Thoughts on Chuck and a hypothetical...

[primetimenole]

First, let me say that I claim to be no expert on MMA but I have enjoyed getting into it over the past year.

That being said, some thoughts on Chuck. He obviously has 2 main strengths - 1) he is a good striker and 2) he has excellent takedown defense. On the other hand, do we really know how good of a striker he is? Here's a look at his most recent opponents:

Tito (twice) - wrestler
Babalu (twice) - BJJ
Couture (3 times) - wrestler
Jeremy Horn - BJJ
Vernon White - BJJ (listed as a BJJ fighter although I don't know first hand)
Rampage - wrestler
Overeem - kickboxer/submissions

These are his last eleven matches and a significant trend here is that he has not faced anyone that is considered a striker (outside of possibly Overeem).

So what he has been doing is out-striking some people who are not strikers to begin with. I think we really don't know how good of a striker he is until he faces someone who can stand with him. I personally believe that Anderson Silva would give Chuck serious problems. My point may be illustrated by a couple of hypotheticals below:

Who would win the following matches under MMA/UFC rules:

1) Roy Jones Jr. vs. Chuck

AND

2) Roy Jones Jr. vs. Jeremy Horn

My answer would be that Roy Jones Jr would dominate Chuck because I have NEVER seen him do anything on the ground and that Horn would submit Jones Jr in about a minute.

Thoughts?

[goodsamaritan]

[ QUOTE ]

Who would win the following matches under MMA/UFC rules:

1) Roy Jones Jr. vs. Chuck

AND

2) Roy Jones Jr. vs. Jeremy Horn

My answer would be that Roy Jones Jr would dominate Chuck because I have NEVER seen him do anything on the ground and that Horn would submit Jones Jr in about a minute.

Thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

Both Chuck and Jeremy Horn would sub RJJ easily. Just because Chuck doesn't take fights to the ground does not mean he has no skill on the ground. He has primarily fought grapplers and his strength is his striking, so there has never been a reason for him to take a fight to the ground. But he does have a purple belt in BJJ and he has great takedown defense because of his wrestling background.

The only way Chuck would lose is if he were dumb enough to try and prove that he could stand with RJJ. But even then he wouldn't be totally screwed because RJJ has probably never fought with 4oz gloves or had to deal with kicks.

Unless RJJ had some extensive time to train in grappling before the fight, he's be a huge dog.

[JasonK]

Boxers without ground skills would have a hard time beating a 100th ranked MMA fighter, let alone a champion.

[BriMc]

I think Rampage is more than just a Wrestler. The guy knocked out a K1 fighter in a K1 rules match. Pretty safe to say his striking is top notch.

[primetimenole]

[ QUOTE ]
I think Rampage is more than just a Wrestler. The guy knocked out a K1 fighter in a K1 rules match. Pretty safe to say his striking is top notch.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, that would only serve to further my point about Chuck possibly being in trouble against good strikers because Rampage beat Chuck down.

Anyways, I guess my whole point (besides the RJJ hypo) is just to question what we really know about Chuck's striking ability. It seems to me that he has only beaten non-strikers lately and I'd love to see him in there with someone who can trade. I think a Chuck/Anderson Silva match would be great (although stupid for the UFC to do). Hopefully a rematch with Rampage will show us what Chuck is all about though I've heard that Rampage is past his prime. We shall see...

[BriMc]

Rampage and Randy both beat Chuck with the same basic strategy. Keep the pressure on, get inside Chuck where he can't extend his arms and catch you with the overhand right, don't let him breath, push the pace and beat him to the punch. Use that to set up the takedown and pound him out on the ground.

Rampage is 28, hardly past his prime. He has the best shot out of anyone in the UFC to beat Chuck.

[Fiasco]

From what Ive read and what I saw in the Liddel fight, Vernon White is more of a striker than a grappler/submission guy.

[wpr101]

You have to take into account that RJJ is trained wearing 12 ounce gloves and to fight 12 rounds. I would really be interested in seeing a boxing match with the 4 ounce gloves between Liddel and RJJ.

[wpr101]

By the way, in the first Couture vs Liddel fight, Couture won the standup fight. And Couture is primarly a wrestler.