he’s received by the ufc and the things he’s said about himself and other fighters. He deserves the criticism he’s receiving because he’s said a lot of things that he clearly had no business saying.
Well the way he looks now is the way Mendes looked earlier in his career. I’m not saying his skill level compares to prime Mendes, hence the “poor man” descriptor. He’s basically a wrestler who throws haymakers. Like I said I don’t buy into a lot of the stuff fighters say because I judge what I see not what they say, and based on what I’ve seen he hasn’t been that good. The guys he dominated or looked really good against were all low level fighters or UFC washouts.
He needs to train takedowns with MMA guys from MMA positions. He really wanted to just get in to a folkstyle wrasslin’ clinch with his hips far back and his entire stomach exposed.
There’s a reason people clinch more like greco and muay thai in MMA.
If you’re gonna stay in that wrestling stance you have to be driving them against the fence and constantly shooting takedowns like the Dagis.
I’m not sure Bo has great TD’s from the upright clinch cause he was barely shooting from that position.
I agree, he’s shown very little and I think he’s too old to make huge improvements. I also don’t think he’s big enough to effectively wrestle the guys at 185 with good grappling
I said it during the fight but bo like all these penn state guys sucks at upper body wrestling .
Cael Sandersons style is shoot ,shoot and shoot some more and it reflects on all his pupils
Heres bo getting launched from the clinch twice. the second time he gets held down for over 5 seconds and the crooked ass female ref didn’t call the pin
The same guy pinned him off a huge throw the year before
Jesus that lady was looking at his dick when she should’ve been moving her fat ass around to look at the fall. Terrible reffing.
The Dagis do a great job of mixing footsweeps, judo throws and wrasslin’ takedowns and chaining them together. But they’re also relentless with the attempts. In the one TD Bo got he made a somewhat sloppy throw but chained it with an ankle pick.
It was a very nice combo, but he seemed so uncomfortable shooting from that upright clinch. Other than that it was basically one shot, eat knees/punches, break, repeat.
I think you’re right that some of the high level folkstyle guys are so used to being in that low crouch that they don’t have any shots from an upright clinch.
