Post#196 » by j4remi » Mon Aug 5, 2019 12:57 pm
One had the best MMA event of the weekend by a mile. I can't stand watching pillow hands Covington throw half assed jabs on his back step and hug anyone who engages. I did try to make some notes about where he looked best and where he looked really susceptible.
1) He's able to throw his volume on the retreat but there was no juice on anything. It was a lot of jabs with no weight behind them. Lawler didn't have the footwork to trap him at the cage but that footwork would be tremendous.
2) His strength is good not great. He was vastly better wrestling with Robbie, but didn't have the strength to keep him there or force dominant positions. He had to use tricks to get better position instead and Robbie never even bothered hand fighting when Colby got his back and looked for chokes and cranks (basically, Ben Askren definitely has better squeeze imo)
3) On the strength, the body kick he deployed was really good. It was his best strike in terms of connecting and having some actual power. It was also a good way to mix away from jabs and the pitter pat (as Rashad described it in post fight) striking.
4) Agility was impressive in close for Colby and his cardio is world class. We haven't seen any of Usman, Askren or Colby tire out; but I'd say that's the most work we've seen any of them do in a single fight (although part of that comes back to the strength issue).
5) The one thing I want to see is how Colby responds to body work. Robbie did a lot of head movement and stalking but head hunted for counters when he was mostly out of position with Colby angling away. In the FIFTH round, Robbie finally planted a hook and later on a body jab that both found the mark. I think to score while you back Covington up, body work will help a LOT and it could slow down his insane volume if you dedicate early rounds to it.
So who beats him? Hard to say but I'd bet heavy on Usman who is a stronger version of Colby. That said, the speed and agility edge is Colby's so it's not a guarantee. Woodley might be so strong that he'd stop Colby's takedowns but the habitual fighting along the cage is not a good sign. Askren is the most intriguing to me, I think he's the better wrestler but his striking is much worse. Edwards is the wild card, Usman owned him but he's been lights out since and may have learned from it. Then Masvidal is another interesting one because they're familiar with each other and Masvidal has as big an edge striking as Colby has wrestling. I'd honestly pay for that one...edge to Colby but not by much. And my wild card...I think Stephen Wonderboy Thompson would beat Colby down...call it a feeling. Wonderboy is great with lateral movement and Colby's volume leaves him open to counters. Wonderboy can strike moving backwards like no one else in the division and that should create openings.
Haliburton/Lewis Jr/Sasser
Booker/Shamet
Barnes/Dick/Duarte
Washington/Barnes/Crowder
Zubac/Theis/Clowney
Sanogo, Castleton
Ex: Samar, K. Diop, Spagnolo
