If you saw Tim and Bibiano fight last weekend, you saw two perfect examples of how fighters are trained to fight here. Although the fights were won in completely different ways – one lasted just 40s, while the other went the distance – both exemplify the qualities we want in our fighters and both showed the results of hard work and intelligent training. Below are my thoughts on each of the two fights.
Bibiano’s win over Otsuka in Dream 17 – Finish the fight
In case you missed Bibiano’s fight, make sure to take a few minutes to watch the video above to see what finishing a fight is all about. Without speaking badly about some of the other camps out there, I personally think the play it safe and win by points style that we’ve seen influence a lot of fights in recent years is bad for the sport and it’s pretty much the opposite of the “always be working to finish” style that Matt instills in the fighters here. Bibiano’s fight couldn’t have been a better example of this approach and he did an absolutely perfect job of taking advantage of his opponent’s mistake and finishing when he had the opportunity.
To me, this is what fighting should be all about, trying to finish your opponent, and yet a lot of coaches and fighters take a much more conservative approach that encourages fights to go the distance. Nothing frustrates me more than watching talented fighters using a strategy that encourages them to avoid risk at all cost and grind out a win by decision. Not only does it turn off the casual fans, it’s a waste of talent and a poor way to approach training and fighting in general.
Perhaps this is why I’ve always liked watching fights in Japan. The Japanese audience tends to appreciate a good fight regardless of the outcome and fighters are rarely cut or financially penalized for losing if they put on a good show. There is honor in losing if the fighter went out there and fought his ass off. In the US, however, lose a fight in the UFC and you not only lose half your purse money, but you’re at risk for getting cut. Because of this, I can understand why fighters may choose to take a more cautious game plan, but Bibiano’s fight was a great example of how I think fights should be fought.
Any time you train a fighter for the first time, there’s always some questions about how they are going to perform. Bibiano had never really lifted weights and had trained with the same camp for quite awhile so coming down to train with us was a huge change for him. While you always hope for the best, sometimes big changes don’t always pay off quickly and there’s always a risk that a fighter will not perform as well as they should because they were overwhelmed with everything. Obviously this wasn’t the case with Bibiano, however, and he literally couldn’t have had a better fight than going in there, taking next to no damage whatsoever and finishing the fight in less than a minute.
Bibiano will be back down to train with us to get ready for the next found in the Dream featherweight tournament and I’m looking forward to helping to prepare him for that. He’s a talented athlete and if he wasn’t the favorite to win the tournament before, he certainly is after that performance! All in all, a great performance by Bibiano and you can expect more to come.
Tim’s Fight in UFC 135 – Conditioning Pays Off
The fight didn’t start out quite as well as we planned, with Nick constantly backing up Tim did too much chasing and not enough using footwork and combinations, but things changed in the second round. This was when Tim started turning it into his style of fight and controlling the action more with his strength and power and had that round lasted another 10 seconds, he would have likely finished the submission attempt at the end of the round.
It was clear that the right was most likely even on the judge’s scorecards with Nick winning the first round and Tim clearly winning the second, so everything would come down to the third and final round. I knew Tim’s conditioning was good and Nick looked visibly tired going to the corner after round two so I was confident Tim was going to take over round three and I was right.
If you didn’t see Tim’s throw, make sure to check out the video above because it really was beautiful technique. The funny thing is that Tim has never even done Judo, he has a pure wrestling background! I’ll be surprised if Tim’s throw isn’t a highlight that gets shown again and again. It was definitely clear in the third round that Nick was worn down and while Tim was a bit tired as well, he was much less fatigued than Nick and his conditioning gave him an edge as the fight wore on.
As a whole, Tim was able to get the win by using his superior strength, power, conditioning and by following the right game plan. While he may not have been able to finish in 40s like Bibiano, he constantly pressed the action, was close to a submission at the end of round two and completely dominated in all aspects of the game in round three.
Not every fight can be finished, or finished quickly, but Tim did everything he was asked to do, made every effort possible to press the action and go for the win, and all his hard work paid off in the cage. Now that Tim is 2-0 at 185lbs, he’s definitely on the right track to a title shot if things keep going his way, and we’re obviously going to do everything possible to make sure that happens.
Looking ahead
Both Tim and Bibiano performed well in their fights but in MMA, there’s only so much time to enjoy a win before it’s time to look forward to the next fight. Bibiano’s next fight is obviously going to be in the semifinals round of the Dream tournament and there’s tough competition so he’ll be back to training soon. Tim will also, no doubt, be back in the gym soon and back out to train with us in the next couple of months. Both guys are solid fighters, train hard, and have strong futures in the fight game ahead of them so stay tuned for more coverage of their training to come!