Outside Source
Interim champion Gaethje (27-5) challenges Ilia Topuria (17-0) for the lightweight title in the UFC White House: Freedom 250 main event on June 14. Alvarez advised Gaethje to rely on his signature leg kicks. Alvarez also believes Gaethje’s best chance at knocking out Topuria is in between exchanges. According to Alvarez, Topuria’s eyesight is too sharp for Gaethje to land flush while leading the attack. Meanwhile, Alvarez also sees holes in Gaethje’s defense. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion notes that Gaethje takes his eyes off his opponents, which is a recipe for getting knocked out. Alvarez also doesn’t like Gaethje’s defensive style of shelling up instead of moving and cutting angles.:
Advertisement
“The calf kicks is what he would have to do,” Alvarez said on the Full Send podcast. “And then I would also want him to punch with Ilia. So when Ilia goes, he has to go — same time. I think [Gaethje’s] best shot at catching him is catching him in between Ilia’s exchanges. I think Ilia has too sharp eyes for Justin to lead and catch him… Ilia is crazy poised, his eyes are on all the time, and he has great posture… Justin has a tendency to lose his eyes. So in between exchanges, his eyes are not on his opponent. They are way over [to the side]. And that’s like knockout city. One other bad habit Justin has is, he hard covers. He stays right there, doesn’t pop out, doesn’t get an angle, he shells up, and he hard covers. Which I always felt is a terrible defense in MMA.”
Alvarez had knocked Gaethje out with a knee to the chin in their UFC 218 clash in 2017. The only damage Gaethje had managed to land was with his calf kicks.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
